A Real "Runaway Bride"

Check this out! Wouldn't you hate to have your picture in the paper for this story? Poor girl, but then again she is the one who fabricated a story so maybe I shouldn't feel bad for her. Anyway, just thought I'd pass it along.

Moving

After a long process, I've decided to move to L'ville in August so I can go to seminary full time and hopefully find a good full time job too. Pray that I get a job. I've found one I'd LOVE but they want someone sooner than I could start, but with God all things are possible. So if this IS His will, it'll work out. If not, He has something better for me! Anyway, I just thought I'd spread the word.

20 Things To Know In Your 20s

In the May/June issue of Relevant I found this list of 20 things to know in your 20s. I thought it was interesting so I thought I'd share the list and comment on the ones I found interesting.

1. "Live below your means... Read 1 Timothy 6:9-11" I think I might need to work on this some more.
   
2. "Live Life like an adenture, do not merely endure it" I think I'm ok on this one.
   
3. "Honor God with your resources" I might need to figure out my resources and check this one.
   
4. "Create a clear picture of your 'dream' spouse" Did that.
   
5. Stop wrestling with God... Every day is a test of our obedience to Him (Proverbs 16:9)" Yesterday I surrender one of my "wrestling matches." It's a nice feeling.
   
6. "Wait on God's timing" Amen!!
   
7. "Don't settle for anything less than God's best" Very good advice!
   
8. "Take time to fill up" I think this was one I need to work on. I loved what the article said so I'm going to share this one: "As Christians, sometimes it is difficult to place our own needs first, but in order to help others we must have something worthwhile to give. Every time I fly, I am reminded of this concept by the flight attendant who encourages me to take in the oxygen first so that I might help the children around me. Determine those activities that 'recreate' you and guard that treasured time." What a neat illustration of this. I also thought I'd share something a lady told me a few weeks ago when I was pretty tired and running on low. She said, "Ashlee, the Bible tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, all your strength and all your mind. Sometimes you need to rest to love Him properly." What a great way to look at it!
   
9. "Critique your bookshelf" I like what I see.
   
10. "Pay God, Pay Yourself, Pay your bills"
    
11. "Establish perspective... Read Proverbs 3:5-6" This encourages you to take an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses. I think I need to do that.
12. "Invest in people" In this one they encourage you to write encouraging notes. I'm not as good at that as I'd like to be.
    
13. "Pay your dues" This one is about not being in a hurry to "climb to the top or to find the 'perfect' job." Well, I'm no where near the top so I think I'm alright.
14. "Christ doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies those he calls" Amen!
    
15. "Face your fears" Does this mean I have to go sit in a tornado? haha
    
16. "Guard against the tyranny of the urgent. Prioritize daily." I like lists.
    
17. "Enjoy your freedom" I might do too much of this. hehe
    
18. "Establish disciplines" This even encourages you to set a bedtime and wake up time saying that structure gives you more freedom. I think I feel better when I go to bed by my bedtime.
    
19. "Write down your prayers" I second this suggestion!
    
20. "Dream" I might not do as well at this as others.

So, how are you doing?

I was tagged

If Mary K wasn't so cute I wouldn't do this... so this is for you!

I have to pick 5 or more of the following occupations and post my answers here. Then, I tag 3 other people to post their answers on their blog. Got it? Sounds like fun, huh? Here goes....The "questions":
If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an inn-keeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be an astronaut...If I could be a world famous blogger...If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...If I could be married to any current famous political figure...

If I could be a musician I would be able to play the piano and guitar so well that people would line up to hear me play. I'd also be able to sing because that would be a good thing to go along with my musical skills. I'd also be pretty good on the drums too. That way I could be part of a band and able to move around and play different parts as needed.

If I could be a missionary... Well, I am and have been and so is everyone who's a Christian- we are all supposed to go and tell other people about Christ wherever we go (you know, the "Great Commission" was not just for "missionaries). But to try to play this game and not get to preachy... I would go to Africa or India.

If I could be a professor I would teach Computer Science or something fun like a cultural diversity class or World Geography. That would be fun because then I could take a sabbatical and travel so that I could learn more about the places I teach about. But seriously, I would probably teach CS since that's what I'd be most qualified to do.

If I could be a writer I would live in a house by the sea so I could listen to the ocean and night and wake up rested and see the sunrise each morning over the ocean to inspire me (guess I'm an East Coast girl) each morning. I would like to write Bible studies and other Christian books. Maybe some Christian fiction some day too.

If I could be a world famous blogger I'd get paid to write on my blog faithfully and everyone would not have stopped reading my blog due to my lack of posts. I would get the best hand held PC available with blue tooth (also paid for since I'm a world famous blogger) so that I could travel around and write from wherever I wanted to about the musings of my day.

Now I must tag 3 people. Since LL was already tagged and MK tagged me, I'll tag Nick (but will he do this?), Chris (I know he'll eventually read this), and Robin. I'm also going to tag Patrick so that maybe 3/4 of you will do it. :)

Miss Congeniality 2

Last night after learning an Indian dance, I went to see Miss Congeniality 2 with my friend Leslie and 2 other ladies. I watched the preview and it looked like it would be funny, but I'm always skeptical of sequels. While I hated that it made her boyfriend out to be a jerk in the second movie (I guess that's what happens when you're not in the sequel, eh?), it was really funny! If you liked the first one, I think you'll enjoy this one too. It picked up things from the first one, yet I think you could enjoy it without seeing the first one. After all, it's been ages since I watched the first one anyway! But I definitely laughed out loud (really loud a few times) several times!!! Go see it for a good laugh!

You call this spring?

Last night was Spring Celebration. Too bad it was SNOWING!! I still can't believe it's been so nice and then we have snow at the end of April. Snow in May? Ok, this is Kentucky... but at the end of April! That's so weird! My friend Melody was talking about going to the beach while we're waking up to a snow flurry.

Anyway, Spring Celebration was still fun, despite the frigid weather outside. This year we had it at the Red Mile, which was a much better atmosphere than last year. The acoustics may not have been as good, but that's ok. We all had a great time. I still can't believe this semester is over!! So now what? Well, I know what I'm doing for the summer, but beyond that, I can't seem to make a definite decision. Please pray for me on this. Is it crazy to make plans to move to a town to go to school and just hope that you find a job? I feel like that might be what I am supposed to do, but it sure would be nice to know that I'd have a job in August when I get there. Well, I'll keep you posted as things become more clear (or I accept them, as the case may be).

Pray for Somalis

During the first 2 weeks of May there will be a focus on praying for the Somalis. If you would like to receive prayer requests during that time to join others across the globe in this effort to bring down the "walls" around this unreached people group, you can join a yahoo group by e-mailing pray4Somalis-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Then you'll be added to the mailing list. Or you can join by using this:

Subscribe to pray4Somalis
Powered by groups.yahoo.com

Feel free to promote this on your site as well!

Moussaoui Pleads Guilty in 9/11 Conspiracy

Four years later...

It amazes me that he was in custody before 9/11 and his case is still going on! Anyway, I thought you should all read this if you haven't already heard.

Lexington Gas Prices

I just wanted to share this link with you all. Gas prices have been pretty crazy, so it might be nice to be able to see where the "cheap gas" is. The link in the title is just for Lexington but you can click on a link for Louisville or Kentucky there and find gas prices all throughout Kentucky. This might be a good resource when you're driving across the state. You can look and see what towns have cheaper gas so you know where to fill up! Isn't this neat!?! Hope you all find this helpful!

Pray for Nicolete

Some of you may know that Anca's sister, Nicolete, was flying from Romania to St. Louis today. She was suppposed to arrive at 7:14 PM but she did not. They do not know where she is, but they know she left Romania. Pray for God's comfort for Nicolete wherever she is and their family as they wait to find out. Pray that God will be glorified in this situation.

**** Praise the Lord! She was found! Thanks for your prayers!

My cousin's new baby

My cousin, Amanda, had a baby girl. Click on the title to see the picture of her. She looks so much like her brother! And she's so tiny! Please pray for Amanda and Brandy.

Food Chains on strike or what?

On Sunday Nick, Misty and I went to Sonic after the Derek Webb concert (which was great, btw). We were wanting ice cream but we were also pretty hungry so we thought we'd go there since we could get food and ice cream in one place. Well, after we decided what we wanted, Nick was placing our order and when he said, "An orange cream slush," she responded, "We're out of ice cream." What!?! So we decided to go ahead and eat our food and then we could go somewhere else for ice cream. I had ordered a chicken wrap. I think they must have been out of ranch because it seemed to have mayonnaise instead, which isn't as good if you're wondering. Then Nick asked for some ketchup to go with his onion rings and they were out of that too! The girl said, "Yeah our manager went on her honeymoon and we're out of everything." Boo for Sonic!

Yesterday NK was wanting a pizza buffet so HK, Bridget, and NK went to Pizza Hut. I was meeting with Todd and Patrick so I told them we might come there too in a few minutes. So we did. So we go up to the bar and there weren't really any good looking pizzas so we decided to start with salads. So I make my salad and then I get to the end and there are only crumbs where croutons used to be. Then I notice there is no ranch. So I catch the waitress and ask her about it and she says, "I know we're out of ranch I'll have to check on the croutons." Well, I'm not sure if she ever checked. The pizza selection improved a little bit, but not much.. and still no ranch or croutons! Then after we're finished eating, she comes by and asks if everything is ok. Where was she when we needed more napkins? Patrick found the basket of rolled up silverware so he just got us all a new set so we'd get another napkin. Then as we're leaving there's something disgusting on the floor that we can't even make out to be anything on the menu. So when we pay the lady asks if we got enough to eat. I didn't reply b/c I wanted to say, "Not of things I like!" She even asked a second time. How do you not reply twice? Patrick filled out a comment card on our behalf to tell them what we thought.

Maybe I'll stick to international cuisine.... or at least quit expecting places to have everything. It's not like there was a grocery store next door to Sonic or Pizza Hut... oh wait, there was! Ok, I'm done complaining for now.

Exalt

So this weekend I'm speaking at Exalt, the Acteens conference. I've known about it since last fall and I knew it was something I should do when I was asked. The theme is "Road Trip" and the theme verse is Acts 1:8. Those things helped confirm that I was supposed to do it. I thought it was kind of interesting that I was going to e speaking in Georgetown College's chapel, after all I graduated from Georgetown. It seemed strange to think about speaking up on stage in the chapel I sat in for 4 years, but I figured it's just some high school girls, I can handle it. Well, yesterday as I was writing back and forth with the WMU director in charge, I found out that there have been 475 people register so far!!! Wow!!! So, Friday night and Saturday I'd appreciate your payers! Friday night I will speak around 8 o'clock for 20 minutes. Saturday morning I speak at 9:40 for 15 minutes and then again at 2:50 for about 8 minutes to wrap up the conference. In-between those last two I will have 2 45 minute seminars where I'll share about my missions experiences. Please pray for this weekend!

Glue?

"Men need to know that a woman is an emotional person and, unlike them, can become emotionally connected. A woman's ability to emotionally connect quickly is heart glue for her marriage, not her male friendships." -Heather Arnel Paulsen, Emotional Purity page 67-68

After reading this, I had 2 questions:
1. What's the glue for men?
2. How do women keep their "glue in the bottle" until the right time?