41 Days!

Today is an exiting day! At about 12:20am, my dad and I purchased my plane ticket to China!!!!! =) I will officially be leaving on June 21st, 2011 and arriving in China on June 23rd. I will return on August 8th, and get to Kansas City about the same time I leave China.......gotta love time change. =) I fly to LAX on Frontier Airlines and then to China on China Southern Airlines. Coming back I fly China Eastern Airlines and Frontier again to KC. Please pray for these airlines and pilots that they will be blessed and everything will run smoothly. I still cannot believe this is happening! God is so good! So, I will be getting on a plane in 41 days. =) Wow!

I also have another praise report. I am 95% funded! Please continue praying and believing with me that the rest of the money comes in.

Now the packing process begins. What to take, what not to take. Pray that God would cause me to remember everything that I need to take and that if I'm not supposed to take it, that it will stay behind. I've never gone somewhere for 7 weeks, so this is a new experience! Please pray for my parents and sister too as they are adjusting to the reality that I won't be here this summer.

I can't get over the fact that I'm actually going.....I'm going to China! God's plans for our lives surely take us on the most amazing journey we could ever think of! Three years ago if you had told me if I would go to China by myself, I would never have believed you! But God is so faithful to continue to draw us after His plans and purposes!

Thank you for praying!
Ashton

Visa finally came!!!!

My visa finally arrived today at about 4pm. =) Yesterday I got an email from the FedEx tracking system saying that my visa was delivered to my front door but when I went to get it, it was no where to be found. I went up and down the street to see if they had mis-delivered it to a neighbor's door but still couldn't find it. I ended up calling FedEx who discovered the driver had delivered my passport/visa to a completely different house on a different street. So they said the driver would have to retrace his steps, find the package, pick it up and deliver it to my house. So today when I still didn't have the package, I called again. They said the driver had yet to locate the package. So my mom and I prayed, they found it, and delivered it to my door! =) God is good!

This is just another sign I am supposed to go on this trip! If they had lost my passport there would not have been enough time to get another passport, send it to the visa agency, get it back and purchase a plane ticket even if we had expedited it. God obviously has big plans for me for this summer! =) This has been such a fun journey to see how if it is God's will, He will bring it to pass if we do our part! =)

Have a blessed day. Thank you again for praying! =)
Ashton =)

Quick Prayer

FedEx accidentally mis-delivered my passport with my visa to China to another house on a different street. I found out about 1 1/2 hrs ago. They are going to re-pick it up and deliver it to my house. Please pray it arrives safely!

~Ashton

Financial Update

This post will be quick as I am about to head into the prayer room. But I have some very exciting news! I am happy to share with you that I am 75% funded!!!!! =) God is faithful!!!!! Please continue to pray that the rest of the money comes in quickly. My visa has been shipped back to me but has not yet reached my house. Please also pray that arrives safely. =) Let the countdown begin! Only 48 more days!

I've started a new Bible study where I read 5 chapters a day. So by December 23rd, I'll have read the entire Bible. It's been so much fun because God has shown me new concepts in the stories I've read over and over. It's a lot of fun to be going on this journey where He is pulling me deeper into His heart and showing me the things He cares about. One thing I've been really re-learning is my completeness in Him. I just know that even through all the quirks of life........that I'm happy. I'm content. Because I'm finally back to the place where all of me abides in Jesus and He is more than enough for all of my needs. He cares for me and longs to see me prosper and do well. He cares about the tiniest things on my heart. And His answer to all my life problems, is Him. He is always my answer. My everything. My fullness. In Him I live and breathe. If I am complete and full in Him, I have everything. Suddenly all my problems don't seem like such a big deal anymore because I have the answer. I'm finally back to the place where I'm content to sit, just me and Him, for forever. I need nothing more, nothing less. I am simply a vessel. A clay pot. His workmanship. Created for nothing more and nothing less than to love Him. Out of my own choice and free will. And to bring Him glory. If I accomplish those, my life is complete.

It has been fun to see this play a part in preparing for our dance performance this June, Firstborn From the Dead. It's basically the story of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection. It is so powerful to watch and even more powerful to actually be in it. I love reading the stories we are doing and then getting to dance them, realizing the people in the stories were actual people just like me!

Well, that's all for now. Thank you again for praying! I am blessed by having you in my life!

Love,
Ashton