The Manger and the Cross

Sorry y'all - Christmas has been busy and I have completely left this little blog in the dust trying to keep up! Here's a few updates of my crazy, little life:

 I finished up my first semester of junior year with a 4.0! It was a complete relief knowing that I no longer have to worry about finals or projects or percentages for a short 2 weeks :) 

Two days ago, I got to celebrate 1 year cancer free with my sweet momma! It is such a blessing to have her as a mentor and role model while also having her as my best friend. She is so strong & brave and I'm so grateful to be able to celebrate this gigantic milestone with her! 

I attended my first Lessons & Carols at Good Shepherd this past Sunday and boy, it just reminded me why I fell in love with this church all over again. The greening of the church was beautiful and it was jam packed with everyone.. It felt like Christmas! I'm so thankful to have found Good Shepherd 3 months ago (it does not feel like it was that long ago!) and be able to celebrate end of Advent in a community like the one at Good Shepherd.

One of my favorite Episcopal priests posted this as his Facebook status the other day; it was a part of his sermon for the 4th Sunday in Advent. 

  "Whomever we hated, Jesus loves. Whomever we feared, Jesus loves. Whomever we ignored, Jesus loves. He loves them enough to change them -- God leaves nobody unchanged -- but where we see castes and pyramids and social ladders, Jesus sees only the wounded in need of heaven's healing."

I too easily separate the manger from the cross, when in reality the coexist together throughout the Bible. My infinitely powerful God came into the world as a fragile, dependent child who desired to unveil a truth to a people He so loved. My infinitely powerful God grew into a man, bore my sin and subjected Himself to death on a cross: a perfect sacrifice for the whole world. 

I love Christmas.

Xoxo, Ash

 

WBC, Frustration and Grace.

I was reading through some Huffington Post articles today and I came across 'Westboro Baptists Will Picket Paul Walker's Funeral' and my heart instantly broke into a million pieces.. And then I got frustrated. Yes, yes, I know, I shouldn't lost my temper with these articles and headlines but it just gets to me. It gets to me because I have this amazing God who has revealed Himself to me over the past 4 years and I have fallen more and more in love with Him. It's been a crazy ride - and I haven't always stuck to his path - but it's been worth it. I've grown into a girl who understands where my beauty comes from: Him. I am accepted and loved by Him, and it's all that matters. I have relationships with true friends who walk with Christ and strive to be like Christ with me, making the journey that much easier.
This God that I've come to know, doesn't seem to be the same one that they've begun to follow.
A few minutes before that I had read an article (and shared it on my Facebook page) called 'What People Are Really Thinking When They Invite You To Church' and this article struck me with a quote that embodied my walk with Christ completely.  

The people that invite you to church are just like that friend that insists that you try the new Puerto Rican restaurant downtown, they have experienced something amazing and they want it for you too. It's like that, but on almighty steroids. When a friend or a kindly stranger, a relative or a playgroup parent, says "Hey, why don't you come to church with me on Sunday?" what they mean is "I love you so much, I cannot describe what I know you can get from this because I can't even put into words what it has done for me." We understand that when you live in a world of sneaky advertising and suspicious sales scams, this sounds like just another one. But, it isn't.

The fall semester of my 8th grade year, an amazing Wyldlife leader, Aarika Stanton, invited me to go to 608 at Southland. Although I don't call Southland my home church anymore, I encountered a young, Christian community that was running towards the cross with me. A first in my life. 
I think that's why I am so frustrated with WBC and the image they have. They condemn the world. They push their views on the world in pickets and protests of funerals. I've learned that my Father pushes me and asks me to just love them. Relentlessly; just like He's loved me. I've battled against a Satan who knows my name but calls me by my sin. A Satan who condemns and hates and attempts to keep me surrounded in my sin. The God I know, the all-knowing, all-powerful God I've decided to follow, knows my sin but chooses to call me BY NAME. I have walked away from Him, turned against His path laid out for me and chosen to try life on my own, and all of them left me empty. Yet, when I realize I need Him and His help, He welcomes me back into His arms openly. Again and again. No questions asked. 
He's got abundant grace just waiting for us. How amazing is that?
Xoxo, Ash

Light vs. Darkness throughout Advent

With Advent starting this past weekend extremely close to Thanksgiving, which kinda sorta threw my internal clock off, it got my heart and mind ready and anxious to spend the next 3 and a half weekend patiently awaiting His arrival. 

I'm reading a devotional throughout this season that highlights the major ideas around Advent and the Christmas story. The verse today was from John 1: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Well DANG y'all. That's some crazy, heavy stuff. He's got it all. The entire world, the stars, the trashcan sitting across my room and the iPhone sittin' in my lap. Only He holds this light - this light that can free me from my past and my fear - and it fearlessly and relentlessly goes up against darkness, darkness I create. 

“Inside all of us is a light, but some beacons are darker than others, and some are so dark they never realize they are a form of light at all.”
― Courtney M. Privett, Mayfly Requiem 

All my love, Ash xoxo

Fast Paced

JEEZ. Life has been moving incredibly fast lately and I don't know how big of a fan I am of it considering Thanksgiving was 4 days ago and Christmas is in 25 days..

Last weekend, I got to have some fun and travel down to Tuscaloosa to take a visit around the University of Alabama and lemme tell you.. I LOVED IT. It was a beautiful campus that instantly felt like home! I could picture myself fitting right into the life down there. I also got to experience my first Alabama football game and that was just crazy compared to Commonwealth and UK (sorry Cats!). Overall, I think I'm just in love with the idea of college at the moment but we'll just have to wait & see :)

 I also just printed off my GSP application (like 2 minutes ago) which is SO EXCITING. It's finally real! Now I just can't wait to get it off my hands tomorrow and let the panels of reviewers do their magic :) 

All my love and Christmas cheer, Ash xoxo