So this is... ummm... a video blog!

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Two Hundred Fifty-Three

That would be the number of days since I left my position as intern last summer. In some ways those have been a long 253 days but in other ways they have been very short. So much has happened and I can't wait to see how God is going to use those experiences for His glory this summer.

It's crazy to think that I almost threw in the towel in the fall. I almost completely gave it up. For what? Nothing that would be worth anything in God's sight. It wasn't because I lost my love for "my kids" or even because I was frustrated with the ministry. But when you let the things of the world and other people eat away at your passion instead of allowing God to nurture it then the passion is not so visible anymore.

I was just meditating on Colossians 3:23-34... "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (I am aware of the context of this verse... this was just what I was thinking at the time) God is who I am serving with my life... and so when other people's opinions and views on what I should be doing with God's call overcome that focus on serving there is definitely a problem. I do not feel called to serve "in" the church. The passion God has given me does not rest there.

The people that surround me right now are so supportive of this passion that God has given me. The passion is really a gift. There's no words to describe just how strong it is in my being. I think that sometimes my friends make me talk about "my kids" just so they can hear it. haha. But I'm okay with that.

So my goal this summer is to just allow God to use this gift of passion that He has given me to shine His light on these kids and all the people that I come in contact with. Because this is all for His glory anyways.

♥ Ash

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One week to go...

So here comes what we have been waiting for all year! In just one week Liz and I officially start summer ministry with CEFOntario. I will be working at home for the first week to take a rest from an incredibly stressful year both academically and personally, and also to tend to some appointments in Mount Forest. We're hoping that this strategy will help with burnout management later in the summer.

Thankfully there will be no shortage of work because I dislike being bored. My work with CEF is very easy to take anywhere and so I tended to be a girl on the move last summer. This summer is going to be a little bit different however! I just found out last week that I will be living in the same host home ALL summer, except for summer training and Camp Good News of course. This is such a blessing after moving my stuff literally 20 times last summer, including trips home for the weekend and moving out and then back into dorm.

The blessings keep coming with over 20% of my support in and more pledged. God has truly been good to me in so many ways. I have never struggled financially during my time at school, and that has been a blessing in so many ways. The other blessing is the amount of prayer support that I have. I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and encouragement so far. It makes taking this leap of faith feel more like taking a step. I am so thankful for each one of you, and I will probably say thank you one hundred more times this summer. haha

Just a prayer update.
- I have two exams this week... Monday and Tuesday... so prayer for focus in studying and in the exams as well... sometimes I tend to lose it right in the middle of the exam.
- I have a dietician appointment next week and hopefully it will confirm that I am lactose intolerant... or lead us on a path to actually discovering what has been effecting my health.
- for the CYIAs as they prepare for upcoming summer ministry (especially May 7-9 when they have their retreat)
- for the CEF staff as they prepare summer ministry and training classes, and also as they lead the CYIAs this summer.
- That God would be glorified in everything we do this summer.

This is Ashley signing off.
♥

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TWO MORE WEEKS!!!

Yes you read that right... just TWO more weeks until the official start of the post-secondary team's summer ministry. Liz and I are both excitedly anticipating the start of summer and we can't believe that it's almost here.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Missionfest Toronto to promote CEFOntario and hang out with my LiT girls a bit too. It was an amazing time and I got to connect with many other missionaries, plus meet at least one that will be coming out with us this sumemr! It was exciting to meet so many people who are excited to see the gospel be taught to children and to have so many strangers encouraging us in what we believe so strongly in.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera. :( But as I mentioned before I did bring the LiT girls to Missionfest and they enjoyed it so much. Three of them had never been exposed to what missions was before and it was neat to see their expressions as different missionaries explained how their organizations spread the love of Jesus. At least one of the girls thinks that God might be calling her to go at least on a short-term missions trip at some point. Please pray for the LiT and that they would be listening for God's voice as He directs their lives and that their purpose would be to glorify Him in everything that they do.

Just one more research paper, an assignment and 5 exams and then it's over. YEAR 2 is almost complete. I can't believe it actually. God has blessed me so much over my time at Heritage and I can't wait to see what else He does with my life in the next two years.

♥ Ash

P.S. Liz has updated her about me section... and she will be posting a blog in the near future! :)

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I'm Gonna Soak Up the Sun

It's a beautiful day on the Heritage hill overlooking the city of Cambridge. If you've never been to Heritage, the college is situated on a hill surrounded largely behind by forest, but the front of the school allows for students to overlook the city and wonder what actually happens outside of our Heritage bubble. Students can often be caught wondering this in class as they stare absently out the window at the cars racing down the 401 and the activities in the Smart Centre plaza not that far away.

Heritage students long to be outside and free of the confines of the classrooms and dorm, so at this time of year many can be found outside "doing homework" which often turns into spontaneous singing when a guitar is brought out. Sunglasses hide whether the book in front of students is being read or if the student really just wanted to take a nap. There are no limits as couches, food and music are brought outdoors. Some other popular activities include walking to Tim Hortons, McDonanlds, the local grocery stores and even casually through the area of Hespeler we live in. With so many things to do out in the sun, homework can cease to exist in the mind of a student.

Thankfully, the bit of a cold spell this past week sent me running to the warmth of the library where I finished a great deal of work. Now I just have 2 papers, 2 book reports, and a few smaller assignments to do before my 5 exams... Yikes! And on top of that... exactly 3 weeks from today is my official start date with CEF!

As of yesterday, my support total is at 11%. God has been so good already and I truly feel blessed by all of you who are praying and supporting me both financially and with encouragement. I'm really excited to be serving God in this ministry this summer and I can't wait to be sharing all the adventures with you.

Please pray for this coming weekend and Missionsfest Toronto, as we share with thousands of people that attend the importance of sharing the Gospel with children. And also pray for the LiT that will be attending and that their minds will be awakened to the things that are happening in the world. Some of them have expressed an interest in missions and CEF summer missions before, so please pray that God would show them how they could possibly be used in this world to serve Him, whether it's here at home or overseas.

Here I go for another crazy week!!!

Blessings,
♥Ash

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So Much To Do... So Little Time

So I decided to take a break from my mountain of homework, assignments, presentations and major papers to blog because basically I've been failing at updating this lately.

There are only 28 days to go before our start date of May 3 and there is still SO MUCH to do! Right now I still have 2 papers, 2 book reports, 4 reading responses, 5 assignments, 1 presentation, 5 exams and a whole bunch more homework and reading to go! This semester has flown by and I'm sure the next few weeks will too. But I only have about 23 more days to complete all this work in... so I would really appreciate your prayers for strength, rest and especially FOCUS over these next few weeks.

On top of all that I still have a few other responsibilities too! Next Saturday is Slingshot, where I'll be working with the LiT girls again. We will hopefully be working through some questions that have come up around prayer as well as looking at the death and resurrection of Christ.
The next weekend is Missionsfest Toronto. I will be in the city all weekend. Friday and Sunday I will be at the CEFOntario booth promoting the ministry and on Saturday I will be going to get the LiT girls to bring them to see Missionsfest. Some of them have had some questions about overseas missions, especially after seeing the film End of the Spear. This will be the first time that most of them have had any interaction with missionaries or even informed of what is happening overseas to present the Gospel to the nations.

So that's life right now... one crazy month of chaos to go until a whole summer filled with different situations of chaos! :)

♥ Ash

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