Festive Fall

The air is nippy, the time of wishing to cozy up beside the fire and sip a warm cocoa is here. I won't say I don't miss summer... but Fall sure is neat too!

 

Here's a couple shots, Fall is so vibrant around here! I'm so glad for EVERY season. 

 

Life has seasons too, and I suppose each of us must have a favorite season of life we like. But there's something good in them all. Just like there is in the bitter cold and colorlessness of Winter. It's gorgeous in its' seeming simplicity, majestic in its' quiet serenity where little details shine through - the tinkle of ice, the song of a bird, the sparkle of a snowflake, the soft tickle as it melts on your skin. Every season has it's purpose, personality, lessons, growth... Maybe the winter (or summer if you're more of the cool weather sentiment ) seems unendurably long... but we always make it through, and summer (or winter ) always comes... just in time. 

 

Enough pondering. Finally, here's just a touch of the beautiful vibrancy of fall... as if it's attempting to supply you with enough color to last you through the Winter. 

 

 

~ Ashley

 

~ LiFe ~

Life happens (as you can tell from my scant posts ). It's been so busy and parts of it quite eventful. When you have so much going on, so much to do, it's so easy to forget that God is there, wishing you'd come spend some time with Him. He really wants to know us and be deep with us. I'm so glad He keeps calling me closer to Him, and back to Him when I get distracted.

 

I don't know why I'm even bothering to post here, I don't really think anyone reads it... nevertheless, something within me calls me to write, so here it is. 

 

Here's just one example of His faithfulness:

 

My husband and I were driving along and....

Yes, that's rain. And no, we couldn't see much!

 

 

And then this. (an hour later) God's promises are so wonderful! (notice the rainbow??)

 

 

 

 

And finally... the beams break through.

 

 

These were all taken the same day.

 

Thanks for showing us Your faithfulness, Lord... every day, in the day-to-day, always.

 

~ Ashley

 

 

In the Midst of the Storm

My heart sinks as I hear stories of people's lives turned upside down by these storms.

I love thunderstorms... here where I live anyway. I love them at the same time I have a fear of them. But that's what makes them wonderful. They make a spectacular flash as lightening illuminates the world. The heavy rain makes a soothing pitter-patter as it hits the roof and ground. The thunder seems to rumble through my heart and somehow it's just amazing.

There is this thrilling mingling of breathlessness, because I know how powerful the storm can be, with a feeling of freedom and exhilaration and some strange desire to just stand out there with my face turned upwards, arms outstretched and take it in, experience the storm.

(I'm cheating 'cuz these pictures were taken a while ago )

 

Life is like that too. Full of storms. Some of them you feel you can run in, take in stride. See the good in. Others seem to leave a wake of destruction, so painful to the heart and body that you feel you can stand no longer.

But in the midst of that storm, Jesus is always there. Always.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, I think He allows those storms to turn us back to Him. To help us realize our need for Him. So that we stop feeling like we are so strong without Him, because we are not. He wants us to run to Him. For He is our refuge and strength. That is the only place we will really find rest and peace and joy. The first place I should turn is to Him. Dash into His strong arms, let Him be my father and protector.

"For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." Isaiah 25:4 

 

I've been grateful for the little glimpses of sunshine these last few days, mingled with storms of course. Sometimes I just run outside and turn my face to the sun, I so love the feel of it glowing on my skin. I think Ethan chuckles at me whenever I perk up when I see the sun pop out for a moment and I drop whatever I'm doing and dash outside, even if just for a moment. I know it's silly, but that's just me. It can turn a droopy, heavy, overwhelming day into a happy, carefree day. (Maybe most of it is that I usually talk to God while I'm out there? I tell Him what's troubling me and He somehow lets me know it's not so bad after all. I turn my eyes to Him and He calms my heart. Somehow it just seems to be a habit for me. Now to make it a habit to talk to Him inside on cloudy days. )

In the midst of so many "bad news" things and the world seeming to fall apart, it's nice to see little joys in life.

The sunshine sparkling on water.

A little butterfly.

Tiny tadpoles slowly changing into neat little frogs.

New green growth litterally exploding everywhere after the cold of winter.

Bare toes in grass or sand.... And to know that Jesus is there. He never leaves me. And someday soon, I will be with Him, where all these painful things don't happen.

 

When I look upon nature - it's so pure, simple, trusting! When I turn my eyes to Jesus, the world grows peaceful once more.

 

~ Ashley

 

Be Ready....?

With all this talk about the world ending on the 21st, it's gotten me thinking. Regardless of whether "they" are right, we were told by Jesus to be ready, because we never know when He will come.

 

But how can we be "ready"? I sat there in the dusk tonight asking myself this question. The soft blanket of night fell across the land as I looked out on the dimming landscape and realized just how temporary all this was.

 

Whenever I start thinking like that I get this catch in my chest. I have a moment of panic, because I don't like the unknown. And I don't know everything about Heaven. So that makes it an unknown. And I started to get afraid.

But then, then I made myself take a deep breath. It's true, I can't know all about Heaven. But I can get to know Jesus more and more. And that is who I am going to be with... and that's when my second wave of uneasiness started. how do I know that is the One I am going to be with... what if...?

And the "what if's" poured forth. There are so many opinions about what you must do to be saved or stay saved. I started to get breathless all over again, when the Lord softly calmed my heart.

He whispered, in that way He does whisper...

Rest in Me.

Seek to know Me.

Talk with Me. Listen to Me. Obey Me.

And then I began to realize...

I need to make sure my heart is right before Him, that I am doing what He has asked and have "come clean" and confessed to Him my wrongs, my wrong attitudes, actions, motives... communicate with Him. Listen to Him, not everyone else and their speculations. Seek to know Him. Trust Him. Let Him be my friend that I tell all to, that nothing comes between us.

I need to stop thinking about what other people have said or will think.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27

I like that. I like thinking of myself as His sheep. His sheep that He loves so very much. Sheep don't try to figure everything out. They graze softly by their master. Content. Trusting. They look to Him for direction. He leads them to green pastures, maybe the way there is hard, but the end is green pastures. I must trust Him.

 

 

So I end this wondering night, this night where I started to panic because, how could I possibly know how to be ready, to do it all right, to sort out all the different things people are saying. I end this night with my eyes on Him, leaving all those questions behind, because I seek to know Him and serve Him, obey Him, and hear Him. What He is asking me to do, not what He has asked others to do. To abide with Him. Be close to Him. Be his little sheep. Yield to Him. Trust Him. And that is all. Simple. Hard, but simple. And, oh, so freeing.

 

Thank You Lord for being my everlasting Shepherd.

 

"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." Psalm 57:1 

~ Ashley

 

 

 

There is a Whisper

I came across this blog post and I just couldn't help sharing it. Jesus is the sweet breath of air, the gentle spring rain, the hand that holds you up. No matter what. No matter when.

 

"Sometimes life can hurt so bad it takes your breath away. You look around you and see brokenness. Broken people. Broken relationships. Broken lives. Broken hearts. 

Some days your own brokenness is startlingly glaring. And how can you help others find healing from their brokenness when you are so broken yourself?"

 

A question I often asked myself.

 

"And then there's a whisper. 
{{Jesus.}} "

An answer Jesus always brought to my heart, but I need to be reminded so often.

 

You can read the rest here: http://beauty-after-rain.xanga.com/747100040/item/

 

~Ashley

Of Fireflies and... Security?

Just went on a lovely walk with my husband. I can't wait for the fireflies. And I love the peepers (frogs). The Lord's little wonders.

 

I've been thinking a lot about security lately. Perhaps because I have this uncanny ability to become attached to people, animals, places... And then I start wondering if they'll always be there. People and animals will pass on. Places will change.

And I have this wrong idea that my husband is all I need. Wrong! That thought would get me in a lot of trouble if I let it stay. Jesus is all I need. And my husband is a close second

God has been working on me to build around Him as the center. I don't know about other people, but for me, it's so easy to make your husband, your work, or your family your world. But truly I need to make the Lord my world. What I revolve around. What makes me tick. What gives me joy. Who I live to please and serve.

Otherwise, I will be disappointed when my husband can't fulfill my every need, when my friend seems to forget about me, when a place changes. 

To truly be joyful, I need to look to Jesus for my fulfillment and strength. Not myself. Not my husband. Not my family. Nothing but the Lord.

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Psalm 18:2 

Where are my eyes today? Where is my heart? Who do I run to first?

It should be the Lord first, husband second... then everything else.

 

~Ashley

 

 

Fantastic Food - Outside!

I've been loving the last two days... and the kissed-by-the-sun feeling from being outside. Thank you Lord for sunshine and warmth!

Ethan and I couldn't resist the sun today, and even 55 degrees felt warm with the constant sun and gentle breeze... so we took cooking outside. It's so fun, often Ethan thinks of cool foods to make, and many times we make them together. 

 

I've never been a "kitchen girl", but I certainly don't mind the kitchen we used today!

And I love cooking for (and sometimes with) my husband.

Outdoor kitchen!

 

We made yummy tempura... our favorites were the shrimp, potatoes, broccoli, and onions. 

 

served with (cheating) Ramen noodles and oil based cabbage salad. Delicious!

 

so we enjoyed the sunshine AND the food today. Reveling outside in God's creation.

 

~ Ashley

 

 

Woodland Creatures

Ethan and I were happily working on our computers beside each other in the office. For some reason, Ethan looked up and glimpsed something outside the window about 50-100 feet away, "Ashley! Is that a dead fox??"

I looked too. Sure enough, it looked like a fox! With all my heart, I didn't want to believe it was dead, but it was laying pretty still and it was 2 in the afternoon. I didn't think fox were usually out that early.

Both being photographer-minded artists, we ran for the camera and investigated further through the living room window. We snapped a couple shots through the window, just in  case it was alive and ran away when we ventured outside.

Then, my heart leapt! I saw it's ear twitch! I swallowed, "Ethan! It's alive! It twitched its ear!" I suppose it seems a little silly to be so joyed at something like that, but I've always been an animal lover. It was nice to realize it was enjoying the spring sun streaming through the trees in our backyard woods instead of lying there dead or sick.

 

We tiptoed outside. When the shutter clicked, it twitched and slyly turned its head more towards us, watching us. It laid there for a few minutes, watching us as Ethan quickly snapped some more pictures before, quick as lightening, it darted up and bounded away. I'm so glad God let me get that little glimpse of nature! I just love little creatures.

Look at those sly eyes!

 

So Ethan actually took all these cool photos With two photographers and only one camera, we usually cooperate and take turns with the camera Whoever sees it first gets to take the pic... mostly)

And then we glimpsed this black squirrel just outside our front door munching some... bark? Left over from chopping wood. lol Very cute (Ethan took this too.)

 

 

Praising my Lord for little spots of sunshine and delightful woodland animals around us! I think he knew we'd appreciate the fox, both being people who love little creatures. Thank you Lord!

 

~ Ashley L.

Florida and Back

Our whirlwind trip to Florida to shoot the commercial went great... at least the shooting part did. The part about warm and sunny... well... that pretty much failed. It thundered almost every day and one day there were even tornadoes. We didn't know about the tornado warnings and we were happily driving along looking for some good locations to shoot some driving shots... when the rain decided to pour. We finally pulled off into a deserted subway... where we learned there were tornado warnings. When we went out again a little while later, there were power lines hanging in the road, trees knocked over, and even the Starbucks sign was split in two! Definately an adventure, but we're going to have to wait for that sun and beach experience. I couldn't believe we went to Florida and never even visited the ocean!

 

Here are a few pictures from the trip

 

Snowy when we left....

 

 

None where we arrived! The land of sandals and short sleeves

 

 

Ethan and I are both fans of blue... so we thought it was cool we were on "Jet Blue" airlines... and they served BLUE potato chips!

 

As the sun began to set, the water below shimmered a fiery gold, this picture hardly does it justice. It was breathtaking. And to think, the birds get to see this all the time!

 

 

sunset on our plane wing

 

Ethan (left) and Josh (right) planning the shots

 

getting ready for the next scene

 

a fun "dolly" shot - with a makeshift dolly since we didn't have ours with us, and no time to make one. I (the only girl in the picture ) had fun squeezing in between it and the wall there to pull focus.

 

 

Random picture of parakeets that kept us company at the family's house we stayed at and worked with

 

 

Maybe soon, we can go to Florida and actually visit the beach!

 

Really though, it's nice here now too! Sun actually shines, birds actually sing, bugs are crawling into the house (never thought I'd be glad for that one!). The other day was 75! (now it's 45 again, but it was still sunny today)

I always feel like I get closer to the Lord in summer. Perhaps it's because I love to go out and feel the breeze and the sun on my skin and listen to the birds while I talk to Him. In the winter, I sort of begin to fade. I know it shouldn't be that way, but it seems to never fail. I'm glad spring and summer are near.

Ethan says I'm his sun-powered girl. It's so true. If it's sunny and warm, I have so much more energy and life!

What I really want to be is someone who thrives on the Lord though. That's what I SHOULD be. I couldn't live without Him, that's for sure. And when I'm closer to Him and have been talking to Him and obeying Him and listening to Him, resting in Him, I am peaceful and joyful and full of life. So I suppose I do thrive on Him in a way. But it shouldn't matter if it's gloomy and cold. I should still seek Him and find hope there. I should be full of life always because He is always with me.

Anyhow... for now...

Thank You Lord for SuMMer!

 

 

~Ashley L.