Friday, January 12, 2024

Endings & Beginnings

 Life is full of endings and beginnings. They're a part of life, but it can be hard to adjust to  new things, especially for someone like me who doesn’t necessarily like a lot of change. The college chapter of my life is closed. It was great while it lasted, and I have so many precious memories from my time there. Now I’m in a new chapter. In November, my friend from Honduras (her family are missionaries there) told me about another missionary family about five hours away from her that needed a 1st grade teacher for their school. Long story short, I started praying about it and God opened my heart and the door to go to Honduras. I’ve read countless books about {mostly} foreign missionaries through the years and have always admired their tenacity to follow God wherever he lead them. Even though I've always been open to being a foreign missionary, I never actually thought that would be a part of my life. But now, here I am. A real live missionary, as the missionary lady told me when she picked me up at the airport.  :) I arrived here on January 4th and started teaching school on Monday, the 8th.  Since being here, I’ve learned so much about teaching, about Hondurans, and about this beautiful country. My 9 little students already have my heart – I love them so much and am praying for two kid’s salvations. The rest of them are saved. I don’t have wifi at my house, only at the school, so I won’t be able to post as much as I’d like. But I do hope to pop in every so often to say hi and write a short update. Honduras is quite different than the United States, but I love it. Serving God and following him wherever he leads won’t always be easy, but it will ALWAYS be worth it. So my encouragement to you today is this: Keep serving, keep following. Don’t give up even if there’s opposition and people are against you. Just keep doing every day what you know God wants you to do. There’s nothing better than having perfect peace in your heart that you’re exactly where God wants you. Sure everyone’s job will look different. But God uses people in all places to spread the light of the gospel and his love. 

Lamentations 3:51 ~ Mine eye affecteth mine heart... 

5 comments:

  1. Wow, Ashley! Such big news from you today! God bless you in your new endeavors, sweet friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Ashley, such a huge adventure for you!!! May God bless and guide along this path He has chosen for your life. Let us hear from you whenever it's possible.
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ashley - hug!! You will be in my prayers dear one! You are a missionary teaching 1st graders in Honduras! May Jesus continue to bless, guide, comfort, and strengthen you! Please let me know if there is a way to financially support you. Love, Carol Gasser

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations Ashley in this new adventure the Lord has you on! May He bless your work for Him richly and abundantly!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ashley, I'm excited for you in this new adventure God has brought you into! Thank you for the encouragement! He will give us all we need, regardless of how inept we feel... His strength is sufficient! ♥

    I love how you said, "There’s nothing better than having perfect peace in your heart that you’re exactly where God wants you." Amen. It's so sweet to follow Jesus wherever He leads! I'm so glad we get to both pursue Jesus and walk in faithfulness to Him wherever He leads us. This post blessed me, sis. ♥ Prayers!

    ReplyDelete

Hello there!
I'd love it if you left me a comment...they totally make my day!