Highlights From This Year

Good day, friends!  

It has been a long while since I've shared an update post. Thought you might enjoy looking at some pictures and highlights from this year. :)

A January sunset. 

Lauren and Deborah earned their black belts in Tae Kwon Do in February. The video shows their group doing the red-black belt form. If you are viewing this post on your email, click here to visit the blog to watch. 

Deborah found a baby otter and kept it in a bucket for only a short while, before it ran away. :) 

Deborah turned sweet 16 in March, and as a surprise gift we went parasailing together. It was a total blast, and not scary in the least little bit. What a memorable outing! :) 

Gracies is doing well, and is as adorable as ever. She really loves to play with the goats; she thinks it's a fun game to nip their legs and bark, and they try to head-but her in return. It is quite amusing to watch. :D Here she is in motion...

A couple weekends ago my dad helped me repaint my bedroom. He made this lovely bookshelf, which accents the room perfectly. :) 

Toby: the goat.  

Zoey: the goat. She moves all the time, and it is very hard to get a good, still picture of her. ;) They have grown so much the past few months, and are very mischevous. They spend most of their day tied up on a leash so they won't get into trouble. 

I've been doing some gardening and have potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes growing so far. A variety of seeds have been planted in the past couple days, but haven't sprouted yet. I'll probably share pictures in the future when they do sprout. :)  

Well I would love to chat with you in the comments and hear how your year has been or what you have been up to recently. Enjoy the day! 

God: Giver of Choices & Life

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was one of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God: how great is the sum of them! 

~Psalm 139:14-17

Most people choose to identify themselves as either pro-life or pro-choice. Pro-choicers agree that it is perfectly okay to kill a baby in the womb and pro-lifers oppose it. Pro-choicers vote for women to have a choice on whether they want to keep their own baby or kill it. Pro-lifers love life and see it as a sacred, precious gift. No matter what people think about this issue of abortion, which is snuffing out thousands upon thousands of lives every year, God does not have to think about it. He knows life is precious because he created it, each one with a purpose. And it is not a human right to discard it like it is a piece of trash. But very sadly, that is happening all the time in this world.
In Deuteronomy chapter 30, God is speaking to Moses and the children of Israel. They would receive blessings if they continued following the commandments God provided, and they would experience judgments from God if they followed after the gods of the nations and disobeyed God. In verse 19, we read “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Even though this was spoken to Israel, I think it can be applied to today. God sets before us two options: life and death. Life brings blessing and death brings cursing. God is all for promoting and giving life and he gives choices. The choice he wants each one to make is of course, that of life so you and your seed may live. And you will be blessed.


love,
Ashley
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days...
~Deuteronomy 30:20

The Basic Bible Atlas ~ Book Review

About the book:

The Bible tells the story of God meeting real people in a real time and place, yet we rarely pause to wonder, “why there?” Maybe we have a hard time even picturing where “there” is. To begin to fully understand the Bible, we must understand the geographical settings of Scripture and how each place participated in the biblical story. With its colorful maps and illustrations, “The Basic Bible Atlas” helps us do just that, so we can appreciate how place impacted events in the Bible. From Eden to Egypt, from the promised land to Persia, from Bethlehem to the new Jerusalem, “The Basic Bible Atlas” is your ticket to explore the land of the Bible as never before.

My thoughts:

This was my first time reading a Bible atlas, and I found it to be very informative. The book started with Genesis and finished with Revelation, highlighting important stories and showing colorful maps that coordinated with the events that happened. It is one thing to read about the cities, rivers, and sites that are mentioned in the Bible, but when seen on a map, it helps connect all the places together. Despite the author’s use of the NIV version, I enjoyed this book and thought it was well written and put-together. I am glad to add this book to my collection, as I’m sure it will be used on many occasions in the future.

***I received this book from BakerBooks and happily provided a review.***