New furniture

New dining table and chairs. The table has a self-storing leaf (it folds up and stays inside the table) that, when expanded, makes this a 54 inch square. Now we have plenty of room for our Thanksgiving family feasts!

Our new bed. 

Hand me those rose colored glasses, please

What a difference a few weeks make! A few weeks ago I was feeling totally out of balance. Work was insane, I wasn't focusing on the things I wanted to spend time on, etc. Luckily, things have slowed down at work and I've rededicated myself to taking time for the things I deem important. 

I continuously surprise myself at how quickly my perspective can change. One minute, I'm ready to throw in the towel. The next minute, I'm looking through the rose colored glasses again and everything is F-I-N-E.

I had a wonderful conversation with a dear friend last night that really reminded me of how blessed my life is! God is continuously doing a work in me and he often shows me that work through my dear friend Liz. As I've probably mentioned before, Liz and I are somehow cosmically connected, as we often face parallel things in our lives at the same time. But the other thing I love about our relationship is how, so beautifully, one of us can help the other, usually without even knowing it. Luckily for me, it's usually Liz helping me!  Her faithfulness has really challenged me to realign my own life and the benefits are indescribable.  Just last night we were talking about God's timing versus our own timing when I was able to share a story with her about a woman I know from my church who prayed for forty years that her husband would come to know Christ. FORTY YEARS! And, after forty years, this woman's husband's heart was changed. What's so interesting is that, in me sharing that story with Liz, I was reminded of the issue of God's timing. Here I am, trying to help out Liz, and I end up helping out myself. Or rather, God showed grace towards both of us simultaneously. How wonderful! The conversation of timing reminds me so quickly of this passage in Philippian's:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippian's 4:6-7

If there is one thing I'm great at, it's worrying about stuff. If it was a profession, I would be making a LOT of $$. I love this passage because it reminds me to stop wasting time worrying or making too many plans and instead immediately encourages me to bring my energy back to "prayer and petition, with thanksgiving".  Isn't that beautiful?

In other news, some things have fallen through with Andy's original school plans and he is now going to be finishing up in May 2010. While this was definitely something that we weren't expecting and seriously upset Andy (and me), it was amazing to see how God showed up in this situation too. I was recently talking to my dad about the possibilities Andy and I had discussed after hearing of his setback when my dad said "the door closed for a reason. You're supposed to stay at UNI for at least another year". What made this so unusual was that my dad is NOT the type of person to talk in this way. Usually, he just shrugs his shoulders and says "whatever". I knew immediately it was God working through my dad to remind me that His will is ever-present and I need to keep my eyes, ears, and heart open to stay on the path. 

Other than all of that, things are great in Iowa. We're anxiously awaiting the spring thaw and Andy is gearing up for Spring Break. On Sunday he will head home for a week for a much deserved break. I'll stay in Iowa to hold down the fort. 

I'll try to put up some pictures soon. Our new furniture arrived a few weeks ago and I'd love to share! 

In peace and love,

Ashleigh (and Andy)