Thankfulness:4EP

Day 3:4EP
I am incredibly thankful for being able to go to North Central University, and I'm especially thankful for the amazing floor that I've been put on! I couldn't have asked for better floor leadership or a better group of girls. At first, I must admit, I was a little worried about living with so many girls. I had never shared a room in my life, and I had only ever lived with brothers. But, I have loved every minute being on my floor, 4 East Phillipps. We have bonded so well as a floor; there seems to be a lot of unity. I love how we can all hang out as a big group, but we can also hang out with each other one-on-one. I have really connected with the girls, and I am so thankful for that. I have made some very close friendships in such a short amount of time, and it's been great. I know that I can always go to anyone on my floor if I need anything. 


4EP means a lot to me. It is a place where I feel loved and accepted. I feel comfortable and I feel at home when I'm there. It is so nice to leave home, only to come to a place where I also feel home. We've had so many great memories! Like that one time we walked to Applebees, and on our way home it started pouring rain and we were all drenched! Or all the random dance parties and music videos we've made. Or how there's always, at least in one of the suites, a movie playing, sometimes multiple movies in a day. Or the times that we've had deep conversations or even the times we've had hilarious conversations. It was a blast staying up late and decorating our floor together for Christmas, and I also loved the time when some of us snuck into Ariel's room and piled onto her bed so she could read us a bedtime story. But I also love how when any of us is having a bad day or a tough time, we can all gather together and pray and comfort them. I am lucky to have a group of people to surround me in love and to lift me up in the times when I need it.


I'm just sooo blessed to know all the amazing girls on 4EP! They all mean so much to me, and I thank God for placing them in my life.

I love you girls! ♥

I thank my God every time I remember you. -- Philippians 1:3

Thankfulness:Family

Day 2: Family
I love living on my own and being at college with all my friends, but it's nice to come home to my family. I am so thankful that I have God-fearing parents who have brought me up to know God.  I am thankful for all the bonding time we've had together when I've come home from college. I love my brothers and wouldn't trade them for anything! :)  They're the best brothers ever.  


I was able to come home for Thanksgiving and the day after went Black Friday shopping with my brother, Joshua.  Even though we came out with nothing, the experience was worth it.  We also were able to get our Christmas tree while I was home.  I always enjoy going with my family to Bud's Tree Farm to pick out and cut down our very own tree.  Also, taking our family pictures is always an adventure!  It's hard to keep us all still; we're always goofing off or texting--so this year my dad just decided that for our Christmas card we'd just have a picture of our whole family texting.  It was a big hit! :)


I love how when one of the first times I came home from college I got to wrestle and "beat up" on my little (yet bigger) brothers and how Joshua could, after I attacked him, say to me , "Ashley, get your freshman fifteen off of me!"--but then not too long after that buy me a green and blue lava lamp just because I wanted one.  I love how my brother Wyatt sent me a facebook message while I was at college just to let me know how his first year of high school had been going.   I love how my brothers actually want to hang out with me when I'm home.  


I'm thankful for my dad who works so hard to provide for our family.  I'm thankful that he's so understanding and strong and intelligent.  He's always thinking of how he can better himself and his family.  I'm thankful for my mom, who loves to shop--I hate shopping.  When I come home, she loves to take me shopping and she loves to buy things for me.  We even have had some un-terrible shopping excursions, believe it or not!  I love how my parents do everything they can to make sure my brothers and I have a chance at every opportunity available to us.  They do their best to give us everything we need and want.  I love my family!






Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. -- Ephesians 5:20






Thank you God, for my family--especially for the fact that I was born in a family that already knew and loved you.  I am very blessed for that!


Ashley

Thankfulness:Salvation

I have decided that every day for the next month I am going to post a little blurb about something I am thankful for.  Sometimes, life can really get you down, but when you make an effort to be thankful, it completely changes your heart.  Through this little "self-challenge" I am hoping to keep my focus on God and everything He has so graciously done for me and allowed me to have.  I am hoping to continue to grow in my faith and trust in God through all circumstances, and doing this with a thankful heart and a positive attitude.


~~


Day 1: Salvation
The salvation and love given to me by my wonderful savior is something I can wake up every morning and be thankful for.  This will never change.  I am so thankful that I have a heavenly father who loves me enough to send his son to earth in order to die so that I may live.  It is truly the greatest gift that could ever be given.  I am so thankful that I am able to choose to receive this gift and to live a fulfilled life filled with whole life blessings.  Despite who I was and who I am, God loves me.  I am so undeserving of his gracious gift to me and will forever be grateful for it.  I am thankful that God paved the way for me to know him and grow in relationship with him.  I love God with everything in me, and even when it seems like I have nothing good in my life, I can always remember all that God has given me and the eternal life with Him that he has promised me.






For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. -- Romans 6:23


God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. -- Ephesians 2:8






God, I can't ever thank you enough. I love you.


Ashley

The Greatest Gift of All--That Silent Night

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas festivities, the question always arises, "What is the true meaning of Christmas?" The Christian answer is, "Christ is the meaning of CHRISTmas," and the other, less religious answers are usually, "Family," or "Giving." Kids will say it's about, "presents!"

The truth is, Christmas is about all these things.  It is about giving.  The day of Jesus's birth marked the date of the best gift ever given.  The gift of Jesus, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of someone paying the price for our sins. Jesus was born to die on the cross.  He had a mission and that was to give all who believed and followed God the gift of eternal life. Yes, Christmas is about giving.  We give gifts as a way to model after Christ.  We give the people close to us gifts to show our appreciation, our love, and also as a way to sacrifice some of ourselves, whether it's time or money. In doing this, we are following Christ's example.  All the gifts under the tree are not a bad thing.  Gifts are supposed to be a way to become selfless, to think of others before ourselves.  It's about doing something for someone else simply because you know what it will mean to them. However, it is sad to see how sometimes this mindset of Christmas gets reversed and instead of being about giving like Christ gave, it's about getting what we want or think we deserve. It's so sad that something God intended to be so selfless and loving can become so twisted. What we all need to do is bring it all back to that night...that silent night.

The night was just like any other.  There was nothing special about the time or the place or even the people.  It was just a young woman and her husband who weren't important enough to get a good place to stay the night.  They were sharing a stable with a bunch of animals for the night.  When Jesus was born, he didn't have a crib, he had a manger.  Instead of warm clothes and blankets he had strips of cloth.  But this was no ordinary baby, this was a King. But he wasn't even an ordinary King, and he didn't have just an ordinary birth.  Everything went according to plan, as odd as that may seem, but God knew what he was doing.  Jesus couldn't be born in a fancy palace with gold and jewels and thousands of people bowing down at his cradle.  He had a humble birth, a birth like no other.

When we stop and think of this, all of our meaningless fuss over making everything perfect each Christmas is ridiculous.  Christmas isn't about the shiny lights, the table full of food, the beautifully wrapped presents, the detailed decorations, or the fancy clothes.  Why try so hard for all of that, when that's not what the night of Jesus' birth was like at all?  I'm not saying any of those things are bad, but when people become so wrapped up in making everything over the top and making sure everything is just exactly so, people begin to stress out. Holidays bring about a lot of stress to people.  People often dread the holiday season because of all the work that must be done and all the frustration that comes with it. When Christmas becomes anything like that, it's straying away from what it's really about.  It's about a silent night.  It's about forgetting the stress, forgetting the busyness, and meditating on the true gift that has already been given to us.  We have already received the best gift of all, now we must live in the joy knowing that we have this gift! So shut out any distractions and anything that takes your focus off the gift we've already received on that Silent Night.