Joey and Lena

I love little kids.

They're so stinkin' hilarious! :)

I was at church today, and I was helping this grandma babysit her two granddaughters (aka my two favorite little girls in the whole world!), so when there was the children's story in my church (kinda like a children's sermon, ish), I helped take Laney and Kylee up to the front. Laney's Sabbath School teacher was telling the story, so she especially wanted to be there. :) So I stayed while he told the story.

And this story was basically about John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life..."

Anyway, so instead of writing "For God..." he wrote "For Good..." He did this on purpose, btw. Anyway, so by the time I got there, the kids were all shouting at him that he had spelled God wrong, and everything.

So then, this little boy--he's probably in about 5th grade--I'll call him Joey. Anyway, after they were all exasperated at trying to convince him that he was wrong, Joey shouted out, "Mr. Ellis, you need to go back to school!"

haha! I love kids. They're so funny!

Then, "Mr. Ellis" tried to put his hand over "Good" to see if they would just ignore it (which, of course, they didn't... silly little kids!). And he tried to get them to read the Bible verse again. After they tried to do what he asked a couple times, this other little girl (who I'll call Lena), probably in fourth or fifth grade, said SOOO drolly and hilariously: "Mr. Ellis, I don't think God is very happy with you right now..."

HA! The things that come out of kids' mouths. It cracks me up! haha.

I just figured you would enjoy that bit of childish adorableness from my life. haha.

Maybe this is why we need to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. Being a kid is so simple and easy. :)

Till next time,
Ash the (Amused) Dreamer

Ashley the Magnificent's Misadventure

Usually, my self-imposed alter-ego is utterly cool. :) Okay, not always, but I like to think so, hehe. But today... today, Ashley the Magnificent had an utter misadventure. :/

I had to work today, at my semi-nice, but usually-annoying job at Taco Bell. When I got my lunch break at about 2:00, I decided to walk up the hill (only a couple hundred yards) to a nearby Subway restaurant. I made it there with flair--I was oh-so-cool (haha, not really... but it makes my downfall even more the climactic, haha). And I ordered my sandwich and was on my way back to work, to eat there before I had to clock back in. :) The route was part grass, part rocks, but mostly just black pavement. Anyway, so I was all happy (I really don't know why I was this happy--usually I'm not that happy during work, haha) and not paying attention to where I was going. And I stepped into this pothole, and I IMMEDIATELY knew something awful was going to happen, haha.

My ankle twisted in a not-so-great (but not destructively at all--it just felt really weird, haha) manner, and I could feel myself falling--and falling FAST. I don't know what happened, but my fingers were trying to keep my face from getting all scratched up, but somehow they were all mangled and twisted in all the wrong ways underneath my hips (what in the world were they doing all the way down there?!), my rear end was flying high in the air, and my shoulders were somehow very securely fastened to the ground. It's a position I remember LOVING sleeping in when I was a toddler, haha (who knows why, it's one of the most uncomfortable positions I know now, lol!).

The first thing I thought to do was to straighten out my fingers, so I didn't break them, and then I just lay there on the ground, breathing in the grass, trying to get my heart to beat again. I'm such a klutz. haha.

Then I finally turned over, and.... and, oooh, did I mention that this Subway is seated in this gas station?! It totally is, and there were about four or five people filling up their gas tanks, just staring at me, not including passengers in the cars. Oooh, it was SOOO utterly embarrassing, lol.

I sat there for a few moments, then got up and walked back to Taco Bell, and I ate my sandwich. And I was limping around the whole day. When I took a shower earlier, I thought I was going to pass out when I had to wash my left knee, which has a LOVELY rug-burn. :/ It had bled a bit earlier, and I'm all good, but I figured you all would love the little embarrassing moment in my life. haha.

And you want to know the BEST part? After I finished my sandwich, I called my mom, for two reasons. One, because I'm a wussy and I needed to hear my mommy's voice after such an ordeal (hehe). Two, because lunch breaks are UTTERLY boring if you don't have something to do or someone to talk to. :/

So I told her the whole story, about nobody coming to help me up or see if I was okay, and all, and then I went back to work, and while I was sweeping the dining room or something, this family that was sitting at the table next to where I had been eating called my name (we are required to wear name tags, but it's still really shocking when total strangers just call out "Ashley" or say "Thanks, Ashley!" to me. haha) out across the dining room, and they were like, "Oh, we're so sorry we didn't help you up! We thought you were just sitting down to eat your lunch..." (And I still question: What person in their right mind would think that ANYBODY doing a face-plant was just sitting down to have a dandy little lunch?!)

Hahahahahaha.

Usually, my life isn't this entertaining, but I thought it was pretty funny. At least I didn't break my ankle or pass out or worse. Thank God. :)

Till next time,
Ash the (Royally Embarrassed) Dreamer

Picture Day!!!!

I usually don't do this, but I really liked quite a few pictures I took today... I'm a really bad photographer, lol, but alas... here they are! :) Lea and I went to this park by a museum in-town today (simply called "The Museum Park", lol), and it was freezing cold, but we had a lot of fun! :)


Purple flowers! My favorite! haha.


I don't like white flowers as much, but these are really pretty and lacy! Sorry about my hand and my iPod, lol... It was really windy, so I had to hold the branch still. :)


There are these really cool bridges everywhere in the park. This probably doesn't do it justice, but they're really rustic and awesome. :)



I love tulips! And I think these white ones were so beautiful. :) There were hundreds of them--well, maybe 50 of them, but they were so pretty!


I managed to get Lea to stop running around to get a picture of her! Isn't she just adorable?


This is my favorite! I just love the contrast of the water and the pretty flowers... and it took me forever to get it just right, so I'm pretty happy about this one, haha.


And I usually hate all the pictures of me out there (well, lately, anyway), but I thought this one wasn't too bad. haha. :)

And that was Lea's and my adventure! :)

Till next time,
Ash the (Artistic) Dreamer

Easy

Sometimes I think we should take life lessons from kid songs.

I am pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but once a month, I play the piano for the Sabbath School (the equivalent of Sunday School, but on Saturday, haha) class for toddlers--well, newborn to just before they turn four years old. Those kids completely revolutionized me--I am pretty sure I know exactly why Jesus said when He said we need to be children to enter the kingdom of God.

But no wonder their joy is so great, and their love is so strong. I was just practicing a little bit ago some of the songs that I'll have to play for them in about three weeks, and the lyrics for one of the songs goes like this:

Jesus made me a special way, a special way, a special way.
Jesus made me a special way, because He loves me.

How great is that?! Why can't the lyrics of ALL songs be like that? Why do we make faith so hard, sometimes?

I think following Jesus was meant to be simple, and we just make it difficult.

I was looking at family pictures tonight, of when I was about ten years old. Around that time, my baby sister was about two, which is pretty much my favorite age ever. I guess I don't know that many kids when they're going through the terrible twos. haha. I was just struck by how awesome it was to be a kid, and how I wish my childhood would have been less awkward, but how beautiful being a child really is.

And then, that makes me want to live out my faith in a very real, tangible, sweet, honest, but especially SIMPLE way. We make faith so complicated, but it's really so simple.

And then I think of the children I hope to have one day, especially a little girl named Isabelle Jane, and I hope it's easy for her, too.

But not just Isabelle and me. I hope believing in Jesus and following the truth comes easily and joyfully to all of us.

And that's all I really have to say tonight. I hope you all have had a great week! :)

Till next time,
Ash the (Hopeful) Dreamer

Target

Hello, dears! :)

I don't know why I've been doing this lately, but all these funny things I come across are soooo worth repeating, lol. Anyway, so my brother forwarded this to my email address today, and I couldn't stop laughing. :) hahahaha.

WHY WOMEN SHOULDN'T TAKE MEN SHOPPING

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to
Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and
preferred to get in and get out.
Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women
she loves to browse.
Yesterday my dear wife received the following
letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samuel,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in
our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban
both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samuel,
are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1.June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other
people's cart when they weren't looking.

2.July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in House wares to go off at 5-minute
intervals.

3.July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the
women's restroom.

4.July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice,
'Code 3 in House wares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to
leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor
that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose
time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on
layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the
children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and
blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying
and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMT's were
called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a
mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he
asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11 ..October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly
humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12 .October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by
using different sizes of funnels.

13 .October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through,
yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14 .October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he
assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'


And last, but certainly not least:

15 ..October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited
awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of
the clerks passed out.

Haha, till next time,
Ash the (Happy) Dreamer

New Blog...

Hey, everybody! I can't stay for long, but I just wanted to say that for my advanced composition class this semester, I have to create this new blog... so this one is still staying, for personal stuff as it always has, but if you want to check out my project, the url is http://ashthehopeful.blogspot.com. :)

Hope you all are doing good! I hope to have a "real" blog up in a few days, haha.

Till next time,
Ash the (Tired) Dreamer

To Jesus, with Love...

Do you know what I love most about Easter?

Jesus.

I love it that my favorite part of Easter is so simple. Jesus is so simple. :)

I have felt like a royal mess for a bit today. I still feel a bit like I'm a royal mess.

But thinking about Jesus, and how He died, even knowing that I would have days like this--days when my anger makes me an animal, days when my sins make me feel disgraceful, days when I feel like a moron, an idiot, and an imbecile. On days when my sins feel like mountains and I'm living in the valley... Jesus died for me, even then.

Over 2000 years ago, Jesus knew I would have this day... this day when I blow up at friends and ignore His friendship when it matters. And at the end of the day, Jesus knew I would need His hug, and Jesus knew I would need someone to wipe away my tears.

And somewhere inside of me, I believe wholeheartedly that even though Jesus didn't die just for me, Jesus did die so that He could be resurrected, so He COULD give me the hug I desperately need, and He WOULD be around to dry my tears.

Jesus died for this mess that I am.

And that's what matters. Jesus didn't die for me for just the good days--Jesus died for me so I could flourish in the bad days, too.

And that's what makes all the difference in the world.

I can't even imagine Jesus being in a grave on a Friday night like this, not being with me, resting so completely, His fight over, the victory won. I can barely even conceive it. Sometimes, I wish I could have been there, knowing what happens, just to see the faces of the disciples and Mary and all the others when they saw Jesus resurrected. Because those three days saved the world, and to be there would have been glorious.

Right now, though, I'm just so grateful to be on the receiving end of grace that I don't really hope for much else. :)

Happy Easter, everybody! :)

Till next time,
Ash the (Graced) Dreamer