I'm THANKFUL for....

piles of clothes laying ALL over the house....carpets that need to be vacuumed, bathrooms that need to be cleaned...and floors that need to be scrubbed!!!

All of the above are gentle reminders that Ash is still at home with us...and those tasks can wait as we spend our final days preparing her from her trip!!

Ash has packed....unpacked..repacked, unpacked yet again, and repacked ONE more time trying to get 6 months worth of clothing into 2-suitcases to check.....and one carry on!!!


In fact, Ash as even admitted that she *has too many clothes*!!!!! :-) Whoever would have thought this could be true???? (let's not talk about her shoes...or her purses...hey, I'm just impressed that she's only taking one purse.....)

It's hard to know exactly WHAT to pack!!!! Of course she will need summer things by day, yet they say the evenings are really cool so she'll need jeans and sweatshirts!! Jeans and sweatshirst will come in handy for when the YWAM team is up at 3:00am...hiking up the mountain to have devotions as they watch the majestic, beautiful sunrise!! (Can I come too???)

Of course, having to really down size your wardrobe has been great too...especially since Ashley is now going through her things...sorting out which cousin's...get what items of hers!!! Let's just say there will be MANY happy young pre-teen girls in Wisconsin when they receive their care packages filled with Ashley's hand-me-downs!!

I'm also thankful for space bags!!!! If you have or do travel...you need to become VERY familiar with them!!! They have been such a HUGE life saver for us!! I'm amazed at HOW much stuff you can pack into those bags, suck the air out....and they shrink down into (almost) nothing-ness!!!! They are amazing.....and they will definitely help us stay under the 50 pound suitcase
limit!


Her's Ash surfing the US Postal Service website trying to figure out the cheapest way to ship her bedding! We just couldn't shrink those items small enough to get them in her suitcase. So, today her Dad is taking her to the post office to ship her bedding so it will be in Maui waiting for her!!

Ashley has also met her roommate on-line, and via their cell phone's which has been super helpful to get a head start on getting aqanted. Ashley's roommate will arrive before she does so she will plan to open Ashley's bedding and get the pick of the room they will be sharing!!! (There are advantages to being the first 2 girls to arrive on the base)

By tonight Ashley's luggage will be ready to go...and now she can step back...and spend the next 6 days doing fun things! Tomorrow, Ashley will spend the day at work with me, visiting one last time with my co-workers, getting one last physical...and then.....(why doesn't this surprise me) one last fix...I mean...trip to the Mall of America...via the light rail system.


Today Ashley will be filling out the Thank-you notes we worked on last night. We are SO blessed by those who have finanically stood behind Ash!!!

God has TRULY been faithful to meet the financial needs. In fact, last Friday...(aside from pledges that will still be coming in)...Ashley was $450.00 short...for her first payment which is due on September 14th. When we returned from our vacation....monies were waiting...and we only had to kick in $30.00!!! Now that's a HUGE PTL!!!

Please continue to pray as Ashley still needs to raise (roughly) $2,700.00 by December 1st for her three month missions outreach which will send her to 3-4 third world countries, bringing the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world!!!!

This entire experience of preparing Ashley to leave for YWAM, and watching how excited she is to reach a lost and hurting world has truly made our *HEARTS* thankful!!!

God has something *SPECIAL* planned for our Ash...and we are just so blessed to be called her parents!!!

Ashley's prayer is this:

You said, "Ask and you will receive whatever you need. You said, "Pray and I'll hear from heaven, And I'll heal your land." U said Your glory will fill the earth Like water the sea. You said, "Lift up your eyes; The harvest is here, the kingdom is near. You said, "Ask and I'll give the nations to you." O Lord, that's the cry of my heart. Distant shores and the islands will see Your light as it rises on us. O Lord, I ask for the nations. O Lord, I ask for the nations.