Passe Catabois, Haitian Mountains
"No matter what my future holds, I cannot but speak that He saved me from myself. I cannot be still. No matter where my feet are planted, Jesus must be the undeniable characteristic that defines this life, this voice, this heart. No matter who or what presents itself - to scare or intrigue me - Jesus "the impolite, uncomfortable radical" will be the life preserver I finally acknowledged whilst drowning in my own dark sea. Thank you Jesus, for never giving up on me."
"Dont waste this. Wherever you are, Be All There. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Jim Elliott
"Do something for somebody else - No matter where you are, there is something you can do, somebody who needs you. Pray that you may be an instrument of God's Peace, that where there is lonliness you may bring joy." Elizabeth Elliott
"When lifes' roads give you forks, Wal-mart gives you man shorts." Ashlee Mills
"Maybe its only those who've made such chaos of their lives who can understand the heights and depths of God's mercy." Francine Rivers
Recap Email Excerpt
"Haiti was the hardest month Ive spent in a long time, not simply because I am nowhere near "outdoorsy" (my favorite story is sitting around with the east coast girls playing a get-to-know-you game, and Leah asked us to name our favorite trees. I said green. I was not joking) but because Ive never felt more vulnerable. Unprotected in the wilderness, apart from my usual armor of makeup, heels, and reputation, scared nightly that I would be machetteed in my sleep. More importantly, and shockingly, there were no distractions. Nowhere to hide from God, even behind a daily routine. It was a total exfoliation of the dead skin of my life. Tough... but awesome."
Ashlee Mills Journal Entry - July 28, 2008
"...words fail
where transformation persists.
...descriptions lack
where beauty is beheld.
...restoration happens
when pride is expunged
mercy accepted
explicit surrender."
Isaiah 61
"...because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
...and give them beauty for ashes."
9 comments:
OK, first I must comment on the unimportant, yet hilarious, excerpts from your post... the "manshorts" quote was priceless. And machetteed is right up there on the list of "Ashlee's made up words that actually make sense if you think about it." It sort of reminds me of: mustachioed.
I am so blessed beyond words to hear you talking about the Lord in this way and to see you using your life and talents to bring Him glory. Your trip looked truly life changing and you obviously changed MANY lives while you were there. The picture of you holding the tiny baby was so precious. And you look so beautiful without an ounce of make up on! (not fair).
I am so excited to see what next steps you take with your life to serve God and I am always here to help you or encourage you any way I can.
Love you!!
Ash, Wow..what an amazing journey and beautiful story of how Christ reaches in and pulls us out of ourselves. So incredibly told by your words and your photos. Amazing! The picture of you holding that precious little child makes me cry...seriously.
I am so proud of you in so many ways, including the fact that I am proud to be your friend!
On a side note, I don't know if the picture was of your legs or not, but whoever had all those bug bites on their ankles had an eerily similar pattern to the bug bites I had on my legs after New Orleans...kinda freaky if you ask me.
By the way, for clarifications sake, I know you did not make up "mustachioed," but it SOUNDS like a word you would make up and it was always hilarious when you used it.
I love the new title and picture of your blog! I really can't describe how excited I am for you and what God has in store for your life!
My voice is returning so I will be calling you soon. Be prepared to tell me everything!
You are a good example to me. And to everyone who knows you.
It looks like you had an amazing time on your trip. I can imagine that it was truly life changing. I love your blog, by the way (I found you on Jen's site.) You always have been able to express yourself so well in writing!
Love ya!
Rachel
Ash, this is amazing. You write with such conviction and transparency. I can't believe everything you experienced in the past 6 months - and then finishing it up with a month-long trip to Haiti. You're an amazing person and I truly admire you .
Once again I am thanking you in the comments section of your blog. You yelled at me yesterday and told me to comment more on your posts because you are tired of my "silent trolling" of your blog as you once put it.
I wanted to thank you for praying for me this last year. I wanted to thank you for pushing me to make choices God would be proud of. I wanted to thank you for all the support you've given me through all the painful things I've had to endure this last year. I wanted to thank you for inspiring me to start my own journey of redemption and I hope that I get to go to Haiti this summer since you can't.
Please don't ever stop pushing me.
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