City of Angels

Here are a few pic updates from my trip to LA! Although I was sick as a dog and still feeling the effects of falling down a flight of stairs, the Lord was faithful to bring much favor upon each relationship I went to invest in. I enjoy Southern California so much, and I really feel so blessed to have gone there for work and play. See below for some awesome pics!

This is Simon's aunt Patricia and cousin Jessica who live in Anaheim Hills. They picked me up from the airport, fed me, and showed me the cutest baby pics of Simon! We had a great time laughing and getting to know each other. I was SO thankful for the chance to meet them on this trip.

Then, my dear friends Melissa and Odoi picked me up in Anaheim and I met their little man, 2 year old Dzabe. He's my nephew! Isn't he the cutest?! We drove back to Pasadena where they live, had some good Mexican food and wonderful conversation, followed by crazy ice cream from 21 Choices on West Colorado Blvd. YUMMY! I highly recommend it.

Melissa, Dzabe and I woke up early Sunday morning and drove to Yucaipa, CA to visit Set Free. It's the home church of the Southern Baptist branch of Set Free. The pastor and his wife are the loveliest of people. We had dinner with another Pastor, Kirk, and his sweet 2 year old Elijah. Then we followed them on a drive to the desert to visit the ranches of Set Free. This is where they take the men and women who they meet on the streets who need a place to live and recover.

Then we drove to Riverside to meet a girl from California Baptist, but it didn't work out. We saw a random Starbucks and Dzabe fell asleep :)

Early Monday morning, Melissa drove me to downtown LA where I met Kyla! We drove south to San Juan Capistrano for a retreat day with Brenda Keck. She used to live in Africa, as well as Nashville. She and her husband now live in SoCal and he works for Saddlback. It was an amazing day with her! Look at the grounds of this ranch!!! ( I love how everything in California was called "a ranch").

After a long day, my dear old friend Jason made us a yummy supper of fish, asparagus, and couscous. We went to his flat in West Hollywood, talked about the last 5 years of life, and laughed together :) It was good for all our souls.

On my one day with Melissa (sad!), we drove up to Malibu and hung out on the beach. But it was kinda chilly, so we hopped in the car and drove back down to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I had been to Santa Monica, so we headed toward Venice Beach. Oh my word. I loved and hated it all at once. It's the most filthy, sinful, dark place. But I just felt such love for this place. I felt the need almost crying out from the ground. We walked the boardwalk and I think I enjoyed this more than anything else we could have done.

After a long 4 days, running on near-empty, we drove home to Pasadena and enjoyed a Sushi dinner at Ahoy!Sushi and a trip to Target :) Crashed after midnight and then woke up early to head to work with Melissa. She works for a anti-trafficking organization called Oasis. Her boss used to work at Rocketown, and for Jars of Clay and Audio Adrenaline. He's a Nashvillian. What a small world!! We had a nice long chat about ministry and I enjoyed feeling my passion connect with other like-minded people.

Then, I hopped on my plane and got stuck in a snowstorm in Denver, getting me home at 1 a.m. this morning :( yuck. Worst part of the trip!

What an amazing time! I loved every minute of it. I was so richly blessed by the opportunity to see so many people doing such awesome work for Jesus, and loving what they do! I leave you with a quote I have tried to live my life by these last few years, and I feel like it epitomizes the heart and passion of all those I met in LA:

"Dont ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman.

Light&Love.

Ashley