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


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

another abundance.

1 Corinthians 4.9-13 ..for it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted we endure it. When we are slandered we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world… I think I must have fallen asleep during this lesson in Sunday school class. Somehow, I missed this part. Because over the past few years, I have faced some difficult days and for whatever reason, the framework I was using to understand those confusing times wasn’t the one above. I thought hard times were a sign that I...
Read more

Like Mike (And the man at the Pool).

Image
My brother was born with down syndrome. Due to his mental handicap, he perceives the world differently than I do. Things I would never do are no big deal to him. He doesn't have as much of a filter as me. Sometimes thats a great thing, other times it's life-threatening (like the time he thought he was superman and jumped out my bedroom window). But overall, Mike teaches me an incredible amount about my faith. While visiting America this last time, we attended one of his baseball games. Mike walked up to the plate convinced he was going to do something SO BIG that everyone would remember him forever. He picked up that bat, strode to the home plate, pointed out at the pitcher as if to warn her of the pending doom, and then took charge. After a few missed swings, he knocked the ball into the field and somehow managed a home run out of it! With his slow running pace and half the fielders being in wheel chairs, the odds were not necessarily in his favor but he pulled it off :) ...
Read more

visual updates for all you right-brainers...

Image
poem's sisters, all grown up and living in ocean view. L to R: mckayla, melissa, spune. capricorn boys overlooking the burial of one of their own. RIP Mabuti. christmas 2010. the boys played soccer while the girls played shy. crazy people on a crazy elevator. penny and i went to prom as dates. they had a foam machine. this was the state of her feet after five minutes. see next photo for details. the child is bonkers. visiting keaton in prison (the one getting his nose pseudo-picked :) he recently was hit by a car and really struggling. pray for my little man) on my way to simonstown via train. try to blame me for living in south africa :) the old man who lives at beth rapha. me and my little men: leshwin and ryan. penny shot. the child loves her dried meat. (it beats gas station beef jerky any day of the week, american readers). penny's breakfast at the old biscuit mill. no wonder she l...
Read more