Shut down..

Today I reunited with a friend from college who I haven't sat down and had a conversation with in 4 years. Our paths are crossing again with reason. WE ended up having a really awesome conversation about HOW amazing GOD is. She told me her 4 year life story and I told her mine. I was a little overwhelmed at all the amazing things God has done in her life the past few years, and it was a true testimony to how God can work in a persons' life when they humble themselves before Him and are willing to be used. By the end of our talk we both came to the conclusion that God is working in every aspect of our lives. Nothing is just a 'coincidence.' The people God puts into my life are there for a reason. I don't believe we meet people by 'coincidence.' For example, the other day I went to a tattoo place to get an ear piercing. There were a lot of unique people with crazy tattoos and piercings. I did not really fit in and felt quite of place. I sat down next to this girl with tats and pink hair and started a conversation with her. As I started talking to her, I realized that she was so nice. I really liked her. By the end of the conversation, we were talking about God and the church she goes to. (FYI) I did not say anything about God to her. She was the one who started talking about it to me. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that it's not a coincidence that I met that nice pink haired girl in the tattoo parlor. God is everywhere that I am and in every crazy place that i'm at. I love that there is an opportunity for me to show Christ's love to people in every place that I go. And I mean EVERY place!!! This verse in Proverbs,'You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail,' is absolutely true for me. I"m always making PLANS and trying to figure out what I should do with my life. I've prayed a thousand prayers telling God how I want things to go down. I'm sure there are times when I tell God my plans, and He just laughs at me and says 'HA HA Ashley. You're funny. You know i'm going to change it up on you.' Almost every single plan I have made for myself = has been SHUT DOWN!! It got to the point where I said, "OK GOD. I'm done overanalyzing, done telling you how I want things to be, done trying to control my tomorrow, done having mini paralyzing panic attacks and asking myself what if this happens? what if that happens? DONE DONE DONE. I'm giving my life to YOU, because it is absolutely exhausting and draining trying to handle it all by myself." My prayer is for God to give me the ability to fully trust that He has a plan for me that's better than I can imagine. I'm learning to 'humble' my weary self before God every day and let Him work on me. I want to be used in as many ways as possible. I want to be transformed into His likeness. I want to be more like Him and LESS like me. More selfless (less selfish), more generous(less stingy), more forgiving (less bitter), more open minded (less judgmental), more joyful (less depressed). And the list could go on and on. I'm DONE dwelling on the past and replaying all my bad and (even) good times. It's difficult and (dangerous) to drive forward when i'm looking back through the rear view mirror, so i'm moving forward and not looking back anymore. http://youtu.be/m3UQ42qmiI8