Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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   I have had the incredible opportunity to spend the last week in London, England and our squad will remain in London through the New Year.  As I start my blog I want to back pedal a few days. In Bangkok our leaders found out we would not be going to Swaziland for the month of December.  In less than ten hours, thirty-two world racers were packed and on a one way ticket outta Asia.  After the whirlwind of travelling, our squad had just arrived in London.  Jenn (also known as J Lev or the Lev-Fash) and I were headed to the mall to invest in some warm clothing.  (I quickly realized my pair of reef flops weren’t going to cut it in the middle of an English winter.)   Jenn is a beautiful southern girl with a surprising amount ghetto-ness locked away in her DNA.  She ranks very highly on my list of favourite world travelling sidekicks. We laugh together often and overwhelmingly the Lord has blessed me by our friendship.  Throughout the year Jesus has used her to encourage me and to challenge.  This time Jenn and I were headed to the mall and we are just talking. In conversation, she stops and says to me. ” You know, Ashley, I am just amazed at the extravagance of God.”   

Extravagance- A condition have going or being beyond what is needed, desired, or appropriate.

Extravagance- The quality of exceeding the appropriate limits of decorum or probability or truth.

Extravagance-Something that is an indulgence rather than a necessity.

   

Yeah, Jenn is right I thought to myself.  The Lord truly is extravagant.  As a result, the thought I have mulled over in my mind throughout the last few weeks is this: The simple truth that God chooses to bless me. Pondering the blessing of God over my life in recent days literally left me without words for an afternoon (which is quite a feat in light of how much I can talk).  

 So, here’s my thankfulness list……The extravagant blessings of God in my life.

 I am thankful to be alive.

I am thankful that I know truth and the truth has set me free.

 I am blessed with being enlarged in a community of saints.

 God loves me. Isn’t that awesome!

I am thankful for Christmas lights and hot chocolate.

I am thankful for surfboards and ski mountains.

I am thankful for books, every kind of book. From murders mysteries to theological commentaries. From Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter (Josh and Dan you are not allowed to comment) to my path physiology textbook. I am thankful for the finances to afford books. Moreover, I am thankful for the education I have been given which allowed me to learn to read.

I am thankful for Scripture.

I am thankful for music- Coldplay, Denna Carter, Gun n Roses, Billy Currington….

I am thankful that God allows me to grasp the love of God with others in a way that you cannot grasp it alone.

I am blessed with strength through His Spirit.

I am blessed with the love of God, which surpasses all knowledge through the Spirit of God. 

I am blessed with a sound mind and intellect.

I am blessed to have a nursing degree (from the greatest university ever….Go Gators).

I am blessed to be a nurse.

Hilarious friends bless me.

 I am thankful for great friends and family.

I am blessed to be American, and all the profound blessing and responsibility that comes with American citizenship.

 I am thankful for those who remind me deepest identity and legitimacy. 

I am blessed with those who care greatly about me.

I am thankful for huge earrings and red shoes.

I am thankful to spend this year on a kicking team- Shanda, Dre, P-One, Josue and Dan- Yall rock!

I am stunned that I am a daughter of the One True King.

”A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is ,by Chirstian standards in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.” C.S. Lewis