Happy October! (October 10)

Hey everyone,

Happy October! It’s the month for scary movies and ghost stories, for candy and costumes, for Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus and all the other Disney movies if you are into all that sort of thing. If you are not into Halloween or Disney movies, it's still fun to see all the candy at the store and really fun to see all the kids dressed up. I love Halloween, but for me, Halloween isn't the only cool thing about October, it's also my birthday month. I love celebrations and will make a pretty big deal about my birthday, claiming a birthday "week" instead of a birthday "day". And of course, something great about birthdays is surprises!

When I was young I learned in Fellowship that when you ask the Father a question, He will answer in one of three ways "yes," "no," or "wait." I think the Father has given me a little bit of a special answer just for my birthday and turned "wait" into "surprise!" In my last update I talked a little about my struggle with figuring out my purpose here this year in China. This is a question I'm still asking the Father, in fact I spent today asking the Father that question. I felt the Father was telling me to spend time with Him, just me and Him, and I felt that He wanted me to spend it in silence to seek His will for me this year and His will after this year. Two passages influenced this decision, I'm reading in Ezekiel and as part of His warning to the Father's people, He was mute for a long time. I don't need to warn anyone but the idea of spending some time in silence was appealing to me. Another passage confirmed this, Pslam 62 "For God alone my soul waits in silence." After one more confirmation from a friend who had a dream about me needing time with Him, it was set. I put aside today, or the better part of today, to spend in silence. I went to a nearby park and spent time reading and lifting up my concerns. But instead of the Father answering me "no" or even "wait".. He said surprise!

I went asking the Father about what He has in store for the future but instead of giving me an answer to my question, He surprised me with an answer to another. He told me to look a bit farther ahead, to remember where I will be in the end, in eternal glory with Him. Instead of giving me what I asked for, He told me to trust Him, to wait with Him, to remember what is important, that I will spend eternity with Him and these little worries of mine are temporal and will be taken care of. So He surprised me and gave me sweet time with Him when I expected much less. He always seems to answer my questions that way, giving me much more than I asked for and telling me to wait with Him. What's funny is that I soon forget this assurance and ask again but He is patient with me, always surprising me with better things.

Thanks for reading! I'll keep you updated!
Ashley