And this blog is moving!

Well, today I was messing around with my blog, and Blogger caused me to accidentally delete one of my blog posts, so I'm not even going to mess with Blogger anymore. I'm moving my blog to tumblr, which I have never had problems with in the past.

See you over there!

http://andjoycomesinthemorning.tumblr.com/

God bless,
Ashley Curriston

And sometimes we need to look at things twice. Or thrice.

Yesterday, my dad pulled me aside and asked me to read the serenity prayer aloud.

God grant me 

The serenity to accept 

the things I cannot change

the courage to change 

those things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Then, he showed me that he had seen my previous blog post on my anxieties about my upcoming trip. He read through each thing on my list and helped me to put everything in to perspective. This is all in God's hands, and although it is natural to be anxious, I should not be scared because I am forever living in the grasp of my Heavenly Father. 

Thanks, Dad, for reminding me of Truth. 

God bless,

Ashley 

And we are all called to go, but no one ever said that going would be easy.

Wow. I can't believe this is actually happening.
I am leaving for the Dominican Republic in less than a week.
I will be boarding a flight to Atlanta (and from there, a flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) at 5:30 AM, on Monday, May 28. I will be there until Thursday, July 19.
I'm so overwhelmed with emotions and anxiety that I don't even really have words to describe what I'm truly feeling right now, but here are some things that pop in to my head right now:

• I haven't exactly finished my assigned reading . . .  that was assigned to me in February.
• I think part of me is afraid that I'm not nearly spiritually prepared enough for this. 
• I have almost no idea of what is expected of me when I arrive, so I'm a little afraid that I won't be able to live up to what is expected of me.
• I keep trying to remind myself not to have any preconceived notions of what I will be doing there, so to compensate, I'm trying to prepare for every possible situation that could ever potentially happen. 
• Every time I travel anywhere, I always have some anxiety that I'm forgetting something incredibly important. (Like . . .  underwear. Or soap.) This time, I've drawn up a packing checklist. I just hope that I'm not forgetting to put something on my packing checklist. 
• My flight leaves at 5:30 AM. Which means I will have to be at the airport at, like . . .  3:30 AM. Yay.
• No phone for 2 months!
• Last time I left the country, I got appendicitis (allegedly) and thought I was dying. 
• Four words: Malaria, Denque, Typhoid, Cholera.
• What if I forget to take my Malaria pills?!?!
• Other than clowning, I have essentially NO IDEA what I will be doing for the next 8 weeks. None. 
• I need to learn how to twist balloons better. I'm not very good or very fast.
• I hope I have enough room in my luggage for everything I need to pack! 
• Not knowing what I'm going to be doing ahead of time makes me anxious, but it's also a little bit exciting.
• I'm flying Delta. Delta sucks. Truly. 
• I don't want to be strip-searched/felt-up at the airport.
• I've never done a mission trip for more than a week, and I've definitely never done one alone. I'm afraid this is going to be a lot more taxing than I ever expected.
• I'm afraid of doing something wrong. 
• I think part of me is afraid that I'm going to hate it. I've been planning on doing something in missions for a profession since I was 13, so if I hate it, I don't know what I would do with my life. 
• I'm afraid of realizing that I'm too materialistic or selfish or that I value comfort too much for the missions field.
• Sometimes I forget to drink water. I cannot forget to drink water. 
• Sunburn. Bug bites. Heat stroke. Diarrhea.
• I'm afraid that God will realize I'm terrible and selfish and decide not to call me to missions. 
• I'm afraid of not being able to accomplish the goals that I set out for myself while I'm there. 
• Hurricanes. Tropical Storms. Earthquakes.
• I can't wait to see all the beautiful people!
• I still need to write out my testimony, and I have no idea what I'm going to write about.
• I'm afraid that my grandma will die while I am gone. She is so sick. And unlike Matthew's grandfather, there's pretty much no way she is going to Heaven.
• I know that God will work some wonderful things through me, or at least in spite of me. I'm looking forward to watching it unfold. 
• When I went to Costa Rica alone, I knew a few of the people already from the summer before. This time, I know almost nothing about everyone that I will meet for the next 8 weeks, including the missionaries. That's a little bit daunting. 
• I hope that I get to hold some precious little black babies. I love black babies. Actually, I love all babies.

So, if you could, please just pray for my peace of mind. I'm definitely going to need it. 

God bless,

Ashley

P.S. I'm just gonna leave this here . . .