She Speaks

The last time I was with a group of women for an entire weekend was July 11, 2008. I had spent the weekend at the Center for New Life. I was served breakfast, lunch and dinner... all cooked by someone other than me. I had clean towels artfully arranged in the bathroom everyday. Someone even checked on me every couple of hours. Drinks were overflowing and snacks were readily at hand. Sounds like Heaven or some hip, Hollywood hangout. 'Tis not the case. It's the maternity ward. I had just given birth to my 3rd child. 

Just after my 1st child was born, I started a local website for women called beaumontbuzz.com, "THE girl's guide to southeast texas."  

There, I get to write, write, write all the day long. I write about fun stuff like shopping & entertaining. I facilitate community amongst women in our area by hosting innovative networking events. I even suckered a local news station into allowing me to have a segment once a month that features the latest and greatest info on my website. This business allows me to be a work-from-living room/kitchen/patio/Starbucks mom. 

All this writing led me to meet Paula. By day, she is the Community Relations Coordinator for a YMCA. By night, she's the Wrinkled Shirt. She said this, I said that, she said you should, I said ok, and somehow I ended up becoming an avid reader of Lysa TerKeurst's blog. I further landed on the Proverbs 31 website where I learned about the She Speaks Conference. Now, I've been "speaking" since I was, oh, say, 1 1/2 or so. However experienced that makes me, I gathered that this conference is not about what I have been doing, but rather what I could be doing.

Lysa posed the, "Why do you want to go to this conference?" question for the opportunity to win a scholarship, soooooo...

I had my first newspaper appearance when I was just six years old. I gave my first television interview when I was in grade school. I was the interviewee, not the interviewer, for my first book mention when I was in junior high. Living life in the public eye is what geared me for being in media today. Living life as the child of a police officer killed in the line of duty is what geared me to be a vessel that God uses to teach others about forgiveness. He was a serial killer. I am a liar. Sin. Sin. We are both sinners in need of the Savior. 

I need to go to this conference for people like Alea. After sharing "my" story at a Ladies' Night Out recently, this sweet friend wrote:

"Dear Ashley, 

I just wanted to let you know how much the words you spoke at our Ladies' Night Out helped me. I believe God puts us where we need to be. When I came to our night out, I was glad to be there, but I was angry inside. My car had just been stolen out of my driveway and my purse stolen out of my house the week before. I was so angry at the people that did this. How could they violate us like that? I wished horrible, horrible things on them for pilfering through our neighborhood. But, when I heard how you had forgiven the man who had taken your father's life, I thought, 'How could I harbor such anger for the people who did far less to my family?' This put a whole new perspective on my situation..."

There's just so much He wants to say. There's so much people like Alea need to know. I long to have the guidance (and confidence, for that matter) to put this story out there. I long to go to She Speaks. 

Whatever He tells, I'll say. Whenever He asks, I'll do. Wherever He sends, I'll go.