Goodbye Weekend, Hello Monday! By His Stripes I am Healed Edition!!

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

This past weekend was the best weekend I have had in the last four weeks.

It stated pretty early on Saturday, I woke up and felt SUPER! Fortunately enough feeling super came just in time to make it out to the Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser at my church for our two mission's trips this summer! It felt unbelievably awesome to be around my amazing church family after what felt like a very long time!!

After the breakfast was over I sat and chatted with my awesome pastor and his beautiful wife. First and foremost, they are an INCREDIBLE couple. They both have some of the biggest hearts! I can't find the words to express how blessed and fortunate I am to have them a part of my life. I explained to them everything start to finish regarding all the health issues I have experienced in my life, and next thing I know my pastor was "calling in the troops" as he called it, and I had a numerous amount of my beautiful church family laying hands on me and praying over me. Can I just say, wow! It was truly one of the most beautiful things I have experienced. I felt so uplifted!!

That leads me to my next topic, on how it is incredible that things tie together. For those of you that read my post on Friday I talked about the book I had been reading, Words That Move Mountains. I encouraged you on Friday and I will encourage you again... this is an awesome read! It's easy to understand and follow along with, and the chapters are relatively short.

Definitely consider looking into purchasing a copy of this book, you won't regret it!

When I started reading this book towards the end of last week it had come at the most perfect time. As I began reading I felt personally convicted that in my recent dealings with health issues that I wasn't speaking words that would mountains into my own life. I was feeling sorry for myself, and every now and then I was throwing out an update on Facebook and expecting everyone else to do the praying for/over me. I was doing nothing to help myself! 

Matthew 8:26 says, "He replied, you of little faith, why are you so afraid. Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm"

Basically I was like the disciples in the boat, afraid of the storm going on around me. Yep, I pretty much felt like I was drowning! 

More and more I felt like God was knocking me over the head saying something probably along these lines...

"Hello, Ashley.. are you there?"

"Ashley, what are you doing with your life?"

"You of little faith, why aren't you leaning on me"

Well, I am a tad bit hard headed, but eventually God finally shouted in my ear loud enough, broke me down, and got me to realize I was going about the whole asking for healing thing the wrong way, I wasn't having faith. 

A lot of lines and stories in the book, Words that move Mountains, definitely stuck out to me, but this one stuck out particularly more than others....

"Don't talk sickness; rather, speak the healing Word"

In one particular chapter the writer describes how his daughter had become severely sick while she was on a missions trip with him. With her life at stake he affirmed twenty-six Bible verses over her that contain God's healing power. I am not going to go through all twenty-six verses with you, if you are that curious you will have to just read the book yourselves. He told his daughter that the words he would speak were going to expel the spirits of infirmity and disease! He ends this particular chapter saying this...

"Believe and receive your healing"

I'm going to be 100% honest with you, I don't think my believing was actually happening until after that fabulous group of people laid hands on me and lifted me up on Saturday... my pastor's prayer partner, who is also another pastor in the area, encouraged me through his prayer over me that my sickness was already taken away. As Jesus was on the whipping post... right then, it was a done deal! By His stripes I am HEALED!! 

Isaiah 53:5- "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and BY HIS WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED"

BINGO!! There it was, and it happened, I was healed! My recent stomach/gastrointestinal issues are gone. I have continued to proclaim the healing and have been thanking God for it every day since then! While I haven't received my full healing from my NF, I am already thanking Him for that healing as well and continuing to proclaim that into my life every day! 

I encourage you, if you or someone you know is struggling with sickness and awaiting the healing, start thanking God for what is already done, proclaim the healing into your life, and you will see Him do great things in you and through you!! 

Well, with all that excitement the rest of my weekend from that point on seems kind of trivial ;D, but I will share anyways....

Saturday evening my sisters and I spent some much needed time together with a dinner date to Chick-Fil-A.

Sunday morning I finally made it back to church after probably close to four weeks of not being there. 

It was an amazing weekend!! Thank you again to everyone who has prayed for me, encouraged me, and visited me these last few weeks! You all definitely played a very important role, and now we can all rejoice together, and thank God for the healing that He poured out over me!! 

<3 Ashley XO