The Little Things

Okay, so the other day, the weather was sooo perfect outside. And my description of  perfect is definitely not sunny and warm. It's the complete opposite. I love the rain, wind, dark clouds, stormy looking everything. It's totally the best. Honestly, I'm in the best mood when it's NOT sunny. Ask Ashley Mask  haha! I'm a weirdo. Anyway, bring on the storms. Since the Tri-Cities hardly gets anything!

One of my favorite things to do is when it's raining, I first go to Starbucks and get a hot cup of coffee, then to Howard Amon and park where you can see the river perfectly. There isn't much room for parking in that tiny parking lot thing but I squeeze my way in anyway. I bring a book and/or my devotions and sit there and read while the rain hits the car. Do it some time, it's very relaxing!
I do have to confess though, the only reason why I know I love doing that is because 1st semester of senior year I skipped 3rd hour (Honors Anatomy) and did just that. But don't worry, I passed the class :) ...and who really needs that class anyway?? I mean really..

But the other day while the weather was "perfect" I went to Starbucks, got a Pumpkin Spice latte, parked in that small parking lot and read :) ahhh, life is good. Unfortunately, before I left I was for sure not in a good mood. Even though the weather was perfect.

I grabbed my devotion book, my Nicholas Sparks book The Guardian. Only on page 36, but I'll get there. (One "interesting" thing to know about me, I'm the slowest reader on the face of this planet....it sucks. I love reading, but I just can't do it.) Everything was ready to go, but I just couldn't find my phone!! I searched every inch of my room, the bathroom, the living room, the kids' rooms, the other bathroom. Nothin'. I was so mad that I just started crying. So I tried praying that God would help me find my phone. (It works for Pastor Dan..) but He didn't tell me anything and I was getting so angry. I was an hour behind where I wanted to be! My mom was like " You can't just use God like the pager button!" (something creative like that...you know how my mother is.) and I was like "well it works for Pastor Dan!" I just could not figure out why God postponed me from leaving. Maybe there was gonna be a car accident or something?! IDK. But I just wanted to know where it was. (I know, I know...it's a phone Ashley. What ever did you do without it your whole life? Your parents, your grandparents lived without it all their lives how EVER did they survive? Well...times are different people!
Eventually, I left without it and, well I survived in case you were wondering..

But by the time I left my house the rain stopped, so that was a bummer. I was looking forward to hearing the rain on my car. Just when I got there, the rain started again and it was raining hard! I then realized why God let that set back happen and why I couldn't find my phone! If I would have left when I wanted to, there wouldn't have been rain for me to enjoy. I would have missed it. But since I left when I did, there was rain. And it stopped just when I was about to leave. I started crying when I realized that.

That just shows you that God's plan for you is so much better than your own. He knows what he's doing. See? Pastor Dan is right. God does care about the little things, and he cares about what little things are important to you. It doesn't need to be something as big as a car accident holding you back. Maybe it's just some rain...which He knew was "perfect" for me at just the right time.

(also, go check out John Clement's photography! amazinggg!)