NEW WEBSITE IS DONE!!!

I have finally gotten the last "kink" worked out of the new website - I think!  It is nice to finally have a webpage with my blog and the children's blog all in one place.  From now on, I will be putting my updates there.  So, if you would like to continue keeping up with the Ashcraft family, please send me an e-mail (desertmommy5@aol.com) and I will send you more information on how to do so.  Thank you for your prayers for us during our changes.  Thank you for letting me share our lives with you.  God bless you all!

New Website Coming Soon!

I realize it has been a while since I have posted anything. Please be patient! God is blessing. God is directing. And we are following. These are very exciting times for the Ashcraft family. Soon I will be sharing a new website in which you can keep up with several aspects of our family from one place. 

We are doing well.  The children have started another school year and Caleb has started Kindergarten.  So now there are four being homeschooled! Randy continues to teach English classes and I continue to do my job as wife, mother, teacher, secretary, etc.  The last few months have been very hard for me as homesickness crept in and God has been teaching me many things about Himself and about being faithful in the little things.  Please continue to pray for us.  Satan would like nothing more than to see us fail in our attempt to serve God.

I am so excited about the new website and can't wait to soon share it with you!!!

Give My All

This is the poster I made and placed on my wall today to remind me every morning to give my all in everything I do every day, in every way, no matter what may come my way. The Lord HAS to build our house or in the end we will have regrets. We aren't perfect, that's true, but we should always strive to do our best and be as much like Him as we can be. With His help, we can all do better.

I always wanted to have five children while I was growing up. God gave me my wish and loaned Randy and I five children that we could nurture, admonish, love, and rear for Him and His glory. Whatever they decide to do with their lives, as long as it is what He wants for them, they will be truly happy, no matter what their job. There were also two special children that never lived with us. In the past, I would ask and wonder why God would allow us to go through the heart-breaking experience of losing those two babies. As I have grown through my sorrow and loss, I have been able to help others who have experienced the same thing. Although the hurt hasn't totally gone away, I now look at it from this perspective: God taught me many things about Himself and me. I learned to trust more fully in Him and my faith grew. It wasn't necessarily that there was something wrong with them. They were just so "perfect" that only God could have them! They were specifically placed into my life at a specific time that was perfect in God's eyes for me to learn the lessons He needed to teach me. As Psalm 127:3b says, "...and the fruit of the womb is his reward." The desire of my heart is that He will have all of my children - that they will give all of themselves fully to Him to be used by Him for His glory. I also pray that I will allow God to help me point my "arrows" in the right direction. Our quiver is full and we are so very thankful for the opportunity to have them in our lives. May they go straight and far in His service - wherever that may take them.

Vacation Fun With Family

The highlight of our last few weeks was having Randy's Mom come to visit again. And this time, Randy's sister, Rebecca, and her little girl, Madison, came along! We were all very excited to see them, especially Rebecca and Madison since we hadn't seen them in over a year. We went to the beach in Hua Hin, visited an Elephant Village, visited a few temples, and of course, shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped! We all had the chance to ride elephants at the Elephant Village for 30 minutes. Everyone was somewhat nervous at first but after getting used to it, it wasn't too bad. A few of us had ridden an elephant before so we knew what to expect but the ones that hadn't are at least glad they did because now they can say that they did!

Somehow I missed getting a picture with Andrew the day we went to the temples. :(

We thank the Lord for allowing most of our family to come and visit us. We have had visits from family almost every three months! We understand that it is unusual for most missionaries to receive visits as frequently as we have. It has really helped us with homesickness, especially the children. The hardest part, of course, is the few hours after visitors leave. This time was harder for Caleb for some reason. He wanted me to take him to the airport and catch up with them. Several days later, we had some of the childrens' friends over for most of the day. When they left, Caleb again wanted me to take him to the airport. I guess now he thinks that all Americans who come to visit (even if the live in Bangkok) go to the airport when they leave! Poor baby. He will figure it out soon when his friends come to play again. Now, we are almost ready to have another countdown for when my parents come for another visit. YAY!!!

Special Days of May

As I write this post, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece are about ten minutes away from their plane landing in Bangkok! We are so excited. This will be the third trip for my mother-in-law and the first time we have seen my sister-in-law and niece in over a year. It goes without saying that everyone is very excited! It is almost 6 a.m. Thursday morning. Some of the children have asked for me to wake them up while others have asked to be woken up by Mama. It is going to be a fun-filled few weeks!

We have been so busy with "stuff" going on. May is always full of fun. Getting ready for the summer to start, or here, getting into rainy season, always makes for fun and exciting times. Several weeks ago was Mother's Day in the States. They celebrate Mother's Day in Thailand but not until August 12th, the Queen's birthday. After Sunday morning services on Mother's Day for the States, Randy took us to a Mexican restaurant for lunch! We really enjoyed our meal. For the first time, I was able to get a picture with all of my precious children. It was amazing that everyone was actually looking at the camera. Lee got everything set up and told us how he thought we should do it. We all got into place and he set the self-timer and Voila! This is the moment he captured!!!

I am truly blessed with five beautiful and healthy children. I thank the Lord for letting me have the opportunity to have them in my life. My desire and prayer is that they all accept Christ when they reach the age of accountability and that they serve Him in whatever capacity He desires whether they are missionaries or not. If they do become missionaries, I want it to be because He has called them.

Last week, my only daughter, Cynthia, turned nine! It is hard to believe that our little princess has been with us for nine years. They grow up way too fast! We gave her a little party on the 21st with a cupcake cake and gifts from us. Since she knew some of our family would be here a week later, she asked in the beginning of the month is we could WAIT to have her birthday. That is unheard of! But I understood her reasoning and we are having a birthday party for her this Saturday.

Our first family picture with two children.

Cynthia will all her brothers on her birthday. Ice cream cone cupcakes in the shape of the letter "C" and nine of them since she turned 9.

What fun we are getting ready to have!!!

Thoughts From My Heart

Several days have passed now since the news broke of Osama Bin Laden's death. I stared at my computer screen in unbelief. Could the man who had caused so much pain and death and had put a terror grip on so many been found? As a follower of Christ, I was happy to know that his reign of terror was over but saddened by the thought of knowing his eternal destiny. In his eyes, he was only acting on what he believed. We all have to make our own decision about Christ, and by bin Laden's actions, he never knew the one true God that I worship and serve. As an American, my thoughts drifted back to the morning of September 11th, when Randy and I were awakened by his Mom knocking on our door telling us that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center. As we watched the news in their trailer in Mexico, I tried calling my family back in Virginia. It took hours to finally get a call through. At that time, my brother lived fairly close to the Pentagon which was also hit. I will never forget the fear that I had when there were still planes unaccounted for. I will also never forget the helpless feeling that I had or, for once in my life, feeling that I may be safer outside of the United States. The horrible acts that were committed that day were acts of war against our country. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:." Verse 3 says, "A time to kill, and a time to heal,." The end of verse 8 says, "a time of war, and a time of peace." Everything happens according to God's plan. He has never been surprised. He knew what was going to happen on September 11 and he knew everything that would happen thereafter. Bin Laden took credit for "entrusting" 19 people with the mission. After such an atrocious act was committed on American soil and after receiving more threats of violence, I feel like the leaders of my country did what they believed was necessary to protect her citizens. Thoughts have gone through my mind of heroes of the Bible who carried out unthinkable plans to protect the Israelites. America has won a victory and it is time for her people to heal. Just because bin Laden is no longer a threat to us does not mean that all terrorist violence is over. As an American who has lived in several countries, I feel like I have a unique perspective on something else that happened after 9/11. I never realized until two years ago when we came to Thailand to visit that I had a fear of any person who appeared to be Muslim. I remember standing in line to board a plane and seeing many people around me who were different. I remember being afraid. After living on the Eastern side of the world now and being around so many people who are different, I have a new perspective. After it was announced who was responsbile for 9/11, I believe many Americans immediately had a fear (and some, hate) for ALL Muslims. People assume that just because part of a group of people act a certain way, that means they all do. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I believe that Satan used this (and is still using it) to his advantage (for many religions/people groups) to keep people away from them and keep them from sharing their faith. The majority of Muslims are just everyday, fun-loving people just like us. They need God as much as any other person does. Just because there are some radical groups does not mean that all Muslims are radical. Many Muslim people were just as upset as we were about what happened on 9/11. I have heard and seen it written that many Muslims knew that Americans would start to hate all Muslims. How sad that they could foresee our country's reaction to them! Sadder still is the fact that they were right. God wants us to love the sinner and hate the sin. I don't hate/dislike Mexicans just because some of them break the law and illegally go to the U.S. Neither do I think that all Mexicans are involved in drugs just because there is a major drug war in the country. I don't hate/dislike Germans just because of Adolf Hitler. I don't hate/dislike (or have a fear like before) for Muslims just because of Osama bin Laden. Anything or anyone that we don't understand makes us nervous. I have spent the last year learning more about Muslims and I can honestly say I believe they are some of the most misunderstood people. I can also honestly say now that I love Muslims. I wish that all people who truly want to be Christ-like would learn more about people they don't understand so that God can open their eyes and give them an understanding for those people and a love for them like He has. The Bible says in Matthew 22:39, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Do you love your neighbor?

My Saviour Lives!!!

After a year of living in a country that does not celebrate Christmas or Easter, this Easter holds a stronger meaning to me as a Christian. We didn't do the traditional things for the day or see the familiar bunny, lamb, and chick decorations. But the greatest part of this day, as all others, is that I know without the shadow of a doubt that MY SAVIOUR LIVES! He proves it to me every day in many ways. The children and I talked about it this week during school. They helped decorate the classroom and we talked about why had we decorated eggs and used bunnies, lambs, and little chicks in other decorations throughout our house in the past. All the "symbols" that we have for Easter, that are so common for this time of the year, were not seen in our home this year. For us, this was a blessing because we all really got back to the true meaning of Easter. We still managed to hang a few paper eggs with lambs on our wall to remind us of "new birth." Another blessing I have had is seeing the children gain a greater understanding of why God has brought us to the place we are. They understand even more that these people need to know of Jesus and His love. As I woke up this morning, my mind wandered back to many years of attending Sunrise Services. How I miss that! But another truth entered my mind, the sunrise every morning is our reminder that the Son rose! What a tremendous thought we should have everyday, knowing that the God of Creation reminds us everyday of the love He had for us - that He sent His ONLY Son to die for us. And not just die, but HE AROSE!!! It is Easter and since God has placed us where He has, to do His will, we are constantly reminded that so many people around us don't have an understanding of what this day means to us. I am going to leave the words of a song that I heard. The words have echoed through my head all week. I don't particularly like the music that was with it but I am always looking for songs that have a message and then I make them more to our liking!

"For God loved the world so much He gave His only Son
That we might have life through Jesus Christ, the only One.
To the ends of the earth this good news must go,
'Til ev'ryone knows.

Are we there yet? Have we walked ev'ry road,
Climbed ev'ry hill, and told ev'ry soul?
Are we there yet? Do the lost know His name,
Has the world been set free from darkness and pain?
Are we there yet?

The gift of our King, how great the price; we could never repay.
In one act of love He conquered all sin and still lives today!
To the ends of the earth this good news must go,
'Til ev'ryone knows.

When will the day come when ev'ryone will know
The name above all names.
Until that day comes I'll be the one to confess His name!

Are we there yet? Have we walked ev'ry road,
Climbed ev'ry hill, and told ev'ry soul?
Are we there yet? Do the lost know His name,
Has the world been set free from darkness and pain?
Are we there yet?

As we help spread the Good News, please keep us in your prayers. We are honored to serve the Christ of the Cross, the Son of the Morning, and the God of Glory! Happy Easter to all!!!