Welcome Ashley, one of our newest bloggers. She's a wife and a mom of 3 adorable blonde babies (that are growing way too quickly). She and I met in Palm Coast on a Target run (because why not ;)). She homeschools her kiddos in the midst of being a pilot's wife. She is passionate about health and wellness, but most definitely her faith. Ashley and family live in Alabama.
Y'all... this is my 1st BLOG post... EVAAAAA!!! And, I chose my first true love, besides my amazing hubby–Traveling Together as a Family.
This photo was taken in December & OH what a refresher it was!
Look up the word travel in the dictionary and you will find the word “journey.”
This has been my life mantra. You see, I started a Bible study this past year with an amazing group of women; and we learned that God does not want us to stand still, sit at home, do nothing. He is taking us on a journey. And that journey will in return, give him all the glory and will send us on an adventure with stories to last a lifetime.
Here’s the crazy thing... about 99% of our trip I pray about adventure, new opportunities, and exciting new experiences for our family. (I know this sounds looney) And I promise... every time I pray this prayer- I will have a desired location on my heart and God will provide a way for us to go. Now, it’s not always immediate, and sometimes it’s not at all what I envisioned–but it’s always BETTER!
For Literally 10 years I have wanted to take our babies to Gatlinburg–that is how old our oldest is…10 YEARS!!! I can’t shed the light on every detail of how it transpired, but I will tell you that the travel part was free!!! (Can I get an amen, mamas?!) We had to rebook and reschedule everything twice, but then we got to go, it was so last minute that we barely had time to think about it. But isn’t that the best kind of trip?!
Little did I know that our oldest guy prayed that it would snow...and oh buddy did it! In fact it started snowing the minute we landed.
I also had another prayer, which I did not share with our family. I prayed that we would be upgraded at the hotel. We only had a few days to book our room, and I had to get a smaller room than what we needed. However, we packed a sleeping bag, because who really cares as a 3, 7, or 10 year old where you sleep if you are on vacation!!!
As soon as we landed we watched the snow, headed for lunch, and I called the hotel to get an early check-in. We are honor members of a specific chain, and I never ask this, but that day I did! "Ummmm, do you happen to have a bigger room that you could upgrade us to?" (followed by me kind of freaking out) Why that made me nervous I will never know, but then the kind voice on the other line said, “As a matter of fact we do! We will be upgrading you guys to the Executive Suite.” This meant we didn’t need that sleeping bag!
This was also followed by me trying to do the floss while in the front seat of a compact rental car. Y’all another prayer was answered, and it was all over the details of a mini Christmas Vacation. Needless to say, we had the time of our lives. We laughed, I cried (happy tears) at “Dolly’s Stampede” (if you haven’t seen the Christmas show... you should), we ate, we snow tubed, froze to death on top of the mountain, and made memories that we will talk about for a lifetime. So our little trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee made a lasting impression on our faith in God answering prayers, and opened the lid just a little bit more for our visions of adventure, and seeing the world God created.
To my new Followers, which as of now, I hope you enjoy little snapshots like this into our family life. I will leave you with one thought to ponder: Find out what is important to you, and do that! Life is much too short to conform, change, shrink back, and live like you think everyone else wants you too. It’s about time for us all to go on more adventures!
Happy Traveling,
Ashley Pharr
Follow Ashley's Journey on Instagram and hop on over and subscribe to her blog and watch her family adventure at Pharr Out Living.