new year.

Happy New Year!


It's 2010 has been an exciting year for me. I've been... 


- I went skiing for the fist time with an amazing group of homeschooled seniors... and that was sooooo much fun. I learned quickly that where you look... you will go. I crashed but slowly conquered the mountain.The good thing is... I didn't hit any trees. It was a BLAST and the skits every night were hilarious!!!!

ski trip family

-Extreme Home Makeover. It was so much fun to 

volunteer but it wasn't at all what I expected. It was an amazing experience on tv production. Also, all those years of planting and landscaping paid off! I was injured on site but it was a great learning experience. I'm glad to be alive.

 

Exstreame makeover house.

-My family built the biggest hillbilly slip -n- slide in our backyard. We smelled really good for weeks because of all the baby oil we used. I can't wait till next summer to do it again! BEST IDEA EVER!!!!!!

-Did the pictures for a few weddings and it was intense for the first 30 min. complete with bridezilla and groomzilla's but it was fun after that and excited for my next wedding. I've done more senior pictures this year than I had last year and it has been soooo much fun to do.

wedding at the rose garden

-Graduated from High School. I'm glad to get that over with... but I miss waking up and doing school in my pj's and the long talks with my mom and sisters during all hours about Math and US History.  I wouldn't ever change being homeschooled. 

photo that I took from the stage....

-I moved to Redding, 
 for a month to attend Bethel School of Supernatural Worship for prophetic photography. It was an amazing experience that has forever changed my life for the better. I met sooo many people from all around the world who are on passionately following what the Holy Spirit speaks to bring the God's kingdom on earth. There was an awesome hike up the mountain with all the snow and palm trees everyday and I loved sitting up at the alabaster house (prayer room) and watched the sunset. I miss it.

I did it.

-started VBI in the fall... for web and graphics... every morning before classes... it starts with chapel which is one of the best things ever. I have two classes every day which lasts until noon. The classes have touched me  and all the things I've heard preached all my life... It's like I'm hearing for the first time. I'm met some awesome friends who are also on FIRE for Jesus and challenge me. I crave the word and want to study the Bible more and more... can't get enough. The web and graphics... I L-O-V-E!!!!! I've learned so much more about photoshop and dreamweaver... can't wait for next semester.  

shopping with awesome girls

- Started a media production internship with 247tulsa at Victory. It has stretched me in my relationship skills and has challenged me to a whole new level. It has taught me that people are the most important thing in life and even when things seem "busy" I should stop and focus on what the Holy Spirit is saying. I love all the teens there and the relationships I'm building. I want to encourage them in their  walk with Jesus and help them grow into who God has created them to be. The people there are like family... it's cool. It has really challenged me but it is so worth it!

247 family portrait

Yeah... that was a very brief summery of what's happened in  2010 it was pretty awesome but... 2011 will be even better! 

Happy New Year!


blog ya later,  ashnmaggard

purity.

20% of teens have NOT had sex at the age of nineteen and I am one of them.


Many raise their eyebrows at me once they find out... I've never went on a date, kissed, or in any serious romantic relationship. After forty seconds of intense thinking, They smile and say that's cool... how do you do that? 


It's not easy. It's a choice just like all actions in life. I'm human and there is always a desire of being in a relationship. It's just you need to know why you want to be pure before the wedding night. Why I'm sexually pure is because I wanted to focus on pursuing Jesus. Also,  getting into a serious relationship that would not be there in five years... would be cheating my future husband because I want to give my whole heart to that man. Someday I will be married and I will know it will be worth it. Plus, I don't want the scars that I've seen so many get just because they went too far on a relationship too soon.  Also, the STD's that can make you want to puke up your favorite dessert, that doesn't help the sex before marriage cause either. 


"The fact of the matter is that the war over your virginity is so strong that you are going to have to have a vision for your purity to win. I mean, you must decide that you want to be a virgin before you start searching for the man or woman of your dreams. You just can't wait until the windows of the car are steamed up to decide who you are going to be"~ Kris Vallotton

So, to those who have stayed pure... You can do it... the world will tempt you but know that amazing person will be there in the right time and not in your time. You will have peace and the people who know you best will have peace. Don't fall into the "lust trap" and even when your mind is yelling...

or girlfriend.

just remember  it will be worth it to wait.

and remember...

"Don't excite love, don't stir it up, 
   until the time is right—and you're ready"
      Song of Solomon 2:7

To those who have gone farther than you could ever thought you would ... it's ok. Just because you have compromised in the past... doesn't mean you can't stop right now. You can do it. 

 "There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one." Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never "become one." There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body." 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (The Message)


Blog ya later, ashnmaggard

photography.

Jeremiah 29:11 

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.










My story about how I got into photography is something that has taken off into more than I could ever dream about. 


It all start when my mom decided to invest in a nice camera. She went to Best Buy and got herself a Canon Rebel Xsi or 450D. It was a a starter pack with the 18-55mm lens. It was the most  awesome camera I've ever held in my life at the time.


After awhile I started taking the time to learn about how to use a dslr... I only shot in the automatic setting which was the only way I could figure it out on my own.


Then one day I was praying and the name of a photographer came up. So I called her and asked if she could look over my pictures I took. She was very polite on the phone and said I could come in on Tuesday. I was thrilled! I went and printed off some of my pictures and placed them in a album. I was ready to meet her and look over the pictures. 
That Tuesday, I walked into her studio and after a lot of discussing what she knew about photography and going over my picture. She walked me to the door of her studio and told me to come back the following Tuesday for my first lesson. I was shocked.


For the next 7 months, I learned how to pose, lighting, f-stops... etc. It was awesome! I moved from student to assistant. Also, taught a few beginner classes.


Then after graduating from high school,
 I knew I was supposed to go to BSSW for prophetic photography. It was an adventure but I'll save that story for another day. It opened my eyes as far as using my gift to glorify God. Prophetic photography stretched me as a photographer and a follower of Jesus. 

a air filter. I used a macro/wide angle filter on a 18-55mm lens.

a old shed in my backyard.

a senior in a back ally

I love macro photography.

downtown Tulsa.

me in a parking lot.

fun with photoshop.

a maternity shoot in California 

a wedding shoot

I love flowers.

playing with lighting

wedding.

So, now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about muti-media/photography and going to a creative media school at a Bible college and teaching photography and photoshop. It was something I never thought I'd be doing but it is something I love and I know God has a plan and purpose for my life bigger than I could ever imagine.     blog ya later    -ashnmaggard

hunger.

 Hunger for God and love for others will compel someone to go places and do things that simple natural desire never will. It also will with far less fear as it no longer is about "me" but compelled by seeing the goodness of God expressed and compassion for those in need. Love is what casts out fear...

Sometimes I crave the word of God and it is a passionate fire that needs fuel in my heart. Today I've been reading a verse that shocked me because lately I've been afraid. But fear is from the Devil and NOT from God. We should as follower of Jesus cling onto the word and apply it to our everyday life. That verse was...

1 John 4:18 

"Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love."

HIS perfect love doesn't have any fear. WOW!

 Now I know that I need to GO and not fear what the world throws at me because greater is He that is in me than he of this world. Just reading the Bible has changed me soooo much. It can change you. try it.


Worry is a darkroom in which all negatives are developed...

Hugs, Ashnmaggard

P.S. 

here is some awesome worship music..

..