I forgot.

So yesterday was my day to write for the blog and I TOTALLY forgot. Cause I didn't write it in my calendar. That'll teach me.

But...I'm going to make up for it by posting today and writing my assigned dates in my calendar for the next ten years.

Do you know what an impala is? Ever seen one? No, not the car. I'm talking about the antelope-y thing that lives in Africa. I've never been to Africa, so I've never seen one in its true habitat. But I HAVE been to the zoo. I've been to lots of zoos, in fact, and most of them have an impala exhibit.

These animals are really cool looking. They're like antelope deer kind of things. And they have these really long and skinny horns. The boy impalas weigh around 165 pounds. Whenever the herd gets attacked, these impalas jump up and down, all together so they can confuse whoever's trying to eat them. These guys are GREAT jumpers. In fact, they can jump up to 8 feet in the air and they can jump distances of more than 30 feet! That's amazing to me. I can't even imagine being able to jump that far or that high. You'd think that this quality would make them unstoppable. Or at least pretty hard to contain.

But when you go to the zoo, you find that the impala exhibits usually don't have a wall that's like 15 feet tall so the impalas can't jump over it. Oh, no. These great jumpers have fences around them that barely go above their faces. This is because impalas are creatures of fear. The impala will not jump over something when they can't see the other side. Even though these animals could very easily leap the four foot fence at the zoo, they instead choose to stand around in groups placidly chomping their food. Whenever I see them just standing there, I always want to yell at them, "Hey, you! Jump! There's a great big world outside of your pen and I know you can jump over that wimpy little fence." But of course, they just keep standing there...chomp, chomp, chomp.

Sometimes I wonder if God does the same thing with me. He knows the greatness that stands on the other side of my fear. I KNOW there are things I haven't done in my life simply because I was afraid of what might have been on the other side. Was God watching me and yelling, "Hey, Ashley! Jump! There's a great big purpose outside of your worry. I know you can conquer that wimpy little fear. JUMP!"?

A lot of things in life are scary...but they've got great rewards. Afraid of what might happen if you go to the school that's a two day's drive away from your family? If you've prayed about it and think that might be where God wants you...jump. Don't know where the money would come from if you decide to sponsor a child through Compassion International? God already commands you to help take care of the poor and the orphans. So jump. Nervous about going on that mission trip to Guatemala this summer? Jump anyways.

You won't regret it.

Love you guys!

Ashley

PS: When Brio Magazine went to another ministry and became online only, the former staff didn't know what to do. We all love teen girls and we all love writing. Even though it was scary, and even though she couldn't see what was on the other side of the fear fence, Susie Shellenberger jumped. And the result is SUSIE Magazine. The first issue came out in May. You can subscribe here. I even have some fun articles coming up in the next few months! :-)