Little pieces of heaven on earth!

So, I am on spring break this week. We enjoyed our first beautiful day today, it was fabulous. The condo we are staying in is just gorgeous and the view is magnificent. There is nothing like the sound of the waves and the light breeze and sand between your toes to provide you such a great view of all that God has created. I feel that as the week continues I will be able to clearly understand what quite possibly God could have in store for my future as I sit in awe of the very creations that surround me. I am pressed more and more lately by the little things in life, as you can see by the pattern in my writing lately. Before this trip began I noticed a pattern of little events, in which I like to call "little pieces of heaven on earth", my way of seeing God in such a desolate world. My first event occured when registering at a local college for summer courses, upon asking directions to a particular building, a nice gentleman who could have easily been brisk, not only directed me towards the building, but walked me all the way there and preceded to have a nice conversation with me. He could have easily brushed me off, but his kindness made me want to pay foward the kindness he had shown. A few days ago, my mother and I were getting our car washed and my mother was trying to use multiple rain checks as she had been instructed, when we got to the counter the lady instructed us that you were only supposed to use one, but instead of reprimanding us, she simply gave us the complete wash for free. My final "piece" came in the form of the the DMV, many know that comes with a reputation of bad service, but after I misplaced my license and had to go get another one. Upon coming up to the counter I was greeted by the most delightful and friendly woman, I was in shock of the great customer service given to me. As this week continues, I hope to see even more little graces and pieces. Now, here is a little of what I have been and will be enjoying this week:

The book I will be reading....
My awesome Roommate, Tmoss!
We met several Alpha Xi Delta's from Henderson State while at the beach! How Cool!

My big and I taking a stroll

Its the little things in life that mean the most

Lately, I have had some of the most amazing experiences. I realize more and more the little experinces that remain with me forever. Most people don't know that my family is a blended one becuase each of us is so close it seems like we were biologically al ways siblings. I love each and every one of my siblings for everything that they have given to me, the baby! Whether it was threatening to have a shot gun ready for the first guy that stepped on our porch, or helping me get ready for a high school dance, or maybe just listening to me ramble about the guy problems or a bad fashion decision, each of them were there.
However, another interesting fact that many do not know is that one of my brothers happens to be hearing impaired, no he is not completely deaf, but he does have to wear a hearing aid, and his speech can be understood pretty well. As a child, I learned sign language when I found out my mother and stepfather were to be married. Wanting to accept him and be able to communicate with him, I learned ASL( american sign language) like it was going out of style. As he got older though, he became embarrassed of signing and only wanted to communicate through speech. My signing skills quickly diminished.
I never really thought about sign language again until more recently. Just last weekend my brother and a friend of his who also happened to be deaf joined my family and I for dinner. When I found out the friend happened to be completely deaf, I scrambled to remember all that I had learned before. All of the sudden I was astonished when I heard a clear sentence come out of the woman's mouth. I looked over as she explained that she was indeed completely deaf, but she read lips quite well and had learned to speak. This woman blew me away, I could not even finish my dinner, because of the intrigue she brought. Can you imagine not hearing a single word of what your saying and yet saying it as clearly as any normal hearing individual. SIMPLY AMAZING! As dinner continued, I learned of all she had been through to get where she was today, and was just in awe!!!
I truly believe I was in shock for a long time, and in reflecting upon the amazing experience. I realized what a small impact people can make on people's lives and they don't even realize. I only hope that I can make that big of an impact on someone's life. In meeting that sweet woman, I was inspired. She made me realize the little failures in life are nothing compared to how worse it could be. If she could push herself to such rates of success with basically no support at all, then so can I. Anything I experience now brings me back to that evening and I realize that maybe it just isn't all that bad.
Little experiences are life changing.

-Ashton