Wow. Ashlee. So many lines stood out to me, but this one is achingly true "This is a key difference between true friends and ChatGPT: a true friend will sometimes tell you what you don't want to hear."
I've been thinking a lot lately about how so many of us want to escape the hard, the tricky, the inconvenient. And so we optimize every moment, hoping to escape anything that feels like friction. But...it's not what we are called to and your essay aligns so well with thoughts that have been swirling in my brain. Thank you for your writing.
I literally tag your emails and wait for the perfect time to drink a cup of coffee and read a letter from you. Loved the correlation between slow living, Jesus, and thrifting!
I love when I see your name pop up in my email, I always make a point of stopping and resting to see what you’re gonna say. There is so much going on in the world daily and yours are always uplifting and give me reason to think. ❤️ And share!
I resonate with all of this. I’ve been thinking often about the passage in Romans 5 that states how “suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character and character produces hope…” and how in this friction-less obsessed culture we are losing the building of so much character that comes from the messy, hard, mundane and inconvenient parts of life. And what a great loss that is—to lose those muscles and the character traits it brings forth and ultimately the hope it brings as we look to the suffering of Christ.
I loveddd this whole post, Ashlee! And that last line 🔥🔥🔥 Also could totally relate to not wanting to be scanned at the grocery store… I feel absolutely prehistoric whenever I pay with cash 😆
I love this so much, Ashlee! I love how you tied this all together!
Also, same on thrifting. My kids are down for clothing thrifting, but they think some of what I love to do living here, namely scouring French thrift stores where there is only “lots of haunted stuff” in their opinions, is crazy. 😂Unfortunately, I’ve had a similar experience with an essay I wrote seeming to be copied and then going viral, but I did not have a satisfactory resolution. Ugh.
Oh shoot, friend, I'm so sorry that happened to you! I wish we could go thrifting together. My friend Alice and I went to a "french flea market" last weekend that was .... not very french? 🫠 We still had fun, though!
Currently in a full-blown Season of Friction and Ten Years Ago Me would be fighting against it daily. But Today Me is learning that the only way out is through, absolutely clinging to the faithfulness of God like a life raft the whole way. It’s worth it.
I also regularly reference Office scenes and apply them IRL. I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🥳
Love this! I’ve had a similar shift toward embracing resistance and letting that become a defining word. It is through the friction and resistance that we build resilience and experience the fullness of life.
Can I say the jump from 5 to 6 — not everyone can pull off such a transition, but it just works here. Maybe it’s because they are both truth bombs, maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to know your writing, but both hit me in two different sides of my heart. Loved it, Ashlee!
Maggie, I am thrilled by this compliment 🤣 It's a bit challenging to float between the gospel and pop culture so I'm glad to see someone truly appreciate that pivot 😜
Wow. Ashlee. So many lines stood out to me, but this one is achingly true "This is a key difference between true friends and ChatGPT: a true friend will sometimes tell you what you don't want to hear."
I've been thinking a lot lately about how so many of us want to escape the hard, the tricky, the inconvenient. And so we optimize every moment, hoping to escape anything that feels like friction. But...it's not what we are called to and your essay aligns so well with thoughts that have been swirling in my brain. Thank you for your writing.
Thanks for reading, Sarah!
I literally tag your emails and wait for the perfect time to drink a cup of coffee and read a letter from you. Loved the correlation between slow living, Jesus, and thrifting!
I love when I see your name pop up in my email, I always make a point of stopping and resting to see what you’re gonna say. There is so much going on in the world daily and yours are always uplifting and give me reason to think. ❤️ And share!
Ash, thank you for this ❤️ I appreciate you so much.
I resonate with all of this. I’ve been thinking often about the passage in Romans 5 that states how “suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character and character produces hope…” and how in this friction-less obsessed culture we are losing the building of so much character that comes from the messy, hard, mundane and inconvenient parts of life. And what a great loss that is—to lose those muscles and the character traits it brings forth and ultimately the hope it brings as we look to the suffering of Christ.
Thank you for sharing ♥️
Yes and amen. Thanks for reading, Lucy!
I loveddd this whole post, Ashlee! And that last line 🔥🔥🔥 Also could totally relate to not wanting to be scanned at the grocery store… I feel absolutely prehistoric whenever I pay with cash 😆
🤣 Prehistoric, ha!
I love this so much, Ashlee! I love how you tied this all together!
Also, same on thrifting. My kids are down for clothing thrifting, but they think some of what I love to do living here, namely scouring French thrift stores where there is only “lots of haunted stuff” in their opinions, is crazy. 😂Unfortunately, I’ve had a similar experience with an essay I wrote seeming to be copied and then going viral, but I did not have a satisfactory resolution. Ugh.
Oh shoot, friend, I'm so sorry that happened to you! I wish we could go thrifting together. My friend Alice and I went to a "french flea market" last weekend that was .... not very french? 🫠 We still had fun, though!
Friction- I identify with this word so much right now. I love how you tied all These together 🤞🏻📝
Currently in a full-blown Season of Friction and Ten Years Ago Me would be fighting against it daily. But Today Me is learning that the only way out is through, absolutely clinging to the faithfulness of God like a life raft the whole way. It’s worth it.
I also regularly reference Office scenes and apply them IRL. I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🥳
Love this! I’ve had a similar shift toward embracing resistance and letting that become a defining word. It is through the friction and resistance that we build resilience and experience the fullness of life.
Another "no palm" to pay for groceries here. I can't figure out why that doesn't freak everyone out.
Your #5 gives me a startling and convicting new perspective on the word, "hack." I am now hoping to never use it again.
And same here to thrifting.
Sometimes I love that we are occasionally (often?) behind the times in Montana. Palm payment?! This is wild, and I've never seen it. It sounds freaky.
I feel like we are three steps away from having our eyeballs scanned when we walk through the door. HARD PASS.
Love this. Love you. Love AKR and Textbook. <3
Always thankful for your vulnerability . I do not like friction but feel very encouraged here! Keep writing!!!!
Can I say the jump from 5 to 6 — not everyone can pull off such a transition, but it just works here. Maybe it’s because they are both truth bombs, maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to know your writing, but both hit me in two different sides of my heart. Loved it, Ashlee!
Maggie, I am thrilled by this compliment 🤣 It's a bit challenging to float between the gospel and pop culture so I'm glad to see someone truly appreciate that pivot 😜
"Whatever is quick, whatever is easy", oh man. That's something I will be thinking on for a while! Thanks Ashlee ❤️
I'm trying to decide which portion was my favorite, but it was all so good! Loved it, and love this "defining word" format.
Ash have you read Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal?? It's such a fun, charming read! I think you'd like it!
I haven't, but I'm looking it up now!!
Reading anything you write gets me so excited about life! I will always choose to ignore all other emails sent out by AI to read your real work!