Welcome our newest staff member Ashley Chasse! Ashley is Portraits of Hope’s new Director of Marketing and Sales. She will work with vendors who sell the Portraits of Hope book and our candles and gift line of merchandise.
Originally from Atlanta, she grew up in Heflin, Alabama graduating from Kennesaw State University with a marketing degree. Ashley is also a recent graduate of the Lovelady Center.
When not working, Ashley enjoys spending time out of doors and participating in Bible studies.
When asked about her desire to work with Portraits of Hope, Ashley said, “I am looking forward to helping Lovelady graduates reach their full potential. There is so much out there in life. The possibilities are endless. I think some women have never seen a better life. I want to help them get to the next level in their recovery.”
The God of Second, and Third, and Fourth Chances
For most of my life, I lived in darkness, listening, following, and believing the enemy’s voice. To me, that was normal. I didn’t know there was another voice; I didn’t know about the light. I was always uncomfortable, always anxious, and constantly worried. This was a by-product of a lonely, traumatic childhood filled with mental and emotional torment from my absent alcoholic parents.
The anxiousness at school was often a result of no sleep and exhaustion of word curses being yelled at me for hours, at least twice a week and every weekend. When I would see the school bus top the hill to turn around and pick me up, I had a sense of relief, knowing I could escape the pain for a short while. At school, I didn’t feel like I fit in. I participated in cheerleading and other school activities to portray this “put-together” girl, but I was lost and broken. At 13, I discovered alcohol, and it became my coping mechanism soon after marijuana and other substances followed. This pattern continued into my adult life.
By 21, I was a functioning addict addicted to pain pills but managed to keep a 4.0 in college. After I graduated college, I picked up another bad habit, abusive men. I was in and out of the hospital, held captive, and knocked unconscious. I had finally hit rock bottom at 29, almost 15 years later.
I didn’t know any other way to manage my life except using substances until I found Jesus. Jesus had been pulling at my heart for years, and I would give him a chance this time. I almost immediately felt a hunger for the Lord and held on to every word fed to me at devotions, classes, counseling, and church services. I began developing a personal relationship with Jesus, and I could feel the presence of God daily. For the first time, I began to feel worthy and comfortable in my skin.
Unfortunately, I didn’t nurture that relationship and, because of shame, opted out of sharing my testimony with others. I became disconnected from my family at The Lovelady Center and eventually, my old way of coping with life became a norm again.
I slowly drifted into the old, dark place I was familiar with. Thank God He is close to the brokenhearted because He came to me in this dark place and spoke to me like I had never heard him before. He was so clear and so direct. I would have never recognized the voice if I had not cultivated a relationship with Him before. I knew He was standing right in front of me.
It was so powerful I fell to my face asking for forgiveness, and God said, “You are already forgiven”. He was so calm, so warm, and so loving. He told me things only He would know. I would ask him questions, and his answer was always “Yes.” One of the questions I asked was, if I still had time to do kingdom work, and he replied “yes”. I asked, “What do you want me to do?” and he replied with a question, “What do you want to do?”
I answered, “Help people like me.” I jumped up like a giddy schoolgirl eager to begin his work, and an overwhelming agape love of Christ fell upon me. I knew I had to make a change. I mean, how could I go back to following the devil after God spoke to me in such a mighty way?
Thanks to Jesus, I was back at the Lovelady Center a few days later. God came to me again, and I could hear him so clearly, like before. He revealed to me all the lies I had believed for years and replaced those lies with truths. He brought things to my heart that I needed to repent for and people I needed to forgive. I could actively feel the spiritual chains breaking off of me.
No Comment