More life in our lives :)

Hello with best hopes for everyone’s searches.

My name is Ashley and I’m a 38 year old midwestern gal who’s been following the wild goose through many delightful lands in hopes to finally recognize home in one; the place and people and person which feel like a ‘fit’, and with / in / for which I can most fully contribute how I was made to do.

For the past 6 years, the mystery adventure has found me increasingly given in heart, mind, body, and spirit to the exercises of sustainable tropical agriculture and community development. Along the way I’ve also enjoyed supporting ministry efforts in Italy, and getting a feel for Mediterranean climate agriculture through a woofing stint in Cyprus. I’m currently serving with an ag and community development org in rural Costa Rica through December, and daily excited to see how the way keeps opening up // doing my best to follow the Lord’s lead and to live by His guidance to “rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances”, “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”, love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love my neighbor as myself.

I value resourcefulness / creative stewardship, hospitality, presence, cultural sensitivity, gratitude, open communication, honesty, integrity, curiosity, self-awareness, having space in life for light-hearted playfulness as well as thoughtful reflection, and growing relationship with Jesus and collaboration with the Holy Spirit in hopes to live a life cultivating His kind of fruit along with all the other good stuff that falls to me to tend to with their help 🫐🥦🥬🌾🍅🍊🍋🥥🐑.

Some hopes for the future include meeting my man, working the land / garden together, and maybe even building a little home from some mud bricks. I’d love to create a space to welcome others to enjoy peace and rest, share meals and/or coffee and tea, and to have a partner in listening well to others, receiving and loving them as they are, and encouraging and blessing them in whatever way we might be led to do. Most importantly it would be awesome to have a best friend in life to know Christ more together and grow to reflect Him more with our lives. If possible I’d also like to explore what it would be like to have a couple dairy sheep for personal milk / related product supply, and maybe even try our hand at having bees. This or live near people who do that we can purchase from . I like animals though also value mobility at this point in life and think they might be a little further down the road-type consideration, (unless we have good, easy coverage for any times away!)

At a recent training, an indigenous gentleman from Guatemala shared with us about the three goals everyone should accomplish in life; 1) Plant a tree,  2) Read a book, or write one, 3) Have a family (natural or otherwise). So far:
1- I have planted some trees, and would like to plant many more!
2- As for books, have read some and just maybe could consider putting my poetry together in a shareable way someday
3- family! As I gain years, I can only say I’m holding this with open hands and a smile. I believe God can do whatever He wants and am truly happy for whatever He sees best. I think children are special and that being a parent must be such an adventure in love. All the same, I think there are many ways to mother and to love like family, and that not hope to serve my part well, however it might look .

A little more: I value quiet introspection / personal time as much as meaningful interaction with others, and hope that all my exchanges with others cause them to experience joy, freedom, peace, and more abundant life in some way. I really appreciate healthy and delicious food and think sharing meals is one of the best things we can do in life! Unvaccinated. Bit of a nerd about the Bible and would love a partner who values it as well so we can dig in together. Speak English and Spanish, and have a comfortable command of Italian by extension. (Can understand French especially when I can see the words, but not so great at speaking it yet .) Like treating any ailments with the plants God gave us in their purest form first before considering any other routes. Enjoy singing, walking, tennis, travel (especially with purpose, slow paced, annd integrated with the local community), and exploring /adventuring just about anywhere.

Re permaculture-type ✨ skills ✨ (this forum is for gardeners, homesteaders and permaculture people, after all), I’ve been blessed with experience in plant propagation and care, land stewardship, irrigation, exposure to appropriate technologies (solar dehydrators, mud brick stoves, food processing techniques, seed saving, water collection, composting toilets) and interaction with various seminars on cropping / cultivation / planting systems.

Just hoping for my own little space to put it all to good use and someone to watch some trees grow big alongside 🙂.

Thanks for reading! Blessings and we’ll see if this connects with anyone; I’ll be happy to hear from you if so .