An Inner Look

What if there was a pleasure that made you whole?

Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul introduces fictional stories painted with tender intimacy to gently unravel the ageless waters of human desire for everlasting love. Based on the sacred theology of Jesus as the Church’s Bridegroom, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul’s storybook manner sparks the imagination, exposes hidden wounds, and nourishes the soul. Through deeply warm conversations, unsuspecting characters encounter Jesus, who is sometimes disguised, and come to find Him as the healing Lover of their souls.

These therapeutic conversations take place in a café, a ballroom floor in heaven, beside a lake, in Jerusalem and other colorful places that welcome rest. Each story is uniquely crafted to touch the reader in a deeply personal way by ministering the curative and multi-faceted love of Jesus to their specific need. These stories shine in a myriad of ways to reach readers in their precise season of journeying deeper into the satisfying love of Jesus; while simultaneously encompassing the overall desire for a greater relationship. Every consoling story is like a thread in the archway of the readers personal pilgrimage, sensitively inviting them to enter the most holy covenant relationship. 

The book is framed by the extended story of Noble and Trisha’s romance—one that connects with many young women. Ultimately, this book was designed to usher the reader into the comforting arms of Jesus, where He can make them whole with pure love.



The Stories and Their Descriptions:

A Date with Jesus, expresses the pursuing love of Christ for both a saved woman and an unsaved woman. His love is just as gentle but his approach differs. In a café, he woos a comely barista with compassion, theology anchored in freeing truth and relentless love.

Salvation at Snow Café, displays the pursuing love of God to an unsaved man through a Christian barista. Trisha serves Noble not coffee or cake in this café, but the message of salvation and forgiveness for all past sins. The story ends with tears as Jesus makes a personal appeal to his prodigal son to come back home.

Lavereen’s Rain, paints the tender motherly love of God through a thoughtful mother. Lavereen prays over her infant child and soon her words become mingled with the wisdom of Jesus as she realizes his infinite love for Rain through her musings.

The Holy Wall, takes place in the Middle East. The story is set in a time of war. A soldier on the run is tempted to give up hope and flee his country. He stays as the Holy Spirit calls him with the love and hope of Christ through a widowed and pregnant woman. Despite her losses, this woman of hope is filled with a heavenly peace that brings this soldier to Jesus and a miracle at the wall.

I Do, is an illustrative allegory of Ephesians 5:25: Men love your wives as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her. Jesus gave me this story when I was 19 and it has forever changed my heart. This story has been given to women at a Christian conference and in Bible groups. It has brought women to tears and even silenced men as they realize the weight of the Bridegroom love of Jesus and his constant forgiveness even when the church commits adultery.

Dancing with Jesus, takes place in a Persian ballroom on a starry night. The main character is in the midst of swaying royalty but finds herself alone. When a man asks for her hand in a dance, she discovers that he is Jesus. She places her trust in Jesus for her future spouse.

Love Like a Fairy Tale, is based on the book of Hosea and displays the fierce and unfailing love of Jesus even in the midst of extreme depravity, betrayal and utter darkness. When Jesus, who is a king, asks a poor woman to be his wife she discovers that it is hard to accept his love when she doesn’t accept herself. She runs away from him constantly and indulges in every evil imaginable. He faithfully pursues her through it all. She finally realizes that he is her safe home.

Growing in Love, follows the story Salvation at Snow Café. Trisha and Noble grow closer together as they walk intimately with Jesus. They find that he is the author of all “happily ever after’s” and that he is the source of every “good” pleasure enjoyed on earth.

A Meeting with God’s Son, takes place in a book store and fancifully threads two characters together through their personal encounters with Jesus. Both characters are complete strangers at the beginning of the story and each are reading books at separate tables. Through prompting by the Spirit of God they begin to engage in heartfelt conversation. Stories of salvation and personal testimonies are shared that are sure to uplift and be relatable to the reader.

Pine and Coconut Love, vividly describes the pleasure and thankfulness between a husband and wife for one another. In showing the intimate connection between the two, readers can see how Jesus is the glue that interlocks families together.

Naked, confronts the timeless shame of condemnation with the fierce grace and devotion of God. The main character seeks to hide herself in the same way Adam and Eve did so long ago. Only, she finds that in the New Covenant, she is not told to leave. Jesus displays the true heart of God in pursuing her, washing her clean, clothing her and assuring her of her unstained worth in his eyes.

Adult Childhood, shows the healing love of God in places of hopelessness. This story acts like warm ointment on the wounds of disappointment that fester into cynicisms. Jesus shows that no matter how disillusioned anyone might be, there is a place that people can put their hopes that will never fail them. This story is meant to heal broken hearts and inspire people to pick up their buried dreams. It takes place on a snowy trail as the main character converses with Jesus.

He’s the Most Beautiful Man, attempts to describe the excellences of Jesus as the holy Bridegroom of the church. This “story” is akin to Songs of Solomon in that it reads like a descriptive sonnet.

Ballroom Lover, takes place in a ballroom in heaven. This story is likened to Dancing with Jesus. The main character finds herself married to Jesus and living in heaven with him. They converse and she learns of his goodness and desires for her life


This book is simply wonderful. Deliciously descriptive, it nourishes the soul with fresh revelation of God’s love for humanity. This collection of short stories may challenge your thinking about what true intimacy looks like, while making your heart yearn to daily experience the Perfect Love described within its pages. It invites you into a world created by Love Himself, where there’s no mistaking that His love is not only unconditional and never-failing, but also deeply personal and precious to Him. Get ready to experience the purpose, pleasure, and power of real love!” -Amazon Reviewer.

To purchase a copy of, Romantic Rendezvous for The Soul, click here.

My Heart Behind Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul

Dearest reader,

As a woman, I know what it’s like to desire to be wined and dined by a beautiful man. There’s something inside a woman that is made alive when she feels loved. I believe God formed us with tender hearts that blossom by love. He built in us an ethereal need to be savored, valued, and pursued. He created us to be cherished warmly and affectionately, not because we are weak, but because we are meant to gestate and give birth to the most powerful force in existence—heavenly love. However, unconditional love is not the average consistent experience many women have in life, and often many women are left aching or hardened because of it. This is because Jesus was meant to be the lover of our souls. Only he can love us endlessly without fail. And only he can touch the deepest places of our hearts, where no one else can reach, with rejuvenating life.

I pray that as you read this story and devotional questions that your experience would be like going on a date with the Lover of your heart. May the words you read grow in your mind until your imagination is tickled with scenes of beauty; may your spirit be stirred and awakened to the love of God. I pray that as you read you will freely pick of the supple, life-giving fruit of the Holy Spirit who inspires me to write. He is the groomer of the Bride of Christ—the very One who inspired John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord by washing the people in repentance so they could receive the King and the kingdom. (Luke 1:76–79) More so, I pray that your relationship with God may be deepened and sweetened by your companionship with our Lord Jesus Christ. May he give you his perfect peace, love, and joy. May you freely receive all that he has for you. Let yourself be deeply loved, healed, seen, delighted in, and lit with the fire of God’s heart by our Savior.

This book is a very intimate look into my personal journey with the courtship ways of Jesus. Many of the word pictures in this story are allegories that describe the ways in which Jesus met my maturing desire to be loved. I wrote the great majority of this book while I traveled through the erratic terrain of singleness. Many times, my emotions were like rocky mountains with edgy rifts. In the deepest fissures, Jesus showed me bright flowers growing through the rock sediments. He unveiled the beauty of my needs and the faithful promises of God to fulfill them (2 Peter 1:4). I started writing this book when I was eighteen. It was born out of my deepest pain, but God took my ashes of longing and unfulfilled desire and gave me an oasis of his love. He bandaged my wound with the ointment of his Spirit. I pray you feel the power of his aching heart in this pungent story. Jesus slowly showed me that my yearning for love was nothing compared to his yearning to love me, and yet my yearning it was everything to him.

May this book bless you as you take the time to enjoy a romantic rendezvous with Jesus. May it be like enjoying a candlelit dinner across the table from your Savior. I pray that you will have the deepest personal relationship with God, and that you will surrender every area of your life to him out of his love growing in you.

I also pray that this book touches the hearts of teenage girls all around the world. If it were not for my experiencing Jesus’ bridegroom love as an adolescent, I would have fallen into the pit traps that I believe are set for many young girls in today’s world. Jesus loved me deeply in the places in my heart that were aching with feminine maturity. I saw that his nature was good and only good. Because I trusted his heart, I waited with expectancy for a husband. At sixteen, I invited him wholehearted into my romantic life. I was led in a dance with my Savior, and he introduced my husband to me at age 24.

Stephen was the first man I had ever dated, and we later married. I could not have picked a better spouse. Stephen’s attentive love has a way of melting me inside. His compliments and affirmation quicken my soul with encouragement, and his kindness draws me close to him. I thank God for a husband who chases after loving me like Christ loves the church. And I prize my husband’s zeal for the truth. (I praise this just as much as I praise his love, because slowly I’ve learned that truth is what makes us free and chases away darkness.) I value so many things about my husband. Before Stephen ever came along, I went on dates with Jesus.

I also pray for women who have gone through years of being married, divorced, or in-between relationships. I pray for the precious souls who have been abused and for those who have lived with interpersonal dysfunction. I lift up to heaven the women who feel guilty or dirty or angry because of things that were done to them in their past, things that they have done, and even for things they are still doing. Jesus wants to meet you at the well today. You are the woman he needs to meet. In the same way, he met with the Samaritan woman who had five failed marriages and was living in adultery (a great cultural shame, especially back in her day). And yet, Father God told Jesus to go meet with her because the Bible says, “He needed to go through Samaria,” (John 4:4) and Jesus only ever did what he saw his Father doing. (John 5:19) Father has set up a healing meeting with his Son for you today. Jesus wants you to let him give you the water that will satisfy all your thirsts as well as cleanse your soul in purity, forgiveness (both being forgiven and forgiving others), hope, joy, rejuvenating peace, and unconditional love.

Dear one, your heart is not only worth being pursued but cherished for all your days. Let Jesus show you how to be a wife, before you are married and also while you are in marriage. He cannot fail and his plans for you are only good. Above all, let him show you how to live in relationship with him. Once you’ve rested by trusting his hand after you’ve gotten to know his heart, you will experience such peace.

Warmest thoughts,

Ashley


“I dare you, I dare you to read this book in a longer time frame then one month. To those mommy’s out there who can’t seem to finish reading a simple Facebook post because their family’s crawling everywhere. I can almost guarantee you’ll find time for this Artwork and then Jesus following…I devoured it in three days, tears flowing and heart throbbing, my first love, whom I’d hardened my heart towards unknowing knocked and knocked as I read inviting me to passion & freedom. The passion to read my bible because I can’t get enough of this man and the freedom because falling in love is first a decision and then is oh so effortless and honestly, I’d forgotten about my first love even while going to church and everything.

My marriage was rough this last year and I mean some light weight cheating on his part (if that’s a thing) & scratching and biting on my part (pretty much). Last week all those pieces fell into the magnificent puzzle that wedlock is with Christ as the center & today and knowing the future holds the same, love seems to have caught on fire literally blazing a trail so fluently and easily. This reconciliation between spouses and one week later THIS book. Not a coincidence because the hardships of marriage had left me feeling a bit hopeless (my heart was flawed before I ever entered it, my own fault being) and really our marital mishaps only shed light on those deep untouched and dirty caves of the heart I’d hidden long ago.

But this book, being alive in words and so articulate, Holy Spirit did breath life into Ashley and you’ll find out that He wants to do the same for yours…Our Jesus is our first love, first husband and first encounter even with God the father himself. He’s the only way and rest assured he’ll pursue you until you are convinced of the same.” -Amazon Reviewer

~To purchase a copy of Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul, click here.