So many of us loved and were loved by Ashley Champion Jones.  There are beautiful things that need to be honored about this champion of a woman.

Ashley was FUN. 
In fact, her pursuit of fun with women is how a lot of us met her.  Sure, sure, we know her as a football fanatic and an incredible mom to four great boys. And, I do have to admit that I have never seen such a Clemson tiger collection in one house!  But, Ashley was much more than that to all of us. You never knew what one-off comment would pop out of her mouth. Candid. Southern. And hilarious.  Especially when it came to Boy Mom humor, this Girl Mom was often aghast, and I don’t blush easily.  Once, I called her while she shopped in a store. We talked for a few minutes as she clearly was fumbling around on a shelf of unknown items. I asked her, “What on earth are you doing?”

“I am looking for a ball shaver,” she mumbled into the phone.

I rapidly ran a mental file. My scan landed only one possible association: removing pibbed fabric from clothing.

“Do you mean a fuzz shaver, or a ball trimmer?”

“No, girl.”  She pressed the phone into her mouth. “I said, a Bawwl shaaver. Like to shaaave the haay-er on boy-eez bawwwls.”

If you knew her, you can hear this sentence.

I was laughing so hard I almost dropped the phone. She educated me on an item I didn’t even know existed. Ashley then proceeded to send me multiple selfies with multiple ball shapes in the store.

She was fun. Whether drinking margaritas, top-shelf bougie, or breaking up intense conversations with dry humor, she was a beautiful addition to any table.

Maybe it was having three brothers, a husband, and four sons. But God made Ashley a special magnet for women. All kinds of women, all ages and stages.  Not just sport moms, or boy moms. But hungry women. Or lost women.  She had a keen sense for connecting with women who needed to know the freedom she had found in Jesus.

Just ask the women of Greater Things.  When Ashley came into Greater Things in 2015, she already loved God and was a Bible teacher. Then, as she grew in intimacy with Jesus, she blossomed. The Lord revealed even more of her gifts as she ministered, counseled, taught, served on staff, and poured out her unique flavor of Jesus on women for a decade.

At one GT retreat, we did an exercise to learn each woman’s God-given superpower. (How she hated these at first!)  Her superpower was “Belonging.” Ashley simply carried this beautiful grace for women that made them at ease and welcome. They felt Seen. She created a space for them to belong.

Many of those GT women were present at her funeral. They showed up because they had been impacted by her love, candor, and pursuit of God.  Other GT women told stories of a specific word she had given, or a tender moment when Ashley had radically changed their trajectory.  She was wise and fierce. She could interject a perspective or a pearl of wisdom that would literally shift plans and people. How we will forever hear her say: That sounds like Aa–cuu-say-shun.

Nothing will erase her influence on us, or our love for her.

Ashley was Lovely. 
When she first learned about asking for a God name, she thought it was “out there.” But since she was always hungry for more, she asked God to show her anyway. Jesus said His pet name for her was Lovely. Isn’t that fitting? Over the next several years, God continued to sow that name into her belief system. Through scriptures, cards, words, and signs. We are witnesses to that identity shift rising in her. As she experienced His delight, Ashley became more expressive. Even her love for bright colors, like Kelly green, was part of this Lovely revelation. Just go to her house. Her dishes, her clothes, her living room, the fresh flowers— it’s all part of the bright colors that she loved. She became clear about who she was, and Whose she was.

Ashley was real. 
She was real about her struggles. She was real about her marriage, the weak spots, and the growth over the years. She was real about her health journey. She continued to seek the right combination of weight, self-worth, and effort. For the last couple of years, her passion was pickleball. It was the perfect mix of feeling strong and having fun at the same time. Ashley was real about hating to read books, starting big projects, and doing boring tasks. I often teased her for being a CPA, because that seemed so boring to me. She would always smile and say, “Numbers make sense to me.”

Ashley loved Jesus. 
At the beginning of the cancer story,  Ashley told me that God said He had a process He wanted her to walk through— with Him.  We know now that the Process was her going home. Yet, let’s remember more than the last 8 months.  We can attest that Ashley’s life and heart were devoted to Jesus. She trusted Him. Not religion. Not performance. Not dead works. She trusted His love for her.  What she wanted more than anything was to carry His authentic love to others.

There are so many stories that could be shared. But I will end with this. Ashley Jones’s legacy is this — she loved Life. She loved us. She brought so much joy and wisdom into our lives. We are forever grateful.