I am Ashley Sanchez.

Why My Name Matters.

For the entirety of my life, there has always been this running theme about how common my name is. Every school I ever went to, I always wondered how many other students I would be sharing my name with that year. My name is so common that when it is called in public, I don’t even react because someone else is most likely being called. I can’t tell you how many times I have told a cashier or a waitress my name and heard, “That’s my name, too!”

It is no isolated experience. I am quite sure that if your name is Ashley, you have experienced this in some capacity. If you’ve ever seen the show Recess on Disney, you would remember seeing this particular clique of girls. What was their common trait? All of their names was Ashley. It is an accurate depiction of what it is like to have the name.

At least I had my distinguished last name. It’s a pretty uncommon surname. I never met anyone else outside of my family with it. Well, that all changed when I became a married woman four years ago. I took on the name Sanchez. Another extremely common name. How charming.

Why am I going on about this? Well, when I think about people’s names, there are a few well known people who stand out. As a graphic designer, Paula Cher is a name that would generate a particular person in your mind. When you say names like Steve Jobs and Selena Gomez, most people know who you’re referring to; although, there are several other people who share these exact names.

So, earlier this year, in January, I had this thought pop into my mind: “I want to be the Ashley Sanchez.”

Admittedly, when I said it, I was thinking about being known as Ashley Sanchez the graphic designer. However, another voice redirected me to something else. I was actually going to use my name to bring attention to Jesus.

How God Began To Use My Name.

This is something that has been a long time coming. I first had the idea to start a blog around 2013 or so, but I could never figure out the perfect name. I’ve always been a writer and I have always kept journals. My goal at some point is to be a published author, it always has been.

In March, a few months after I was given this inspiration to use my name for God’s purposes. I heard Him tell me to start a blog. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be told that. I hadn’t thought about starting a blog in years. Were blogs even still a thing?

I had already looked up ashleysanchez.com to see if anyone owned it. Surprisingly, it was actually for sale and not in use. It was being sold at a premium price though…at this time it was being sold for the astronomical price of $84,500. I put the blog in the back of my mind. This was going to be something that would take me years to save up for.

When I thought about it again, around April, I checked the price of the domain. It actually dropped to $4,888. I thought that was a much more reasonable number. Maybe I could actually buy this domain a lot quicker. I just had to try to figure out how to make $4,888.

How God Provided My Domain.

To be honest with you, subconsciously, I really didn’t think that I was actually going to be able to make enough money to buy this domain, at least not any time soon. More months went by and I periodically would monitor the price to see if it would move again. It never did. I wasn’t generating much income either. I did happen to get a commission for some design work for $1,500. However, it had been two months since I heard any news about payment. The odds weren’t looking to be in my favor.

On June 4th, I attended a church service and there was a guest speaker. At the end of the service, the speaker suddenly looked at me and started prophesying over me. One of the things that he mentioned was that there was something I had been trying to buy. I immediately knew that he was talking about the domain.

A few weeks went by and I finally received my payment from my client. I held on to it. I wanted to reinvest it into my design business somehow so that I could raise more money to buy the domain. What I didn’t know was that God’s plan was already set in motion.

On August 6th, I decided to stop watching tv and spend time in prayer. I checked my phone to see if I had any emails before I started, I didn’t have any. When I was done praying, I noticed that a new email notification appeared on my phone. I checked it and I saw a message with the subject “AshleySanchez.com”. What the-

Cautiously, I opened the email and this is what it said:

Uhm…excuse me? God, is that you? It seemed too good to be true. I responded to the message and asked if they owned the website. Meanwhile, I went back to check the price of the domain. Would you believe that it was listed for $1,500? The exact amount that I had just received. There was also the option of a payment plan, so I actually didn’t have to spend the $1,500 up front.

Long story short, I bought the domain! I am now the owner. Wow, so amazing! Now, what?

When it dawned upon me that I was actually the owner, it also dawned upon me I had nothing holding me back from starting this blog. Oh. It was as if God was saying, “It’s your turn.”

So, join me as I switch from the quiet comfort of private journaling to the adventurous, free fall dive into blogging. My goal is to share my experiences that have built my own faith and will prayerfully build yours, as well. ♡

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”