Say hello to Ashley Martin! Ashley has been married to Barry for five years, and they are raising two amazing little men. Benaiah is 22 months and Bowyer is 4 months old. They are currently living in Southern Michigan in the Michiana area.

Ashley came to know the Lord on a personal level at the age of 16. She was raised in a Christian home primarily. Her mom became a first generation Christian when Ashley was around 3-4 years old. As a young teenager, Ashley was really focused on wanting to be in the center of Gods will. That desire has taken her on a lot of adventures over the last 20 years. 

She attended several different Bible schools, one of which was SMBI for two years. While she was at SMBI, she learned about Wilderness Way Girls Camp, and there was a deep longing inside her to go and serve those emotionally troubled girls. At the age of 22, Ashley headed for the girls camp in South Carolina. She ended up staying for 6 years instead of the 2 she had originally committed to. 

Her 5th year into camp, having never dated anyone, Ashley decided to commit to serve at girls camp indefinitely until the Lord led her somewhere else. Interestingly enough, within 3 months of that decision, she met the man whom she would later marry. God seems to have an amazing sense of humor!

Barry and Ashley married in June 2020 and moved to Wyoming. They loved just living life together, but the LONG winters were really hard for Ashley, and she wanted to move back to SC. 

In July 2022, they were at her husband’s family reunion when a cousin offered them a position to work on his dairy farm in Michigan. Ashley and Barry both felt so much peace about moving to Michigan and they were there within 3 months.

Working on a small dairy farm was one of the hardest and best things for their marriage. They would go to the barn for morning milking together and work out their attitudes, apologize for things they said when the cows made them angry, laugh a lot, and sing to old country music. It was a great time.

At Their first son was born in August 2023 while they were still working on the farm, so the baby came along in the stroller for choring time.

At the present time, Ashley and Barry are still living in Michigan, although they have moved off the farm. Barry is currently working construction, and a second boy joined their family in March.

When Ashley looks back over the last 20 years, she can really see how God has guided her along the way. 

Something that the Lord has been gently touching her heart on, is the use of her phone and the distraction it is from the greater work, raising her sons. Ashley has an instagram account @iron_mountain.homestead where she loves creating, but the reality is, it takes a lot of time and brain space to show up every day with fresh content that’s either inspiring, educational, or funny. 

Ashley also runs her Amare affiliate business primarily through instagram, so she doesn’t really want to shut Instagram down completely, but she’s realizing she needs to be willing to do that if that’s what God is asking of her.

Amare is The Mental Wellness company, and Ashley’s team leaders really encourage the affiliates not to operate their businesses out of the hustle mindset. They encourage them instead to work their business out of a place of peace and rest, so if they need to take time off to focus on rest, and family, and implementing boundaries, that’s encouraged. Ashley loves that about her team and her job. 

As Ashley navigates being a mom to her sons, she is really trying to keep her heart soft and hear the gentle whispers from the Lord to be in His will. Being willing to give up everything she loves for Him. Even if it is her business and Instagram, she asks herself, isn’t Jesus worth more?

Ashley and Barry are still discovering what they enjoy doing together now that they’re a family of four, but some things they’ve done recently are swimming in their pool, shooting bow and arrows together, and washing dishes while singing along to old country music. 

Some of Ashley’s favorite things to do to relax are working in her garden, going on a solo walk, or soaking in the bathtub. When she has extra time on rainy days, she likes to work on sewing projects or bake something new in the kitchen.