The sassy, freckly, red-headed girl in her leather boots with hands on her hips stood less than four feet tall. Her stature, however, was the only thing small about her; at just five years old, “Sunflower” already had a spirit that towered over the tattooed muscle-bound bikers around her, and she was not at all timid to profess her fire for the Lord. This is the testimony of Ashleydawn Wells.
If you had to define my life by one word,” Ashleydawn tells, “that word would be love.” She points effortlessly to the love story of her parents, the unconditional love of their child, and the relentless love of a God who chases us down and is faithful to never let go. The love that eventually changed the hearts and minds of an entire community of once hardened men. “I love you and God loves you” is the mantra of her life.
“Every house we ever lived in was next door to someone who took me to their church. It’s like from the day I was born, God stationed angels around me,” she says.
Ashleydawn’s parents Bobby and Michelle met when Michelle was just 17. She had hitchhiked to Florida, praying enroute for God to take hold of the next chapter of her life. The day she arrived, she spotted Bobby Wells, a local construction worker, on the street. Michelle remembers how a light was shining on him as if he was the answer to her prayers and at that moment their life together began. When Bobby and Michelle married, they prayed desperately through several miscarriages for a child. As Michelle became pregnant with Ashleydawn, doctors thought her body was growing a tumor rather than a baby – but Michelle and Bobby, with yet undiscovered faith, knew otherwise and held firm in their conviction. “Even in the womb” Ashleydawn explains, “the enemy was trying to stop God’s calling on my life, but my parents’ and God’s love prevailed. In fact, the moment I was born, my Daddy gave me to God. They were the ones (charged with) taking care of me, but they knew God was my true Father.”
As Ashleydawn moved through early childhood, seasons were marked by poverty, on the job injuries, partying and Worldly pressures. Her parents strayed from their Catholic and Baptist roots, but “the one thing that always remained was love and encouragement,” Ashleydawn explains. “No matter how much smoking, drinking, and cussing was going on around us, they shared with me their testimonies of God’s love, of His goodness. They lifted me upon their shoulders…they showed me what I wanted my life to look like.”
So, for as long as Ashleydawn can remember, she knew of God and she talked to Him every day. “My parents may not have gone to church, but they sure did pray!” she explains. As Ashleydawn’s heart swelled with a desire to fill others with the things of God, she campaigned to turn her parents and their friends in the same direction.
Bring on the Cuss Jar!
No more cussing – it was time to break some chains! For each ungodly word, $1 went into her jar. Every Sunday, Ashleydawn emptied her Cuss Jar into the offering basket at church. “Some of my Daddy’s friends would simply empty their pockets on their way in the door because they knew they couldn’t hold their tongue,” she laughs. She also made small, empty boxes, which she gave to everyone she would meet. The unseen treasure inside was God’s love. From foot-stompin’ preaching to Cuss Jar to Boxes of Love, slowly those around Sunflower (as Bobby nicknamed her) started to change.
Ashleydawn also credits God with placing people in her life who immersed her in church and lessons of the Bible as well: “Every house we ever lived in was next door to someone who took me to their church. It’s like from the day I was born, God stationed angels around me,” she says. Mr. Roland, for example, an usher from Bayshore Community Chapel in North Ft. Myers, “planted so many seeds,” Ashleydawn continues. “My grandparents took me to church.” Another neighbor invited her to Vacation Bible School. While spending a summer in Maryland, she attended the church her dad grew up in and led their youth group. Upon returning to Southwest Florida, neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Cook welcomed Ashleydawn into their home-based Bible studies, and for decades to come stayed in her life pouring into her the Word of God. “They let a little girl who asked a million questions sit with them for hours on end,” she states. “That little deal to them was the biggest deal to me. They were pillars of faith…and it spread from me to so many others….it shows that every single person has a purpose.”
At home, Ashleydawn in turn was pouring into her parents and all those around them. That spunky little girl was now a young lady full of Biblical wisdom and not the least bit shy about it, a boldness she proudly attributes to her mom, Michelle. “Tell them what you learned in Sunday school,” Ashleydawn’s parents would say. Adults coming and going from the Wells house were many. “Outlaw bikers” is how she describes them. In fact, Bobby – with his own red hair and freckles – looked somewhat of a twin to his young daughter but he was covered in tattoos and chains. He lovingly encouraged her to preach and insisted his rough and unsaved crew take it all in. Michelle modeled Jesus’ love through acts of service, making sure everyone had food to eat and taking on their children when care was needed. It was by her parents’ example that Ashleydawn found her passion to spread Godly love.
At the time Ashleydawn turned 17, Bobby and Michelle were walking a different, yet familiar, path of faith – one reminiscent of their own early childhoods. Then a tragic accident involving a drunken driver nearly took Bobby’s life and the miracle of his survival changed him forever. Bobby, the rugged construction-worker-tattoo-artist-motorcycle-rider completely surrendered, became a pastor, and founded Ft. Myers Biker Church. Now that’s the transforming, pure power of Jesus.
As Ashleydawn describes, her daddy was a humble man “of incredible wisdom who loved everyone unconditionally. He had departed, but he came back. God used me to remind (my parents) of His love…my Daddy was my protector…the Paul to my Timothy…and he was the greatest influence I ever had.”
In 2016, following a battle with skin cancer, Bobby Wells was called home – to his forever home. The greatest influence of Ashleydawn’s life was now intertwined with her most devastating loss. It is through many tears that she shares her testimony. But as she unashamedly wipes them away, she remembers what Bobby taught her: her family and friends love him, but “GLHM – God Loves Him More.”
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.
— Matthew 5:16