Read Angie's Thoughts

Recently I was sitting in church on Sunday morning, watching the children's Christmas program. I was overwhelmed with joy and pondering just how blessed I was as I watched the children sing. Some students were former students of mine from Trinity, and all were children I saw every Sunday in children's church. My heart was full. For reasons unbeknownst to me, a night from almost 15 years ago came to mind as I sat there. It's a night I rarely think about and yet it could have had amazing repercussions for everyone I loved. It was Christmas Eve of my senior year, 1998... ...It was late, I don't remember the exact time, but I was home with my younger brother who was sound asleep in his room. My dad was at his girlfriend's house and I didn't expect him home for hours. The Christmas tree was lit and decorated in the living room and there were presents underneath. The stockings had been set out and there were probably even cookies and milk for Santa. It should have

Every year I sit down and write out a list of 100 things I am thankful for. Here goes 2013's list... 1) My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, I wouldn't be here today. 2) My dad. One of my best friends and biggest supporters. 3) My nieces and nephews - Lilly, Peyton, Lola, Clara, Noah, and Sydni. Being an aunt is the best job EVER! 4) Ryan Joe McClelland. I never knew I could love a little boy so very much. 5) My grandma Judy. A stronger lady I will never know. She inspires me. 6) My brothers Bryan and Mark 7) My (might as well be) sister-in-law Kris 8) Ryan's mom Kristen. She has become a great friend of mine during this last year. I want to have faith like hers. 9) My Maggie dog. She is my constant companion and faithful shadow. 10) My cats Lola and Bo. Lola is ever the curious one and Bo is just a crotchety old man who just wants to cuddle...right in my face. 11) A warm house to live in 12) A reliable car that is completely paid for 13) My best fri

I've learned a lot about friendships recently and whether anyone will read it or not, I thought I would share some of what I've learned... * Friendships are work. Hard work at times. Friendships can bring so much joy and yet incredible pain and heartache. You have to decide that through it all, you're going to stick with that person and do whatever it takes to make things work. * Some friendships are for a season. For reasons only He knows, God brings certain friends into our lives at just the time we need them. When that season has passed, the friendship begins to fade. When I was walking through the journey of healing from the abuse in my childhood, God brought me many good friends that encouraged me, listened to me, cried with me, and celebrated with me. As I began to move past that time in my life, those friendships fizzled out, some until they ceased to exist at all. And you know what? I'm okay with that. * With some friends, I've learned you almost have

The Bible has a lot to say about faith. I expect it would. :-) I especially love the verses in Matthew 18 that talk about the way society is to value children and how the faith of little ones matters so much to Him. Last night as I was driving Ryan home after taking him out to dinner while his mom and dad had a date night, I was struck by his faith in those around him and it has made me examine my faith in God in a new light. Ryan doesn't have a care in the world. Seriously. When he goes to bed at night, he sleeps soundly, trusting that his mom and dad love him. When he wakes up in the morning, or from nap time, he trusts someone will come get him out of his crib. When his diaper needs changing, he trusts someone will do it. When he's hungry, he trusts someone will get him a snack or fix him a meal. When someone puts a plate in front of him, he trusts that the food is healthy and yummy, not something that will make him sick or hurt him. When he's thirsty and needs a '

This week I got back from a short vacation to visit my best friend Amy and her family in Dallas. I was excited to love on her new little girl and spend time with her two other children. I was looking forward to it as a time of relaxation and getting away from my every day life in Riverton, and it was. However, it was also a time filled with a little nervousness, especially as Amy dropped me off at the airport because I wasn't flying home to Riverton, I was flying to Orlando, Florid, and I had no idea what lay ahead. Go back 11 years ago to the summer of 2002 when I did my first summer of mission work during college. I was excited to be working at a church I loved with people I wanted to get to know better. When I went to orientation, I met the other summer missionaries that would be working throughout Wyoming, including a girl from Texas named Cassey. Cassey was working at another church here in Riverton and our pastors had decided to combine some of our activities so I knew I wo

(Just a head's up...this blog might be long but to see the whole picture, many details need to be shared!) God recently gave me the opportunity to be involved in something so much bigger than myself with so many different aspects that it could only have been HIS hands putting the pieces together. When I was tempted to be completely selfish and I think only of myself, He humbled me. When things didn't work out in my time, He reminded me that His timing was more important. When I thought I had finally seen the whole picture, He opened my eyes to possibilities I had never even thought of. It all started with a car. Not just any car - a 1996 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with every feature you could think of. It was also in amazing shape, practically new with less than 29,000 miles. My boss Trevor bought it when he was younger and as it was not a practical car for Wyoming winters, it spent a lot of time in the garage. One day, Trevor called his wife Kristin and told her that he b

This song is an old one but I was reminded of it during a recent conversation with a friend over dinner a few weeks ago. She is in a very similar place in her life to mine - early 30s, single, wondering when God will reveal His (longer term) plan for her life. A big difference between the two of us is her desire to be married. She's wanted that for years and as she has remained single, she's wondering if God's plan doesn't align with hers concerning this part of her life. We were talking about a mutual acquaintance who recently turned down a proposal from the man she had been dating. In discussing it, at almost the same time, we both said how nice it would be to have a guy want to marry us. Our inner longings were so simply put out there - we both want to be desired. I still stand by my statement that I don't believe it's God's will for me to marry. I won't go as far as saying it will never happen because if God were to bring along the right guy a

How fast time flies. The older I get, the more true that statement becomes. Events that are months away and feel like they'll take forever to get here are gone in a few blinks of an eye. Infants I babysat for years ago are now graduating high school. My own nieces and nephew are growing way too fast - just turned 6, about to turn 3, and about to turn 6. Where does the time go? Seriously. A year ago, I was heartbroken as I said good-bye to my 2nd grade students and the staff I had worked with for the past 7 years of my life. My heart was heavy with sadness and yet I had this faith that all would work out and God was going to handle everything in His own way. I wish I could say I was absolutely confident in God's plans for my life but after the months of summer (and my last paycheck from the school) came and went, I found myself wondering what in the world God was doing. I went through the process of becoming a substitute for the district and didn't get any calls. I g

Each year, the month of April brings many things to my mind. It's the month I celebrate my birthday,  it's the month of my brother's birthday as well as many cousins. It marks the anniversary of a major surgery I had that impacted my life in many ways, and it's when the winter weather finally begins to feel more like spring. But more than that, the month of April always takes me back to my years in college. The month of April is designated as Sexual Assault Awareness month and teal ribbons are used to remind people of that. My first year of college, when I started the journey of working through the abuse in my past with a counselor, she encouraged me to go watch a panel discussion on the topic on campus. I asked a friend to go with me and even today, I can't remember who the speakers were or what exactly was said. I do remember, however, that I was so shook up afterwards that I just wanted to be at home and drove to Dubois for the evening. It was a Wednesday and I

My Sunday School class is studying the book of Genesis and we are at the point where some years have passed since the flood and Noah and his family have settled and begun to put down roots. They planted a vineyard and one day, Noah drank too much wine and passed out in his tent. One brother, Ham, tried to make light of the situation and get his brothers to have a little fun at their dad's expense but the two other brothers, Shem and Japheth, were having none of that. They handled the situation with respect and love for their dad. Needless to say, when Noah woke up and learned what Ham had done, he was furious and basically laid out a curse that Ham and his people would be slaves to the people of his brothers. (Genesis 9:20-27) One of the follow-up questions in our study book was what generational sins have we seen in our own families. Almost everyone in my class are the parents of grown children and they were able to comment on the perspective of their own sins they have seen pla

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato

Let's face it: sin stinks. Big time. Ever since the garden of Eden, man has been filled with sin to the point where it should be the death of us all. Thankfully, we have a Savior that died for those sins and has given us the precious gift of living eternally with Him in spite of those sins. Hallelujah! Regardless, sin happens. I've sinned against others, causing pain and distrust in the lives of those around me. I have been on the receiving end of sins, hurtful actions and words from others that totally devastated my heart. Those sins were intentional, committed by the person even though they knew what they were doing was wrong. While I have forgiven those sins, there are repercussions that reach far beyond just my relationship, or lack thereof, with them. I posted about this awhile back, http://readangiesthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/06/forgiveness-and-consequences.html , concerning some things that happened during my childhood at the hands of my grandfather. Even though forgiv

A few weeks ago, when the reality of having to put my cat Calli to sleep became more apparent, I began to question whether or not I should adopt another cat. When I got to thinking about all the time Lola, my other cat, would be spending alone during the days I was working, I decided I should probably get a cat to keep her company. As I began to look at the Riverton animal shelter website, I already knew I didn't want a kitten. Most people who go to the shelter for a cat want a kitten and I have a heart for all of those older cats that get overlooked. None of them really caught my eye so I decided to look elsewhere. My grandma told me the animal shelter in Dubois often has a lot of older cats so I decided to look there. They didn't have a website but my grandma saw a picture of Bo - a gray, 10 year old, declawed cat - in the newspaper, and told me I should get him. I knew I wouldn't do anything until I got home from my trip to Arizona for Christmas so I decided to just thin