Read Angie's Thoughts

This is one of those blogs about a subject I can't make sense of in my head, so I'm hoping that writing it out will bring some clarity. It touches on one of the most painful parts of my life and one I can rarely think about, let alone voice out loud, without breaking down in tears. Please bare with me as this could get 'wordy'. I recently blogged about going through old prayer journals from my time in college, and how they dealt with everything from my walk as a new Christian to mission trips to starting counseling for the abuse in my childhood to praying for future husband. That's right...a husband. When I was in college, I was always asked two questions: "What are you studying? and Do you have a boyfriend?" - not necessarily in that order :-) It used to drive me bananas! Over the years I've come to realize those questions are the norm for our culture concerning people of college age. Getting a job and getting married are the next big life moves ...

Last weekend, I went and retrieved some of my boxes from my dad's shop where they have been stored since I moved into a smaller apartment, what, almost 10 years ago? I had an idea of what was in some of them and it was fun to quickly peak inside each one and decide if I wanted to take it with me right away, take it to a local second hand shop, or leave it at the shop until I made room for it in the storage shed at my house. I grabbed a few boxes full of notebooks, journals, and old college assignments and brought them home for a more in depth look. Most of the notebooks were old prayer journals from when I was in college and the first year or two afterwards. They covered my decision to trust Christ, the first year of college when I wasn't sure what in the world I was supposed to be doing, starting counseling to deal with my childhood abuse and the hard, hard work that came with that, my mission trips in Riverton, Hawaii, and India, and life in general with roommates, friends,...