Read Angie's Thoughts

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 ju...

During my first year at Trinity, a parent approached me on the playground and asked if I was interested in a kitten she had bought for her daughter. She told me the kitten had peed on the floor so the dad wanted to make it an outdoor cat but she thought she would ask me first. I said yes and the next afternoon she brought the kitten with her at the end of the school day. She was a cute little thing but I will be honest in saying my very first thought was, "Oh my, I hope she grows into those ears!" I had already decided to name her Calli since she was a calico and I already had a C-named cat at home - Christopher. When the mom told me her daughter had named her Picasso, I started calling her by the two names or, for short, Calli P. Calli was a handful right from the start! I had never seen a kitten with more spunk in my life, she was a riot! She and Christopher became friends and and we were a happy little family of 3. It didn't take long to notice that Calli had some bl...

This year I find myself thankful for many, many things...here are some: 1. My Jesus - His love and forgiveness keep me going every day 2. My dad - more thankful for him each passing year 3. Maggie - gosh, I just love her SO much 4. Calli - even with her mental issues, she's still my cutie patootie 5. Lola - I'll never forget a morning last spring when I had put sticks and leaves in my hair as part of camping themed day at school and she lay behind my head on the couch and groomed my hair, pulling out all my decorations 6. My best friend Amy - surprising her in Dallas this summer was so much fun! 7. My new job with Ryan - what a sweet and funny little boy 8. My grandma Judy - her strength and determination make me want to be a better person 9. Lilly - my little Jelly Bean who loves to get her nails done on a Girls Day and refers to this holiday as Indian Day 10. Peyton - I just know he's going to grow up to play professional soccer. Gooooaaaaal! 11. Lola - such a...

A year ago, I started on an adventure that I believed would change my life, open doors of possibilities, and make me more well-rounded as a person - grad school. It happened pretty innocently enough, I got a wild idea one Saturday morning to look at online Christian colleges to see if they had any Master's degrees I was interested in. Grand Canyon University offered a degree in Biblical Studies with an Emphasis on Youth and I was very interested in that. I started to fill out what I believed was a bunch of questions to create an online account with them so I could log on in the future. A few minutes later, as I was wondering about all the questions, a screen came up that said, "Congratulations! You have submitted your application for grad school" or something to that affect. *Gulp* What had I gotten myself into? The next couple of weeks consisted of filling out applications, many phone calls, and (what seemed to me) door after door opening that made me believe I was doi...

I would be lying if I said my relationship with God hasn't suffered some in recent months. I've gone through a time of questioning Him, doubting Him, second guessing Him, and just flat out feeling as though He had let me down. Back in April, when I found out I was not returning to Trinity, I decided I was going to step out of my box when it came to prayer. I've never prayed specifically for things before, very specific things. I always believed that God had blessed me beyond all I deserved and I didn't have the right to ask Him for specific things I wanted and not necessarily needed. This time, though, I was going to try praying for 3 very specific things when it came to my next job: 1) working with kids 2) being able to take Maggie with me 3) health insurance Were they a bit of a stretch? Yes, I believed so, especially #2, but I believed God would answer my prayers. I even remember talking with a friend this summer about those requests and she said something abo...