PDO

PDO (Pre-Departure Orientation) is in full swing!!! I can't believe it is finally here!!!!

We began PDO last night at dinner served by the sisters. Yes, that is right, the sisters... as in nuns! We are staying at a Benedictine convent/monastery. Which is really actually an awesome thing because they have such beautiful hearts devoted only to the Lord. They have devoted themselves to praying for the 44 interns that are going with CMF this summer. How awesome!!! God is so good!!!

We have been learning a whole lot today both about our selves personally and as different teams. I have really be super encouraged through gaining so much knowledge about things I would have never thought to think about. We have also been able to share our testimonies throughout the day to the whole group of us. I have been crazy blessed to hear how Christ has worked through so many different backgrounds and through so many hard situations to bring glory to his name and to bring us all to this place.

I have been able to get to know my teammate Tosha really well!!! It is funny how God works, Tosha and I share much of the same personality but are different in just enough ways that I know we are going to get along great! You know you are going to be good friends with someone when you stay up late talking about your life and feeling safe in doing so. (Which is exactly what we did!) We get along great and already have been deemed "partners in crime" by the leaders here! It is going to be an amazing summer with her!!!!

I can't believe that we are only four days away from flying to Thailand but God has a lot more to teach us before we leave!!!

Please continue to pray for Tosha and I as we prepare to leave and that God will be opening hearts already even before we get there. Please also pray for the safety of the other 42 interns going across the globe to spread Christ's love and hope to the lost!!!

God is so good!!!

All my love,
Ang

And so the journey begins

The journey officially began today with a 8 hour car ride to Indianapolis!!! After listening to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis in the car, I felt quite sure my heart is ready for an amazing adventure. I however don't think my adventure will include other worlds found in wardrobes but I know it will include many amazing people as it already has!

Yesterday was my birthday and I was so truly blessed by so many facebook messages, phone calls, text messages, and even a few letters! The outpouring of love I felt and still feel is truly overwhelming. God has blessed me with some amazing people who keep me laughing and show me Christ's love in amazing ways. It was just the thing I needed to start me off on an amazing adventure!!!

I have made it to New Palestine, Indiana!!! God truly worked miracles and I am staying with the lovely McConnaughhay family. They took me in as a complete stranger to them just knowing I needed a place to stay for a few nights. It is incredible the connections we have through mutual friends!!! They have been encouraging me since the moment I stepped in their house! I am blessed to stay with such an amazing family and I can feel Christ's love here!

So far, the adventure is grand but, it is just starting...

Countdown To Thailand

The countdown to Thailand has begun!!!

3 days until I leave for Pre-departure orientation (PDO)|

5 days until PDO starts

10 days until I am on a plane to Thailand

13 days until my feet touch Thai soil!

God is so good and has really been blessing me while I have been home for a couple of weeks.
I have been able to see so many friends and family and have been so blessed by them. God has really been renewing my heart and soul during this time.

This week, God has really been showing me how much I need to purge out of my life. Having moved back from school with all my stuff for the first time since moving to school, I realized just how much stuff I have accumulated. Things that do not really matter but somehow I thought I needed to keep. After many trips to Goodwill to donate a lot of stuff, I feel so much better. It is as if I somehow feel lighter. I am glad I can give to someone else who can use it rather than keep it in a box somewhere.

This week, my prayer requests are:
1) My trip to Indianapolis- That I would be safe traveling.
2) PDO- That God would be working in the lives of all the interns who will be there
3) Flight to Thailand- It is a really long 3 day trip and pray that everything would go smooth

Thank you all so much and I will try to keep you updated as much as I can!!!

All my love,
Ang

The State of Union

Anguished

Darkness surrounds my soul.

Agonized

My soul clings to things you despise above all

Distressed

I play tug of war with lust as it tries to win my soul

Suffering

I dine with jealousy as a close friend.

Confused

Rid yourself of these things and come into union with me

Torn

I want to sing the song of power as its melodies surround me

Jumbled

What I crave is hindering me from what I desire

Tortured

My chest swells with pride as my faith diminishes

Crying

Rid yourself of these things and hide yourself in me

Distraught

I am stabbing myself with the knife of greed as envy is stopping my breathing

Dying

I crawl to you with my heart bleeding and my soul in pieces

Seeking

I no longer want the world; I crave the union with you that you begged me for.

Hoping

You surround my soul

Relieved

My soul can only cling to you

Calmed

You have won the war for my heart

Peaceful

My closest companion is you; my rock

Unclouded

I have come into union with you

Healed

You have patched my self-inflicted wounds; only a faint scar remains

Joyful

Wickedness no longer tempts me

Awake

You have put all desires to sleep and my soul is pure

Alive

This is divine union

The Music of Life

I sit slowly at the old piano of my childhood. The bench creaks and I blow dust off the keys. It is just how I remembered it, sheet music still sits where it did so many years ago. I gently place my fingers on the keys. The keys under my fingers feel safe, like I have found my refuge. The song starts and the song I know by heart comes flooding back to me after all this time. The intervals and melodies swirl around me and I feel goose bumps running down my arm in time to the music. The old piano still carries the sound that I know so well. The first ending is played and I feel tears dancing down my face. As the music becomes soft I see visions of my life play through my head and as it swells so does my heart. The song finishes with a beautiful octave and I sit staring at the ivory keys. I sit until the music has long faded into the air and is only just a memory. I suddenly hear a slow clapping from behind me. I turn around slowly, and there you are smiling with tears in your eyes. If only this moment could last forever.

The Blessings of 2012

This past year has been a true blessing and I have so many things to be thankful for. I would love to share a glimpse of that with you all!

2012 started off with an amazing experience as an intern at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, MD. God really blessed me as I joined 7 other interns to learn more about what God has in store for us! The semester was hard and God blessed me in so many ways through so many people!

During my semester in Maryland, we had the amazing opportunity to visit NYC and hear all about what God is doing through some amazing people!

Had the amazing opportunity to go to the Pentagon and tour Washington D.C.

This summer, God gave me the biggest blessing to tour Europe alongside some of my classmates. We visited seven countries: Ireland, Wales, England, France, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. 

This fall, I started my Junior year at Milligan College. Even though it was a hard semester, God is good and I did well!

I hope you all have enjoyed a glimpse into my year! I pray that God blesses you in this new year!

All my love,

Ang

Nails

The thought that has recently been on my mind the most is the thought that every time we sin, we are driving the nails further and further into the hands and feet of Jesus. Every time our minds go to bad places, every time our lips speak unwholesomeness, every time we let our ears hear filth, and every time our body acts not accordingly to the bible, we are painfully driving the nails deeper. We are tearing apart flesh, we are severing blood vessels and crushing bone in the beautiful hands and feet of the only one who can save us. Even as the nails are pounded in and the pain becomes so intense, Jesus still manages to whisper, "I love you my child." In this world, we will come across people who will say that they would die for us but, would they really? If we were the ones who were causing them the pain and nailing them to a cross would they still tell us they loved us? No, they would turn against us, there would be no love in their hearts. Their hearts would be filled with anger, resentment and confusion. It brings my heart great sadness to think that I am hurting my Savior and that is why it takes a daily effort to turn against the evil ways that have put the hammer in my hand and are coaxing me to drive the nails deeper, and to turn to the one who protects me, the one who will never leave me.

My encouragement for you is that you put down the hammer, put down the sin and run to the only One who is waiting with nail scarred hands. He is waiting and wanting to forgive you.