Angelina's Life in Motion

So, you probably thought that you'd never hear from me again. Well, you were wrong. Here are the basic things that have happened since the last time I wrote:

1. Snow Day- Northwest Ohio had a "blizzard" one day, so the university was cancelled. It was very exciting. My friends and I walked to the video store during this blizzard and it was a lot of fun. We went trudging through about a foot of unplowed/ unshoveled snow just to get some movies. Too bad it only lasted 1 day, but it was the first snow day that I'd had in 7 years, so that was cool.

2. Birthday- So, I'm a year older and hopefully a little wiser. I turned 26 on February 19. On the Saturday before I had my friends over and I invited a special guest- a professional Indian dancer. (Not Indian as in Native American, but as from India) He's my personal friend and neighbor. After a lot of persuading, he decided to dance for us. He was very entertaining. My friend, Kanako, from Japan was brave enough to join him and try to imitate him. They made even more enjoyable. It was also a memorable birthday because my brother was visiting me for a while and his birthday was also in February. So, we celebrated together. The pictures are from my party. One is with all my guests. The other is of my brother and I.

3. Spring Break- Nothing really happened on Spring Break.

4. Plane ticket- I'M GOING TO Puebla, MEXICO!!!! May 21-31

5. Wedding- No, not mine, if that's what you're thinking. My sister is getting married April 14. It's hard to believe it. She's only 18 and wow, what a big commitment. Anyway, I'll let you know how that goes.

Personal Note: If you haven't read 1 and 2 Peter for awhile, read it. It's rich stuff! Praise the Lord for the Living and Powerful Word of God and for Jesus Christ our Lord!

Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law- it's something to the effect that if something can go wrong, it will. My life has been like that this past week. I think it began last Friday when I got reprimanded by two people about not having a syllabus finished yet. I was very upset about it because I'm a people pleaser and I don't like someone to get the idea that I'm not responsible. As I analyzed it, I of course recognized my fault in the matter, but of course I had my defense as well. Anyway, everything is ok with that now.
CAR TROUBLE- So, Friday night in the pouring rain, my car died. Saturday my dad drove up to Findlay and he figured out that it was the alternator. So, bye-bye $400 that I don't have. (December happened to be the month that I didn't get paid from the university and I won't get paid in January until the 30th.) So be it. My car is fixed.
CONTACTS- Yeah, so I called to order new contacts only to find out the my prescription expired 3 days before. So, goodbye $90 more that I don't have. Oh well.

In spite of all those things- mostly financially (I also had to put out money for my books this week too) all is well. God has blessed me in many ways this week.
I heard from 2 friends from college. Actually, 2 of my best friends and it was good to catch up with them. Thanks Pat and Holly. Plus, my friend returns from Christmas break on Saturday and I can't wait to see him.

Well, that's enough of an update for now!

So, it's been awhile. Why? Because life just keeps going and usually faster than I can keep up with. That's ok, though. Well, since it's the end of the year here is a recap of major things I have done or learned this year.

1. TRUST: I learned this through the financial struggles I have had over the entire year. I always had enough, though and sometimes a little bit more. Thanks to God!

2. PATIENCE: I hoped that this would be the year when I would find love and so on.
However, I'm still waiting and will continue to wait until the time and person is right.

3. FRIENDSHIP: I have gained some truly great friends this year. I have appreciated meeting and getting to know these people in 2006- Chris Massie, Pastor Bill, Lauren Ashworth, Raid Alghamdi, Amy, Zoe, Aya, Rikkz, Gagan, and Nayan.

4. HARDWORK: That's all around, but in particular my month subbing at South Middle School- God gave me grace and my 1st semester of grad school.

5. FAMILY: We've been through some tough things this year. A brother with lots of personal struggles, mom in the hospital, grandpa nearly dying, a teenage pregnancy.... but we are closer than ever.

6. SELF: Let's just say I learned a lot about myself, my faith and my passions this year. Thanks to TFC Bootcamp, the Internship I did this summer and God's faithfulness to guide my life.

That's all. Have a great start to 2007!

How do I sum up a month of events in just a measly paragraph or two? We'll see. Ok, so God is SOOOOOOOOOO incredibly amazing. There is one particular person he has so obviously put in my life to share His gospel with and I'm so blessed to have the opportunity. His birthday was on Sat. (the 11th) and I had a party for him. He really enjoyed it. We have become like brother and sister, which only God could bind two people like He has us. Sometimes it seems impossible for me to show Him truth, but the other night while I was lying in bed, God spoke to me and told me that He will use me to reveal truth. It will then be up to my friend to respond to it. God has this great plan to save Him and I get to be involved! At the same time I have a great friend who treats me with such care and respect. I hate to say it, but he's given me a better idea of how a guy should treat me. It's so cool!
Classes are going well. I'm doing good and learning a lot. By doing the grad assistant position I get to put into practice a lot of what I learn. I have become very popular among the International Students.
Oh, yeah, at the party there were 2 Americans, 4 Saudis,and 3 Chinese. It was really sweet when we sang Happy Birthday because we sang it in English, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish all at the same time! How cool is that!
Well, I'll try to write more soon. Until then- Love JESUS!!

I think naming my blog, "Angelina's Life in Motion" was a prophecy of what the semester would be like. I find myself always having something to do or people to hang out with. Some cool recent experiences include:
Arriving at a wedding in Lima with a handsome friend from Saudi Arabia. This particular guy has become a very good friend. Maybe if he weren't Muslim, Arab and Engaged he'd be a potential match for me. Anyway, he is an incredibly kind and caring person and really fun to hang out with. So, he got to see an American, Christian wedding, which he really enjoyed doing and I enjoyed bringing him as my guest.

Just last night I was watching and somewhat participating in an Indian Dance Festival. (Indian as in people from India.) The girls were in their brightly colored traditional clothes and the guys in theirs. I went with my neighbor, who is from India. I tried dancing with them but I couldn't get the pattern because they were moving so fast! It's so cool to experience other cultures.

While I love hanging out with my international friends, I don't want to lose touch with my American friends. So, I hope someone has a get-together soon. Well, that's a brief update, but as you all know life just keeps on going and I need to go with it.

BIG NEWS!!!!!
I'm officially "on my own" in life, with a roommate, an apartment and all the bills that come with it. Life is incredibly exciting. With 4 guys from India living above us in our Duplex, things at home are not dull. They have this amazing "home theater" sound system and we frequently feel vibrations and the song, "We Will Rock You." They are my friends. It's been a long time since I've had real friends that I hang out with regularly. My friends from India are great. Honestly, they need to give lessons on being a gentleman to my American guy friends. Anyway, last night I watched The Passion of the Christ with one of them and we talked about it for 1 1/2 hours afterward. He is a Hindu and has many questions about Christ. Oh, it is so SWEET to be able to freely discuss my faith with someone who is curious about it. I believe that God is going to move in BIG ways this year!
Also new in life- I got a job at a Coffee House. It's a cool place to hang out. A lot of university students meet up in there. It is conveniently located across the street from the campus and around the corner from my apartment. So, I'm making friends all over. I also have a group of friends from my grad classes that I've had over a couple times.
WHAT is Not New, but I wish it were: Well, as a conversation with my mom went this week....
Ang... I'm having friends over for dinner.
Mom... Is it a guy friend?
Ang... No.
Mom... Well, you need to get on that.
Ang... I'm doing what I can. Where am I supposed to find guys?
I don't know where to find them.
So, all that to say that no new available, Jesus-loving, internationally minded men have come my way yet. I'm still waiting.
COMING SOON is a picture of my roommate and my apartment.

The sky was about 5 shades of blue with just a hint of gray. Wind blew past me as if it had somewhere to be 20 minutes ago. Trees around me were bowing and gracing my presence. In my time of walking in these surroundings, it was if I were in another realmand my God became real once again to me. He spoke to me of the changes taking place in my life, that just as these surroundings reminded me that fall is coming, it prompted me to think that some new season of my life is in the prep stage. Something is coming. God is going to move and it's going to be big! I could try to make guesses but what I could imagine just won't cut it. So, I'm just going to let God take the stage. One thing I'm certain of is that love is in the air and when God told me that, He wasn't speaking of human love, He was speaking to me about my love relationship with Him. I know that although everything isn't perfect in my life, God is very real and He's going to take me to somewhere I've never been. Truly, God is good.