Transition

Transition is difficult and often character building. In a way I have been in a state of transition for the last several years. It's made change easier for me, but my body craves rest for sure. The past month has been quite a time of transtion for me. I have found myself excited about the future, thankful for the past, enjoying the present. It's a blessing to have friends who understand me through everything and know how to encourage me (thanks Laura!).

Laura and I attended the Urbana Missions Conference between Christmas and New Years which was an incredible experience. At this time in my life I was overwhelmed by the amount of people, but was able to strategically avoid crowds and still soak in what I wanted to. I know that I'm not ready to jump into another big adventure quite yet, but after a time of rest I feel that God has someting exciting in store. During Urbana he moved my heart and continued to build in me a desire to reach out to "the least of these..." On New Years Eve in an arena of 18,000 believers I praised the Lord and felt his Spirit moving. It was a spangle-dangle moment (thanks Mark for contributing this word :) We began to sing the song In Christ Alone and I cried. This song has great meaning for me because it was the song I was singing in Moody's Torrey Gray Auditorium when the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that I was supposed to attend the school. Once again I heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear. I know he isn't calling me to a specific place yet, but He was moving me to a commitment to live outside my comfort zone and to reach out to the most vulnerable and unloved in this world. That much is clear.

For now I am home in Oregon and this is my mission field. I don't know how long "now" is but I am at peace and resting in the Lord. People keep asking me what is next. I could choose to get annoyed since I don't have a solid answer, but I don't. I just tell them....right now I am resting, processing, re-getting to know my family (all who have grown so much since I left!), doing all the things I haven't been able to do in the last few years (grocery shopping, reading, sleeping in the same bed every night, cooking, and looking over old journals to see what God has done in my life). Thanks to a wonderfully generous family at church I have a truck to drive for awhile (yep..I'm a truck girl now!). It's nice to have the independance again.

So I hope you'll continue to read and see what God is doing in my neck of the woods. I plan to update as regularly as possible and pray that my words and my life bring some encouragement and inspiration to your life.

Angela