Romania...Here I Come!

Bucharest, Romania it is! Since I began exploring possibilities for overseas service over a year ago, the Lord had Romania on my heart. All along, this is what has kept me in the process. At the beginning, though, when I started searching for assignments through the IMB in Romania, there were none fit for the "single female" status that is the most accurate description of me. So I placed it in the Lord's hands and decided that if Romania was not where He wanted me to explore, then I would consider other options.

Throughout the time, I have looked at possibilities in Rome, Hungary, and Sardinia. Most of these had been taken off the list of possibilities by the time I went to Conference last week. Sardinia, though was still a viable option. After speaking with someone who knew a little bit about the work that would take place on Sardinia, I was a little bit discouraged knowing that I would be alone with one other person on the island doing ministry for several months at a time. It seemed to me that maybe that was not the best option for me, either.

I came home and got online to the web site where I looked at job requests, and saw a request for Romania that had not been on there earlier that week when I had looked. It was like the Lord placed it there just in time for me to know that my options were limited, and that He still had Romania in His plans for me. This happened literally the week before Conference. So I went to Conference, spoke with several people, and in the end, put the Romania job request as my #1 choice for service.

They still have to go through my file two more times...one on the day of "job match" which is this coming Thursday, and one when the committee votes on hiring us for those jobs on May 6th, which is also the day the official letters are mailed out. So there still is that little piece of me that knows it's not official till it's over, but I trust the Lord knows what He's doing, and that He has not brought me through all of this for nothing.

So in about six months, I should be in a whole new place I've never been before, learning a whole new language I've never heard spoken before, but I'm extremely excited.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God...conference went really well and the Lord totally came through. He is So Good and Faithful. To be fair, I won't blog about my decision until all the super important people in my life have been told in person or on the phone, but I will share eventually. You can continue to pray, though, for God to continue to work in this journey...the IMB still has to go through my file 2 times before they offer me the position. I have no doubts everything will work out, but only the Lord knows what He's doing. Thanks, friends!

It's Almost Here!

So the time has FINALLY come. It's been a long time in the waiting. On Tuesday I fly to Virginia for my Candidate Conference.

Friends, this means so much to me. This week will determine at least the next two years of my life.

Please please please pray for me this week.

1. Pray that I would have clarity
2. Pray that my heart would be yielded to God's will and not mine
3. Pray for safety in travel
4. Pray that my flight won't be canceled (with all the cancellations having gone on this week...)

Thanks, friends. I will update you when I get back sometime next weekend!

Burt's Bees Blemish Stick...

So...a few months ago, Ashley recommend the Burt's Bees Blemish stick on her blog, saying it really worked, and all these amazing things about it. I totally believe that it worked for her, so since then, I've been looking at all of the Burt's Bees stands in various retailers.

Yesterday I found ONE at the Super Target at 360 & Camp Wisdom in Grand Prairie. I put it in my basket, paid for it, took it home, removed the tube from the box and placed it in my cosmetics bag.

After washing my face and doing my night time routine, I opened the Blemish Stick and rolled it onto my blemishes. It's supposed to have herbal ingredients that help the redness go away and for the oil in the blemish to diffuse to other parts of the face.

No more than ten minutes later, did I feel my throat and the back of my tongue start to swell up. I made sure I could drink water and eat a cracker (I guess that meant I could go to bed and not worry about dying of suffocation...). Then, without removing the oils from the Blemish Stick from my blemishes, I went to bed thinking the swelling in my throat would go down.

Fast forward to 8:00a.m this morning. I slept well, but when I woke up, I woke to find my throat still swollen. So I went in the bathroom to do my morning routine, which consists of cleaning my face with toner and then proceeding to apply my makeup. No more than ten minutes later I noticed the swelling inside my throat was going down.

It's weird, because I'm not really allergic to many things. Yes, I have allergies like any normal person to things in the air at different times of year. But the only other thing besides this "magical" Blemish Stick that I've ever had a "swollen-throat reaction" to was Salmon.

Yes, friends, I am allergic to Salmon. You can start feeling sorry for me right about now.

So back to the Blemish Stick, I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. Obviously I won't use it. Just like I don't eat Salmon. I would like my money back, yes. But do they take back cosmetics that have been used? And I would not want to lie about not having used it.

Anyone want a Blemish Stick? I think I can live without it....

update on the friend situation...

several of us had a heart-to-heart yesterday and things are much better.

It Hurts to be Loyal

O.K. so you might be wondering what the title's all about. For as long as I can remember, I've had friends that I've been painfully loyal to. And what I mean by loyal is not that I dodn't talk about them behind their backs (I do wish I didn't do that, and I really try not to, but usually it's to express my frustration and never out of malice to hurt them.)

I don't have a problem telling people what I think, either, so usually if I've said something to a friend about another friend, I've said it to that friend, too. Does that make sense?

What I mean by "loyal" is that in each of my great friendships there have been seasons of silence from them because they don't accept or appreciate something I've said. See when I say things to people, it's out of genuine love and concern. I'm not afraid to speak the truth to people. Even if I know they're not going to be happy with it. Even if I know they're not going to talk to me for a few weeks or months or years. So when they're not talking to me, it hurts because I cherish my friends. It doesn't change my attitude. In my mind, I'm like, "Ang, you knew this was coming. That's how they are. They'll come back around eventually, and might even admit that you were right." And sometimes they do.

So right now I'm in one of these seasons of silence from one of my precious friends. I expressed to her my frustration with some other people she spends lots of time with because of certain situations I won't go into. I have also spent a lot of time with these people, though not as much as she or another fried. I have spent enough time with them to know that they don't appreciate my truthful personality. I've spent enough time with them to know that if I say something they don't like, their answer to me is rejection. I've spent enough time with them to know that investing my time in those relationships is not worth my time because they don't accept me for who I am.

But my dear friend has been my dear friend for almost 4 years now. And has not said more than two sentences to me since Sunday. I know why, too. But I will remain silent, and when she's ready to start speaking to me again I'll still be here. And we will move on. And eventually, it might happen again. And I'll still be here.

Remembering...

When I was in jr. high, I had 2 best friends, Jennifer, and Kara. We were inseparable. We spent the night at eachother's houses every weekend. We had a club called JAK...it stood for Jenn Angela Kara. Yes. We were in jr. high.

Well four years ago, Kara's mom, Lana, went to have surgery (a hysterectomy), and they discovered some very advanced ovarian cancer inside of her. Well through the years since then, she went through several rounds of chemo and radiation. I guess about a year ago, she decided to not do any more chemo, because she knew the cancer would eventually take her life.

Lana went to be with the Lord this morning. I am so sad that my good friend lost her mom at such a young age. I am so sad that more people will not know the joy of having known Lana, for she was the one whose house we wanted to be at because she was always so creative and fun. But I am so honored to have been a person who knew her. And I am so honored to know that she is with the Lord. And I am honored to know that one day, I will see her again.

Please join me in praying for her husband, Greg, their daughter Kara (senior at GA Tech), and their son Tim (who is a jr. in high school) this week as they come to terms with the loss of Lana, but as they also have the opportunity to know that she is no longer suffering or in pain, but she is before the throne of Jesus.