Angie's (not so) Adventurous Adventures

Last Monday morning the alarm clock rang at 4:40 a.m., and 7 minutes later I stumbled out the door to meet Duran at the gym. The rest of the morning fell into the typical routine of quickly getting dressed, downing some Fiber One cereal, spending some time with Jesus, and finally rushing out the door armed with the bag I lug to work each day and my fabulous oversized brown purse. Mondays and Fridays are Starbucks days (ok, sometimes Wednedays too) so I have to be out the door by 7:26 a.m. in order to get my hit of caffeine and make it to work by 7:40. If you are not a math person, that means that I can get coffee and make it to work in 14 minutes! Praise God for answered prayers of driving a 6 mile radius everywhere I go. I slid in the door of Garden Ridge Elementary with 20 minutes to spare before the energy of children crashed into my serene environment of checking my email and getting materials ready for the day.

What's missing in this scenario?

Angie.

Where was Angie?

Oh, here she is...

The bottom of my purse.

I tried. I purposefully put her in the bottom of my purse on Sunday night, so that I would remember her on Monday morning. But, let's be honest. Who has the cognition and the humor at 7:26 a.m. on the first day of the work week, to pile up pillows to take pictures of a stupid wooden angel (Sorry, Ang!)? Not me. I did invite her out with some of my students on Monday. Here she is with my favorite 5th grade boys.


Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...all the same story. She rode in my passenger seat at the bottom of my purse. I would remember around 10 am that I was supposedly documenting her adventures and then bring her out. Here she is with little Chelby and enjoying Shane & Shane's new album.



Angie was supposed to be in this picture too, but Chelby kept moving her away from the camera too fast.



I admit when I fail, and I most definitely failed in the payment of losing this bet. Angie did not wave to a single passing car, she was not invited as the 3rd wheel on Thursday night date night, and didn't participate in our Home Group retreat on Friday.

Bex, you win. Don't change the locks or have us evicted from Timber Ridge.

Love, Kristen and Angie

Introducing Angie

Meet Angie. Out of my two roommates (the other is Rebekah), I like Angie better. Angie is an excellent listener and very clean. Rebekah must pick up on the bond between Angie and I, because I catch Rebekah attempting to kill Angie. I have found Angie tangled in my sheets (attempted suffocation), in my shower (attempted drowning), in the refrigerator (attempted frostbite), and in my suitcase upon arriving in Chicago. Angie just waits patiently and quietly until she is found in these obscure locations, she never utters a word of complaint or slander.

On Tuesday night during a drive to have dinner with our friend Jourdan, Rebekah and I found ourselves in a small disagreement. She is stubborn and I am overly competitive, so we ended up making a bet on who had the correct information (details will be spared of what the conversation was about in order to respect the confidentiality between roommates). A bet is not fun unless there is something on the line. So, it was decided that the losing person had allow Angie to ride buckled up in the front seat of her car for 5 days straight. The loser would need to pile pillows up in the passenger seat of their car so that Angie could see out the window and wave to passing cars.

I lost the bet.

Being a woman of my word, Angie will be buckled up in the front seat starting on Monday morning. If you ride in my car, you will be forced to ride in the back so that Angie can have shotgun. I have decided to take Angie's adventure a step further and take her everywhere I go next week. I will photo-document the week and blog about the places we go together.

Welcome to the Adventures of Kristen and Angie!

Garments

She couldn't open her eyes to look Him in the face. She hoped if they were closed tight enough she could disappear within herself. The girl knew what she looked like, and she couldn't stand to see disappointment on His face. Her garment hung loosely from her body, it resembled a rag more than it did a dress.

Stained.

Dirty.

Foul.

The girl knew it was a mistake to come, and she turned to run. He caught her arm with ease and refused to let go. With His other hand He gently touched her face as if to invite her to open her eyes. Tears of shame and guilt began to fall down her cheek and onto His hands. Neither of them spoke. After a long moment of silence, she forced herself to look at Him. Their eyes met. He smiled and embraced her. As He released her, she caught a glimpse of something white. The girl looked down and saw that a garment without stain and without filth now covered her.

She was clean.

The tears returned. She couldn't believe His grace, His love, His mercy.

He embraced her again and asked her to dance.
_________________________________________________
A few months ago I was praying over a beautiful young woman, and I was struck with this image of the girl believing that she was still clothed in the filthy garments. She felt that God was ashamed of her. All I could do was beg God for the woman to look down and see that she was clothed in a new garment. A garment that was pure and white. I begged that she would know that God dances over her and delights in her for His sake and glory.

We find ourselves again and again in the stained state of shame and guilt. We believe that we've disappointed Him and that His love and grace are fleeting. The bible points us to Christ and proves that our thoughts are entangled in a web of lies.

"Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord. I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord. " Jeremiah 2:12-14 (ESV)

"And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, Who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord]. And He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. And I [Zechariah] said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by." Zechariah 3:2-5 (AMP)

"Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:"Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing." Zephaniah 3:14-17 (ESV)

If you are in Christ, He has made you clean and covered your shame with His Son's blood. Look down. Return to Him. Believe that you are clean. Rejoice in His grace and live for His glory.