Redeeming Love

Hello Friends and Family,
I just wanted to take some time and suggest a really good book to you. Any of you girls out there looking for a good love story? Wow, well I have found the book for you. This is a love story in more then one ways...and wow is it amazing. By far the best book I have read in a very long time. It is called Redeeming Love, and now after reading the book it is easy to see why. God loves us so much and he will never leave us, this truth is portrayed so much in this book. You will fall in love with the characters so easy in this book and from start to finish you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for what happens next. I loved this book and will recommend it to anyone I cross paths with. It's a real eye opener and is an amazing book. The book is called Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Here is the website for the book, you can look more into it. http://francinerivers.com/books/redeeming-love-0


So, I hope you have some fun looking at this book, it is amazing and romance fan or not, this book will capture your interest. :) I wish you all a good night tonight. God Bless! :)


"I am with you always,even unto the end of the world" Matthew 28:20

New Heights=Amazing!

Hey Family and Friends,
I'm just about ready to head into bed because I have an early start tomorrow, but before I went to bed I just had to share. Wow, New Heights is amazing. I am so glad they were able to come to our church and perform for us. They are all so nice and I am glad I was able to talk with them all. They all love the lord and their music shows it. I would highly suggest looking into them. They are on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. I think my favorite part about them coming here to our church was the worship time...that was amazing in general, and then getting to talk with them and get to know them better after the concert. I am so looking forward to when they next come into town-I am so going to be there! If you want to look into them, please look them up on Facebook Myspace or Twitter. With that being said, tomorrow I am getting up at like 7 and I am so not exited about that. But oh well. Trips to the dentist are amazing aren't they? lol With me luck! Have a great night everyone, God Bless!

Exciting day in general!

Hello Family and Friends,
Today overall, has been well, just plain Exciting! I would have never guessed so much would happen in one day. Okay first off-there is a New heights concert tomorrow that I am soooo happy I am going to! I can not wait, it should hopefully be so much fun! As well as that being so awesome, and I can not wait...I also had the amazing chance to get involved in Karate today. I tried out a lesson to see if I like it and am now faced with the choice of continuing in it and staying in Karate or deciding not to. That's kinda a hard choice to battle with. On the bright side, I have God on my side ready to help with any choice I do decide to make. That is amazing news, and is very comforting. :) I also got the chance to stay up late, like really late(it's 1:55 now) and work on an assignment for school!!! Yay!!!! Wait-that's not exciting  is it? Haha no, far  from it actually but on the bright side I learned a LOT more about a few topics in History. That's always a good sign. :) Anyway just thought I would update this and let you know how things are going. I will let you know how the New Heights concert goes tomorrow night. Have a great night, or morning(whatever way you want to look at it) God Bless!

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4

Light vs. Darkness

Hello Family and Friends,
Do you really just stop and think what the difference is between Light and Darkness? Your sitting here thinking, well yeah.....duh! But I mean really think about it...darkness can be many different things such as, tripping in the darkness trying to find you way in a house, or something as feeling hopeless and needing some help. Light can also be many different things. It can be a bright light, it can mean hope, kindness, and help, or it could even mean passing that Biology test. :) But now that the difference between the two is established, I just wanted to share that sometimes we can really feel like we are in the darkness. I wanted to encourage you tonight, that if you feel in the darkness, talk to someone about it and turn to God. He can be quite a help, even when things can flat out feel hopeless. He loves and cares about you. Sometimes all he's waiting for is to turn for him. That's all for tonight. Have a great night and God Bless!


"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Something so small....

Hello Family and Friends,
Tonight I got the chance to do something rather amazing. Not many kids get the chance. I got the chance to stay up with my mom and dad and watch a movie. I think it was some nice family time, although the movie-I did not understand anything about it! lol. The movie we watched was Robin Hood. It is a little more violent for my taste, but hey-anything works if it means spending some more time with family. I think sometimes people look at doing something like watching a movie with family, going to the movies with friends, or spending a half hour on the phone with a friend things that are normal, or supposed to happen. They take a lot of these things for granted. But when you really think about it, there are people all across the world...that getting some time with their Dad who is deployed in Iraq, time with their Mom who is busy at work all day....means so much to them. A lot of this stuff we take for granted. So I thought I would share, that although I could have chosen about 20 other movies I would have much rather seen(anything not so violent), what really matters was that I got the chance to sit down for a few hours, relax and spend time with family. And sometimes, something so small can mean a lot. Have a great night, God Bless! :)



"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,my glory, and the lifter of my head." Psalm 3:3

Not growing up...

Hey Family and Friends,
I have decided something tonight. I don't think I want to grow up. I mean when you see all those people that can't wait to get out of middle school and High School and be all "grown up" I think that is really kinda silly right about now. Why would anyone want to grow up? I mean think about it. As of right now...I am living the life! I mean sure, there is school-everyone has school, sure...there is the hardships of being a teen, but there is going to be hardships as an adult too. A lot of teenagers can't wait to be all grown up to get away from their parents. Do they not realize, that there is a good reason why they are with their parents until a certain age? Most of them are not mature enough to make right choices like doing your school work before watching a movie, let alone being an adult. Then we have our loving parents who are right there to take care of you. Why would I want to leave any of this? Sure, there is a time and a place for growing up and it will happen eventually. But as of right now- I am completely happy with being a teenager living under my family's house. All I'm saying..is enjoy every day you live. One day, you are going to regret it if you don't. That's all for tonight. It's been a long day, a very long day but it's been an awesome day as well.Good Night and God Bless! :)

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" Proverbs 31:30

Those long talks...

Hello Family and Friends,
Tonight I realized something special. Sometimes when you have a lot on your mind, all you need to do is talk. It all started with a random question. From there is evolved into a long, few hour conversation that lasted until midnight. All I have to say is I love my mom. I really don't know what I would do when I felt so hopless without her. She sat there tonight answering all my pressing questions, all my thoughts that bothered me, all the recent guy drama. She listened and then gave advice. After talking with her for 2 hours I finally felt like I could sleep, because we have to get up early. I felt so much better. Sure, some of my questions could not just be randomly answered just like that with a snap of your fingers..but sometimes just knowing someone cares can be enough to relax and calm you. I found this Bible verse calming tonight. I thought I would share with you guys. Have a good night, God Bless!

"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
 

Thinking about the Bible and Mission Trips

Hello Family and Friends,
Tonight I have found I have had an interesting topic on my mind. The bible. A random verse came into my head and I decided I had to share it with you. Here it is.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 NIV Version.

I have also been thinking a great deal about going on a mission trip. The more and more that gets shared in church about going on a mission trip and how much their lives are touched by going...it makes me really think about going. Sure, there is so much that when your there you don't have here...but at the same time it can be such an experience. I guess, when God's ready he will make it happen. Right now I just need to trust him. Sometimes that is way harder than expected.

Sometimes people tend to take things for granted. Everyone does it. For some reason..today it seemed to hit me how much my family really means to me. I mean...this has been the life I have always known..but what if they weren't there. What kind of life would I have? Some interesting questions for us all to think about. :) I'm going to head to bed so have a good night. God Bless!

It's all over.....

Hey Family and Friends,
Well...the time has now come as I sadly knew it would. I have finished my first play production. I have to say I am really sad about it too. Today we had the cast party. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it...but at the same time it has been really sad. All this has taken up so much of my life though..so in a way I really do need a break. But all I can think about is how that will effect my friendships I have created from this play. But sometimes, I have to stop..take a deep breath and decide that I should trust that God knows what he's doing...sometimes I just have some hard times trusting him and I need to work on that. I am really going to miss it..and I think this next week..starting tonight is going to be really hard. I am afraid that missing these people will soon get in the way of school work. So please pray that I can not only trust God more...but that I can also have a mostly stress free week and relax a bit. I mean....I need some relaxation. :) Thank you all for supporting and praying for me until now. It has ment so much to me and I have needed it! There has been so many times that i was just like..there is no way I am getting on stage. And then I would ask for prayer. Well...guess what? I always got myself on stage eventually. :) It is amazing how the power of God can be so effective. :)  Well I think it's about time to be heading to bed. I have a long week ahead of me. Thank you all for your love and support. Please keep praying, I'm going to need it! :) God Bless!

I'll miss them.....

Hey Family and Friends,
It is amazing to think that when I woke up this morning I would never have guessed that so much would happen. Never in my life. Today was amazing on so many levels. i got to hang out with my buddies from the play and it was a day I will never, and should never forget. Hours were spend just hanging out, having fun and acting goofy. It was incredible. I have to say when I thought I would miss everyone before....I had no idea...tonight when I said I would miss them...I was certain of it. I like to think I have grown to love my cast in a way. I mean we spend 15 to 18 hours per week with them...and now after tomorrow that is all going to be gone. it's actually all very sad. But hanging out all day really helped make it not so sad. Sure...the emotional good-byes at the end of the day were sad and kinda hard to handle. But hey...what does not kill me will make me stronger. Right? :) Tomorrow we have the cast party. I' looking forward to it..it is going to be so much fun but sad at the same time. All I know is I miss these people already. I think you never know how much you care about someone until you are faced with having to say goodbye. Then you all the sudden realize how much you really cared. Hopefully...this will not be a goodbye forever. Hopefully..it's just a "See you later" kinda goodbye. We can all hope. Have an amazing night everyone, thanks for all the support. God Bless!

8 down, 1 more to go!

Hello Family and Friends,
It is amazing to think that we have now finished 8 out of 9 performances. Tomorrow is it-the last performance. It will be sad, and I will miss it. There has been so many memories that I have had from this play, so many people I have met and overall the time of my life being apart of this play. :) It's going to be a sad cast party...but I'm willing to try it. Tonight's performance actually went well. No major mistakes happened(that I was apart of anyway) and no one fell of stage. In my book, that's a success. lol, no..really. Everything actually did go really well. There is a kind of thrill you get when going on stage..and it is a once in a lifetime experience I am so glad I got to feel. I will have to do another performance sometime.

The other day I found a quote that I just had to share. I realized that it applies to the play so much.

“If you really love something set it free. If it comes back it’s yours, if not it wasn’t meant to be.”

 This is so true! Sometimes you have to set what or who you love free...and in my case it's the play. Although this has been the experience of a lifetime...sometimes you have to let go so God can continue to work in your life. :) Please continue to pray for me, as I'm going to need it for the days ahead.  God Bless and good night!

Only with God...

Hello Family and Friends,
One thing I have easily figured out, is in order to survive these last few days with the play...God is going to have to help me. Tonight everything really did not go too well. The cast was stressed out, (I don't blame them)the first practice at this new place did not go as well as planned. We only had one practice here before the performance tomorrow(or today..it's like 1:30) Sometimes the simple things can easily seem hopeless sometimes. But I think when we get to those points..you have to stop and think.."Look..I have gotten all this far because of the fact that God was helping me along the way." Sure...it can be scary sometimes. Sure...I can feel like leaving and never coming back...but sometimes you have to place your hands in the air and say, "God..I have no idea how this is going to turn out...but however it does..I trust it's all in your plan." Once you do that everything gets better. If only it were that easy. It can be annoying to have lots of things changed on you at the last minute. In fact, the night before we have a performance there....all this stuff is getting changed! What shocks me, is they still expect an amazing performance too lol, well...only with God is anything amazing going to happen out there tomorrow. So wish me luck at I tackle School..and another performance all in the course of tomorrow. :) God Bless!

Amazing Feeling! :)

Hello Family and Friends,
I'm sure some of you are going, no way...is she really posting on her blog at 1:28 in the morning? Well...yes I am actually. Sometimes it can be nice to share what has happened in such a small amount of time. For one, it would be important to share that I have been reading the most amazing book in the world. It is called, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Wow, this book is amazing and has really got me thinking about God and more about who he is to me and just how much he really cares. So tonight I really realized that I have not been giving God the kind of attention that he wants and needs. he wants to spend time with us, and here I am spending all this time thinking about what's going on tomorrow, or even the weekend. Well...tonight I got down on my knees and actually spent some time with him while being in the Bible. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. Amazingly, I felt peace..no longer worried about anything..and overall just calm and relaxed. Almost like a burden was lifted off of me. It was amazing. So, I had to share this word of encouragement...God can do great things if you give him some time. He loves to spend time with you. Sometimes all you need to do is talk to him. :) Well..I'm going to hit the hay..it's been a long day. God Bless, and have an awesome day! :)

7 down, 2 more to go!

Hey Family and Friends,
Thank you all so much for your prayer. I have now gotten through 7 out of the 9 performances, the hardest part of all this is over! Now I just have to make it through 2 more performances and the cast party and I'm golden! :) My favorite part of all these performances is what it has gotten me over so many of my fears. I remember barley wanting to be on stage and being afraid of it, and now I love being on stage in front of people, of course I still get some stage fright though. It is amazing how far God has brought me on this journey with the play. I know it is going to be hard to leave everyone at the cast party...but I figure if God has gotten me this far, he can do anything! Please continue to keep me in your prayers, I will continue to keep you all updated. God Bless!

"True Friends" Another Poem

Hey Family and Friends,
I have been busy writing poems and I decided to share another one with you.  It's called "True Friends" I hope you like it!

True Friends

I hear the phone ring late at night,

Rolling over in bed I realize it’s you,

And answer the phone,

Worried as ever you ask for my help,

Happy to help we stay on the phone,

Talking through the problem till it’s resolved,

Ready to help I calmly explain,

Everything’s fine, no need to worry,

Friends are always there to help,

In times of fear and worry,

True friends will stay awake late hours of the night,

Ready to help when a problem arises,

Slowly talking through the problem at hand,

Calming my friends ragged heart,

Sometimes that’s what a friend is for,

Helping in times of trouble,

But others they can just be there to talk,

It’s good to know they are there,

To my good friend I care for,

I hope you feel better,

Everything will turn out fine I am sure,

But just in case, I’m here

True friends will always stick together,

True friends will always care,

To my true friend, I wish you well,

I care for you so much

I’ll always be here when you need me,

Ready to answer the phone,

To my true friend I love you,

And will always be here for you.

5 down, 4 more to go!

Hey family and friends,
I am very happy to announce 5 out of the 9 performances are officially over! That means we are over half way done with the performances. It's wonderful news because when this is all over I will be able to focus on school work more, on the down side though..I will miss all the great people I have gotten to know through this amazing experience. But overall, I am really glad God placed me where he did with these people. :) it has been a life changing experience, that's for sure. Tonight went really well, and there is little I would have changed. I am slightly nervous because tomorrow or Sunday-my parents are going to be watching-that's a cause for nerves! But, when you think about it-they are going to be a lot less judging than most in the audience, and most of the time they are going to be sitting there thinking, "That's my girl, on stage-doing something she never would have thought she would have done" So overall I think they will be proud. :) I am energized after a good performance night tonight and can't wait for tomorrow or Sunday! God Bless guys, keep you posted! :)

Flash to the past....

Hey Family and Friends,
Tonight before bed I spotted my old diary from the year 2008 and decided to read it. Some of the posts made me laugh, smile, and even a little sad. I decided to use the time to read the bible and talk to God about the choices I made in the past. I realized that things seemed like such a big deal 2 years ago, when in reality they are not a big deal at all. I also had to laugh as I realized that, the same thing applies now. 2 years ago, it was time to freak out when my little sisters told me they hated me, now it's time to freak out when you feel left out by a guy. I realized tonight that I need to get my priorities in order more than I have before. Not only do I need to trust God in what he's doing...I also need to realize that everything is going to go just fine and he's in control. Sure, there may be a fair share of tears down the road. But that doesn't mean he's not right there drying them as you cry. God is always with you. :) Love and prayers.

Forbidden Feelings

Here is a Poem that I randomly created today while thinking about some things. I thought I'd share it here. Hope you guys like it. This is the first poem I have ever really created. :) It is kinda based on my feelings and I found that is how some of the best poems are created-through feelings. :)

Forbidden Feelings

That day we met you had a sparkle in your eyes

Now I don’t see why

You smile at me, look at her

Hug me, spend time with her

We hear the audience in the background,

You pat my back and wish me luck,

I do the same in hope the night will go well,

Only to have the night end badly

The next time I see you holding hands,

A reminder I was not good enough,

I don’t see why you chose her

I cared for you, but not like that mattered now.

Now it’s too late to change the facts,

I just wish our friendship would have mattered,

More than it does now

I wish you luck on the road ahead,

And hope you make it last somehow.

By Angelica Shook

Funny Practice..

Hey family and friends,
Tonight when we had practice, everything was a little-wacky to say the least. :) It was what we can a glib run, everything is mixed up a bit and is overall a stress free environment. It was so much fun! I could not have asked for it to be better.  Sometimes experiences like these-also teach you lessons. You can learn from reacting badly to different things. I acted on my feelings tonight-the end result was not as bad as I expected-but I am expecting things to get a little rough from here on out. All I'm saying-is be careful on what actions you make and how that might effect others emotions. :) It can be a sticky situation when you are not careful. I am glad to be able to have a fun night tonight but there were some things I would have done differently if given the chance. :) Have a good night guys. The day after tomorrow marks the 8th. That means more performances and more stress. Hopefully..not. :)

Performance 4 behind us....

Hey Guys,

I officially finished performance number 4 today! It was a lot of fun, not to mention a lot of work..but overall has been a good weekend. The performances have been getting better and better every night and I have continued to learn from every one of them. I can't wait for next weekend, we have 3 more performances here and  then we move on! Crazy stuff!! It just seems like everything has gone by so fast. :)


It is kinda funny when I think about how I even got here to where I am now. I started off being scared and not even wanting to audition in the first place...to having done 4 different performances in front of people I don't know...free for them to judge me in any way. Every performance has been a learning experience.  The first performance was the hardest and the scariest. It took time to get used to the idea of being on stage and having people watching me.  Eventually performing at all the different locations becomes easy, and I have learned to love the sound of Audiences clapping for you as you finish up on stage. It has been so much fun doing these performances once I have gotten over the stage fright.

But..looking past all the stuff that happens on stage..God has also put me in different social situations and helped me out of every one of them. I think it is so interesting how..sometimes things get tough and we think we can't get through that situation..and then here God is to help step you through it one step at a time. Please continue to pray for me as I start week 8 of High School tomorrow and the performances starting again Friday. :) I will keep you updated!

~Angelica