Ange "the cat" Mandel

Sunday, March 18, 2007

A Walk on the Wilde Side


Blog That!
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A Walk in the Parkl - Coming to a Stage Near You!

Aren't we hot?!
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Monday, January 29, 2007

Wait... your wings aren't grown yet!



Title: Wait! Your Wings Are Not Grown

The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to
the soul that seeketh Him.
LAMENTATIONS 3:25

BE patient till your wings are grown. I fear very
much that you are too vehement and headlong in
your wishes and attempts to fly. You see the
beauty of spiritual light and good resolutions;
you fancy that you have almost attained, and your
ardor is redoubled; you rush forward, but in
vain, for your Master has chained you to your
perch, or else it is that your wings are not
grown; and this constant excitement exhausts your
strength. You must indeed strive to fly, but
gently, without growing eager or restless. You
resign yourself, but it is always with a BUT; you
want this and that, and you struggle to get it. A
simple wish is no hindrance to resignation; but a
palpitating heart, a flapping of wings, an
agitated will, and endless, quick, restless
movements are unquestionably caused by deficient
resignation. Do you know what you must do? You
must be willing not to fly, since your wings are
not yet grown. Do not be so eager with your vain
desires, do not even be eager in avoiding
eagerness; go on quietly in your path--it is a
good path.
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Wait... your wings aren't grown yet!


Title: Wait! Your Wings Are Not Grown

The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to
the soul that seeketh Him.
LAMENTATIONS 3:25

BE patient till your wings are grown. I fear very
much that you are too vehement and headlong in
your wishes and attempts to fly. You see the
beauty of spiritual light and good resolutions;
you fancy that you have almost attained, and your
ardor is redoubled; you rush forward, but in
vain, for your Master has chained you to your
perch, or else it is that your wings are not
grown; and this constant excitement exhausts your
strength. You must indeed strive to fly, but
gently, without growing eager or restless. You
resign yourself, but it is always with a BUT; you
want this and that, and you struggle to get it. A
simple wish is no hindrance to resignation; but a
palpitating heart, a flapping of wings, an
agitated will, and endless, quick, restless
movements are unquestionably caused by deficient
resignation. Do you know what you must do? You
must be willing not to fly, since your wings are
not yet grown. Do not be so eager with your vain
desires, do not even be eager in avoiding
eagerness; go on quietly in your path--it is a
good path.
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

A Couple of more Pics...

h the


And the legend lives on... on my last day at the orphanage for this time around I hung out all around the mission, taking photos, cleaning up, and mostly hanging out with the kids in the Cuna... Lorena doesn't look too happy in the photo but I have some sweet videos of her smiling and giggling away... she laughed up a storm and sat on my lap having a half english and half spanish conversation about small books we were reading about elephants and King Solomon (not all in one book!
Oh... and this is me and Matt in his element- the all too famous warehouse where it all happens... good times!Q

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Some words from the front






So we are back in San Diego for some days of relaxing and touristy type things after a week in Mexico where it is nice and sunny and hot (but not all the time, at night it gets pretty cold down there by the ocean and so we had to wear sweats, etc) but I had a blast... I just loved the freedom to play with the kids, to meet great new staff members (like Noame, Mike, Dan and hook up with old Peeps like Matt Street and the ever-famous biking pair, Brent and Mary GB! I love it down here and wish that I could stay a lot longer... this past week I have gotten to do garbage runs to the dump, help in the "cuna" ( the nursery), spend a couple of days taking care of the newborn babies, celebrate New Years el Mexican style (complete with a beach house firework party with pop-up confetti streamers), go on an aventurous bikeride, do the morning devotional talk for the mission, participate in child-evangelism, go to church in Spanish a few times, and get to know some awesome people... tommorow, it's Seaworld! More to come...

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Take that First Step...

It seems as though once again, April Sisson finds the magical words to say, right when you need them...

"Sometimes you just have to choose to begin."Leap and the net will appear," we are promised. All we have to do is take that first step off the ledge. Boldness does have a certain magic to it. It's something that goes way beyond "if you can see it, you can be it" - although I have no doubt that that is true as well. A leap of faith requires more then just a jump; it requires the ability to absolutely let go of everything that's keeping us on the ledge, including that voice that says it just can't be done.If we feel we have to wait for just the right time and place to come and worship, we have yet to discover the real freedom of worship. Now isn't necessarily the time to worship because every moment is the time to worship. We are called to passionately embrace our God at every turn, through every minute, and in every way possible. If music is your worship, sing loudly. If service is your worship, serve extravagantly. If just being is your worship, live boldly. Jump into worship as bravely as you can jump into life, because the reality is, they are one and the same. Living every moment for the glory of God and to the glory if God is a never-ending adventure that, once begun, you'll never want to end. Don't wait until the moment is just right or you'll spend your life sitting on the shore watching for that never-to-come perfect wave. Carpe diem, as they say Seize every moment and dive on in. The water is fine.What keeps you from letting go of everything and truly worshiping God?I hope that you have a wonderful day.. and that today you can take a huge leap of faith.. jump into the water and see what God has for you!!"

Parlez Vous Francais... Encore?


Hey Cats...

I might have the opportunity to go to Africa this summer, in a pilot program with Pioneers Canada to learn about Missions first- hand. I've applied to a mentorship-type program where I would get to do online course work for 8 months starting in February learning things like Spiritual Formation, Leadership and Development, Cultural Issues and Missions Issues... I would get to glean off of 14 others form Across Canada who are of a simliar place in life- just graduated, or in the process of finishing school and who are thinking that they might want to go into full-time missions one day or be involved in short -term work. It's something that I am really excited about and hope that I get in. One of the places that they go to is Senegal, a French speaking Nation in Africa... it would be SO SWEET to get to go there. I have wanted to go to Africa for missions work ever since I was a little girl and it seems that now perhaps the time is nigh... pray for this if you think about it:)

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Wait and be renewed...













WAIT on the Lord in humility of heart, that thou
mayest daily feel the change which is wrought in
the heart and conscience by the holy, eternal,
ever-living Power; and so thou mayest witness,
"that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit."
And then thou wilt feel that this birth of the
Spirit cannot fulfil the lusts of the flesh, but
will be warring and fighting the good fight
against them; and thus, in faithfulness to the
truth, and waiting upon the Lord, thou shalt
witness an overcoming, in His due time. Oh, the
conquering faith, the overcoming life and power
of the Spirit! We cannot but speak of those
things; and cry up the perfect gift, and the
power of Him, who is not only able to perfect His
work in the heart, but delights so to do; and
even to tread down Satan under the feet of those
that wait in patience for the perfect conquest.
ISAAC PENINGTON

Monday, December 11, 2006

Sacrifice

A new look on sacrifice is in this quote that just came in my daily devotional... I have come to realize that I love doing drama and the things that are giving of yourself- like pouring your heart out into something like teaching and being with SOOO many kids can be super rewarding and doesn't have to be something that you go grudgingly to....



"THAT is what our sacrifice of ourselves shouldbe--"full of life." Not desponding, morbid,morose; not gloomy chilly, forbidding; notlanguid, indolent, inactive; but full of life,and warmth, and energy; cheerful, and makingothers cheerful; gay, and making others gay;happy, and making others happy; contented, andmaking others contented; doing good, and makingothers do good, by our lively vividvitality,--filling every corner of our own soulsand bodies, filling every corner of the circle inwhich we move, with the fresh life-blood of awarm, genial, kindly Christian heart. Doubtlessthis requires a sacrifice; it requires us to giveup our own comfort, our own ease, our ownfiresides, our dear solitude, our own favoriteabsorbing pursuits, our shyness, our reserve, ourpride, our selfishness." ARTHUR P. STANLEY