Angela Hagebusch

Today’s post marks my 100^th blog entry.

100 posts written over the last eight months about what God has done in my life and through my family.

Today, I enjoy writing – more than I ever thought I would – and although it took me a while to work up the gumption to get started, I am thankful for friends who kept encouraging and pushing.

Below is my most popular post -

I wrote it two days before Christmas of 2011 – It is a real reminder of how truly great our God is to us.

Click here to read: “Gifts From Grandpa”

I had the opportunity to speak at my church this past Sunday for Mother’s day.

It was a privilege to share a bit of what the Lord has done through my own life as well as my family’s.

When my Pastor asked me last month if I’d like to speak – I knew exactly what I wanted to focus on.

The sermon series we are currently in is titled: Moving Forward Together. I knew I wanted to focus on a time in my life when other individuals gave of their time and energy to help support, strengthen and encourage my family to move forward after a life changing accident and unforeseen death changed everything.

Preparing for Sunday’s message meant making phone calls and writing emails to those particular individuals and asking questions that I had never asked before.

The responses I received reinforced even more that God will always put people in our lives to support us.

I’d love for you to listen to what God has shown me through my own struggles and I hope my message encourages you to look for opportunities to support those around you.

Share

Comment

And be blessed.

Listen Now

Eight years old and going on twenty – Carter announced just the other day that he’s confident he could already pass his driving test, and honestly… he could probably get pretty close (if he could reach the pedals).

If there’s one word to describe Carter, confident is it.

He can rattle off facts about cars, football and reptiles and you would never think to question his knowledge unless you knew otherwise.

Carter’s personality and demeanor match his daddy’s almost to a tee and I hope it stays that way.

He’s strong willed, a leader, likes to be up front but also has a surprisingly sensitive side and if you know the Hagebusch’s, none of this surprises you.

Below are a few questions I asked Carter for today’s post. Some of his answers even surprised me.

• What is your dream car: a ’67 Mustang Fastback – black with white rally stripes

• What do you want to be when you grow up: A Police Officer

• 2013 Super bowl prediction: Colts defeat the Patriots

• What do you wish your name was: Josh

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you chose and why: Australia – because they have lots of snakes and reptiles.

• Favorite show: Top Gear

• Favorite color: Black

• Favorite Ice Cream: Mint chocolate chip

• Favorite Bible story: Daniel in the Lion’s den

• Favorite snack: Popcorn

• Favorite store at the mall: The Lego store

• Favorite thing to do on a Saturday: Drive to Bellevue and look for super cars

• What does your little brother do that bugs you: He never stops talking!

• If someone gave you $100 – what would you buy with it: A really nice remote control car

• What’s going to be the best thing about being 8: Getting to go to Kid’s Camp at the Great Wolf Lodge and playing football in the fall.

There you have it!

Happy birthday Carter Jon – sorry we didn’t name you Josh.

On January 1^st I made the decision to do something different, something I had never tried before. Instead of declaring the typical list of resolutions, I decided to pick a word – one single word that would be my goal for 2012.

The word I chose: Time

Now, I can assure you, as a wife, mother of three and Children’s Pastor, I am constantly busy. The squares on my calendar are very rarely empty – but I had specific reasons for picking this word…

I wanted to find the time to do more.

To write

To reach out to people

To sit and listen

I wanted to see what would happen in one year if I stretched myself and gave more time.

Five months into 2012, and I can already tell you that I’ve grown because of it.

I have found the time to write

To reach out and do what I can for someone else

And I’ve found the time to sit and listen to some pretty remarkable stories.

Within the last week, I have sat and listened as three individuals have shared with me the journey they have each been on -

Unimaginable circumstances full of loss, heartache and struggles.

But in each story, God’s love, His grace and His blessings have been poured out, time and time again -in amazing ways.

I look forward to these three beautiful ladies sharing their stories this Saturday at my church.

I also look forward to the rest of 2012 – and to what God has in store for me and my year of time.

It does make me wonder though…

What if we all gave a little more time?

Have you ever sat and listened as someone shares a story about their own life? A story about something that happened to them that is so shocking, so amazing, and had such a huge impact on them?

I had that exact experience earlier this week…

Linda is a beautifully amazing lady who attends my church. She welcomed me into her home this week and for two full hours I just sat and listened to her story.

Six weeks ago Linda had surgery to remove several large tumors that were growing on her brain.  While such a procedure sounds terrifying to the average person, this was something Linda had experienced before.

The last several years of Linda’s life have been full of doctor appointments and surgeries. You may expect someone in her case to be tired and weary from the constant hospital visits; the poking and prodding – but not Linda.

Simply put, Linda has an amazing attitude and outlook on life. She is completely on fire for the Lord and has never once stopped to question “why me, why this?”

Linda’s story, in its entirety, as well as the stories of several other amazing women will be shared next Saturday 5.12 at the Ladies Brunch at NWLife Church.

I strongly encourage anyone who can, to not miss this. You’ll hear more on Linda’s battle with her health, as well as the tragic and devastating loss of someone very dear to her.

Come be strengthened in your own faith as you witness the joy that fills Linda’s life.

I’m a big fan of social media: I enjoy jumping on Facebook or twitter and seeing pictures of friends that don’t live nearby or reading the hilarious things my friends post. I don’t play games on Facebook; I’m not interested in planting a virtual farm and the whole “poke” thing is just odd. I also don’t care for “life is horrible” type posts or political mumbo-jumbo, but it’s easy enough to skip over those things when I see them.

I do need to work on not letting the opinions people like to post or tweet affect me. Everyone has an opinion- on everything, and if you’re a part of social media, you’re going to hear them- on a regular basis.

It’s how you choose to let people’s opinions affect you that really matters.

Here are a few actual opinion posts from Facebook:

“Anyone who feeds their children McDonald’s should have their parent card revoked”

“No one should shop at a Buckle store, under any circumstance- ever!”

“It drives me nuts when people use the expression “It is what it is!” what does that even mean?”

Here’s the thing-

I know what I like in life; and eating McDonald’s French fries, buying my jeans at Buckle and shopping for shoes at Target are a few of those things. If I never go into a Target again because I see a friend of mine tweet that you should “never buy your clothes where you buy your milk” well then, I might miss out on some really cute shoes. My Facebook friend might not like what Buckle sells- but if I’m confident that I make their jeans look good… well that’s all that really matters (and it’s one of a very few places that have jeans long enough for me).

Now I’m not saying that we should all keep our opinions to ourselves – Lord knows I’ve definitely got my own:  I don’t understand people who think “Napoleon Dynamite” is funny and I could never get behind the whole nerd glasses  trend. In fact a friend of mine recently tweeted “How did nerd glasses become a fashion trend? What’s next- unnecessary hearing aids?”

What I am doing is encouraging you to not let other people’s opinions affect the person that you are. God made you unique- He gave you your personality, style, sense of humor and attitude for a reason. Don’t let someone’s 140 character tweet change that about you.

“The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.” Proverbs 29:25

Don’t let someone’s opinion change you into someone you’re not.

Be confident in who you are – In who God made you to be.

Be yourself.

And keep the hilarious tweets and Facebook pics coming. Just know that you’re kids will never be quite as cute as mine.

Hey- it is what it is!