What's so new about Ange?

What's so new about Ange?

The old Ange would panic when the tank approached E because she was too shy to tell the attendant "fill er up."

The old Ange would cry on her way home from every party because she was sure she said something stupid.

It sucked to be the old Ange.

The New Ange earned her name when she started really saying stupid things and being the first to laugh at them. Instead of being afraid of bad things happening, they were really happening (like her husband being laid off) but she faced them with a confidence and peace she'd never had before.

The New Ange wasn't too shy to preach a sermon to a church of 300 people she didn't know or to tell her life story on TV.

The reasons for the sorry state of Old Ange are many and I'm sure some of them will show in future posts.

The rebirth of the New Ange is all about God.

A friend recommended I go to a prayer meeting. I grew up in the church and earned a Seminary degree so I knew all about prayer meetings. But this wasn't your usual "Bless my hamster and fix Granny's ingrown toenail" kind of prayer meeting. The woman praying for me actually asked Jesus to do the talking and Jesus actually did. It blew my little religion of "believe-this" and "do-that" checklists right out of the water. (Good thing, because it was starting to get soggy.)

What I'd heard all my life finally made sense: Christianity isn't just a religion, it's a relationship with a living, loving, personal God. The God who speaks. Experiencing his voice, his presence with me is what gives me the power to speak up and risk rejection or conflict. Jesus offers my spirit joy and confidence.

And to that I say: "fill 'er up!"