Giving Thanks

Sometimes, I think I take the things I own and the environment I live in for granted. With technology progressing and style changing I tend to want more and more. Every store I pass by I start to think I want that purse, or I want those pink shoes. In all of my window shopping, do I ever stop to think about all the things I have and about the wonderful Creator that blessed me with them and that I don’t need everything I see? Sometimes, its easy to get caught up in worldly things. I don’t think it’s wrong to own and maintain possessions, but when I start getting caught up in things I want and places I want to go; I feel like God is tapping me on the shoulder and saying Hannah did you talk to me, don’t you know I will give you the desires of your heart. Then it hits me, maybe I just need to have patience in God and give it all to him. I need to stop worrying and let God be in control.  I recently just read a book called "Humility" by author C.J Mahaney. He talks about thanking God for everything and just worshiping Him on a daily basis. I have been trying this new thing where I get up in the morning, listen to music, or read my Bible and it has been changing my entire attitude for the day and my performance at work.

I love my new job at UPS and God has been giving me a new perspective on life and people. As Thanksgiving approaches, I've started to write down the things I'm grateful about and look over them. I'm thankful for Jon, my family, Jon’s family, my friends, the color “pink,” people in general, my computer, the apartment I live in, the television set I own, the car I own, the job I got at UPS, and I'm especially thankful for life and that God picked me to be in this wonderful world. I am also thankful that we have soldiers that fight for our country. I am thankful for my grandfather Herbert Wengel that served in the United States Navy, my dad George Angel who served in the United States Navy, and my brother Jonathan Angel who serves in the United States Army.

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving day and weekend!

Love you all!

Hannah 

All those convicted please rise.

Today was another awaking for me. I say "another" because last Sunday was an awaking for me as well.

Hannah and I came out to Longview, TX to visit Paul and his family for the weekend. Arriving just in time for a southern cooked meal by Paul's mom. I really should say we arrived just in time for THE southern cooked meal :) It was so gooood! Fried pork chops, cream corn, and potatoes with a coka cola made what is commonly referred to as, southern hospitality. At the end of the night my cheeks were so sore from all the laughing and jokes that went on.

This morning we went and visited Mobberly Church with Paul. Going there with the attitude of, "Oh I'm just the visitor, gonna hang out and see what's up." Little did I know what God had in store for me. The pastor did not even get half way through his sermon before I heard the little angel in my ear sayin' "You know he's right don't ya?" It was a moment where I didn't even have to hear the rest of the sermon to know that his words were aimed straight at me. I swear he even looked at me when he was making a point in his sermon.

It was one of those sermons that you've "heard a million times" but that is always so convicting. His sermon was about workers in the work place. He told a story about an attendant on Southwest Airlines who was dealing with an extremely irritant customer. She calmly and quietly helped the customer with his needs and went on to other things. A professor from a christian college saw the whole thing take place and promptly went over and thanked the attendant for putting up with the customer and for her great service on Southwest Airlines. She immediately replied, "Oh I don't work for Southwest, I work for Jesus. And the only reason I'm nice to that man is because of what Jesus did for me." After the professor picked himself up off the floor she continued to tell him about God and her relationship with Christ.

How often do we as Christ followers forget the other half of following Christ? When we get into the workplace we often do our duty and are proud of our example that we set. But the other half of walking the walk is being ready and willing to talk the walk. I'm finding that we often tell people they shouldn't do that or that they're sinning, but we rarely tell them why its wrong or who said its wrong. A lot of times we just hope our example is enough, but Jesus didn't even think His example was enough. If He did then we would not be saying, "Jesus said to not murder people," we would be saying, "Well Jesus never killed anybody so we probably shouldn't either." And what kind of example would that be?

All this to say, I was convicted and I want to rise to the occasion and make it possible for Christ to be the difference in people's lives.

And as the people in Longview say,

Love ya'll,

Jon

Falling in love :-)

Well as Hannah said in her "Spectacular Blog," we are falling in love in TX! Everyone is super friendly and outgoing and we meet new people every day! Its been sunny mostly but we've seen everything from humid lightning storms and pouring rain to cold starry nights. I wish I still had my camera equipment so I could capture the beauty down here.

This was our transportation for the trip. We had to adjust it more than once on the way down, but we made it work. We're now unpacked and we have double the space in our new apartment that we had in our old one, for about the same price.

We are currently checking out Gateway Church in Grapevine but have not settled on a church yet. Please pray that we can find one soon.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Spectacular Blogging Episode #1

On November 4, 2012, Jon and I arrived at our new home in Dallas Texas. Ever since then, I have been falling in love. The apartment is awesome and the scenery is amazing. :) Jon and I have a “walk in” closet. We both have wanted one of those and the closet looks awesome; I now color coordinate all my dresses.

Although, I have to admit I cried because I was going to miss family and friends. Now, I am super excited and really love Texas a lot. Every day, I go to the gym, go swimming, help Jon get the apartment more organized, walk to Starbucks for internet, do dishes, make coffee, and of course cook or Jon might starve. :) Jon is really great and I am really proud to say he is my husband. He works, makes me happy, provides, and he has a heart for God. I just love that Jon cares so much about God. I am so excited to live my life for God and be with Jon. We love to travel and we would love to see the world. When our apartment is organized we will have to post pictures; it is starting to look amazing.

In Centralia, Jon and I got to hear the train go by every night at our apartment. Now, in Texas we get to hear planes flying past our apartment at night. I just love hearing the noise of the train passing by and the exciting sound of the plain traveling through the sky. It really excites me and makes me really happy. Now, Jon and I are home and so excited to go to church. We just checked out a church on Sunday and even if it is not our church we will find one very soon. I can’t wait to grow more in my faith with the God.

On my walk to Starbucks yesterday, I saw this flag that said “Jesus,” on it and I thought it was amazing how people are so proud of God in Texas. It makes me so happy that people express their faith here. I see lots of bumper stickers with verses on it or expressions like “Jesus is the only way.” It amazes me but also makes me really happy to know that there are people publicly announcing their faith in God. There are tons of churches here in Texas and I hope to get involved in a band using my violin skills that God gave me.

I have been playing my violin a lot more recently and I am so excited to see where God will take me with it. I just want use my violin to glorify God and use it to my best ability. (ESV) Colossians 3:17,  “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, Giving thanks to God the Father through him.” That is how I want to play my violin. Yesterday, while I was in church I listened to the music, closed my eyes and started crying. The music was so glorifying to God that I couldn’t help but cry. I believe God gave me “music” so I could glorify him with it. Jon and I received a puzzle of a violin for our wedding. We are going to do the puzzle together and put it up on our wall. I want to find more violin decorations to put up. One day I will be getting one of these violins. If any of you didn’t know that my favorite color is pink, now you know.

Lately, I've been walking to Starbucks. I am having lots of fun meeting new people and on the way I met some people. People here are really friendly and I love hearing their southern accents.

Starbucks ended up being amazing. My loving husband showed up and bought me coffee. Isn’t he great?! Anyhow, I will continue to update everyone on Texas so stay in tune for more of Hannah’s spectacular blogging episodes.  

Love you,

Hannah

Well Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore....

We are now in the great country of Texas!! After tons of bugs on the windshield, lots of snow, three days of beautiful sunshine, and LOTS of gasoline, we are now getting settled in our new home. After looking back over our adventure we can't deny God's blessing on our travels. We made really good time, our new car held up amazingly, and the ummm....creative way that I strapped everything to the car held together :)

We started in Tacoma, WA and drove to Laurel, MT where we spent our first night at the Laszloffy's home. After breakfast Wednesday we headed out over the rolling nothingness called Wyoming. No offense to anyone who calls Wyoming home, I would just not choose to live there. We ended our day in Colorado Springs, CO. Today started at 5:30am searching for coffee which we didn't find till 6am cause nothing was open. So we got a very early start on the day heading towards Kansas and then south through Oklahoma.

Arriving in Texas was like a breath of fresh air. We were so anxious to reach Dallas that Hannah was offering to drive again :) Which she did really well at btw...with her eyes closed lol

We are now hanging with Shawn, Jason, and their roomies! Its great to see a little them again!
More later....

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Montana is so beautiful.....and COLD

This is a picture update so you can see our beautiful faces haha.

Needless to say, Montana is beautiful and there is definitely a reason why they call it "The Big Sky State!"

We had lots of fun at the Laszloffy's house :) Many thanks to Caleb for being a great host!!

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

The open road awaits...

Goodbye Washington...

Well everyone, we are leaving tomorrow morning for TX. Our first stop will be Billings, Montana. It will be our longest day with a 13 hour drive plus stops and mountain passes. Its been almost 3 years since I was last in MT and I can't wait to visit again :)

Wednesday will be a slightly shorter day headed towards Colorado Springs, CO. I'm actually looking forward to Wyoming's rolling flatness haha.

The final stretch of the trip will be 12 hours plus stops. I'm excited about Thursday because we will be driving through the northeast corner of New Mexico. One of the few states I have yet to visit and definitely one I've been waiting awhile to check off my list! With our final resting place being Euless, TX. We'll be right in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Your prayers are much appreciated as we make the trip. Specifically that our car wouldn't have any problems and for safety as we travel.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Happy 2nd!

Today marks two months of being married to the most beautiful woman I know! She is beautiful not because of her contagious smile or her soft green eyes. She is beautiful because I know her heart for God and her desire to serve.

As you can see, her outward beauty is definitely a bonus ;-) I'm still discovering how much of a blessing she is to me. I thank God that she is ALL mine and I have the blessing of pushing her towards Christ each day!

Love you Hannah,
Jon

New Apartment!

We just applied for our new apartment in Dallas!! A hundred and eighteen dollars later and they are willing to consider us lol. 550 square feet with a balcony and outside storage plus its fully furnished!

Small? Yes. But it will fit our needs for now and God definitely brought people together to help us get this apartment.

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Goodbye Hello...

Goodbye Washington.
That's right, Hannah and I are moving to Texas. After much thought and prayer and job searching, we decided that Texas is our destination.

Family, friends, amazing church and church family, youth group, rolling hills, beautiful mountains, and clean air are all on the list of things we will miss in Washington. Everyone has been such a blessing to us! We truly will miss everyone so much but we know this is what God has for us. We promise to visit :)

Hello Texas.
We are moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth area (Bedford to be exact). I will be working as campaign manager for Giovanni Capriglione. This is Giovanni's second time running for State Rep. in the 98th district. And with God's help, we will win in March!

We can't wait to meet new friends and see old friends! Most of all, we can't wait to see how God is going to use us in the great state of Texas. We would appreciate everyones prayers as we head out at the end of October.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

So much is happening...

This past weekend went by so quickly. Thanks to Seth I had a great time hanging out with the guys from youth group Friday night! Saturday I worked and directly afterwards we traded in our two cars and purchased a 2003 Saturn Vue. We were able to get a screaming deal on it and it is running really well! We promptly traveled up to Seattle to meet about forty others for the Sounders game. The stadium was packed for the final game of the season! It was definitely the loudest crowd I've ever heard at a soccer game, and rightly so as Seattle soundly crushed San Jose in the last ten minutes.

Sunday brought on a beautiful day which started with a great sermon by Pastor Jay. I continue to glean so much from his thought process and his interpretation of the Bible. He gave the analogy of being in a high ropes course and getting to the point at which you have to let go of the rope you're holding onto in order for you to grab a hold of the next rope. I could easily relate because I've done high ropes courses before. But his point was signifying that the rope that you're holding onto is "sin" and the rope you need to get to is "Christ." In order for you to finish the course, you have to let go of your sin and jump towards Christ and fill your life with Him. This analogy transfers into almost every aspect of life depending on how you look at it. For instance, Hannah and I just traded in our two cars to get a "new" one. We literally had to let go of what we had, put extra effort into getting what we wanted, and then grab a hold of it and make it our own. 

After church we went out to lunch with our "children" Katie and James! We had tons of fun just relaxing and talking (and eating). ;) Spending the afternoon and evening in Graham was a great way to wrap up the day.

Since I had Monday off work, we went and helped Pastor Elliot with one of his rental homes. Repairing shingles is not the easiest thing to do on a 45 degree angle.

All in all, a fun filled time with friends and family. Not too crazy, definitely not dull, and set the tone for the week ahead!

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Can you name that car?!

So Hannah and I just traded in our two cars for this '03 Saturn Vue. Black in color, grey interior, drives smoothly, and we are really enjoying it!

But we need help giving it a name! Please comment or text us or something to help us name our new car :)

Thanks,
Jon & Hannah

Haircut much!

This is a short post and I just need some input from you! For various reasons I need to cut my hair and go with a short style. I found a few hairstyles that I like and I thought it would be fun to see what you all think.

Just write a comment and let me know which one you like best :)

#1. Purposefully messy

#2. Shaggy wave

#3. Professional/formal

#4. Stylish professional

Thanks for your input!

Jon

Grey Days...

Today is one of those days where its just kinda grey, mostly calm, and when the sun peaks out for a few seconds I just stare at it as if I'd never seen it before.

Have you ever just watched as people and cars pass by and wonder where they came from and where they're going? Yup, today is one of those days where so many thoughts consume me. I figure some things out and other things I get lost wondering about. Thoughts about love, communication, and people transform into thoughts about war, peace, and my country. I then start thinking about my own life and the people closest to me and how much they mean to me. After that my thoughts tend to wonder and then drift back to the cars going by. Which at that point I find myself studying their license plates trying to figure out which ones are undercover police.

"...thoughts turn into words, words become actions, actions form habits, habits turn into character, character reveals your destiny, and your destiny becomes your legacy."

Some people say words are powerful, and I would agree with them. However, I think the power starts even before that in a persons thoughts. If you've seen the movie Inception, even though its fictional, it tells a lot about a persons thoughts and thought process. I do believe that thoughts can be planted in someone's mind. It may be through something they see or hear or even with technology these days there are ways to remove thoughts and memory. I believe that thoughts turn into words, words become actions, actions form habits, habits turn into character, character reveals your destiny, and your destiny becomes your legacy.

All this to say, be careful what you let your thoughts dwell on, because they will determine who you will be in the coming years, and who people will see you as when you're no longer here.

Love you,
Jon

If Today Was Your Last Day

I often hear the phrase from different speakers, "What would you do today, if it was your last day?" I think its become a rather clique phrase and kind of overused. However, whenever I hear it I still ask myself, "What would I do." Often the songs, sermons, or poems written about this subject talk about taking it to the edge or in some ways creating a fantasy world of always living every second as if it were your last. These often translate into doing one magnificent thing one day and feeling really good about yourself and then returning back to the "daily grind." All that is fine and good but how many of us actually do or even can live like that?

I look at it more as living with purpose rather than letting life determine how you live. The "daily grind" so often takes over your life and you become controlled by your calendar, work, or even the opinions of others. The "daily grind" as we often put it shouldn't be looked at as a grind, but instead we can choose to make the most of each situation or choose to even be happy and look at the bright side.

There's another way of looking at it (which is my personal favorite). Do you have a dream? Do you have something that you desire to do with your life? Do you go to sleep at least one night a week thinking about one particular thing that you want so badly to do? This dream could be very large or extremely small, but to you its probably everything. Could it be something like, "I can't wait to be married", "I can't wait to be an adult", "I want a job so badly", "I just want a boyfriend", or "I want to change the world."

No one can fault you for your dream or tell you it sucks. Its your dream and the only person holding you back from making your dream reality, is you.

Let me put it this way, would you rather live with intent to do something, or always have to say sorry because you messed up again.

Love you,
Jon

TURN - 180

This 33 minute movie has an amazing story! I hope you take the time to watch.

How many of us need to take a 180 degree turn in our way of thinking? I was shocked after watching this movie... however, thats probably no surprise if you knew that I was home schooled haha ;)

PLEASE, please, please watch this! If you want more info check out the Facebook page here.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Input here...

Something Hannah and I have been thinking about recently is making videos of her playing violin/singing and posting them to youtube. I wanted to get your feedback to see if you had any ideas for what she should play?

Write a comment and let us know the following...

Genre:

Song Title:

Artist:

We created a youtube channel that you can go look at if you want. We haven't posted any videos yet but we will soon :) http://www.youtube.com/ourbohemianrhapsody

Hope to get your input!

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Amazing what??

I know this is an oldish movie, but it is no less powerful because of its age. This movie tells a story of a very humble man who played a key role in the England Parliament which lead to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. William Wilberforce is someone I look up to with a ton of respect. He is a man who knew who he was, why he was created, and what he wanted. He dedicated his life to a cause which he was passionate about.

Wilberforce was well spoken and knew how to debate. He was a leader in his time, not because he was charismatic, but because he had a dream and he acted on it.

My favorite quote from the movie was spoken by Wilberforce's best friend William Pitt. He leaned across the table and looked Wilberforce in the eyes. "We're too young to realize that certain things are impossible, so we do them anyway."

If you haven't seen it, you should.
Love you,
Jon

I Do!

A little over a month ago Hannah and I invited guests, gathered at a church, and said our vows. I have to say that over the month that we planned our wedding, we weren't nervous or stressed. Though about a week before August 27th we started to get pretty anxious :) A huge thanks goes out to all those who helped with the arrangements etc. Special thanks to Karol Barkley for all the advice, thoughts, and devoted countless hours that she put into the preparations for our wedding. Thanks also to our wedding party and guests! It was so wonderful to be surrounded by individuals that we call family :) God brought so many people along side us that collectively helped to make our special day such a joy. Thank you!

Hannah is such a blessing to me in so many ways :) I love her so much!!

We will be posting more photos at a later time.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Camera, Lights, Action...

So something I enjoy doing on the side is producing films. I'm not that good at it yet but I do my best and I'm learning as I go. The point to this post is to show you a video that I just finished editing and is now on Youtube! I'm proud to say that I'm operating along side Paul Taylor as he works to promote his music. He has a gift and talent is singing and I'm helping him get his voice in front of an audience. That audience includes you :) So without further delay, please push play.

http://www.youtube.com/CanYouPaintWithAllTheColorsOfTheWind - Cover by Paul Taylor

Love you,
Jon and Hannah

That's right...another blog to follow.

Hello everyone, for all those who are interested, my wife Hannah and I will be posting stories, thoughts, theories, events, music, videos and photos etc. of what happens in our lives together. Please feel free to follow our posts by using the email option to the right of this post.

To start off, I'd like to tell you a little about us so you can have an idea of what's to come.

We are two individuals bound by an ever growing love for each other and our God. We are untraditional in every sense of the word unless there is a purpose for why said tradition should be conducted. We are going through hard times just like a lot of people these days, but interwoven with those times are also good times. We don't really keep track but I would say we have a pretty sweet life compared to some.

That's all for now but I will be posting again very soon!

Love you all,
Jon & Hannah