5 Reasons Why I Love Being Adopted.

As some of you may or may not know, I was adopted from Bucharest, Romania when I was 6 months old.  I wish I could sit down with each of you to share my story, but luckily, my dad (co-founder of International Family Services) wrote it out for you so you can read it while sitting on your couch in your favorite sweats and drinking some of your favorite tea.  You know that sounds awesome.

Please take the time to read this story because in reality, this is not just my story.  There are stories like mine all around the world of children who were nameless, faceless, and Fatherless and found a new home.  Fortunately for me, I am able to use my story to share with people like you the beauty of adoption and the immense need of homes for orphans all around the world.

Click the link below to read how an orphan girl was blessed with the most amazing gift: a family.
A Stormy Night in Bucharest

I thought it was only fitting during National Adoption Month and the season of Thanksgiving to list a few reasons why I love being adopted.  It is such a big part of my life and I hope yours as well.  So here it goes.

1.  I love that my family is what my mom calls, "A bag of skittles."  My parents have ten children, six of whom are adopted from various countries around the globe.  We all look different and we all love each other the same.  I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

2. I love that I am not treated differently because I am not blood related to my family members.  Growing up, my parents never let us use the excuse that they were not our parents or he/she was not my sibling.  Just because we do not share the same DNA, does not mean I am any less of a child in my home.  If we ever did try to use that card, we lost the argument immediately.  And we were most definitely grounded.

3.  I love being a Mardock.  My family rocks, quirks and all!  I couldn't have asked for a better family to be in.  If you don't know a Mardock, you need to.  We are awesome.

4.  I love that I am able to witness thousands of orphans all around the world find loving homes.  My parents co-founded International Family Services when I was adopted over two decades ago.  They have placed (and continue to place) over 4,000 children in homes who would have been on the streets otherwise.  My parents (and IFS staff) are real life heroes; aka rock stars.

5.  I love that you were also adopted.  No, you did not read that wrong.  Yes, I have been adopted into the Mardock family, but what is even more amazing is we have all been adopted into God's family, if we choose to be.  Jesus came down to this earth and died for each and everyone one of us so that we could be adopted into God's family.  All we have to do is accept God's invitation to join His family.  Simply put, we are the children of God.

Let's all embrace that we are adopted and celebrate together!  It is nothing to ever be ashamed or embarrassed of; quite the opposite actually.  It is something we should claim boldly and be excited to share with anyone and everyone.  Why do you love being adopted?  Because let's face it, it rocks.

If you would like more information on how you can adopt a child, please visit the website below:
International Family Services

My two younger sisters and me.

The Girl Who Loves Today Without Thinking About Tomorrow.

Life after graduation is interesting.  I would say it is almost, if not, the hardest transition I have ever gone through.  But I can also say it is one of the most exciting times in my life as well.

As graduation approached and well after, many thoughts began to consume my mind; thoughts that quickly turned into questions.  Questions like, what should I be "when I grow up"?  Where should I live?  How will I afford being an adult?  Where do I find friends?  And the inevitable, if/when will I get married?

These are all questions that a young adult asks and tries to figure out as soon as possible.  One might say these questions become the black rainy cloud that lingers overhead until answered.  But I have recently come to a realization that I felt the need to share with the rest of the social media world.  So, here you go.

Why do we become so fixated on the idea that "once I get (you fill in the blank), I will be happy"?  Once I get that degree, I will be able to get that job.  Once I get married, I will be content in my life.  Once I have my dream job, all will be right in the world.  The list goes on.  Don't tell me you haven't thought this way, we all have.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But what I have come to realize is if we continue this habit, we continue to miss what is going on today.  And today might be the best day of your life.

We are so focused on "getting to that next step", we forget to enjoy the season we are in, whether good or bad.  Our natural instinct is to strive for happiness and peace.  We don't do well under stress, pain, or chaos.  But if all we do is strive for the good and easy, we don't allow the Lord to shine through the hard.  Think about it, when we share our "prayer requests", it usually revolves around us asking God to bring us through this trial or to take away the hurt or pain we may be experiencing.  I rarely hear us praising for our trials and tribulations; or praying for the Lord to shine through our struggles and hardships.

I think we may have it backwards.  In Ecclesiastes 3 it talks all about the different seasons we are going to go through, so obviously the Lord knows they exist.  It really is no shocker.  So, why not take on the day, whether good or bad, and love it?  Why not accept that we will have good and bad days and decide to rejoice either way? 

Once we begin to enjoy today, we have to release thinking about tomorrow.  Obviously we should have goals and dreams but not allow them to steal away from enjoying where we currently are.  Yes, we all want a good paying job that we all love.  Yes, we want to get married and have our own family.  These are not bad things to desire, but they can dominate our thoughts and can restrict the Lord to work and move in your life.

Being a lady who has graduated from college, I get asked about my relationship status quite a bit, which can cause one to question whether it is okay being single or not; as if having a man defines who you are as a woman & woman of God.  I also get asked what my 5 year plan is.  If I knew, I would tell you, trust me.  I wish I knew where my financial stability was coming from.  I get asked all these "future" oriented questions, but is it bad to not enjoy where I am right now?

Should I be thinking once I get these "things" worked out, my life will be perfect?

I believe if we enjoy today without thinking about tomorrow, we allow the Lord to have complete and full reign in directing us to become the women and men of God that He is calling all of us to be.  Today we need to rejoice where we are, not where we think we want to be.  The Lord may totally change the trajectory of your life tomorrow. 

Enjoy being single.  Enjoy not having enough money in the bank.  Enjoy having good and bad days at work.  Enjoy the unknown.  Enjoy being obedient even when it is hard.  Allow the Lord to shine and bless you through every season of your life.  You won't regret it, I pinky promise.

I choose to be a girl who loves today without thinking about tomorrow.  Will you join me?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  
-Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

Shall We?

Hello World,

Sorry I have not shared with you the things that have been going on in my life recently, I know you have been dying to know.  Well, I will spare you the details, but what I will tell you is that I am now a college graduate (woot woot) and currently trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up (isn't everyone?).  But here is proof I graduated.

In the meantime, I have decided I am going to live out the adventure called life.  This blog has been and will continue to be a way for me to celebrate this wonderful life with you all.  Some may be international journeys (you know I love traveling), while others simply may be about everyday occurrences.  Either way, life is meant to be shared.  We can just call this a new beginning to something great.

With that said, let's celebrate life and enjoy it together, shall we?

You ready?

Sincerely,
Angela

Not With Haste.

1 Semester.  15 Weeks.  9 Flights.  13 Cities. 6 Countries.  An adventure of a lifetime.

As I am packing up the rest of my things, making my bed, and crossing off everything on my to-do list, it never ceases to amazing me how quick time goes by.  I feel like I was just getting on a plane to see my sister and her family in England, but here I am done with an entire semester of classes in Spain and flying home for the holidays.

This moment is quite a bittersweet one because I have fallen in love with this place and the people and yet I cannot wait to go home to see my friends and family.  I know that Sevilla will hold a special place in my heart and I love that.  I know that I will look back on this semester and cherish all the memories that I have made.  I will look at the growth that I experienced as well as areas that I need to continue to grow in.  This life is one adventure that is always in process.  And in all honesty, I really do love that.

Finals are done and that completes my last fall semester of my college career and again, time seems to fly by in a blink of an eye (I am thinking about being a poet, what do you think?).   I cannot express enough the certainty I feel in the decision of studying abroad this past semester.  Of course I am human and wrestled with that decision, but luckily I have some amazing friends and family to encourage me before, during, and hopefully after.

All this to say is, I am coming home (probably right now to be honest).  I hope that you are as excited to see me as I am to see you.  I have missed everyone and I can't wait to spend some time with each of you hearing all that the Lord has been doing in your life these past four months. 

Keep me in your prayers as I am taking the long journey home (and when I say long, I am not kiddin').  And please pray that I don't have another orange juice incident on the flights home.  I know that my adventure started off on a sour note, but we don't need a repeat of the occurrence.  That would be greatly appreciated.

Love Always,
Ang

Lady In Spain.

Hello Dear Family and Friends.

I write this while procrastinating on studying for finals.  Shocker.

But in all seriousness, I wanted to update you on the past couple of days here in Sevilla.  But first I have a confession.

Sevilla is absolutely stunning dressed in Christmas lights.  That's all I gotta say about that.

So, this past weekend we went to our mentor's house for some games and an amazing lunch.  And get this; I had Dr. Pepper.  Yes.  It was glorious.  I absolutely love this group of girls and the family we have been getting to hang out with.  It has been such a great thing to be able to fellowship in a Christian environment and really encourage and challenge each other.  And the family we get to hang out with is so cool.  Seriously.

After that, some of us wanted to go back to Plaza de Espana here in Sevilla.  We spent time there our first weekend and we thought it would be a good way to say goodbye to Sevilla by going back for our last weekend.  We rowed the boats.  It was difficult.  And funny.  And awesome.

This past weekend, we celebrated my friend Leah's birthday because her birthday is actually two days after we get home and we wanted to celebrate with her and have a proper good time before we all leave.  We went out for some tapas and of course Rayas ice cream (banana to be exact).  It was such a fun time laughing and being with friends.  We were able to just walk around and enjoy all the Christmas lights.  It is seriously beautiful.

Here are some photos for your eyeballs.

We also walked around the Christmas markets that are here right next to the cathedral.  I noticed something odd, and I couldn't help but share.

There were many more where that come from...

At any rate...

On the way back, I walked by the Torre de Oro which is a landmark here.  It is actually a really cool place.

So, now we are in full gear with finals and I actually have one suitcase packed.  Yes Mom.  You should be proud.  But in the Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share a couple of things.

1) I wanted to share me as a tree topper because my lovely friend Katelyn decided it was the perfect tree topper in all of the world.  I mean, I can't disagree with her.

2) I have 3 days left here in Sevilla.  Man has time flew bad.  As it saddens me to get ready to say goodbye to this beautiful place, I am also so stoked to go home and spend the holidays with my family.

3) Here is a great cover song that I found this semester and it has to do with going home.  You may know it.  You may not.  Either way, I like it.  So, without further ado (In case you're wondering, the meaning of ado = hubbub, bustle, flurry, or fuss.  You're welcome).

Home by James Allen

Love Always,
Ang

I'll Be Home For Christmas.

This is the first time that I have not gone home during the semester.  I have been gone since September 1st, and although I am loving it here in Europe, I am quite excited to go home for the holidays.  There is nothing like seeing stockings with your name on it hanging on the fireplace.  It just warms the heart when you walk into the house after a long day and see the tree lit up in beautiful Christmas lights in your family room.  I love the moments where you and someone you care about share a nice warm cup of hot cocoa and if you're daring enough, you put a candy cane inside to use as a stirrer.

Christmas is my favorite time of year and I can't wait to share it with those I love.  I hope that during this time of year, you take the time to appreciate not only those around you, but the season itself.  We get so wrapped up in the gift buying, the party going, and making plans that the beautiful season seems to fly by us in a blink of an eye.  Let us remember the reason for this season and truly celebrate it.  Put the cell phone and computer down and celebrate this season properly.  Please.  :)

Shout out to my good friend Josh Groban.

Love Always,
Ang

Flowers in Your Hair.

Bom Dia!

That is basically, "Hey!  What's goin' on everyone?!" in Portuguese.  This past weekend we spent some time in Lisbon Portugal, which was honestly one of the places I was most excited to visit.

Oh my word, I loved it!  It is an absolutely gorgeous town and different than anywhere we have seen.  It was also an added bonus that it was on the ocean.  I just have a thing for waterfront towns.  Maybe I just need to live at the beach.  Yeah, I think that is what that means.

I don't think I will go into many details about this weekend, but I will share some photos with ya.  :)

Love Always,
Angela

Monastery of the Jeronimos

The Monastery has Vasco de Gama buried here as well
as other famous Portuguese (i.e. kings, queens, etc...).

Tower of Belem

Raising the bar.

Pasteis de Belem

Santa Justa elevator.  Designed by the same
architect who did the
Eiffel Tower and the Triana Bridge.

An amazing cafe.