Angela

When I first graduated from college, I had a roommate named Angie. We lived together less than a year before we decided to part ways. I was alone for a (terrifying) summer before God opened the door for a new roommate to move in with me. Her name is Angela. (I try to stick with names I know.)

I met Angela in the last semester of college, when we had a Bible class together and sat next to each other. That year right after college, while I was living with Angie, she was involved with a year-long mission trip to Croatia. Angela decided to move back here, enroll in the graduate counseling program at IWU, and she needed a place to live.

I love how God works. I needed a roommate...she needed a place to live. Lord KNOWS I needed some counseling and she needed practice. It was a good match.

Angela and I are about as opposite in personality as two girls can be. I am (and was a thousand times more so back then) far too organized, OCD, and rule-following for my own good. She was a motorcycle-owning free spirit who cared more about people than accomplishing tasks. I learned immeasurable amounts of life wisdom from her in the three years we lived together.

Angela stayed around town for a while, even after moving out of my house, and then a couple of years ago, she moved to Michigan to work on her PhD. (I'm still recovering from undergrad, thankyouverymuch.)

We're still friends, and to prove it, here's a picture of the two of us from back in August of 09, when she came to town for a day and stopped by to see me.

A year ago, about this time, I received a number of phone calls from Angela, asking me if I had any tips on how to work through migraines. (My college boyfriend had migraines, so I was used to sitting with him while he tried to survive them.) I felt sorry for her that she was hurting so badly and I gave her all the advice I had...none of which was very helpful.

And then I opened up Facebook one night last spring to see a note that she'd had brain surgery. (She ended up going to the ER one night when a headache got too painful and they discovered a brain tumor. She had the surgery just a couple of days later.)

The months since then have been filled with so much trial for Angela. They discovered she did indeed have cancer, and she started undergoing treatment. She dealt with side effects (sickness, hair loss, you name it) and has kept a strong spirit throughout all of it.

This past week, she posted a new note on Facebook. Her second opinion doctor said her cancer is stage four, and his time frame for her life was not as long as a mid-thirties girl would like it to be. I'm amazed at how well she continues to handle it (even if she's not as brave inside as she is outside...she's still blowing me away with the outside part).

I say all of this to say...she has made a specific prayer request and I wanted to share it with you, should you be so inclined to join her (and those of us who are praying now) in prayer. Isaiah 38 talks about a man named Hezekiah who became ill to the point of death. Isaiah went to see him and told him he needed to make his final life plans because he would die. Hezekiah prayed and the Lord granted him 15 more years of life.

And that is Angela's request - for 15 more years.

The Bible says the Lord knows the number of our days (Job 14:5), but I don't think He's offended when we ask for a better prognosis than a doctor can give, so I'm joining Angela in her prayer. She also posted her Bucket List...and she is going to need those years to fulfill her dreams. And I'd love to see her cross each one from the list.

Thanks for "listening." This is Angela now - and I think she's just beautiful - don't you?