Crescent Roll Awesomeness

Oh Hello!

I hope everyone is enjoying this last day of November. We are off to a good December start with the snow and all :)

It's been such a weird fall, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the warmth. Now I am able to accept the cold after feeling so spoiled!

SO as many of you probably know I've been doing a lot of Pinterest lately and I've discovered wonders on it!

Not only have I found motivation do some simple daily workout routines, I've also found joy in baking  and cooking new discoveries!

One of the discoveries I've made on Pinterest is how phenomenal crescent rolls are. They are so versatile in the sense that one can use them for so many varieties of goods :) both sweet and salty. This might be no news to you, but it was to me and I'm so glad I found that out!!

So I want to share two ways I've used crescent rolls in the past week, and hope you can try one or both of these easy recipes at home!!

The first one is the Cinnamon Cheesecake or otherwise called Sopapilla Cheesecake that I'm assuming you've seen me write about on facebook :) It is so good, so easy and I can't get enough of it!! 

First, here is what you will be needing:

• 2 (16 ounces) cans of  Crescent Rolls
• 1 1/2 C Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup melted Butter
• 2 packs of cream cheese (8 ounce) softened
• 1 tbsp ground Cinnamon

1.So at first you will want to preheat the oven ( I always forget to do that and end up waiting for foreeever) to 350 degrees.

2. Then in a 9x13 pan, you are going to spread the entire roll of crescent rolls on the bottom of the pan.


3. Next you will mix the cream cheese with the 1 Cup of Sugar. ( the other 1/2 a cup will be used later), and the vanilla extract until smooth. Once you feel like you have creamy mixture, layer it on top of the sheet of crescent rolls and layer the 2nd sheet of crescent rolls on top of the cheesecake mixture.

4. Your final steps consist of brushing the melted butter on the layer of crescent rolls, and sprinkle the top with a mixture of the remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Place in oven for 30 min or until golden. and VOILA!!!

I advise you to let it cool before serving or devouring it :) I once made a mini one that I didn't have to wait as long for it to cool so I could eat it ASAP!


And even though it doesn't look all that pretty, it tastes so very yummyyyyy!!! 


So there ya have it. Here is what it looks like when finished.

Oh by the way, I made this as a thanksgiving dessert and brought it over to Jeremy's house where his family and mine were finally able to meet. 
Here are a few pictures of the afternoon spent in Westerville, OH.

Mom, Mr. Pope, and I patiently waiting :)

Most of us gathered

Mr. Pope

My wonderful Jeremy

Alright now onto the salty. I'm not sure why I started out with the dessert, but anyways moving on. Next on the list were the Chicken Roll-ups I made last night. 

They took longer than I had expected (1h30 because of the shredding and my many distractions) but they were really good, easy to share with others, and really easy to make as well!

For this one, you will need:

• 1 package of cream cheese (8 ounce)
• 2 cans of Crescent rollups
• 4 shredded chicken drumsticks
• bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 C of Shredded Chedar Cheese
• 1 C of shredded Monterey Jack
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

DISCLAIMER: I didn't really follow this recipe to the T. But I will share the "original" recipe with you :)

Oven should be preheated to 350 degrees

1.So first I boiled the chicken by placing it in medium hot water for about 35 minutes. You don't have to use drumsticks, I like the dark part of chicken better which is why I used these, but you can really use any type of shredded chicken.

While the chicken was boiling, I prepped the rest of the recipe...

2. I mixed the softened cream cheese with the shredded cheese in a bowl. ( I just used whatever shredded cheese was in the fridge but would like to use the Monterey Jack and Cheddar next time.)

3. Find bread crumbs as you want, but what I did was use a regular piece of white toast and just stripped it to small pieces with my hands. It took forever. I'm sure there is an easier and quicker way. But this is what I got.

OKay. So. Not gonna lie, I got a little hungry while waiting for the chicken to boil and the cream cheese mixture is not that good of a snack to munch on SO I busted out one of my favorite snacks of all time and it did the job quite well :)

Skinny Parmesan pretzels and Roasted Red Pepper hummus!!!

4. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked go ahead and shred it. This is the part that takes a long time!! I'm assuming doing this with a friend or spouse would be much quicker. Or you could always buy already shredded chicken :)

Once shredded, add the salt and pepper and whatever other spices you'd like to season your chicken with. I personally like more taste than the average Joe, so this is what I used to season it.

5. Add the chicken to the cream cheese and cheese mixture. Then put the mixture on yummy crescent rolls like so...

and roll them up!!

The original recipe suggests 2 cans of crescent rolls. I would suggest 3 or perhaps even 4 because I had a lot of chicken cream cheese mixture left over.

I thought I'd be creative and fry the mixture up in balls of dough, but that was a bad idea. (well I didn't like them, but Jeremy's roommates did so I don't know how much of a fail it was). Probably because I've never fried anything in my life while at home before.

So you could either make more of these OR come up with another great way of using the leftover chicken cream cheese mixture.

6. Finally, brush butter on top of the rolls and top them with the bread crumbs, which surprisingly stuck on pretty well!

and 25 min later.....here's the result....and it tasted good!

Alright that's all I got for now. I hope you enjoyed it!!! YAY CRESCENT ROLLS!!! :) 

Who said this journey couldn't involve great food along the way?? :)

Confession. I'm scarred!

Hello!

Disclaimer. these thoughts were jotted down in my journal and don't necessarily all make sense or flow with each other.

Recently I’ve been reading back through some of my old journals because it’s something I like to do everytime I complete a journal. I just got done completing my 2009-2011 journal and the concensus of that year and a half is that I always seemed to be on the pursuit of something. A job. A boyfriend. A purpose. Expectations fulfilled. Something.

I mean I’ve gone from Indiana to Colorado, to California, back to Indiana and now moving to France in a 2 year time frame (kind of didn’t have much of a choice for the France one lol!) Let’s not forget that I also tried going to Canada. Haha.

I was telling God the other night  how grateful I was that He’s created me with all of these passions but as long as I’m not doing anything with them, I feel lost and somewhat pointless. It seems to me that there’s always going to be something "missing"  as long as I keep chasing something tangeable rather than focusing on the Spiritual and my Relationship with God, I will still feel as if something were missing.

I need to stop chasing the  "what is next" question and just focus on "what is now" aka the present, otherwise I’ll fly through life without truly LIVING. And I’ll just wake up someday not knowing how I got whereever I am at that point.

Even this morning, I shot a quick thought up to God and asked him to  "Help me not to only rejoice about the futur when I have somethig to look forward to." I mean it’s normal to get that tingly feeling of excitement in your gut when you know something fun or great is about to happen and you are looking forward to it. That, however, should not be the only time we get excited or rejoice.

I frustrate myself when I do that and I think that's okay that I get frustrated at myself. I think that just means that I’m aware of some things that I need to change. In fact I am not as hard on myself as you’d think. I give myself a lot more grâce than I really should :/ and unfortunately I forget that grace is God’s job, not mine.

So all of this to say that just because I don’t know what’s in store for me with this moving to France business, that does not mean I can’t simply rejoice today and rejoice for the futur and what God has in store.

And if I’m really honest with myself, I’m actually pretty scared of moving, I have this tough, adventurous, spontaneous persona through my lust for life and adventure but I’ve actually been avoiding thinking about this move due to fear. I choose not to let these fears control but they are ever so present in my heart and mind.

I am scared of being lonely (especially after reading my previous journal, I did not handle loneliness well at all !). I am scared to discover life without Jeremy by my side.  I am scared of not finding a job. I am scared of losing some very good friends of mine. I am scared of not finding a community (especially after 6 years of having the gréât community that I’ve had). I am scared of people that I care about from the US completely forgetting that I even exist. Sigh. I am basically scared of year 2010 to happen all over again. It really was a hard year but then again that’s the year I grew closest to the Lord, as if God just needed to strip me of everything and everyone in order to reach my full attention.  And if that needs to happen AGAIN. Then let’s do it !!

After journaling this, I read a book and randomly opened it and this is what it said :

"Biographies of bold disciples begin with chapters of honest terror. Fear of death. Fear of failure. Fear of loneliness. Fear of a wasted life. Fear of failure to know God."

My immédiate thought after Reading this was "did I not JUST journal about this !? "

I am grateful that God finds every way possible to simply remind me that « He is there. »

"Faith that begins with fear will end up nearer to the Father. " We cannot go where God is not. So even though I have no idea where this life, path, road, whatever you want to call it, is taking me and who will be there, I know one thing for sure is God’s promise that He will be right there every step of the way !

God is so good to me.  To all of us. Let us rejoice and be reminded that in the midst of fear, we can rejoice for God is with us !

Also, one thing I want to encourage everyone to do is to write down their fears on a piece of paper, journal, or even a text message to themselves. Wherever or however you want tp. I’ve done this many a times in the past and it’s always so beautiful a year or two later to read back and be able to look back and see how God answered, provided, calmed, or took away each of these fears. 

Blessings to each of you. Much love.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend !!!

Djo

What I've been up to these past few months

Hello fellow readers :)

You might be confused as to why I am blogging on here. Basically I realized that as fun and exciting as my old blog was, it was way to complicated to update each month. I built that blog from scratch and needless to say, in order to keep it fun and exciting, it required a lot of work.

Now this may come to a surprise to some of you (not really) but I'm generally somewhat of a lazy person, and even though I have ALL of the time in the world, just the thought of rebuilding a new page for each month of the year was very unappealing to me, which led me to basically never blog!

SOOOO the other day, I was reminded that I used to blog for a specific class of mine and had used blogspot. I therefore decided to look it up and to my surprise, my blog still exists!!

I just spent a few hours transferring all of my blog entries from the old blog and now I am writing to announce that this is the blog I will be using from now and and I really hope that it makes a difference on how much I blog from now on in comparison to how much I've blogged within the past 10 months (3 times haha).
Hopefully it makes a big difference.

I have 15 minutes to share a bit of what's new in my life, which is quite convenient because since my last entry, not a whole lot is new!

Ever since I've found out about my being "allowed" to leave the U.S. I've felt so much peace. It was literally as if a HUGE load had been taken off of my shoulders. It was such a beautiful day :)
I spent it with my wonderful boyfriend and my parents. I was able to be with my parents the following week and after their departure, I just went back through my normal routine. Basically volunteering at Fredrick's, babysitting, taking pictures, and spending time with loved ones!

My birthday has gone by and I was able to celebrate with good friends part of my community!

The week prior to my birthday, I had decided to start a Master Cleanse. Some of you may have heard of it! It's a 10 day fast that consists of drinking nothing but water, herbal tea, and a lemonade that contains Cayenne Pepper and Maple syrup. The purpose of this cleanse is to clear out your toxins and allow you to sort of push a "reset" button on your body and help you restart your diet.
The Cleanse was successful other than the fact that I had gotten sick prior to starting it and I think that the mixture of my body getting rid of my toxins (lots of mucus. gross I know!) and the lack of food, and lack of medicine, probably didn't help. I got sick again but decided to push through. I only did it for 8 days because it generally takes about two days to ease back in into a regular diet, and I wanted to be able to eat on my birthday, which so happened to be on the 10th day of the Cleanse.
I'm glad I tried it although I hope to try it another time when I know I can do the full 10 days and when I'm not sick!

Hmmm what else...Oh I've been able to take an engagement photoshoot of one of the most amazing people I personally know. Marissa Scheiber. She is a very dear friend of mine who means a lot to me, and it was such a privilege for me to capture her and Luke's love for each other! It was great finally meeting Luke, the wonderful man I had heard so much about! They were so fun to work with and I was pleased with the results :) Here are a few of my favorites.

For more of these, go to www.facebook.com/pages/Djolife-Photography/114008375351893

Also that following weekend, one of my all time best friends Megan Crawford got engaged to a solid guy named Daniel Schroeder and I was super pumped to be the creeper in the bushes who got to capture the moment!! Can't you just see me doing that? It's what I was born to do baby! Just kidding! Anywho here's a little bit of what I was able to get...

 

Aren't they so adorable!?!? :) I may also be taking some of their engagement pictures as well, which I am totally stoked about!!!
My heart does break at the thought of not being at their wedding. :( In fact Megan had asked me to be a bridesmaid but I had to decline since I will most likely be in France :(
No worries though, she is setting up a computer with skype so that I can witness every minute of it! :)
It'll be just as if I were there!

So on monday mornings, I've been able to do a daycare at College Park Church, which is a Church basically right on Huntington University campus, and so happens to be situated right in front of one of my friend's apartment.
So most sunday nights I get dropped off at my friends' apt on campus and wake up the following morning and do the day care for a couple of hours. I then end up just staying at her apt until I finally decide to go home, which usually ends up being on a wednesday.
After spending a day or two at home with my roommates, I end up spending the weekend with Jeremy, whether it be in Huntington or in Goshen.


I am very excited about the weeks to come because I will be doing some traveling!! And not many enjoy the thrill and excitement of traveling as much as I do!!
This weekend there is a possibility that I will be going to Michigan to watch a Michigan State football game. Jeremy's best friend since age 1 is the leading receiver for their team, and we might be able to get tickets to watch him play on his senior night! I am then going to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Ohio with Jeremy's family. The sweet part about this is that my parents fly out back to Senegal the week after thanksgiving, and God willing they will find a vehicle to meet up with us in Ohio. Parents meeting each other. Exciting!
A couple of days after Thanksgiving, I am flying to Colorodo to visit my best friend, Lysiane, on her birthday! This is Jeremy's Christmas gift to me :)
From Colorado I will hopefully be able to fly to Philadelphia to watch over a 2 month old baby named Samuel, while his mother does a bone marrow transplant that could possibly save someone's life!!! I am most excited about this! What a privilege! When Libby (Samuel's mother) asked me, I was so grateful! I mean what a blessing to be a part of this experience! I do not know for sure whether this is really happening, but it most likely will and I am very excited (as you can probably already tell)!

After these travels I will more than likely be going back to Huntington and start attacking my belongings (sorting them out basically) to prepare myself for the big move!

So there ya have it! leave comments if you please.

Blessings to all of you!!

D.J.O.

Big News :)

A Black woman’s haïr is unfairly hard to take care of. I do have a point to this, believe it or not. It might be a stretch but just bare with me here and if anything, you might get an education on "Black Culture" :)

I got this from an article, which will shed light on where I am going with this :

"Very tight braiding or weaving is linked to a permanent type of hair loss that affects many African American women, new research suggests.

While the findings can't prove hair grooming is at the root of the problem, women might still want to take them into consideration, said Dr. Angela Kyei, who worked on the study.

"I won't tell you not to braid your hair, but I don't want you to braid it so tightly that you need to take pain medication," said Kyei, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Prolonged pulling at the hair strands may cause inflammation of the hair follicle, which has been shown to lead to scarring. In principle, that could lead to a type of balding that dermatologists call central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, or scarring hair loss.

This type of balding starts at the top of the scalp and slowly spreads to the rest. It occurs only in black women. Because there is no treatment for it, Kyei decided to try to find out what is causing it instead.

Observations from the 1960s had hinted it was related to hot-comb straightening, but little research has looked at other explanations."

(If you want more on this: here is the article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42541362/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/t/black-womens-hair-loss-tied-braiding-weaving/)

Here is a tid bit on what I (should) go through on a day to day basis.

When I don’t get my haïr braided, I have to take care of it myself, which is almost as painful and time consuming as getting it braided.

My hair is so hard to handle, that I prefer cutting it. In order to cut it and keep it "cute" or as some may say "presentable" I need money to maintain short hair. So that option goes down the drain real fast (especially considering the situation I’m in ).

So when I do decide to finally handle my type of haïr, I start out by washing  it with what should be spécial shampoo, but I settle with regular shampoo that I can afford, and then I have to put all sorts of oils and creams in it to keep it healthy, then after that I Blow dry it strand by strand using a round haïr brush. Once that is done, I go strand by strand again over it with a haïr straightener and then I apply a little more haïr cream bécause all of that heat can break off and damage my haïr just like that.

Once that is done and I feel fresh and good, I refuse to tie my haïr because once I tie it in any shape or form, it remains in that shape or form, and in order to put it down again, I have to straighten it all over again. I also avoid wetting it at all costs otherwise it frizzes up and I have to restart the procèss all over again !

Also, at night, I am supposed (I rarely do this) to bobby pin my haïr and cover it with a spécial night haïr cover so that the next day it can look similar to the way it did the day before. I have to consistently keep it creamed and healthy otherwise it just breaks off.

Another thing that you need to understand is that growing up, I grew up around a culture that taught me that  my haïr is my beauty. If I am dressed up, have makeup on, and fine looking jewelry but my haïr doesn’t look good, then I don’t look good. Period.

This is a small insight on what goes on in a black woman’s mind when she puts so much care into her haïr.

Now, I will confess that I rarely take care of my haïr the way I just described it. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually did all of those things consecutively as I just explained the process. But most black women really do do that and MORE in order to maintain their hair. Why? Because it's worth it :)

Last week I decided I was tired of doing this and wanted braids again. Living in Huntington, however, brings quite a challenge to this wish becoming an actuality. It is so hard to find a person who can braid.

I was fortunate enough to meet a random girl named Melissa, who Works at Pizza Hut and started talking to me about haïr. I proceeded to ask her if she knew how to braid. To my surprise (my being stereotypical and forgetting that white girls can also braid) she knew how to do weaves, extensions, corn rows, designs, singles, etc…

I got so excited that I asked for her number and figured I might as well try her out.

She seemed really sweet and had just moved hère so I figured…why not…if anything, I can use this as an opportunity to minister to her and/or just provide her with a new group of friends :)

We arranged a date, and she braided my haïr. Corn rows with extensions and designs. I was so excited, I couldn’t contain myself !

I underestimated her because before starting I told her not to be afraid to braid as tightly as she can. If you read the part of the article that talks about tight braids and didn’t understand the point, basically we want our braids to be tight so that they will last. We grow up hearing that  "beauty is pain" for this particular reason. The process's time varies depending on the braider/the technique/the hair style/extensions or no extensions. I've sat down for about 10 hours straight before. This time it took about 4 hours, which isn't to bad.

She braided my haïr SO tight that not only did it hurt during the process (the type of pain that makes you feel sick to your stomach), but it also hurt consistently for 5 consecutive days. My scalp has scabs, and I'm pretty sure when I do take these braids out, some of my hair will be broken off due to the tightness.

Bless Melissa’s heart, she only did what I asked her to do. She was as sweet, if not sweeter than I had expected her to be. She was a joy to be around. In fact, once she left, one of my roommates, Kayla, said "Oh man, I like her more than cake !" :) And I absolutely agree. I hope to see her some more!!

So no hard feelings whatsoever, but I do share this story to express my empathizing with the article I shared with you earlier.

If you are wondering where I am going with this…Here it is.

I’ve been able to relate more and more with Christ lately. I can’t say that I will ever EVER understand what Christ went through when He literally walked towards His death so that I could be saved and find life through Him, but I will say that just as He knew what the pain He was going through was leading towards, I also know the pain, confusion, heartache, darkness, frustrations, lack of patience, and whatever else I may sometimes go through does in fact lead to something beautiful and completely Worth it.

No, I am not comparing Christ’s pain with the pain that I go through in order to take care of my haïr and end up looking pretty. lol. That was just a very feeble and poor example of what life can be like. Life as a Christian especially.

Man, my heart goes out to people who go through life’s challenges without a single hope to hold on to. I can’t even imagine how these people continue on in life.

I have been living out of suitcases with no stable home for exactly a year now. Let me tell you that this journey has not been easy. I have been unemployed for almost 8 months now. I have been living off of what God literally provides me with day by day through friends, family, and loved ones. I have gone from being forced to leave the country to being forced to stay in the country while not being allowed to work in one night. I’ve been waiting on the American government to decide my fate for me for 5 months.

I PRAISE GOD for that. I’ve gone through all sorts of painful émotions. I’ve also Fallen in love in the midst of it. I’ve seen the light. I’ve been blessed beyond imagination. I’ve still been able to live out my passions in life. I’ve been exhausted and felt hopeless while other times being lifted up by God Himself. I’ve latched out on people that are closest to me.

I mean the list goes on. I can’t express to you the past couple months of my life. The absolute rollercoaster.

I also can’t express to you that consistent love and strength that’s been by my side reminding me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That there is joy in every single day. That there is pure delight and beauty in the midst of the people that I encounter day after day.

I could list every single name of the people that have just blessed me during these past couple of months but the list would be TO long for God has placed SO many people on my path during this journey in order for me to keep my eyes focused on what is ahead…HIM. The cross. The prize. The rainbow after the Storm.

" I still believe in the Sun even when it doesn’t shine.

I still believe in love even when I am alone.

I still believe in God, even when He is sillent.

Trust God in the dark until light returns ."

Today, I finally received a letter from Immigration. I have a court date on Sept 21rst in Detroit, Michigan.

Today I also received an e-mail from a photography studio that I had contacted in case they simply needed a volunteer. Since my situation seemed confusing to them, the manager made it clear that they might not be able to use me even though I was only seeking to volunteer. After 2 months of silence, they contact me to ask if I am still interested in helping out. On the same day that I find out about my court date.

Also on the same day that my boyfriend, Jeremy, who has been fervently searching for a job for about 4 months straight, finally gets one definite positive answer and another very strong possibility to work elsewhere.

Who ever said God doesn’t work when He is "silent" !?

I know I originally went off on what seemed like a tangent with my  "éducation on Black Women’s haïr"  and I did warn you that it would be a STRETCH ehe BUT I hope you now see my point through my very weak attempt at expressing how I feel when it comes to living solely for God. Being Faithful through Sacrifice, pain, patience, and service usually leads to a light at the end of the tunnel. Just as Christ did. And even if it doesn’t lead to a bright light (cus it didn't really lead there for Christ. not right away at least). we have Eternity with the Lord to look forward to.

It is a long journey, a journey that depending on the situation may seem to take FOREVER, but we can make it by holding on to God and giving Him the little strength we have left and count on Him to pull us with ALL the strength that He has. It’s called persévérance through faith, and it’s something beautiful.

The sun is now rising. I will rest my head and prepare for a brand new beautiful day.

Still waiting....

June 20th

Dear readers (Specifically Debra Davis, and Anne Newton) :)

I apologize for the months and months of silence.

I originally created this blog so that friends and family could keep up with my traveling adventures. When those ended, I thought, well...why not continue to write to share the glory of God's works in my life.

Things were a little bit hectic (to say the least) the last time I was updating you all, and ever since then, things have sort of died down. Nothing new in my life has happened. And by that, I simply mean that my situation hasn't changed.

Last time I was here, I kept things vague simply because I, myself, wasn't quite sure what was going on and what exactly had just happened to me. So in case you might've been confused as to why I am still in the U.S. or in case you understood but just forgot, here is a quick re-cap to refresh your memory/clarify your thoughts. :)

On March 1st, I thought I was beginning a whole new journey by heading towards Canada. I had 60 days starting January 2nd to stay in the U.S legally and either find a job that would sponsor me to stay here, or find a plane ticket to leave the country.
The week prior the end of the 60 days, I had two job interviews and because I hadn't gotten a response from either job as to whether I'd been hired or not, I decided it would probably be smart to leave the country, while staying close enough so that if I were to get hired, I could just come right back and start the paper work process to get sponsored and legally stay in the country.
The attempt to go to Canada failed since the Canadians didn't let me in the country. (I thought that as a French Citizen, I wouldn't have any issues getting into Canada).
So the Canadians send me back to the US, which means I need to go through the Immigration first.
American Immigration looked through my records and interrogated me for long long hours, only to find that in year 2010, I had the misfortune of staying in the US over the 90 days I was given to either find a job in my field of study (Media Communications) or leave. The OPT working permit had rules that I had failed to double check once receiving in 2009.
After this, I am told to go back to my home in the US and wait for a court hearing date to go over my small mistake.
 I am told the wait could be be between 2 weeks and a couple months. I am also told that my situation is quite minor and that I have nothing to worry about since it was just a small "oopsies" on my part, and once it got taken care of I would find out whether I could stay in the country or leave.
I was also told that if I were to leave before this court date, I would be "self-deporting" myself meaning I would not be allowed to re enter the country. EVER.

SO this is where we last left off.

4 months have gone by since then and I haven't heard a single thing from the Immigration. I haven't received a court date. I have called them and they simply told me I would have to wait a couple more months. I have called free legal advisers to seek advice but they were no help.

So what have I been up to since then? Still blessed to live with the wonderful girls that I have lived with since I first moved back to Huntington. They have been an incredible blessing.
I have been spending time with my 509 community (church that I attend) and they've been an incredible blessing as well.
I have been spending a lot of time with my boyfriend who has been heaven sent. His patience and encouragement with me and the situation I'm in have gotten me quite far.
I've volunteered here and there (a woman's homeless shelter, the Red Cross, and helped with a film shoot once).
I've done some photography here and there.
My parents have been helping me financially. I have also been babysitting.
I was able to see my sister who came to visit here for over a month!
I had been going to Goshen (where my boyfriend just graduated from) and making friends there, while spending time with my friends here in Huntington.
I've been journaling. I've been reading. I've been praying.
I've dreamt of leaving. I've rejoiced for still being here surrounded by loved ones. I've wept in confusion, restlessness, and feeling useless. I've praised the Lord for His plan. I've grown. I've been humbled. I've been hurt. I've been frustrated. I've been joyful and content. I've been trying to serve others.

I've been blessed through the storm.

Now...I still wait...I suppose.

"Back from Canada"

HI!!!!!!!!

Alright, I'm going to get straight to the point and start this story up!! First off, it might be long because I'm hoping to fully express God's complete faithfulness through this LONG story!!! Secondly, God's grace is hard to understand, and accept, but my goal is to show you how incredible and neverending it is, and perhaps you can be encouraged through this :)


First things first...I don't know if you could pick up the depression, confusion, lack of patience, and discouragement from my last post but I went through a phase where I basically gave up. I was tired of job searching, I was tired of getting rejection letters, or no responses from jobs, and I was tired of everyone asking me what I had decided between Canada, France, or whether I'd gotten job interviews and I had to keep responding "No job interviews, and I still don't know what I'm doing" :(

Well at that point not only was I becoming distant from my friends and the people who truly cared for me and wanted to support me, but worse of all I was definitely becoming distant from God. I felt like he'd given up on me and no matter how much I seeked, I wasn't getting any responses. It was hard. It was dark. I was sick for a while to, which gave me an excuse to retreat in my room and sleep all day everyday.
The worst yet best week happened when I got the news that I wasn't going to be able to drive my brother in law's car anymore for various reasons. The news hit me hard. It felt like the little bit of freedom and independance I'd gained over the past few months was getting robbed away and I just did not know how to handle it.
I was dealing with to much at once. It was crunch time. My 60 days of grace were quickly coming to an end. I didn't have any hope on the job side and I was realizing more and more that I should be starting to pack my belongings and pick a country.

Oh it was a dark time. I hit rock bottom. Sometimes rock bottom is the only way God can shake things up enough to take us where He wants us to be though. I basically came to a point that week where I just broke down and asked for repentance and begged for His grace, His strength, His mercy so I could get up off my butt and fully trust in Him. Trust that everything would be ok. More than ok in fact.
Sometimes it's just that easy. All we have to do is ask. My attitude changed immediatly. I was a different person that next morning. I felt peace. I felt motivated. I felt joy. I felt a conviction that allowed me to focus not on myself but on God and on the people that were around me. loving me. serving me. praying for me. It was time to return the blessings.

This week allowed me to faithfully step into the following week. A week of decision making, of interviews, and of goodbyes.
In one week I had to not only decide where I would be going, but prepare myself for two job interviews, prepare myself mentally for my departure, say farewell to so many people without any personal transportation, and make a lot of phonecalls concerning what I was allowed to do while considering Canada as an option to avoid any illegal activity. (I had to find out whether I was allowed to go there, whether I could come back, find a place there, etc....)

By the end of this week, I was able to tackle most of these things by the grace of God. He provided me with rides to places, with connections, with some answers, with MUCH patience, with focus, with strength, and with perseverance.
Both of my interviews went pretty well. I didn't get either of the jobs, but I felt confident afterwards and this whole time I just felt like I was doing everything in sync with God's plan.

One of my really close friends, Dave, had offered to drive me to Canada once I'd gotten details of where I would stay etc...

Tuesday  morning, we head out and after what should've been 4 and a half hours of driving to get to the border, 7 hours later we reached the Canadian border in Detroit.
I knew all along that God had intended for me to go there. I just knew it. Little did I know what all He had in mind. It's so easy to think we've figured out His plans, but He never ceases to BLOW our minds!

Upon arrival at the Canadian border, the lady asks me what my status in the US is. I  take the time to explain my being on a 60 day grace period and after a couple more questions were answered, I was sent over to the Canadian Immigration's office for a more explicit interrogation.
An hour later, I was told I was not allowed in Canada for 3 reasons. The first being my not having enough funds to support myself, the second was my not having any medical care, and the third was my lack of proof of reentry into the country I had just came from.

All three reasons made sense, however, I knew that they basically didn't want to deal with anything illegal or weird since I didn't understand my situation very clearly.
In order to return to the US, I was required to go through the American Immigration's Office for a couple more questions.
The Americans were not as friendly as the Canadians were at first. They tried intimidating me, and attempting to accuse my friend Dave of being my boyfriend who was trying to smuggle me back in the country. They treated us like we were nothing basically.
While they were doing some more investigating my friend Big Dave and myself were both praying for a lady in particular. We felt like she had insecurities and not only prayed for her specifically but for whatever the situation was to be taken over by a more understanding, cooperative, and patient person.
LONG STORY SHORT....4 hours and a half later, we were out of that office. Not only did this lady that we'd prayed for and who had been quite rude to us at first turn out to be caring, gentle, loving, and friendly, but we were also able to leave while knowing that God had been with us every step of the way throughout this mini journey.

The officers I spoke with turned out to be real nice. They offered us food. They were friendly, and very encouraging, The one in particular who was the answer to our prayers, who basically took over my "case" basically told me I was good to go. He trusted me and could told I'd done my best to follow the law but due to the complication of my situation, they still had some details to look over and double check and pass on to authorities that could decided better what to do with me.

So all of this to say, I will be here in the US until I found out whether I need to leave or not. If I find a job, I could still have a chance to stay, so number one priority is finding a job. again. back at point A.

I am just so grateful because who would've thought? Had I decided to go to France and spend big bucks on a ticket out of fear of the unknown and not trusted God with Him telling me to go to Canada (even though I know, there would be a chance of me not being able to get in and all of this turning out way worse than it did), I would've just wasted money and perhaps missed out on something big that God may have for me here.

Either way, now I have more time whether it is to find a ticket back home, or to find a job around here.

God is great. That is all I have to say. I still have a lot of unanswered questions and things are still very up in the air, but I am being shaken and molded through this unknown plan God has for me.

I literally cannot express to you all the power of prayer. I could feel people praying for me as I woke up, as I had to explain my situation, as I went through my days and the rock bottom I hit that God used to get me back up to be where I am now, today, was an answer to all of your prayers. The peace and joy that have positively overwhelmed my heart these past two weeks are a definite result of your prayers.

so THANK YOU. The journey resumes.

I also know that my friend Dave felt very uplifted and encouraged by the time  we both got back to Huntington. We had a great talk about GOd's faithfulness and power and His desire to provide us with more than what we need if we can just let Him.
Let go...and follow. That's what I am learning to do.

I don't know why God chooses to use me to go through these crazy situations and basically use this life of mine as a testimony of His power, grace, and faithfulness, but I'm glad He does. I feel priviledged and I am grateful.

Love,
DJO

Huntington Life

February 3rd


Well well well.

Guess who is back ??

ME

Ok I'm embarrassed it's been so long. So we'll skip the typical apologetic paragraph that  you are probably tired of reading and move on to what's going on in my life~

Where to begin ? Well I am still in Huntington, IN. I am currently sitting in a coffee shop with two dear sisters in Christ of mine.
I just got done applying for a couple of jobs that one of my roommates found for me. I also just got done editing my cover letter.
Let's just say that what I just did defines my past month and a half ! I've been surrounded by friends, and some I could call family who have been nothing but supportive, encouraging, loving , and just présent in my life !
I could go into détails of places Ive applied to, and dreams I've had, and hopes and people I've met, and yadiyadiya but as of now, nothing is certain.
I am still stuck in this hole of uncertainty. The clock is ticking. It's february and I have no idea what is going to happen to me 3 weeks from now (which is when I would have to leave the U.S)
I've felt a very wide range of émotions  in the past month. I've just been so joyful and full of peace since I've been in Huntington. It is my home and I long to stay hère and give back to this town what it's given to me.
The people hère are passionate, loving, and refreshing, and I want nothing more than to invest my time, life, energy, and passion alongside with my community to make the world a better place starting by working within our hearts and our community as brothers and sisters in Christ there to challenge each other, encourage each other, pray for each other, and support each other with any possible means.
However, I've also felt extremely discouraged and lost with the situation I am still in. I've gotten tired of answering the same question " What are you doing hère ? " I've gotten tired of explaining my situation, Ive gotten tired of receiving rejection letters in the mail, I've gotten tired of seeking in vain, and more than anything I've gotten tired of the intense silence that overwhelms me.

What do I mean by silence ? Just this created distance in my heart between my Father and I. He is challenging me, continually and daily, but I sometimes fail to respond to his challenges. I get tired, and I give up. I put my arms down and feel defeated.

I still believe and know in my heart that He has a plan for me. But after doing what it seems like I should be, I've gotten unjustly impatient with Him and decided to sit and do nothing.
It's just a phase, and I know better. I know not to give up. I know not to stop searching. I know more applications need to be filled. I know more phone calls need to be made. I know more goals need to be met. I know more prayers need to be sent.
I know all of this and as my mother would say " Why do you sit and do nothing, when you know ? You say you know, so do something ! "

She is absolutely right every single time that I hear her say that. I'm trying. I am , but it isn't easy.
So in a nutshell, this is where I'm at. Spiriutally and mentally. I serve a victorious God and know He will pull me out of this, but in the meantime I could definitely use your prayers
Despite my silence, I know you all have been thinking and praying for me so thank you. Blessings to you !



Dorina