Hey everyone!
Well, life is incredibly busy right now! I'm taking midterms this week for my classes and trying to keep up with my normal class assignments, which means my brain is just about smoking, but it also means that I've reached the half-way point with my classes! Yep, just six more weeks and I'll be done with my five online classes. At that point, I'll just be working on my portfolio and I'll start looking for a full time job. I honestly have no clue what kind of job I'm going to get, but I'm trusting that the Lord will lead when the time comes. He hasn't failed to open doors for me so far and I firmly believe that He will continue to make His plan for my life known to me as it is within His plan to reveal it. Actually, God has been doing a lot of revealing about His plan for my life in the past week...and maybe I'll tell you all about soon! Actually, I think I will tell you all about it, but I can't quite yet! Some of you know, but there is a very exciting story that I want to tell you all. Be on the lookout for another post within the next week or so!
Later!
Joshua
Hi friends and fellow bloggers!
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted just a random life update and lot’s has gone on in the past couple of months. Hmmmmm, where to start…?
School has been keeping me very busy lately! For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been enrolled in a program called CollegePlus! and it’s basically a coaching program that helps you complete your college degree, faster and cheaper, from home. In May I finished taking all the CLEP and DSST tests I needed and since then I’ve taken three TECEP exams, which are similar to CLEP tests, but they are tests made specifically by the school I will be using to finish my degree (Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey). The three TECEPs I’ve taken are Intro to News Reporting, Marketing Communications, and Public Relations, and I just got word from TESC that I passed the first one and I’m still waiting to hear back about the other two. This Monday I will be starting five online classes (Intro to Mass Communications, Elements of Intercultural Communications, News Writing, Managerial Communications, and Leadership Communications) which I will finish in October. I also have an Interpersonal Communications portfolio that I will have to write and I’ll finish that in November so at that point I’ll be completely finished with my B.A. in Communications! So yep, that’s where I am with school right now.
Over the past year I’ve been teaching guitar lessons to two boys in our church and a couple months ago the Lord provided four more students for me and I’ve really been enjoying teaching. It’s so fascinating to see the unique characteristics of each student and it really has given me an entirely new perspective on what it means when God says that each person is fearfully and wonderfully made! Soon I’ll be adding seven more students, and that’s going to be quite a challenge!
God has been working in my life in wonderful ways the past several months. I’ve been challenged in so many areas and the Lord has grown me greatly. He’s shown me so much about Himself and how He loves and is faithful in my time of need, which really is all the time! Here are some of the things He’s been doing the past several months: He’s shown His provision for me financially by providing in many different ways so that I can pay for my school without going into debt; He’s graciously shown me the blessings of being under the authority of my parents; He’s showing me what it means to be self-less and invest in the relationships that He has put in my life; He’s taught me more about what it means to worship Him and glorify His Name; He’s showing me how to invest in the relationships that He has given me and how to show His love to the people in my life; He’s shown me what it means to grieve over sin and deeply desire holiness and righteousness; and above all, He’s continually showing me just how much I desperately need Him.
This is without a doubt the richest season of life that I have ever experienced. Great and abundant are the joys of serving a King who guides me by His love and sovereignty! He’s filled my life with blessings, friends, challenges, and at times sorrows and struggles, but I can trust without a doubt in the promise of Romans 8:28, that the Lord works ALL things together for good for those who love Him, for those who are called according to His purpose! And I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in the weeks, months and years to come!
So yep, that’s what’s going on with me! For those of you who are new to my blog (thanks for joining by the way!) there’s a little bit about myself! :)
God bless you all as you seek the Lord and strive to follow His ways.
To an Audience of One,
Joshua
This week I have been able to get away from the regular routine of life and attend a regional conference with my family. The time has been incredible as God has really just chiseled, chipped, broken, molded, shaped and refined my heart in ways I couldn’t even imagine! It seems that through the past several months, it’s been difficult for me to be passionate about my relationship with Christ. In my heart of hearts, I have found it difficult to seek and find fulfillment and nourishment in my times spent with the Lord. I would read God’s Word every day and yeah I could talk about what God was doing in my life and what I was learning new, but I didn’t sense completeness in Christ. When you aren’t filling your life totally with Christ, you open yourself for discouragement and I guess that’s where you could say I have been in my personal life during the past several months. This week, I’ve been able to read books, spend time fasting and praying, and really just eliminate the distractions of everyday life and let God speak to me. As I’ve been able to spend hours in deep thought and meditation, God’s given me a new appreciation for the place in life that He has me right now. I’ve noticed that my distracted faith has really stemmed from a discontentment with where God has me. The hopes and dreams of a young man are many as he grows and struggles and sometimes I have a tendency to let myself get wrapped up in where I’d like to be as opposed to being contentment where He wants me. God uses the different times in our lives for different reasons and the Lord has had to correct my attitudes in more ways than one! This week has helped me see that God has me right where He wants me!
Another thing that has really been good this week is the fact that I’ve been able to spend time talking with my parents and just “re-connecting” with them. My relationship with my parents is better than I could ever hope for, but it never hurts to keep communication lines open! I’ve really been realizing the great treasure that I have in my parents lately. It seems that as I get older there are more and more things for which I desperately need their counsel and insight and yes, even correction!
As I finish up this brief, rambling update, let me just leave you with a thought that the Lord has shown me during this conference. One of my major focuses this week is being content where the Lord has me in life and one aspect of that is being a servant to those whom God has placed in my life. One of the speakers (Mr. Dulin) spoke last night about being servant-minded and an analogy he gave really struck home with me in how we are to minister to those around us. I like to think of myself as a helper; I like to think that I can help people and that people can benefit from what I have to say or think. But the Lord really showed me that my attitude really only amounts to pride! Christ didn’t call us to be helpers, He called us to be servants. When you have the mindset that your job is to “help” people, you tend to look at others as in a lower position than you are, which leads to pride. But, if you try to serve people, it places you lower than they are so that you have to reach up to them in the love and service of Christ. God has shown me that I don’t need to worry about helping people because what I have to offer in and of myself isn’t the best God has; I need to strive to serve them and pour out the love of Christ Jesus which is what has the true power to change hearts and transform lives.
May God bless each of you as you strive to serve Him and one another!
To an Audience of One,
Joshua
No, I'm not a relativist, and yes, I'm very well aware of the actual mathematical answer to the above equation! =) But, there's a reason for it so just be patient! This morning I took the very last CLEP test that I'll ever have to take! For those of you who don't know, for a little more than a year and a half I've been taking CLEP tests to accumulate a significant portion of college credit much cheaper and quicker than going the traditional college route. I've taken 20 CLEP exams and I've accrued 90 hours of college credit, hence the specialized equation (20 tests + 584 days = 90 credits) in the subject title! :-P I started taking a few CLEP tests my senior year in high school and I took several last summer (09) between my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Then, during the fall semester of '09, I enrolled in a coaching program called CollegePlus! which has helped me take these tests at a much faster pace. In the past five and a half months, I've been able to acquire 54 college hours, and today, I took the very last CLEP test required for my degree. At this point, I have 3 more DANTES exams (very similar to CLEP) and once I complete those, I'll begin taking online classes from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey to complete my degree, which will be a B.A in Communications. It's really a weird feeling! When I first stared testing, it seemed like forever 'til I'd be finished, but here I am with all my CLEPs complete and passed and only a couple more tests before I start the last phase to attaining my undergraduate degree! I'm really pumped right now and so I just felt like posting randomly about the exciting achievement of my college life! I'm so grateful to God for His grace and mercy. There were several times when I can honestly say that it was by His grace and wisdom alone that I was able to pass some of the tests and it seems that through each test He taught me something new about the way He works in my life. I pray that as I finish up the last couple of tests and courses that I would continue to see His faithful, guiding hand. He has so richly blessed me and I can't wait to see what He has in store for me in the days ahead!
To an audience of One,
Joshua
P.S. I'll soon be continuing with the salvation series!
Okay, so mostly I was just trying to find something to post since I've been too busy to work on the series for the past several weeks, and I figured someone might as well get a good laugh out of it! :-P This was from several years ago (emphasis on several years ago...actually, let's say many years ago...) and as you can see from the 2nd pic, Rachel was quite pleased with herself for creating such a beautiful big brother! ahem...yeah right... ;-)
If you couldn't tell from the title, tomorrow is my birthday and I'm going to be 19!!! Only one more year in the teens! :-P I remember being about 9 years old wishing I could somehow speed up the clock and make myself one of the "cool teenagers." I don't know that I'd call myself a "cool" teenager, but now that I'm here and almost through with the teen years, I have no idea where the time has gone! I've seen times of trial and times of blessing, but through it all, I've seen God's amazing grace and faithfulness, especially in this past year of my life! I know that we're not guaranteed another tomorrow, let alone another year, but however long the Lord chooses to allow me to live on this earth, I will look forward to how God will move and work in me during my 19th year of life. I crave your prayers as I continually seek God's will and direction!
As a small birthday favor, would y'all (those who are regular followers/readers of my blog) just leave a short comment on this post? I'd like to get a better idea of how many people actually read my posts! ;-) Thanks, and I hope all of you have a blessed 2010!!!
To an audience of One,
Joshua
Hey y'all!
This past Sunday, our family went on a camping trip to Inks Lake State Park which is located about an hour north of Austin. We stayed Sunday through Wednesday, and we had an awesome time!!! We have a family tradition of going camping at Inks Lake every couple of years or so, and we like to go the beginning of October to celebrate my sisters' birthdays (Leah's is the 4th and Rachel's is the 6th). So, that was the occasion, and here are some pictures! :)
**Most of the photos were taken by my sister Leah, so the photography credit goes to her! :)**
Things didn't start out too promising...One of our trailer tires blew out and of course it would be a mere 15 minutes away from our campsite!!! :O Oh well... My mom and I sat on the side of the road with the trailer for over two hours while my dad went to a Wal-Mart to get a tire (no other place was open on Sunday) Thankfully, we got everything fixed and that was pretty much all the excitement we had on our trip! :-P
This was our set-up. Leah and Rachel were in the small tent and dad, mom and the boys were in the big tent.
The next day, we went to Longhorn Cavern and got a tour of the cave. It was really cool! Below are the stone steps leading down to the cavern.
Here is another natural formation. Kinda looks like a frog, or an iguana! :-)
After coming back from the cavern tour, we went fishing. Nobody caught any keepers, just a few small perch and a bass. And yes, I am completely aware of the fact that I don't match in the least and am wearing 3 or 4 different styles!!! lol!
I got stuck on dish duty one morning... :-/
Some of my family...(Dad, Jared, and Rachel)
I LOVE this picture!!! My sister took it and the angle makes it look like I'm way up in the air, but I'm only like 5 or 6 feet off the ground.
I like to jump if you can't tell! ;-)
My bro Jadon got stuck in a bucket!
No, I did NOT text the whole time...just part of it...ahem...
I took this pic of Leah. It was a perfect, natural setting.
The last day we were there we went on a hike.
Some of the scenery near the lake.
Jadon, the daring rock climber. :)
After awhile of looking at the creek feeding into the lake, we just couldn't resist...lol!
My pretty sister Rachel!
Leah and I
No, this was really an accident! I slipped on some algae-covered rocks and everyone got a big kick out of it for some reason...I can't imagine why! ;)
We went upstream and found a natural slide, so what do you think we did?
Try it out of course!
Even Leah did, although it kinda looks like she's trying to stay as dry as possible! :)
And the perfect conclusion to our water adventure was Devil's Waterhole, a very deep section of the lake. I don't know how many feet deep that part of the lake is, but we never touched the bottom! Anyway, the cliff is 15-20 feet high, and I just couldn't resist...
Both Leah and I jumped several times. I wanted to jump off the boulder (you can see it in the above pic) that was sitting on top of the cliff, but mom wouldn't go for that! ;-)
Another fishing pic
...or two
And, on our way out, we stopped by the park and let the little boys play awhile.
So, there's a glimpse of our camping trip! Hope y'all enjoyed it!Hey everyone!
Just wanted to put a quick post out about my sister's new blog! You can visit her blog at http://mywoodbetweentheworlds.blogspot.com/.
Enjoy!
(So what in the world does that have to do with fishing poles??? Just thought it was a great way to grab your attention!!!) ;-)
Hey everyone! Last Wednesday, a church friend of ours took a bunch of guys from our church deep-sea fishing in the Gulf. We left out of Matagorda and went probably 25-30 miles out. Wow, was the water a beautiful blue!!! We had a great time...except for the fact that I got seasick... :( (hence the title!) I know, who would have thought that someone like me would get seasick??? It was weird because I've never had that happen before, but I guess it's just one of those things...Anyway, despite the fact that I had to occasionally relieve myself *cough, cough* I had a great time and we caught quite a few fish! I caught Red Snapper and Kingfish, and it was a TON of fun. I thought you all might enjoy a few pics from the trip so enjoy!!!
Here's our mighty sailing vessel!
Gorgeous waters!
Two 16 pounders...THE FISH!!!! not the men... ;-)
Zac with a nice prize
How do you like that...the minute we get back to the dock and I start feeling a little better, they put me to work cleaning the boat!!!! Just kidding! :) I really had quite an enjoyable time, except for the times that I really wasn't having such a great time....yeah...
Friends! I've grown up with these great guys!
Another great friend of mine!
Okay, I had to put this one in! :-) Wait a minute...who graduated???
About Me
- Joshua
- Average will never suit me. Perfection may never define me. The former is too often accepted and the latter often only desired. I cannot resign to complacency and I cannot simply DESIRE perfection. I must PURSUE it! Though an impossible task, a man named Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life, and He commands others to do the same. I am proud to bear His standard and will strive to meet His charge. Until my race is over and I’ve written my last line, I will seek perfection in all areas of my life, not because the goal in and of itself is a worthy end, but because of the One who gave it.