We had a great service last night down at The Pearl. Pastor Frank spoke for the first time, ever! There’s a lot of great/exciting things going on down there and I feel tremendously blessed to watch all of it happen.
Today is Thursday, which means easy day! One class, no work, one meeting, worship gathering tonight. Should be fun…
School is back in session and I’m loving it. Favorite class for far? Family Issues. Oh yeah, I’m also getting ready to DOMINATE in the first Ultimate Frisbee game of the semester. It’s a great thing.
Till next time…
- Joe
Well, school is back in session and I can’t wait for my first class on Tuesday. We had Opening Chapel yesterday and yeah, it was fun. My class schedule consists of…
Getting ready to shoot for all A’s & B’s for the first time ever,
- Joe
Post Script: Special shout-out to DD who surprised us all by coming back to help his sister get situated in the wonderful city of Portland. It was great seeing you!
Christmas break was way too long. It’s okay though, because tomorrow I register for what I believe is going to be one of the best semesters at PBC yet. (I don’t say that often) The beginning of a semester is always great, but there’s just something different about the beginning of every spring semester. I’m not sure what it is, besides the fact that I moved back to Dorm 3, and I really don’t want to take the time to figure it out, but it’s different in a great way and we’re gonna leave it at that. Okay? Okay. I also found out I’ll be playing for opening chapel, and to be completely honest, it doesn’t get any better than that! Awesome, well, I hear IHOP has this sweet $3.99 pancake deal going on and because we’re starting the CBC fast tomorrow morning, a few of us are gonna go check it out and eat like it’s nobody’s business! It’s a great thing.
Till next time,
- Joe
Oh yes, it’s that time again. Why does the beginning of a new year feel so good? Is it because it brings a sense of accomplishment? Or is it because we can look ahead, knowing that there are plenty of great moments in life waiting to be seized? I’m not entirely sure what it is, but I’m sure everybody can experience the joy of a new year in their own respectable way. For me, I’m excited about a few different things, but here are some of the goals that I’ve set for myself:
I know, I only have three things, but these three things will affect every major area in my life on a daily basis. After all, great leaders aren’t built in a day, they’re built daily.
Craving a huge glass of milk,
- Joe
Playing with weapons…
Goofing around in a SWEET lake-house…
Drinking soda for the first time in a year…
Actually shooting the weapons in the forest…
Having a blast with people you really care about…
…so yeah, it was fun. Happy New Year!
- Joe
A couple of days ago I went for a walk with my Dad and it was a wonderful opportunity for us to catch up and talk about life. I love it when opportunities like this pop up. Now that I’ve been gone for over two years, I pounce on an opportunity to spend time with my father faster than Mufasa did on the hyenas in The Lion King. I love my Dad, and for the last couple of years there’s been a certain kind of closeness between the two of us that’s priceless, mainly because out of everyone who lives in my house, I’ve spent the most time with him. I guess that’s what happens when your parents divorce. (back to the talk) I’m in a pretty strategic season of my life right now and I’m extremely thankful I don’t have to make any life altering decisions by tomorrow morning. But those decisions are sneaking up on me fairly quick and I’m not taking them lightly, one of them being where I’ll end up once I graduate from PBC. When I first moved to Portland, moving back to Antioch when I finished school was pretty much a guarantee. Two and a half years later, that’s definitely not the case. My Dad was the first one to plant the seed of the crazy possibility of me staying in Portland. So the other day, just like every other time I’m home, I wasn’t shocked when he asked me if I was gonna stay up there. It’s as if I’ve already received the blessing from my parents to not come home when I graduate college.
Crazy.
The anticipation of next semester has officially been planted in my spirit and there are so many exciting things to look forward to. I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely LOVE the spring semester. Besides all of the conferences, prophetic assembly, senior sermons, and spring break, there’s just something beautiful when the clouds go away, allowing the blue sky and the sun to find their place again in the beautiful Northwest. Also, my apprenticeship with Marc is stronger than ever and the longer I serve under him, the more I see how strategic it was that the Lord placed him in my life. Servanthood. Isn’t it a crazy concept? I don’t care how crazy it sounds, there’s only one way to the top; become a faithful servant. Life is great. What can I say?
Straining towards what’s ahead,
- Joe
Post Script: Scotty got engaged! Thank you Scotty, for allowing me to be a part of yours and Monica’s journey together. It’s been an honor to fight the good fight with you and the fight just got easier knowing she’ll be by your side. I feel tremendously blessed to have the both of you in my life. Rock!
Ooo, life choices are meaty stuff. Don’t forget there’s a whole world out there. As I’m looking at graduating the same year with my two year and moving on to other school, I could do that ANYWHERE! I could study abroad–especially if I did journalism. That’s SUCH an exciting time to think about.:) Being nothing but young and full of possibility. Hehe, I’ve always made sure that God knew I’m fully available to take advantage of the season of life I’m in. So many of us young Christians are always looking for who we’re going to marry and what our calling inside of our church is and what’s the fastest rout to settled down? While all of those things are truly valuable and good and God-given, why would we cheat Him and ourselves out of this magnificent time that is youth? I admit I may be the extreme side of this argument–wanting nothing more than to pick up and move somewhere just because I can. This age is just too good a chance to watch it go by. We here, in this place, can go and do and we don’t have to do it here because we’re here–we can do it there because there exists. What a wonderful thing.:)
What adventure can you imagine?
This is true Tori, but this “there” that you speak of doesn’t exist for everyone. Just because “there” exist doesn’t mean that everyone should conisder it. For some people, all they have is the “here”. Why? Becuase that’s what the Lord’s placed in front of them. The sad thing is that there are too many people out there who have sacrificed their ultimate calling to live life in the “there” places, instead of staying put in the “here” places.
Could it be possible that a destiny being fulfilled in the wrong place is ultimately a destiny not being fulfilled at all?
I do agree.:)
Hehe, my stance tends to get passionate and say things more strongly than I intend to. Sorry.:)
Such an interesting discussion! I agree with Tori that lots of people look for the quick road to a settled life and sell themselves short on the adventure God has for them. I know so many people my age (i.e. old) who had such a longing for the mission field when they were in college, but are now chained to a mortgage-and-minivan life (or a spouse who doesn’t share the same call – yikes!) and have never stepped foot outside their cul-de-sac. (However, my grandparents launched out as missionaries to Mexico after all their kids were grown, so it’s never too late). But I’ve also seen people who just live their lives on restless feet…never planting, never growing roots, and never finding the fulfillment that comes from faithfulness and consistency. The older I get, the more certain I am that the whole key to hitting your destiny is: hear clearly, obey completely.
I love what God’s doing Joe. And as for your Post Script… I think you’ll find it’s Mon and I who get the bigger blessing having you around!
Hanging out by a white Waterfront
Yes, it’s true! It snowed yesterday in Portland and I loved it! CBC ended up canceling their second service, so a small group of us took advantage of the day and headed downtown to enjoy the snow.
Speaking of friends, something hit me recently. It’s as if I received a new revelation of how important they are. What I’m about to say is risky, and I know it, but I’m gonna go for it anyway. I’m at a point in my life where I’m realizing that all of my close friendships mean something, and because of the genuineness that lies in the foundation of each one, I truly believe the small group of people I spend most of my time with will be in my life until the day I die. A while back I was challenged with this concept when I saw one of my Pastors lean over to another Pastor during worship, laugh for a little bit, and then continue on with what they were doing. Then it hit me that those guys have shared more than thirty years of their lives together. It was proof that it’s possible to build lasting relationships with the people God has placed around us.
I’ve recently challenged myself to not judge any of my friends when they make a mistake, but instead cherish those moments because I have a front row seat to watch God not only do a work in my life, but in theirs as well. I can cherish those moments because wherever they end up twenty years from now, most of the people around them will only have the privilege of seeing who they became, not what it took for them to become that. I think of guys like David, who serves the church with all of his heart, and I wonder where the hand of God will take him after PBC. Wherever that is, I’ll always be able to look back to our traditional Friday night Safeway runs and know that our lives were shaped on the same training ground. I’ll always be able to look back and know that when I drove back to campus, I knew he was there because he was the only student to park their car backwards, because according to him, “the way you leave is more important than the way you park.” I think of guys like Scotty, who constantly challenges me to keep God in the center of everything I do, and I wonder what our first trip to Scotland will be like. I have no doubt that he’ll find himself right in the middle of what God’s called him to do and I can’t wait to walk into the ministry the Lord entrusts him with, take a look at him, and remember how we met once a week to talk about life, read through books together, and spent time praying for each other. I also think about guys like Matt, who always provokes me to see things from a balanced perspective. I see his heart for kid’s ministry, and to serve the homeless, and I’m excited to see where he’ll end up. Wherever that may be, I know that if I need a quick laugh, I’ll always be able to hop onto YouTube and watch an episode of the Matt and Joe show, or think about our time as roommates when we lived in the Dorm 3 quad. What about me? Where am I gonna end up? What will they say about me twenty years from now? What mistakes will they be able to look at during the preparation season of my life only to see how that shaped the final result?
When those closest to us make a mistake and we judge them, could it be possible that we’re actually missing the beauty of God’s work in their life? I realize that I’m not perfect, and nobody I know is, but I’m in a season where I get to watch a lot of people who are passionate for God go through life thinking they know what they’re doing, make a lot of mistakes, only to be picked up by the grace of God and start over. It’s the principle of seeing people for who they’ll become. All of our closest friends should be able to look past our mistakes and focus on who we’re becoming more than who we currently are. Thirty years from now, wherever I end up, I’ll always have the privilege of knowing that not only will I get to see who my friends become, I’ll also know how they got there, and to me, that’s priceless.
Now that I’m done thinking, here are some of our kodak moments from yesterday…
Fourteen days, that’s all this semester has left. Due to some of the cards that have recently been played in this little game called life, it feels like an eternity. I was just looking at my schedule and to my surprise, it’ll be the most relaxing two weeks I’ve had all semester. Tonight is our annual PBC Dorm Warm, where Matt and I will be going live for the first time ever! Everything we’ve done up to this point has been through YouTube, so we’ll see how it goes.
Till next time…
If you want to receive a bunch of dirty looks, just walk into a classroom and shout, “Go Obama!” the day before the election. Even if you are just messing around, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Till next time…
Double 8:06 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink |
Glenda is the best!!! Family Issues was great. She brings it all semester Joe. You should tell her I said that!!