That’s The Worst

I may be sick now but you know those cold winter days where you go out and your car won’t start, this is bad but that, that is the worst.  (For those who get what I’m referencing 😉😄). 

Yeah, so the last couple days have been a bit crazy with car troubles.  Monday my car was giving warnings that the coolant was low, the the car didn’t overheat.  Tuesday the car wouldn’t start.  When I tried it gave warnings that the was no oil, no coolant and that i needed to STOP.  Wednesday my car yet again wouldn’t start.  It has been getting a bit cooler at nights, and my car is outside so I figured that something was freezing in the motor.  Whenever I tried to start it the battery sounded strong.  If you remember back to last December, while I was up in Canada I had my battery replaced, so it shouldn’t be anything with the battery now.  In the afternoon on Wednesday, I tried jumping it (at the recommendation of my dad).  I was home alone with grandma Baurer and she was sick.  So I backed her car out if the garage and pulled it around on the road to face my car.  I tried starting my car several times with the jumper cables hooked up to both batteries and my grandmas car running, yet my car wouldn’t start.  So I put it all away and called my dad.  He suggested to let grandmas car stay connected to my car a bit longer and then try to jump it again.  So I hooked them up again and tried it again.  I tried a handful of times to start my car, each with 2-5 minutes of charging.  By the last try, my battery sounded pretty low.  My dad was out of town with some family along with my sister and brother (Jonathan) and grandma was sick in bed.  So I waited until my dad got home.  

When he got home we pushed the car in neutral perpendicular with the road but lined up with my grandmas driveway - we couldn’t push it by hand up the hill on her driveway.  So my dad used his car to bumper push me up the driveway and into the garage.  Once in the garage we popped the hood.  (Oh yeah, also while it was out on the road I had checked the oil twice several hours apart and it showed really low so I added 2qt of oil).  Under the hood we found that the fuel was too gelled and frozen to move they the fuel filter.  At the suggestion of a guy who used tow irk on this car Ben Koch, we decided we needed to replace the fuel filter.  Now my dad and sister were supposed to leave early Thursday morning to head back to Texas, but my dad decided to stay till noon to help me out.  Wednesday night as we dug into the fuel filter unattaching everything so we could take it out to replace it the next day, we found yet another small little plastic piece had broken.  We guessed it would cost $5-10 to replace.  The next day we found that the retail value of that piece was about $55 but we were recommended to a guy in Peoria by Princeville Automotive that had one left in stock and was able to sell it to us for around $13 - Praise God!!!   We got that piece and the filter.  Plush we picked up some fluid that I need to put into my tank whenever I fill up to prevent his from happening again. I had already bought some Desicl 9-1-1 (another fluid to help).  Come to find out also, all those warnings my car was giving were false including the oil level- I now have 2qt too much oil in my car.  I hope to take it to a shop soon and have them do an oil change.  

Anyways as we got back to grandmas we started reassembling the car.  My dad left and I finished it up, well mostly.  Just as I was finishing up, the Mickey Mouse Pin  That holds the filter piece to the filter tumbled down into the darkness of my engine.  People online said this is the last thing you want to happen because it will take forever to find it.  I never found it.  I then drive into Princeville to see if either of the automotive shops had one.  Neither did nor had heard if it.  Princeville Automotive again suggested that I go to the guy I went to earlier with my dad.  I didn’t want to drive that far.  But I did drive to a closer part of Peoria and went to AutoZone and Advanced AutonPaets And neither of them had it.  One of them recommended me to try the Peoria VW dealer just down the road.  So I did, but they didn’t have it either.  So I set off to the guy I had gone to earlier.  I went in and asked him for the part, shows him the picture and part number and he said he would look and see if he had it.  He seemed unsure.  A little bit later he came out out and said, “have you ever played the lottery?” indicating that finding the part in his shelves was like playing the lottery.  But (Praise and Thank God) he just happened to have one left in stock for a whopping $4.95.  I was so happy.  Yes it took me nearly 3-4 hours to get it, but I got it.  

Once I got home and was putting everything together (it was nigjtby now), I couldn’t get the filter cap to go all the way into the filter. It seemed like I had tried everything.  I the. Started thinking that I would wait until Jonathan got home to get his help.  I needed another thought on this.  Just the. I heart Gods still small voice say, “you can ask my thought on this”.  I kind of rolled my eyes in thought not knowing if I should 1) trust the voice in was hearing as I’m still struggling in lea God’s voice and 2) how I would be able to know that what was said was him and not me.  But I replied with, “how do I do this God?”   H simply told me to push down on the left side.  So I started to push down on the bottom (in a way it could be considered left based on this piece) and the piece went down a tad further but then got stuck again.  As I kept trying, I heard God ask me if I was pushing the left side.  So I pushed the left side, which I had already done seemingly thousands of times, and click it fit right in.  Boom!  Thank you God.  

My car now runs good and is thaw.  I am glad that I was able to get it done (with lots of help) before the real cold hit.  Starting tonight till Tuesday, the temperature is continually going to drop.  Up until Tuesday where the temperature will be in the -20’s Fahrenheit plus wind.  Thank you God for all you have allowed and all you are!!!!

Moana - More (Repraise - Outtake)

If you are planning to read this post now, I ask that you set aside 20 minutes to read, listen, and think through this post - if you are going to rush, save this post for another time when you can take 20 minutes.  Thank you.  

Over the last 8-10 months I have been more and more attracted to the animated movie “Moana”.  When I first watched it I really liked it and wanted to watch it again.  As I watched it a second time I invited God to join me and He revealed to me something new in the movie.  As I continue to watch this movie over and over He keeps revealing more and more.  He uses what He shows me to encourage me, expand my boundaries, increase my understanding, and to reveal Himself more.  

Since falling in love with this movie, I have downloaded the films entire soundtrack on my phone.  There were a couple of songs that I deleted out of it, but most of the songs really speak to me and really encourages me, as God works thru them, to pray and believe.  Several songs on that soundtrack album are an outtake and is not actually in the movie.  One of them particular I will be talking about today.  

Below is what I listened to, wrote, and read last night in a meaningful and powerful time with God.  Please listen to the songs and read the words in the order that they appear below.  

LYRICS: 

She showed me day after day

How to find my way

She taught me how to rely

On the wind and sky 

She named me after the sea

She believed in me

MY NOTES:

“She showed me day after day”

God, my Father, my Dad, shows me day after day

“How to find my way”

He shows me the way and how to find the way - to seek Him

“She taught me how to rely”

Abba Father shows me, He teaches me, gently, how to rely

“On the wind and sky”

He shows me how to rely on Him and His Word; how to rely, on full trust, on His Spirit in me: How to depend on what I cannot see (Wind / Him - the Holy Spirit) and trust what I cannot touch or fathom the expanse of (Sky / Him - His work - His understanding; His will)

“She named me after the sea”

Daddy gave me a name on purpose, The God, Lord of all, named me!!!

“She believed in me”

My Father believes in me; He has called me to a purpose and has entrusted me with His empowerment; He believed in me, He believes in me! 

LYRICS:

I know we use to be bold

From the tales she told

I know she left me prepared

From the things she shared 

The was more she wanted to see

MY NOTES:

“I know we use to be bold”

From what we read in the Word, the early church was bold and courageous;

“From the tales she told”

We see this in both the Word and History 

“I know she left me prepared”

‘God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.’  God has called me and has equipped me: I know that God is in me and I in Him (John 14:20, John 15:4); I know that God is for me and will never fail; I know that God will never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5): I am prepared by God!

“From the things she shared”

I know this by the experiences He has shared with me; by the words He has spoken to me; and by His Word: the Bible

“There was more she wanted to see”

God has so much more for me; He has so much more He wants to show me. 

LYRICS:

Staring at the barrier together on the shore

We practiced all the names of everyone who came before me

Voyagers, warriors, ancestors in our line

Their blood runs in mine

MY NOTES:

“Staring at the barrier together on the shore”

God is with me; He will stand with me as I face barriers in life

“We practiced all the names of everyone who came before me”

He encourages me to move forward. He encourages me by reminding me who He says I am and who He is

“Voyagers, warriors, ancestors in our line”

He reminds me of His faithfulness throughout the Bible; He reminds me of who He chose and worked through in the Bible

“Their blood runs in mine”

And that I am a member of the church, the body of Christ, today just as much as the members of the early church including the apostles themselves. 

LYRICS:

She always knew more 

She hungered for more

She taught me more

And somehow I know 

She’d want me to go

MY NOTES:

“She always knew more

She hungered for more

She taught me more”

God is role modeling this for us to follow: that there is always more to know, He knows more; that we are to desire more of Him, His Word, will and way; and that we are to teach more of Him: to go out and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)

“And somehow I know

She’d want me to go”

He tells me not only in His Word but also in life, the still small voice, and others, that I am to know Him, to seek Him, and to magnify Him (to know, to hunger, to teach/live). 

LYRICS:

To navigate, you have to keep your island in your mind

You’ll know what lies ahead if you remember what’s behind you

Want to know the answers to the questions you still don’t know

You just have to go, find more

MY NOTES:

“To navigate you have to keep your island in your mind”

To successfully navigate life with God, you need to remember and to learn and remember where you were

“You’ll know what lies ahead if you remember what’s behind you”

And if you know where you were, you can know where your going. You can’t go from point A to point B without point A, likewise how can you rejoice in what God has done in your life or will do, if you don’t remember where you were before God brought you to point B?

“Want to know the answers to the questions you still don’t know”

I have lots of questions.  But to find answers to those questions 

“You just have to go, find more”

I need to Just Go, with God.  Go where? to Find More! find more of God,

LYRICS:

I wanna know more

There’s always more

How can I stay

She taught me the way

MY NOTES:

“I wanna know more

There’s always more”

I want to know more of God, there is always more of Him I can learn

“How can I stay

She taught me the way”

How can I stay where I was if I know where I can be?  God has shown me that the way is thru Him.  

LYRICS:

Every turn I take

Every trail I track

Every path I make

Every road leads back to the sea

I am sailing to the edge of the sea

MY NOTES:

“Every turn I take 

Every trail I track

Every path I make”

Everywhere I go, no matter what I do, no matter what I decide, 

“Every road leads back to the sea”

It All leads back to God. Really?  Are you sure? If I am s child of God, then yes, I am positive.  Because God’s Word says that He will work All things together for Good (and He is Good-Psalm 136:1- and everything good comes

From Him-James 1:17) for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28) - He takes care of His children.  I believe that if I am His child and I wonder off; if I make a bad decision; if I mess up, He will correct me, re direct me, and work it for Good. 

“I am sailing to the edge of the sea”

I am going to dig into God ; Know, Seek, and Magnify Him, as much and as long as I can. 

“And it calls me-“

And better yet, God Himself has called me!

LYRICS:

Moana go now

Moana don’t stall

Don’t worry about how

Just answer the call of the sea

There’s nothing there holding me

MY NOTES:

“Moana go now”

Joshua (your name) Go Now

“Moana don’t stall”

Joshua (your name) do not delay any more

“Don’t worry about how”

Trust.  Do not worry about anything, instead pray about everything (Philippians 4:6-7). Do not lean on my own understanding. Trust God with my whole heart (Proverbs 3:5). I cant understand it, I won’t understand it now, and I don’t have to.  I am called , therefore/thus/because I am called, I do not have to worry about how

“Just answer the call of the sea”

I Just have to follow God when He takes a step.  My job is to Go (the action), God’s job is the how (the process).  My Job is NOT THE HOW! Leave to God what is God’s, Don’t worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34), just, only trust God and Go 

“There nothing there holding me”

With God no one, no circumstance, no situation, not even Satan Himself can hold me.  God is greater and God is with me. 

LYRICS:

If I had time

I’d say good bye 

I will cross the divide, I will ride

I will see what’s on the other side

With the ocean as my guide, on the tide

I will go where no one’s ever been before 

There always more

MY NOTES:

“If I had time

I’d say good bye”

I have not been given all the time in the world/ all my life to sit in my comfort and resist God.  I have been given my life to know, seek, and teach (to magnify/live) Him - to make disciples. 

“I will cross the divide, I will ride”

I will take a deep breath, remember that God is with me, and cross the divide from my comfort to His call for me

“I will see what’s on the other side”

I can only see what God has for me after I have crossed the divide 

“With the ocean as my guide, on the tide”

With God as my guide, on the foundation of His Word 

“I will go where no one’s ever been before”

God will take me to unimaginable places

“There’s always more”

There is always more with God

There is always more to God

There is always more of God 

Texas, Cards, & Travel

So, once again, I am behind in my blogging.  Currently I am down in Texas with my family.  Prior to heading down here I, after much thought and prayer, too the step and got new tires for my car. I feel that God’s hand was over it all as I was able to get 5 new winter name-brand tires, plus installation, plus ridding of the old tires for under $350 USD.  Now that is one great deal!!! No I didn’t have the money, but I was able to take a loan for it from my dad.  I got my tires at Sams Club - it seems that it was good that I paid the $45 for a Sams Club membership that I haven’t used until now.  Having the membership saved me a lot more than $45 in tire expenses, so it was well worth it.

Last Thursday my dad flew me down there Austin Texas. It was actually a two part flight.  I flew from Bloomington Illinois to Atlanta Georgia.  Then from Atlanta to Austin.  My dad picked me up in Austin around 5pm Thursday evening.  My dads friend, an old friend from when we used to live in Texas 10 yeas ago, Mike Hardcastle, invited dad and I over for supper.    He made us vegetable spaghetti (spaghetti squash, cooked veggies, etc...) it was really good. After supper another one of their friends came over for some games.  Mike taught us a new card game called Five Crowns - it was a ton of fun!   Then we played Pictionary.  I stayed with my dad until Sunday afternoon.  During the weekend we had some really good chats, played some Rummy - it wasn’t my night for it (he creamed me), we watched Thor 2 and some other episodes from a tv show that Jonathan has gotten into. We also played a racing game that we really like on my dad Xbox.

On Saturday my dad and I drove up to Waco Texas and met Abi for brunch.  Then we went to a theater and we watched the new Star Wars. I would rate the it a 7, it was good and well done, but I wouldn’t say it was great.  I would like to go watch it again though.

Sunday I was hoping to go to the small home church that my dad goes to but the pastor was sick so we went to Austin Stone (the north campus).  The main campus of this church is where Chris Tomlin was the worship pastor before he started recording. It was a really good service. We had to leave abit early though as we hand planned to meet my mom in Waco (at least an hour away) by 2pm.  We hit some traffic and we’re late.  When we met up with my mom I went back to her house with her and dad went back to his house.  When mom and I got to her house we did a short partially “family” Christmas.  It wasn’t the same without dad.  After that we watched some Top Gear and another episode of Jonathan’s tv show.  We ate supper, went over all of our Johnson O’Conner results and then went through some old memories by looking through our school files from the last 15 years.

Then the four of us sat around the kitchen table and played Dutch Blitz and ERS (Egyptian Rat Slap - a really fun card game)

Christmas Is Coming!!! - buuuuut school is too

As School is coming to a close as Christmas approaches times are getting busier and plans for the holiday are beginning to set.  First, I have nearly 5 weeks of break over Christmas!  Which is Amazing, especially compared to high school.     So, on Thursday, December 14 I will be flying out of Bloomington, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia and then from Atlanta to Austin, Texas.  I will then spend just a tad over a week in Texas with my mom and dad and Jonathan and Abi.   Then I will drive back with my dad and siblings to Illinois just before Christmas.  

But before all that happens I have a busy week, or so I thought.  Going into this past weekend I sat down and calculated about how much time I expected of homework over the next week.   This is the last "week" of school, next week is finals.  However I won't be here for finals next week as I don't have any finials to take in class - I have two-ish (not really finals, but rather end of the semester tests) and they are online over the weekend before.  Anyways I estimated about 21 hours of work. Now with not having a computer most of that has to be done at school.  I was able to get a good chuck done on my phone (which I am very grateful for) though it was quite a bit more of an inconvenience. This morning (Monday, December 4th) I had planned to come to school for 9am.  Thankfully, praise God, that worked out.   I don't have any classes on Monday until 6pm.   I've spent the entire day here working on getting assignments done.  I knocked the estimated 21 hours down to an estimated 1.5 hours.  And I am proud to say that I got a lot more done than I expected.  Though I'd have to say as I sped up with the quantity of work that was done, the quality of the work dropped.   Yet, 6 papers and over a chapter of online reading, quizzes and assignments later, I am glad to be done with it all.  

Oh and I was suppose to give a speech on Wednesday in Biology on Nutrition and Diabetes Type 2, but I asked the teacher if I could do it tonight instead (so I can get it over with and that I can go to church on Wednesday night) and he let me.  So I will be doing my speech tonight!  

Thank you God for the productive day and all that you have blessed me with, I am truly blessed!

Orchestra & Chorus

Saturday - I joined the Schlipfs in going to my cousin's Christmas concert at Illinois State University.   He was part of it, though there were many, many other students as well.  I absolutely loved it!  It was full of beautiful singing from the Glee Club, Madrigals, and many others along with a fabulous orchestra and energetic and passionate Conductors.    It was an exciting 90+ minutes!  I had great joy all throughout it, especially at the end.  As I was watching it I asked God to show me something through it and let it all, whether intended or not, to be a glory and praise to Him.  And He did!  It was so amazing and joyful!  Praise God!    

Who Says You Can't Win?

So Amazon has a thing now called Givaways.   I've been entering these givaways over and over again.  Some don't require you to do any to enter, others require you to post something or follow them on Twitter (which I opened an empty account just for this), yet others ask that you take a 1-question poll or watch a 30 second video to enter.   Anyways the odds for each "prize" ranges depending on what the giver has set it too.  I've seen as low as a few hundred to one and as high as nearly 8,000 to one.   After many entries I finally won something (below).   I don't know what I'm going to do with them, maybe gift them or something.    A week or two ago I gave up on the Giveaways as I found that I wasted way too many hours entering literally thousands of them without winning a thing.  Yesterday I decided that I had some extra time so I entered some more and won these gloves (below) - they were a 1 in 800 chance of winning.  I then proceded to waste too much time again trying to win something I could use or something else to give.   I wouldn't say that it's necessarily worth it, as the result hasn't come out greater than the cost, for me at least.  

Another Flat

On my way to get an allergy shot yesterday I found myself just minutes away from home with a flat tire.   The funny thing is, I strangely wasn't stressed or worried or even upset.  I had an un-natural amount of peace and was free to laugh with joy about what happened.  I was quite thankful that I knew how to change a tire on my car as I've had to do it before.  I'm also thankful that my care has a pre-labeled area where to put the jack in and that I didn't have any trouble with the jack - last time it was quite a hassle and a real struggle.   It took no more than 10 minutes to change the tire with the "spare" that was in the trunk.   The spare wasn't a donut tire, it actually was a full size tire, just an older quite worn tire.   I had a good laugh that the quite worn spare that I put on has more tread than the tire that I took off (and more than my other tires).   haha.  

After I put the spare on, I noticed it looked just a little low on air.  So I drove to a nearby gas station that I knew had fee air (Casey's) to fill it up.  I didn't have a tire pressure gauge, so I went inside and bought on (only $2-3).  As I checked my tire pressures, I found that all my tires were low on air.  Thank you God for allowing a flat tire to get me to notice that I need to fill them up!   The spare that I put on (to one of the back tires) was suppose to be 44psi, however it was less than 10psi - the gauge didn't even go that low, haha.   I loved it.  

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about tires yet.  I'm praying that God will continue to provide, not just finances, resources and things, but also wisdom, discernment and guidance.  

Tires, Joy & Proverbs 3:5-6

Also, an update on my car.  So my dad told me the little trick on how to check to see if your tires need to be replaced.  You stick a quarter upside down in the tread.  if the whole head can be seen, then you need to replace the tire, if part of the head is covered, then you don't need to replace your tire.

So I did this on my tires.   On most if not all of my tires, not only can you see Washington's full head, but you can also see and read most of the "LIBERTY" that is above his head.   Thus, my tires are mostly bald.   

Philippians 4:6-7 says "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

However, at this point I am not planning to replace my tires.   Whenever I pray about it, I feel like I am hearing to not replace them.   So I am not going to worry about it.   Worry will get me no where.  If God doesn't want me to do it, then He's got a better plan, even if it means that a tire will blow and cause an accident.   I'm not worried one bit.    God's got it.  I keep praying about it and keep praying that God will let them not ware out.  I don't know what His plan is, but I know it's good.    

I write this post not to stir up worry in others, in fact I want to use it to encourage you to not worry.   God asks us to trust and obey.    Do I trust?  If God says (in Philippians 4:6-7) not to worry, then I wont.   If He says to pray about everything, then I will, and while and after I pray about it, I will give it to Him, it's not my concern.    Worry about nothing.    If God says to bring my requests to him, I will do so.  And if He says to give Him thanks, I will do so for all that He has done.   I will give Him thanks that my tires are bald.   

Why all of this?  Because God is a good God in all that He dose (Romans 8:28).  It's not my job to worry, it's my job to talk to Him, trust Him and thank Him in all things (Philippians 4:6-7).  He gives me many options to ask, (just a few of the dozens are Matthew 7:7-11, Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14, Samuel 1:20) and He delights in fellowship with me (2 Corinthians 6:16).  Worry not, but trust and rejoice (Romans 15:13), for God is in control, He has all things in His hands.   

God is faithful 

Isaiah 40:31   

Flashing Lights

Last night on my way home from class, I was in a peaceful mood of just cruising (not real cruising) but just about five miles an hour under the speed limit.  On the half hour dive home I have a great and peaceful time with God, just praying and talking with Him.  Several times I had people right on my bumper, but they would just pass me then.  Except as I was coming into town, I had a guy right on my bumper and he didn't pass me.  My initial reaction is to get upset, nervous, angry and frustrated why he has to ride on my bumper instead of passing me.  But I keep having to work on that and remind myself that I don't need to worry about that.  I've been there before and I know that there are lots of reasons that I'm not thinking of that he could be there.  I don't know what he's going through or if he's even paying attention.   He is not me.   So I went back to my talk with God.  I don't remember exactly what I was saying, but it was along the lines of, "God I give it all to you.  I'm not going to worry about anything, instead I will give it all to you.  I trust where you are leading me and I give that to you.  I give to you what you are doing in my life.  I trust you in whatever you bring."  (like I said I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was along those lines).  Anyways as soon as I said that last part, the exact moment that I said the last word, I immediately noticed in my rear view mirror, white, red and blue flashing lights.  The guy on my bumper was a cop.  Hahaha.  It just made me laugh at the timing of this.

The cop came up and asked me where I live and where I'm going.  I told him I live about a mile and a half up the road and I am coming from school.  He told me that I had a headlight out, to which I told him that I knew that and that is why I have my fog lights on, until I can get the light fixed.  He then asked for my license and insurance. As I handed him my license, I told him that the address on my license is not correct as I recently moved, but I did change my address online.   Then I handed him my insurance.  He asked if that was the latest insurance I had.  I said, I think so, to where he informed me that it was several months out of date.  I fumbled around with the envelope I keep it in and found the up to date one.    He asked me if I had any illegal items in the car, like guns or drugs.  I said no, as I handed him the up-to-date insurance, He asked me, "then why are your hands shaking?"   I intended to tell him that my hands always shake when I'm nervous.  However what came out was, "I always shake when I get pulled over."   He then questioned when I've been pulled over before.  I told him that when I had my permit I got pulled over because there is apparently a law in Illinois that you can drive too slow in the left hand lane, he understood that.  Then I told him that the other time I was pulled over was in Canada, he gave me a look.  I explained to him that I was visiting family and I thought I was in the turning lane but apparently I wasn't, and the a cop was.   He nodded and told me that he's not going to give me a ticket, but he's going to go and run my license through his system.  As I waited, I was just amazed at God.  The whole time, though I was nervous, I had amazing peace, and I didn't have to think about what to say, it was as if He just spoke for me.  I also had the random thought, watching the flashing lights in my rear view mirror, if the lights are randomized or if there is an order to them.  I was really tempted to ask the cop when he came back, but I heard clearly that still small voice of God tell me not to.  So I didn't.   When the cop came back, he gave me my license back along with a citation.  He told me to keep the citation with me in case in the next few days before I get the light fixed if I would get pulled over again, I can show the cop my citation and tell them I have already been pulled over.

I am so overjoyed by this, God is soo Good!  Yes I do have to now change my light, which I don't think I can do myself, as these German cars require to take off the whole bumper if not the whole front corner of the car to get to the light.    It's an expense I was not expecting, but I am thankful that it's nothing more, and that I didn't get a ticket for it!   God has surely blessed me.  I want to give a shout out to the cop who pulled me over - he did a wonderful job of doing his job and he was super friendly, polite and kind, I was honoured.  Thank you!  

I Must Not Be A US Citizen???

So I was going through the Amazon.com (Not amazon.ca) Giveaways, 

and I got this message on one of them . . . 

It made me laugh inside, and yet question where Amazon thinks

I am from???

I need your thoughts . . .

Today in my communications (speech) class we finished up our persuasive speeches.   Now, the next step is to do our final speech before wrapping up the semester.    However, normally this professor requires this final speech to be a group speech.  Instead she is trying something new and she is giving us the option of what kind of speech we want to do, calling it the "Speaker's Choice" speech.   I decided that I am not going to do a group project thus I will stick to the individual speech.   I have a number of options (which I have listed below) that interest me.  The speech needs to be 4-6 minutes long and references are Not required (unless I use sources that are not my own). My presentation will be the first week of December.

1) Informative Speech: Communicate information about a concept, process, object or event using the guidelines from the first informative speech.

2) Persuasive Speech: Using the guidelines from your persuasive speech, present a topic in a way that will entice your audience to think a certain way, behave a certain way, or take some sort of action.

3) Reflection Speech: Reflect on a special event or time in your life.  The speech should tell a story with a beginning, middle and end.  (Serious or not serious)

4) Demonstration Speech: Using appropriate props and visual aids, demonstrate to your audience how to do something.

5) Advertisement Speech: Speak on a product, service or action (or thought).  This can be a 4-6 minute infomercial.

6) anything else you can think of. . .


Here is where you come in.  I am seeking your thoughts on which one (or more) of the above you think I should do and what topic I should talk about.  I am open to just about anything.  The floor is yours . . .

Cookies

This weekend I spent a day or so at Grandma Baurer's house.  While I was there I was thinking of making some cookies for my History class (for fun).  However grandma offered to let me take some extra cookies she had in the freezer, so I took those instead - it actually worked out really well this time, as I would not of had time to make them anyways as I ended up doing some other things.   

Anyways I took her cookies to my History class today and they were LOVED!    A number of students approached me and asked me to thank her for the cookies.  A friend told me that they were some of the best cookies he has had.   Another girl who sits behind me was just awestruck with how she makes them so soft, they were perfect.  After class my History professor had one, and after one bite (and about 15 minutes of talking), he said he believes these are the best peanut butter (& chocolate chip) cookies he has ever had!   They were a huge hit.   However, there were some left over (I think some students were trying to be polite and not take too many) so I gave them to some other people I met in the halls, and they were again loved!   

Many people were quite blessed by them today!  

Thank you Grandma!!!

Genius & So Adorably Cute

Well, I suddenly have a lot more time to blog.   When I wrote my last blog about not having a computer to blog on I did not take into account that during that time I boosted ahead on homework.  Now I have a lot more time to blog since I am more caught up, homework wise.  Now that doesn't mean that I don't have homework I could be doing.  I do have the first and second stages of a speech that I have to conduct and bring in all the materials for that by Monday, plus a test next Thursday, oh and a test online this weekend, along with several other things.    But I have more of a freedom to blog in those moments that I just need a break from homework.

So today in my Early Childhood Growth & Development class we learned a variety of things.  We are now up to the preschool stage. We talked about initiative versus guilt, self esteem and much more.  One thing was a preschooler's self-concept.   What a, say, 4 year old sees, thinks, and talks about generally falls in three categories:

1. Appearance 

2. Possessions 

3. Behavior     

These three things is all they ever seem to talk about, and that is because that's all their cognitively (learning, thinking, problem-solving) developed to be able to do.   When we look at how this changes, we see quite a difference.  Take a 12-15 year old for example.   Because their brains have developed to think, learn and problem-solve more, instead of the above three things, they will more likely talk about:

1. Physical         

2. Relationships 

3. Academics /   

Occupation 

Another topic we talked on was self-esteem.   If you look at a preschooler, their self-esteem is normally quite high, they think they can conquer the world if they wanted to.  But as kindergarten through grade three kicks in, their self-esteem starts to drop. Why?  As they get into more complex grades, works, and problems, they start to be able to think more critically and think in many other ways - this is natural due to the natural cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) development. This curve of self-esteem slowly gets lower and lower, but at some point in either middle or high school it starts to curve back up again.  It usually doesn't reach a high again, until college.    Where then, after college, it takes a dip once again.

Also another topic was Common Fears of Early Childhood.  We were asked the question, "What childhood fears, that are irrational, do I still have now?" After a short discussion we watched this video (below).   (NOTE I don't necessarily care for everything in this video, but it shares the point well.  The primary note that resonated with me was the first two (up until 1:36 in)).

I found this fascinating for several reasons.  One, most of us don't always recognize that we have these fears or that they were rooted from out childhood (My heart was racing just watching the basement on). Not only that, it makes us aware that not only is this 'fear' irrational, but it's quite silly.  It took me a long time to be able to convince myself to walk on the deep drains or grates on sidewalks or parking lots.  Even though I know that they are made to hold thousands of pounds and I am just as likely to fall into them as I am to fall into a pit while walking down the sidewalk on concrete.  So the question comes up, what caused these fears?   While I cannot say for sure, and the teacher didn't tell a answer that with a fit-for-everyone answer, there are several general guidelines.   First, if you fear is of an inanimate object or something that is not alive, like a sidewalk grate or drain for example, or an animated figure such as ghosts or vampires, the fear likely came from childhood cartoons, tv, or movies.  On the other hand if the fear is of animate objects/things such as animals or people, the fear was likely rooted from (bad) experiences.   Now that your heart is racing and you don't know if you really want to read any further, the last thing I want to share in this post is just the opposite of fears.  

Now, what actually got me to write this post, is this next part.   In class, right after learning it, I texted myself a note to remind myself to blog about it.  Why?  Because it is genius, and so adorably cute.   

This topic was understanding Empathy and Sympathy.  A good chunk of it was on the Empathy part.   For example, watch this ad (below). 

The company that created this ad had a genius behind it all.  They used three key tactics to get us to love this and want more of it.    

FIRST they used the Visuals to catch our attention and capture out hearts.  Visuals such as the puppies, the kids, the grandparents and people of all ages.

SECOND they used wonderful Music that kept the mood smooth and gave us a desire to want more of it.   Plus it went along wonderfully with the visuals. 

THIRD They used Emotions to capture our hearts.  They used situations that we can connect with.  Watch through it again and notice the emotions prior to the puppies.   People are tired, sad, bored, depressed, stressed, just really feeling down.  We have all been there before and the makers of this ad know that, thus they use clear emotions that will instantly connect with us. But when the puppies come in what are the emotions? They are happy, cheerful, delighted, over joyed, released, smiles all around.  This is something we want to feel in our daily lives instead of the doubt, tiredness and boredom. This ad is a work of cute genius.  Because when we finish watching it, we want to watch it again and feel the joy of supporting it. 

A Valley Has 2 Mountains

Yesterday was a really had day for me.   I was feeling really discouraged and really challenged.   I kind of just felt Blah. I actually just became quite frustrated both with myself and with God.  While at school in the afternoon, before my evening class, I listened to a message online from Koinonia called "House Keys - Worship" (https://www.kcf.org/message/2017/11/7/house-keys-worship) and then as the message was wrapping up Pastor Bryan mentioned that the worship team was going to play a song, (which wasn't recorded) so I headed over to YouTube and listened to the song there.  While I was listening to it, I felt God saying to me to write down all my questions I have right now.   I didn't want to do it.  I had a quite a handful of questions I thought, and I feel like I'm being overwhelmed by them.  I told God that I know myself and if I write them all out in a list as He was asking me to do, I will just become even more overwhelmed by the list.   But He insisted.  So I opened up a word document and started typing out my questions.  At first they started with each new topic of questions was on a new line, but my thoughts then turned to a rant journal full of questions in long paragraph form.  I had no idea all this was inside me.  But it kept coming out.  By the end with over 2,000 words, I was amazed at all the thoughts and questions that cam out.  In the mean time I had let YouTube just do it's cycle of playing the next worship song on the list in the background.   Some of the songs were very timely to where I was at in my timing.   Writing everything out took at least half an hour, likely more.   I was questioning what I was praying and believing for; I was questioning myself; I was questioning God; I was questioning life; I was questioning my thoughts and my purpose; I was questioning past, present and future.  I questioned just about every topic it seemed.   I just was down in the pits as it felt like.   I didn't know; I didn't understand; I didn't see; I didn't feel; I didn't comprehend.  I felt lost, confused and down.  

After class as I was in my car, I stayed quite a bit later in the parking lot as I was downloading some music.  I started with adding to my music some of the powerful songs that I had been listening to earlier, as I was writing out the questions and thoughts on my heart.  That lead into some more worship songs downloading.   Anyways as I was doing this God reminded me that I hadn't spent time in His word yet today, so I opened up the bible and asked Him where to read.  I felt I heard Him direct me to Job 4.   So I opened up to Job 4 (in my NIV Bible) and read:

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 

"If someone ventures a word with you,

will you be impatient?

But who can keep from speaking?

Think how you have instructed many,

how you have strengthened feeble hands.

Your words have supported those who stumbled;

you have strengthened faltering knees.

But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;

it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

Should not your piety be on your confidence

and your blameless ways your hope?

I was just like, Whoa God!   Then I heard the still small voice say "John 14:1", so I headed there.  John 14:1 says:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. 

You believe in God; believe also in me."

Again I was like, Whoa God!  

From there I kept hearing "John 13:2"  which says:

The evening meal was in progress, and 

the devil had already prompted Judas, the 

son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 

I would read it then look else where as I didn't see any revelations or other meanings in it.  I assumed that I was hearing the wrong voice.  But it kept coming back.  Finally I thought, "maybe there is a word in there that I should look up; a word that may mean something different than what it appears."  So I read through it again, slowly, emphasizing every word.  Nothing stood out to me that I should look up, that is until I got to "...Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,...".  I suddenly questioned, "I wonder what Iscariot means?"   And that lead into a mini study that took some time and also took me thorough out the Bible in several different chapters in the Old Testament.   - For reference and study I use an app (and website) called "The Blue Letter Bible".  I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to study the Bible.  It offers tons of versions of the bible, along with abilities to highlight and make notes.  Plus for each verse there are tons of verbal and written commentaries, Plus verse-by-verse study, explanations, meanings and commentaries for each book.  On top of that it offers Cross references, Translation comparisons, dictionaries, and (my favourite) and Interlinear / Concordance.  This concordance includes the original Greek text, and a word-by-word list of whatever verse you are on that tells the English word, the root from Greek word, the audio pronunciation, the Strong's concordance number, TYheayer's Creek Lexicon, Strong's Definitions, Transliteration, part of speech, root words, outline of Biblical usage, KJV Translation count,   where that word appears in that same form elsewhere in the Bible and so much more!  Plus it will read it to you.   And even better, it's all free and the app has no ads.   Now after that little ad, :) , on with where I was going.

After a long while I headed home with some worship music playing in the background.  On my way home I asked God, "If this is you, if I need to crumble (as I felt that I could do on the inside) then let me crumble hard and all the way that I may come out of it stronger.  But if this is not you, if you are not wanting me to crumble, then help me be encouraged so that I may come out of this."   

As I was approaching the stop sign that is at the corner of the Schlipf's house (where I am living) I stopped and put the car in neutral.   And in a breeze of fresh boldness and encouragement, I let Satan have it.  I gave him a whole speech. I told him where I stand, and that I stand with God and God is with me, no matter if I can feel it, see it, understand it or know it, He is with me.  I rattled on and on to Satan declaring that I am God's.  I started naming off scripture of what God says of who I am.   I founded myself on God, and made that clear to Satan.  I made it loud (literally) and clear that I will not heed to Satan's schemes and attacks.  My allegiance is to God alone.  This went on for quite a long time.   It seemed that with every word that came out I was more confident, more bold and more encouraged.  So I kept on talking and letting it all out.    Even when I do not understand; even when I don't like it; even when I do not feel God; even when I do not feel loved; even when I feel lost; even when I feel confused; even when I want to collapse inside; even when I am discouraged; even when I am weak, God is with me, God is for me, He only has good thoughts about me, He is on my side, He dwells in me, His spirit is in me, He has given me authority and power to do what He did on earth and even more, He works all things together for good in my life because I love Him, He has not left me nor forgotten me!   I can rest in Him.  

Then I burst out praising Him and singing with joy and laughter.  Just then I got a text from Renee (my aunt) asking if I was alright.   'Oh yeah, I hadn't really noticed that it was nearing 11pm and I am normally home between 8-9:30pm.'  I texted back my exact thoughts: "Haha, I am doing Wonderful!!! 😜  Praise God!!!"  After I sent it I was amazed that I sent that after the depressing day I had had earlier on.   Praise and Glory be to God alone!   He is so Amazing!!!!

Israel School

Continuing on with my search into the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies I had a call from one of their academic advisers over in Israel today.  He had a very thick Israeli accent and gave me lots of valuable information regarding the course.   So it's a 9 month course, 2 hours per week (1 hour of class and 1 hour of practice (at least)).  It's all online.   The course will start out learning the Biblical Hebrew language, starting with the alphabet, then nouns, verbs and so forth.  Then it will start in Genesis and go from there, along with learning Jewish holidays, ceremonies, and festivals.  The desire in this is to know and understand a bit more of the original texts of the bible.

Now here was the thing.   As we were doing it they guy told me it was going to be $1,199 USD for the course and if I paid it all up front they will give me a $200 discount.    I told them that I don't have the money right now, so the guy told me that I could just pay $100 or $200 right now and when I get the money pay all the rest of it and still get the discount, as he said he didn't wan't me to lose my spot in the class.   I wanted to wait, but in the moment I didn't know what to say, so I said sure, I'll pay the $100.   Instead he wanted to charge me $200.   I had given him all my debit card info and address and all that and he had put me on hold while they charged my account.   I didn't know what I was getting into, and I was getting a bit anxious about it.  He came back and said that the card declined and he reconfirmed all my info and put me on hold again so he could try again.    All this time I was becoming even more anxious, and it worried me a bit.   When he came back again he told me what happened.   Praise God, as my bank declines all international payments without my informing them!     He told me how to contact my bank and said he would call back in 10 minutes.   I didn't call the bank however.   I called a trusted friend instead (his name quickly came to mind as the guy hung up on me).   My friend talked me through what he thought about it and he said he didn't think this was God leading me to sign up now.  As he was talking I gained a lot of peace and a lot of my anxiousness left.    I then decided and I felt peace about it, that I would wait.  The guy had called back twice while I was talking to my friend.  So afterwards I emailed him, as I found they don't answer when I call.    I told him I am interested, but I am going to wait for now and think and pray about it some more.

I also then did a bit of research on them and it looked like the institute had a lot of good reviews.  Now, just right before typing this up, I am at school and did a bit more thorough search into it.  I found that the main site for reviews on the institute does have 443 reviews with 83% 5-star feedback.   However, in those reviews there are 6 1-star reviews, all in English (many reviews were in other languages - the institute offers a handful of languages for this course) and all in 2017.   They all, along with some 2, 3 and 4-star reviews told of how awful costumer service is and that they try to charge you without you knowing $100-200 right off the bat.   They don't pick up and they will hold my credit card info for years in case I come back - then they will charge me then.  The reviews also told how the refund policy isn't true and stuff like that.  I was pretty sketched out about it.  Yes these reviews were only a small percentage of all the reviews, but I was surprised about something else as well. I was surprised that I couldn't find more reviews on the institute.  Why, well because I had also read a number of articles about when they started back in the early 2000's and had over 5,000 students then, and now in 2017 they have nearly 116,000 students, so it surprises me and makes me question when I can only find 443 reviews on the school.

Anyways with all that said, I and going to take some time to pray about this more and seek God's direction in this.  I would love to do a study like this, however I do not want to be a fool in it.   Prayer is the best aid.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Prayer request:  while looking into a personal biblical study I came across a website that offered some intriguing information.   I came across the Israel Insitute of Biblical Studies. I requested more information and through the email they sent me I was brought to their main website.   I dug around a bit and discovered that this is an online institution that offers "academically accredited courses certified by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem". To me, this sounds very interesting and exciting.  I plan to talk to one of their academic advisors later this week.  In seeking guidance, wisdom, and direction on this I am taking the next day or so to fast and pray.  As I go into this time of fasting and prayer, I could use prayer for direction and wisdom; also for peace and a open heart.  Though I would love to do this, I do want to yield to God's will for my life.

Church, Bowling and Billiards

This weekend I headed to Tremont, Illinois with plans of going to Northfield Christian Fellowship for church (as I did last week), however on the way God stirred in me to go to Harvest Bible Chapel Peoria instead.  So I did.   And I loved it.  they had a powerful time of worship, followed by communion.  Then they started their series called Generous and ended with a time of corporate and individual prayer for the persecuted church, in sections by specific countries from Africa to China to Mexico (and many others) as it was the National Day of Prayer of the Persecuted Church.  And finally ending it off with a great time of worship.   I was quite blessed.  

After I got home, my cousins, Bethany, Jesse, and Cristian, headed to Illinois State University (ISU).  ISU was hosting a family night of bowling, billiards, buffet and prizes, all for just $2.  However they never charged us, so we got it all for free.  

Encouragement In A Confetti Gun

I saw a quote on a board at school last week that said, "Throw around kindness as you would confetti."  I love that idea.  The past couple weeks I have felt lead (I do believe I was hearing God correctly these times) to stop what I was doing (homework, driving, and other daily tasks) and text/message encouragements to people.  Some people were very specific, others where not.   Some things that I sent were prayers and some were just compliments or words of encouragement.   Encouragement goes a long way.   What we say impacts more than we will ever find out.   That is why the Bible so clearly states to watch what we say (Prov. 10:19, Prov. 12:18, Prov. 13:3, Prov. 15:1, Prov. 15:2, Prov. 15:4, Prov. 16:24, Prov. 18:20, Prov.18:21, Prov. 19:14, Prov. 21:23,  Prov. 25:11, Prov. 29:20, Eph. 4:29, Matt. 12:26, Matt. 12:34, Matt. 12:37,  Matt. 15:18, Luke. 6:45, James 1:26, James 3:1-12, Col. 3:8, Col. 4:6, John 7:38, And so many others) and to encourage others (1 Thes. 5:11, Eph. 4:29, Heb. 10:24-25, and others too - just look at the many numerous areas God, the prophets, the disciples and apostles, and many others encouraged one another).   

Something to Smile About

Just a random thing that made me smile yesterday:  I had the thought (and experienced it), "you know when your done with the old and ready for new when...." in one bowl of cereal I used up a bag of granola, 3 different boxes of cereal, and a gallon jug of milk.  Had I had orange juice, I would of used that up too - I had apple cider instead and it looked like I used the 2nd-to-last glass of cider.  

No Computer -> No Blog

So, again, I haven't written in a while.   There is a little story behind that.   For those of you who don't know, in the process of getting rid of everything I felt God leading me to get rid of my laptop.   That was a biggie since just moments before I felt Him ask me to get rid of it, I had concluded that I could not get rid of it even if I had to.  Well I did.   I sold it and the money from it was an answer to prayer as it can help cover the cost of the repairs I had done on my car.   But since not having a laptop, all my homework that needs a computer, is done at school.  This, though it has a temporary inconvenience, is a wonderful blessing.  Now I have been forced to work on my time management, and in the last week and a half alone, I've got more homework done than I would of every hoped to get done in that time period.  Not only that, but having all of a sudden a ton of extra time at home, I have started using some of that time with God; digging more into His word and just spending time with Him.   And through that I have noticed a clear growth in my spiritual growth with God.  This comes at great timing as well.   For the past few weeks I have been really struggling with how I hear God's voice.  I know well that I can hear God's voice as I've heard it so clearly so many times.  However the challenge I've been facing is this question: "is the voice I am hearing actually God?"  What brought me here was a lot of the things that I was hearing (and following) did not line up with what I knew was right, not that what I know is always right, but also some things that did not line up with the Bible.  Thus I took a big step back and have been fighting quite a battle inside me the past number of weeks.   I have been deliberately not obeying some things that the voice in me, that I had labeled as "God", just to test it.   Upon continuing my own path or taking a opposite turn contrary to this voice, I noticed a lot of time, I did not lose peace.    From my experience, when God tells/asks me to do something, go somewhere, say something, or anything really, and I do not do it, or I test to see if it was His voice by doing something different, I will lose peace.   Lately, I haven't been losing peace which is telling me, I think, that the voice I have been hearing and labeling as "God" is not God.   So, in that sense, I feel like I'm back to square one, except I know that I've heard Him many times before.   Thus with all of this, I have been questioning a number of the things that I have 'heard' over the past number of weeks asking if that voice was really God too.    So, I am still in this state, though I think (I hope) that I am climbing out of it.  Having the suddenly available time to spend with Him (where I would of lounged or wasted time) has really helped, but I am still really struggling to know what voice is His and which voices are not.  

Back to the point I was intending to write about, I haven't blogged much in the last few weeks since I don't have a computer to blog on.  Well, yes I have the school computers (that I am using now) but almost every time I am using a computer at school, I don't even think to update the blog as I am doing homework.  I had gotten too much in the habit of only updating the blog when I had extra time at home and when I really felt like it.  I am hoping and will be trying to break that habit.  You are all welcome to remind me if you want too - I would appreciate that.