The Southeastern Ping Pong Effect

Hello all and Happy New Year!  This is my first blog of the new year.  I know that I’ve slacked on this and I seem to say that a lot with my post.  Anyway, Christmas has come and gone, but not forgotten.  Amanda and I did Christmas in Augusta and in Alabama.  We did Christmas with Mr. Pair first in Augusta and went to see “Lights of the South”.  After Augusta we came back to Tucker and went to our Christmas eve services at the church.  Christmas morning we got up really early to drive to Alabama to have brunch with Amanda’s grandparents, the Rices.  We got there with plenty of time to spare and had a wonderful meal, fellowship, and Christmas.  Then we headed over to my parents to visit with them and eventually have Christmas with my family.  That night we saw Sherlock Holmes at the movie theater and then went down to the State Park to stay with Amanda’s mom to have Christmas with her the next morning in a lakeside cabin.  That morning we got up had Christmas and breakfast with her mom and Bill, and then went to meet up with her dad to go out to Granny Pair’s house.  After that we preceded to hop on over to Amanda’s great aunt’s house for lunch.  Following that lunch we then we met up with my family again, and got up Sunday morning to have Christmas with my Uncle’s family.

So then we came back to Atlanta and waited to head back to Alabama for New Years.  We headed to Huntsville for New Years Eve to hang out with Amanda, Andrew, Mitch, and Ashley.  We ended up meeting some of Andrew and Amanda’s other friends, who were very fun to hang out with, and we played Apples to Apples pretty much all night.  The next morning we just hung out until we all had to leave.

So that is the Southeastern Ping Pong Effect that usually happens around our holidays.  This will more than likely be changing this year though since we’ll be having baby Thomas with us this year.  I’m looking forward to having our first family Christmas on Christmas morning.  Amanda’s will be half way there at 20 weeks on Thursday.  School starts back this week on Thursday and I’m looking forward to seeing everybody.   I’m also looking forward to getting back into a routine again.

From My Center…

Yesterday I had my final day in pastoral care, and it was a sad time for everybody in the class.  This class became a support group/prayer group/family for me here at Candler.  I’m sure all the other people feel the same.  Most of us probably went into this class not sure exactly what we were going to learn, but let me tell you we learned a lot about life and ourselves and each other.  We learned that we came from all walks of lif, but we had a similar calling.  Pastoral care provided for me a way to look at others differently(and myself) and be able to care for them in different ways then I know before.  At the beginning of the course I introduced myself as Joshua Carl Henley and gave a brief history of my family, but at the end we did the same exercise and I simply introduced myself as Josh and that I realized that the power of a name can have a huge impact on a person.  As I’m sure many of you know Amanda and I are gonna have a baby, so yesterday I said that I’m working on a new name for myself which is, Dad.  I keep telling myself that everything is going to work out and I honestly believe it because I know that God will take care of my family.  I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’m gonna try my best to be the best father I can be.  I just ask that everyone keep us in prayer and the baby.

School, School, and more School

It has been a while since my last post.  A lot has happened since my last post considering it dealt with orientation stuff at Candler.  Well we’re about half way through the semester and I wish I would have been putting updates on here more frequently.  We’ve had numerous papers due and the first OT test.   We have another OT test coming up in 2 or 3 weeks and I’m working on my next paper for pastoral care.  I’m gonna start working on my big paper for history of Methodism soon dealing with how Methodist have played a big part in social justice over it’s history.  I’ve been volunteering at the UMCH for my con-ed site and now I’ve been given the opportunity to work their part time.  Things are going to be changing with Amanda and me dealing with some recent news we have gotten, but nothing we can’t handle.  That’s about it for now; so stay tuned for the next post in the next few days.

Business Ethics…

Well I’m done with my pre-orientation stuff at Emory and the rest of orientation is for the next 3 days.  The building I went to today is also the same building where you can find the Center for Ethics as well.  Every time I walk up to it I can’t help but think back to the end of Billy Madison where he picks the category “Business Ethics” for the other guy.  I’m looking forward to it meeting the professors and the other students.  I got my student id today and my picture that I sent in is all washed out, it’s kinda like the picture was taken in a really bright room.  Another thing I was asked to do today is decide whether or not I want that pic in the directory with all my info.  I asked the lady at this particular station and she if they would use the same picture as the student id, she said yes, so I opted out of that and just agreed to have my info in the directory.  After talking with a few more people I had to take a survey before I left.  Well I had the option I’ve taking it later on the home computer, but I thought I would go ahead and get it done to be over with it.  The guy(Brad) said that it would only take like 10 mins to take, and so 30 mins later I finished the thing.  I was a little annoyed by it, but hey it’s just a survey.

Sincerity is not enough…

Like all things our vacation has come to an end.  It all started last Sunday when I got off from work we were Alabama bound.  We took a couple of days to visit my family and see some friends as well.  While in town we came across a church marquee with the phrase that made the title of this blog entry.  At first Amanda and I were perplexed at the meaning behind it, but the we thought about it and figured it out.  Anyways on Tuesday we set out for PC Beach, but not before I did some roofing on my grandfather’s house.  Amanda and I decided to call it AIME(Albertville Interfaith Mission Experience) as a joke after our church’s own summer mission project TIME.  Amanda took some pictures of me on the roof so that it would be official.  During our stay at PCB we spent most of our time in the sun soaking up as much as we could.  I will say this I’m not as a big a fan of just sitting in the sun as she is.  On the plus side I did get more sun to the rest of my body to try and even myself out.  One thing that stuck out the most on this trip was a text message I got right after a phone call I had received two days prior.  The text message was some scripture from the book of Psalms, 37:7.  The part that got to me the most was the first half which states, “Be still before the Lord and patiently for him;…”.  I had heard that phrase before from my sister when she called me the last time I was in PCB with the youth and that was only a month ago.  So I got the hint and I need to wait and see what he has in store for me in the upcoming week, month, or next three years for seminary.  Anyways I’ll be waiting and listening for whatever God wants to tell me next.

Be God’s

Reflections – Youth Week 2009

I’ve now had some time to reflect on youth week 2009, and I must say I’m tired on a couple of different levels.  I know some people who would agree with me greatly.  We had some ups and we had some downs, but it was all worth it come Sunday morning with all the services going well and well received by all.  I’m some proud of all the youth that were involved.  I must say that their message couldn’t have been more perfect:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

I love how Paul starts out with this passage, “As a prisoner for the Lord,…”  I would love to get to a point in my life to say that I’m a true prisoner for the Lord.  Paul knew what was important and lived it and taught it.  Unity is so important, let me say that again unity is so important.  As Christians and as a church.  You gotta remember and keep the right focus on what’s really important.  Being humble, gentle, and patient with one another can be really hard sometimes when people don’t see things the same way.  As Christians we are called to do some hard things in our lives and according to James we should consider it a joy to face trials for it will develope perseverance in our faith.  Now I’ve read my friend Mark Ashby’s recent blog entry and have found out we have another thing in common.  I too have taken the Strength Finders 2.0 test and Harmony was one of my top 5.  Now I will admit that I’m not one to take on confrontation head on, as a matter of fact I try to avoid it, but then I remind myself if I do that I will be stepping out of my comfort zone and growing that much more and figuring out a way to work through the trial and hard times.  If I do that I keep telling myself I’ll finish the race and keep the faith.

-Be God’s

Youth Week 2009 – One Spirit, One Lord, One God

Youth week 2009 is coming to a close as of tomorrow.  The week has been an exhausting and rewarding journey.  Some of our highlights from this week were whitewater rafting(interesting stories best told in person), the senior adult lunch, visiting PAWS Atlanta/Good Mews, bobsledding at Henderson park, and a Braves game.  So now we are about to embark on our last day know only as Youth Sunday.  Youth Sunday is, in my opinion, a very exciting day for worship within the church.  Mainly because the youth are in charge of all the worship services.  Everything from announcements all the way up to preaching.  I hope this allows the youth to understand and respect a little more what all goes into your typical Sunday worship.  I know that our two youth that are supposed to be preaching this Sunday are quite nervous and have been working on their sermons all week.  I’ll definitely be saying a prayer tonight not only for the youth, but for Amanda and all of our adult volunteers that have participated this week that we can recover and get ready for the next big youth event down the road!  I’ll leave you with a bible verse that I got as a tweet on Twitter, “Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.”  PSALM 34:3

Be God’s

Stormy Friday

Well it’s Friday and not just any Friday, a stormy Friday.  I was the opening person at the club pool today.  Well that wouldn’t be that big of a deal if this week had been different.  Today’s weather wasn’t very cooperative with me when I first got there.   I noticed that the clouds were increasing the whole time I was setting out things.   Then all of the sudden the bottom fell out and it stormed for about an hour.   Again I picked up where I left off when the rain stopped, but then when I was putting out the towels it was like I was being mocked when it started to sprinkle again!  Anyways, I got daily verse from the Bible via Twitter while I was waiting out the rain.  It was from Mark 10:15 and it said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”  I was reminded today that all I need to do is have faith like a child.  Children put faith in us, so why wouldn’t we do the same to our heavenly father.  This also reminded me of the tiny mustard seed that Jesus taught about, that if we had faith like a grain of mustard seed we can move mountains.

-Be God’s

Being Rooted

Today was another day at work by the pool, but I did have some time to open up my Bible this morning. We didn’t have anybody there yet and decided to look into Psalms. Reading the first chapter got me thinking about my topic that I talked about on the beach retreat. My talk was on bible study which I loved(though I would have loved to have prayer as well). In the first chapter it makes reference to a person who lives by God’s law that he will be like a tree next to a stream that will be fruitful and will not wither. On the opposite side of things, those who do not will be like chaff that blows away in the wind. Now chaff can be defined as dry plants bits or worthless matter/refuse. In my Bible it makes a study note about how those who immerse themselves in God’s word will become “fruitful” in all they do. So take home message is I’d rather be the fully rooted tree than some dried up, old part of it blowing away in the wind.