Seven months and one day. That's how long it's been since I posted anything to this page. I've thought about posting about once a week since then and never have gotten around to it, but I've reached a point now where my thoughts are pouring out, and I feel like if I don't let them out onto a screen now, I'll forget them and they'll be lost for good. So while they're still fresh, I'll try putting them down to share with you.
It's been seven months. And I have nothing to really show for it. I have a beautiful girl that I've shared them with, friendships have come and gone, interests have changed, thousands of dollars have been spent, and though I've made a few memories, and raised a few dollars and awareness for good causes, what have I done to change myself, or the world around me? What difference have I made in the lives of the people who look up to me? These are the questions I'm considering in my life right now. This is what keeps me up at night. I want more answers and responses to these very vital questions, because responses mean that I'm active. They mean I'm working to achieve change, and to fit into the plan for my life that God has already arranged for me. I've lost track of my original purpose in this first post back, but I plan to stick with it with regular updates from here on out. As always, thanks for your time. You'll be hearing from me.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Cheesecake
Yesterday was Brittany's birthday. We went out to dinner with her family and had a really great time. Being her 21st birthday, she wanted to go to the casino, so that's what we did, and when she went in to the actual casino, I sat outside in the lobby with her grandmother who sat with me to keep me company while I waited. We talked about life, death, jobs, family, anything to make the time pass quicker. She dipped her feet in the fountain as she hid behind a large Christmas tree to avoid being seen by the security guard, and we walked all over the hotel, surveying the pool area, the spa, fireplaces in the lobbies, and the elevators with TVs in them.
After about an hour, we had ran out of places to go, and arcade games to play so we found a table outside of a little bakery set up inside of the casino, and we sat down. We continued to talk, and a little while after we sat down an older gentleman walked by, hobbling past us very slowly, watching us as he passed. He was an older Asian man, thinning black hair, a wrinkled face, and clothes a few sizes too big. He walked with a limp, and more than anything, that caught my attention. He was carrying a small cardboard box and a coke, struggling with the light load, and Brittany's grandmother broke her attention from our conversation and immediately offered him a seat with us to which he agreed, and he sat down. After some small talk about finding forks and disappearing to do so, he returned with a white plastic fork and sat down. The whole time I wasn't quite sure what to think. I was exhausted from a long day, and had been waiting for Brittany in the lobby for an hour or so, and though I wasn't frustrated with the man sitting with us, I was drawing a blank about how to reach out to him. I wasn't sure what his name was, what he was doing in the casino, or anything else about this man who spoke broken English in a foreign accent, and while I was running over all of this in my mind, he turned to me and motioned his soda bottle towards me, asking me for help to open it; his hands obviously being too weak to break the seal. So I opened the bottle, and when I looked up to catch his stare he was smiling at me and he thanked me, and I couldn't help but smile back as I slid the bottle back to him across the table. I stared off into the crowds of people walking by, hoping to see Brittany come walking out of the casino, but with no such luck, I turned my attention to a small rubber ball that I had won from a claw machine.
I poked and prodded at the ball for a few moments until I noticed that the man was looking at me again, so I glanced up with a smile and he took the small cardboard box he had been carrying earlier and turned it towards me, opening the lid as he moved and inside lay two pieces of cheesecake, covered in white chocolate shavings and chocolate syrup, arranged perfectly within the container. I didn't understand what he was getting at by moving the box my way and I think he could tell by the look on my face that I wasn't sure what to do, so he opened the lid a little more, and pointed to one of the pieces. He wanted me to have a piece of cheesecake with him. I smiled, thinking that some man was offering me free slices of cheesecake in a casino an hour from my home, as foreign to me as a far away country, and I kindly explained that I had just finished eating a large dinner at the buffet and I couldn't possibly eat anything else, but that I greatly appreciated the offer. He asked if I was sure and I told him yes, and he closed the box, reclined in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. A few moments later he got up, situated his things, had me close his soda bottle for him, and walked away, wishing me a good night. As he turned away he shook his head, dreading the walk that lay before him and whispered "It's tough to be homeless..." and I was at a loss for words. Not because this man was homeless, but because he had just offered me a piece of cheesecake that looked like it was half of all he had.
In Deuteronomy 10, it describes Christ as being the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, defending the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and who loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. That man was an alien, and God was obviously providing for even him. But the man took it a step farther and offered cheesecake as a thanks to the chair, and to help with opening his soda. I sat alone later in the evening almost in tears thinking about that man. Maybe he knew Christ, maybe he didn't, but he definitely showed who Christ was in the few minutes he sat with us. He offered complete strangers food, reaching out to them, and offering them all he had as a thanks. How often do you think we fail to do this for God? How often do we hoard everything we have, struggling to give anything back to the Father who gives us all we have? I know I struggle with it. Deuteronomy goes on to explain that Christ cares for the alien, as well as us, because we were all aliens at one time also. We've all needed, and we all need Christ in our lives. As plants need sunlight, and fish need water, we need the Lord of lords working in us. It may look good to ride off into the sunset alone, proclaiming that you need no one, and nothing to help you through life, but it's going to be a tough ride when hard times hit and you deny the Protection offered by the Father. He's by your side in darkness and in light, when things are great and when things are rough, and He will carry you when things get too difficult, and all He asks is for a little thanks. Thank you all for taking the time to read this small account of my life. I appreciate it.
I'm listening to Surrender by Marc James right now. He sings about giving up all he has to Christ, surrendering all to Him, in exchange for the promise of the Lord. It's only when we're able to lay down what we're holding in our hands, that God will release the blessings into our life that He's holding in His. Lay it all at the Cross, and you'll be blessed.
After about an hour, we had ran out of places to go, and arcade games to play so we found a table outside of a little bakery set up inside of the casino, and we sat down. We continued to talk, and a little while after we sat down an older gentleman walked by, hobbling past us very slowly, watching us as he passed. He was an older Asian man, thinning black hair, a wrinkled face, and clothes a few sizes too big. He walked with a limp, and more than anything, that caught my attention. He was carrying a small cardboard box and a coke, struggling with the light load, and Brittany's grandmother broke her attention from our conversation and immediately offered him a seat with us to which he agreed, and he sat down. After some small talk about finding forks and disappearing to do so, he returned with a white plastic fork and sat down. The whole time I wasn't quite sure what to think. I was exhausted from a long day, and had been waiting for Brittany in the lobby for an hour or so, and though I wasn't frustrated with the man sitting with us, I was drawing a blank about how to reach out to him. I wasn't sure what his name was, what he was doing in the casino, or anything else about this man who spoke broken English in a foreign accent, and while I was running over all of this in my mind, he turned to me and motioned his soda bottle towards me, asking me for help to open it; his hands obviously being too weak to break the seal. So I opened the bottle, and when I looked up to catch his stare he was smiling at me and he thanked me, and I couldn't help but smile back as I slid the bottle back to him across the table. I stared off into the crowds of people walking by, hoping to see Brittany come walking out of the casino, but with no such luck, I turned my attention to a small rubber ball that I had won from a claw machine.
I poked and prodded at the ball for a few moments until I noticed that the man was looking at me again, so I glanced up with a smile and he took the small cardboard box he had been carrying earlier and turned it towards me, opening the lid as he moved and inside lay two pieces of cheesecake, covered in white chocolate shavings and chocolate syrup, arranged perfectly within the container. I didn't understand what he was getting at by moving the box my way and I think he could tell by the look on my face that I wasn't sure what to do, so he opened the lid a little more, and pointed to one of the pieces. He wanted me to have a piece of cheesecake with him. I smiled, thinking that some man was offering me free slices of cheesecake in a casino an hour from my home, as foreign to me as a far away country, and I kindly explained that I had just finished eating a large dinner at the buffet and I couldn't possibly eat anything else, but that I greatly appreciated the offer. He asked if I was sure and I told him yes, and he closed the box, reclined in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. A few moments later he got up, situated his things, had me close his soda bottle for him, and walked away, wishing me a good night. As he turned away he shook his head, dreading the walk that lay before him and whispered "It's tough to be homeless..." and I was at a loss for words. Not because this man was homeless, but because he had just offered me a piece of cheesecake that looked like it was half of all he had.
In Deuteronomy 10, it describes Christ as being the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, defending the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and who loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. That man was an alien, and God was obviously providing for even him. But the man took it a step farther and offered cheesecake as a thanks to the chair, and to help with opening his soda. I sat alone later in the evening almost in tears thinking about that man. Maybe he knew Christ, maybe he didn't, but he definitely showed who Christ was in the few minutes he sat with us. He offered complete strangers food, reaching out to them, and offering them all he had as a thanks. How often do you think we fail to do this for God? How often do we hoard everything we have, struggling to give anything back to the Father who gives us all we have? I know I struggle with it. Deuteronomy goes on to explain that Christ cares for the alien, as well as us, because we were all aliens at one time also. We've all needed, and we all need Christ in our lives. As plants need sunlight, and fish need water, we need the Lord of lords working in us. It may look good to ride off into the sunset alone, proclaiming that you need no one, and nothing to help you through life, but it's going to be a tough ride when hard times hit and you deny the Protection offered by the Father. He's by your side in darkness and in light, when things are great and when things are rough, and He will carry you when things get too difficult, and all He asks is for a little thanks. Thank you all for taking the time to read this small account of my life. I appreciate it.
I'm listening to Surrender by Marc James right now. He sings about giving up all he has to Christ, surrendering all to Him, in exchange for the promise of the Lord. It's only when we're able to lay down what we're holding in our hands, that God will release the blessings into our life that He's holding in His. Lay it all at the Cross, and you'll be blessed.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Fresh Starts: True Resolutions
This isn't anything profound, and I can promise that the posts in coming days will be far different from anything I've written before, but I felt like jotting something down before I continued work on the posting I had planned for this evening.
It's 2009. Simple as that. It's a new year, and with that comes thousands upon thousands of New Year's Resolutions: some that will be fulfilled, but a majority that will fall short of their intended goals, being left on city streets, or at the bottom of the closet, good ideas that never had a chance to take form and feel life breathed into their wings. It's a common idea, common knowledge almost, but I'd like it to be something different this year for a change; For a Change.
Fallen resolutions in dieting or reading more can often be unimportant and won't be life changing (understanding that there are exceptions to this), but others can change the world if given the chance. Now don't get me wrong, I have resolutions for daily devotions that should work out well for me, and resolutions to work out and lift weights that have taken off greatly in the days prior to 2009, but the point I'm getting at is that sticking with your resolutions can change your life. I look at family members who have improved their health and extended their time on this side of eternity by dropping the habit of smoking as a resolution, or friends who are cut weight lifters after deciding that they wouldn't spend another year as their overweight selves. I'm rambling here, I'm just really ready for a difference, for change (without Obama connotations). I'm ready for the world to stand up and embrace the opportunities they've been given instead of wasting another year just going through the motions. I know I will be and I hope that if I ever become stagnant and fail to make a change in my life and in the lives of others that the world will hold me accountable.
This reminds me of an old cartoon that was used as an illustration recently. Two men are walking down the street talking when one man looks to the other and asks "Sometimes I beat myself up thinking about the world and I wonder why God would allow such heartache, sorrow, pain, poverty, and war in the world", so the other man thinks for a moment and says "Why don't you ask God why he lets all of that happen in the world?", to which the first man responds "I'm worried He'll ask me the same thing." Hmmm, that's a pretty awesome thought. So let's take a stand and start to fix those things. Please. Literally, not for yourself, but for the world. Welcome to 2009 everyone.
I'll be posting in the next few days a different sort of writing. It's a writing that's really been on my heart lately, and it'll be something different than anything I've ever written, but something with a lot of style influence from my favorite writers and it's really shaping up to be the kind of work that I'd like to base my future youth ministries around. I'm excited to share it here. Happy New Years everybody.
I'm listening to You Won't Relent by Kim Walker and Chris Quilala. What a song.
It's 2009. Simple as that. It's a new year, and with that comes thousands upon thousands of New Year's Resolutions: some that will be fulfilled, but a majority that will fall short of their intended goals, being left on city streets, or at the bottom of the closet, good ideas that never had a chance to take form and feel life breathed into their wings. It's a common idea, common knowledge almost, but I'd like it to be something different this year for a change; For a Change.
Fallen resolutions in dieting or reading more can often be unimportant and won't be life changing (understanding that there are exceptions to this), but others can change the world if given the chance. Now don't get me wrong, I have resolutions for daily devotions that should work out well for me, and resolutions to work out and lift weights that have taken off greatly in the days prior to 2009, but the point I'm getting at is that sticking with your resolutions can change your life. I look at family members who have improved their health and extended their time on this side of eternity by dropping the habit of smoking as a resolution, or friends who are cut weight lifters after deciding that they wouldn't spend another year as their overweight selves. I'm rambling here, I'm just really ready for a difference, for change (without Obama connotations). I'm ready for the world to stand up and embrace the opportunities they've been given instead of wasting another year just going through the motions. I know I will be and I hope that if I ever become stagnant and fail to make a change in my life and in the lives of others that the world will hold me accountable.
This reminds me of an old cartoon that was used as an illustration recently. Two men are walking down the street talking when one man looks to the other and asks "Sometimes I beat myself up thinking about the world and I wonder why God would allow such heartache, sorrow, pain, poverty, and war in the world", so the other man thinks for a moment and says "Why don't you ask God why he lets all of that happen in the world?", to which the first man responds "I'm worried He'll ask me the same thing." Hmmm, that's a pretty awesome thought. So let's take a stand and start to fix those things. Please. Literally, not for yourself, but for the world. Welcome to 2009 everyone.
I'll be posting in the next few days a different sort of writing. It's a writing that's really been on my heart lately, and it'll be something different than anything I've ever written, but something with a lot of style influence from my favorite writers and it's really shaping up to be the kind of work that I'd like to base my future youth ministries around. I'm excited to share it here. Happy New Years everybody.
I'm listening to You Won't Relent by Kim Walker and Chris Quilala. What a song.
Hungover
December 31st has already been the longest day I can remember, and it's only 11 am as I'm writing this. Last night brought laughs, yawns, and lots of good memories with some old friends, along with a couple new ones. Long story short, at 3:30 am, barely into the final day of 2008, three friends and I decided that going to Gold's Gym to work out was a good idea. After working our chests and abs until 6 am, we discovered just how difficult driving a manual transmission could be with our arms wobbling back and forth with every tiny exertion, but soon made it home to get some rest and make the passage into Wednesday, feeling as if Tuesday had drug on through the night. Soreness and energy drinks kept me awake off and on until I gave up trying and decided to get out of bed and walk around for a bit at 9, which is what has brought me here. I've watched a few minutes of The Sandlot, seen Richie Rich's parents go down in a plane crash, and heard a few sentences of a Joel Osteen service, but the only thing I've been able to focus on is the stiffness in my upper arms, and the dreadfulness lurking inside me about my 5 pm workout of, lucky me, shoulders. So I decided to post another entry here on something I've been playing with in my head, a concept that pops into my thoughts at the most random possible times, and something that I feel is a wonderful illustration of life.
If you've ever gone out drinking, or so much as watched a movie involving a night out on the town, you'll know that alcohol has a funny effect the next morning. Some grogginess, maybe a pounding headache, some sick-to-your-stomach feelings; all a nagging reminder of some fun, or lack thereof the night before. A few Advil and some orange juice start the day off, but regardless of what you do, that constant feeling hangs with you and drags you down all day. Know the feeling? Or have you seen it played out?...
A few days ago I was spending some time relaxing and got a little bored with what was on TV, so I hopped online and checked out the trusty Facebook account. I scanned the front page, reading one line excerpts of life. Random song lyrics, critiques of new movies, and other scattered ideas about what my friends and family were doing as they changed their Facebook status. There were roughly 20 or 30 on the page that morning, but just one caught my interest. It was posted by someone that I've known as a good, trustworthy friend for years, and it was just two simple, yet astonishingly profound words: Moral hangover.
I read the words with interest, and went on with my usual business, but I couldn't shake them from my conscience. I finally said something to the person, wondering if there was anything that they'd like to get off their chest so-to-speak, and unfortunately there wasn't, but I still haven't been able to really get those two words off my mind. Moral hangover. To me, that's awesome. It's heartbreaking on one hand knowing the effect that some decision that person made was weighing negatively on them, but wow. I'm sure I'm making a bigger deal out of those words than most people would, but as you're reading this, I'd like you to take a second and put it into the perspective I read it in.
I've had God on my mind A LOT lately. Plain and simple. And with that comes thoughts of Bible stories, thoughts of sermons I've heard, lessons I've been taught, things like that, and when I read that I started to think about the regret my friend must have been feeling. I thought of the hurt, the sorrow, the wishes to go back and change something, even if it was tiny, and when I did that one person came to mind. That person for me was Peter. Peter was one of the first twelve disciples chosen by Christ. A fisherman by trade, Christ called Him to be a fisher of men (get it?), and he ended up preaching on Pentecost and influencing the Church to accept all men, regardless of their history and lives, something that the Church still struggles with today. Thinking of that impact that Peter must have had on the people of the world, a part of me couldn't help but to wonder if Peter's own past influenced that decision to preach on acceptance regardless of past; if God had His hand in laying out Peter's steps to fail, just so that the experience could be recycled and used as a base for Peter's later teachings. Peter is renowned as a great man of God. A great teacher of The Word. But Peter also gets a bum rap. He was the man who denied Christ three times after being told specifically when it would happen. If you read Mark 14, verses 66-72, it tells the story of Christ being led through the courtyard after being arrested, and as He passes through the people, Peter is in the crowd, watching his Savior being led away by jailers, and receiving a look from Christ, striking emotion in Peter that we couldn't possibly imagine. Peter must have felt regret. He had to have felt regret. Imagine waking up the next morning, opening your eyes to the sun, knowing that the Lord of this earth woke you up to the day, and the very next thought being that the night before you had denied Him three times. You had said that you had no relationship with Him at all and had watched Him be taken away without doing anything about it. Sure, you were the first person to jump to His defense in the past as you cut off the ear of a Roman soldier, but goodness, you had denied all association with Him. What if your best friend was good to you while you hung out, but when asked about you just hours later said that they didn't even know you. That they had never ever spent any time with you and didn't even know who you were. Imagine the hurt that you would feel, and the sorrow that your friend would probably have in denying their closest companion. I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
Now here's the best part of the entire situation. Christ didn't care. He didn't hold it against Peter. He knew that Peter felt remorse for His actions and He forgave him in an instant. A close friend of mine taught on that fact a few weeks ago. Many theologians and historians talk about Christ giving Peter a look as Peter denies Him, and many people believe that it was a look of sorrow, or a look of disappointment. But my friend and I both strongly disagree. Because that's not the Christ that we praise at all. My friend feels like that look was a look of understanding, and a look that showed Peter that he was forgiven instantly because Christ understands no matter what the situation is, even when people don't. And that's proven when Peter goes on to teach about his Lord, and to continue to serve Him, even with a rough past.
All of this has been running through my mind lately, an I hope my friend knows this. I hope my friend knows that even when they can't forgive themselves for something, or the world won't forgive them of their actions, Christ does, and ultimately that's all that matters. I hope all of you know that as well. No matter what you do, how bad you are, what mistakes you're making in life, or how far gone you may be, you are still loved and accepted with open arms by the Lord of the Universe. You are NEVER too far gone, or incapable of receiving love from Jesus Christ. Please know that. Hangovers have a Miracle Cure, and He's just waiting on you to call. Thanks everyone for your time.
Right now I'm listening to Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns. It's lyrics talk about praising and worshipping God no matter the situation you're in, even if it seems like everything is going wrong and you can do no right. When it feels like a storm follows you everywhere you go, know that Christ does as well, and He's only a prayer away.
"But in their time of trouble they cried to You and You heard them...." -Nehemiah 9:27
A few days ago I was spending some time relaxing and got a little bored with what was on TV, so I hopped online and checked out the trusty Facebook account. I scanned the front page, reading one line excerpts of life. Random song lyrics, critiques of new movies, and other scattered ideas about what my friends and family were doing as they changed their Facebook status. There were roughly 20 or 30 on the page that morning, but just one caught my interest. It was posted by someone that I've known as a good, trustworthy friend for years, and it was just two simple, yet astonishingly profound words: Moral hangover.
I read the words with interest, and went on with my usual business, but I couldn't shake them from my conscience. I finally said something to the person, wondering if there was anything that they'd like to get off their chest so-to-speak, and unfortunately there wasn't, but I still haven't been able to really get those two words off my mind. Moral hangover. To me, that's awesome. It's heartbreaking on one hand knowing the effect that some decision that person made was weighing negatively on them, but wow. I'm sure I'm making a bigger deal out of those words than most people would, but as you're reading this, I'd like you to take a second and put it into the perspective I read it in.
I've had God on my mind A LOT lately. Plain and simple. And with that comes thoughts of Bible stories, thoughts of sermons I've heard, lessons I've been taught, things like that, and when I read that I started to think about the regret my friend must have been feeling. I thought of the hurt, the sorrow, the wishes to go back and change something, even if it was tiny, and when I did that one person came to mind. That person for me was Peter. Peter was one of the first twelve disciples chosen by Christ. A fisherman by trade, Christ called Him to be a fisher of men (get it?), and he ended up preaching on Pentecost and influencing the Church to accept all men, regardless of their history and lives, something that the Church still struggles with today. Thinking of that impact that Peter must have had on the people of the world, a part of me couldn't help but to wonder if Peter's own past influenced that decision to preach on acceptance regardless of past; if God had His hand in laying out Peter's steps to fail, just so that the experience could be recycled and used as a base for Peter's later teachings. Peter is renowned as a great man of God. A great teacher of The Word. But Peter also gets a bum rap. He was the man who denied Christ three times after being told specifically when it would happen. If you read Mark 14, verses 66-72, it tells the story of Christ being led through the courtyard after being arrested, and as He passes through the people, Peter is in the crowd, watching his Savior being led away by jailers, and receiving a look from Christ, striking emotion in Peter that we couldn't possibly imagine. Peter must have felt regret. He had to have felt regret. Imagine waking up the next morning, opening your eyes to the sun, knowing that the Lord of this earth woke you up to the day, and the very next thought being that the night before you had denied Him three times. You had said that you had no relationship with Him at all and had watched Him be taken away without doing anything about it. Sure, you were the first person to jump to His defense in the past as you cut off the ear of a Roman soldier, but goodness, you had denied all association with Him. What if your best friend was good to you while you hung out, but when asked about you just hours later said that they didn't even know you. That they had never ever spent any time with you and didn't even know who you were. Imagine the hurt that you would feel, and the sorrow that your friend would probably have in denying their closest companion. I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
Now here's the best part of the entire situation. Christ didn't care. He didn't hold it against Peter. He knew that Peter felt remorse for His actions and He forgave him in an instant. A close friend of mine taught on that fact a few weeks ago. Many theologians and historians talk about Christ giving Peter a look as Peter denies Him, and many people believe that it was a look of sorrow, or a look of disappointment. But my friend and I both strongly disagree. Because that's not the Christ that we praise at all. My friend feels like that look was a look of understanding, and a look that showed Peter that he was forgiven instantly because Christ understands no matter what the situation is, even when people don't. And that's proven when Peter goes on to teach about his Lord, and to continue to serve Him, even with a rough past.
All of this has been running through my mind lately, an I hope my friend knows this. I hope my friend knows that even when they can't forgive themselves for something, or the world won't forgive them of their actions, Christ does, and ultimately that's all that matters. I hope all of you know that as well. No matter what you do, how bad you are, what mistakes you're making in life, or how far gone you may be, you are still loved and accepted with open arms by the Lord of the Universe. You are NEVER too far gone, or incapable of receiving love from Jesus Christ. Please know that. Hangovers have a Miracle Cure, and He's just waiting on you to call. Thanks everyone for your time.
Right now I'm listening to Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns. It's lyrics talk about praising and worshipping God no matter the situation you're in, even if it seems like everything is going wrong and you can do no right. When it feels like a storm follows you everywhere you go, know that Christ does as well, and He's only a prayer away.
"But in their time of trouble they cried to You and You heard them...." -Nehemiah 9:27
Monday, December 29, 2008
Trying New Things
For the past few weeks, I've had a flood of ideas rushing into my head, filling my mind, and overflowing into conversations with friends, family, and strangers. My plans for the future include weekly opportunities to release these stories of love, betrayal, hope, and God, but right now I'm bursting at the seams with words begging to be released, and this is my outlet.
My name is Josh Pfeffer. If you've stumbled upon my words, then you know me in some way. Maybe you know the son I am, the oldest child between a split household, who lives with my mom and sister in Dittmer, Missouri. Maybe you've seen me collecting the offering at Church on Sunday mornings, or speaking in our Youth Ministry at Faith Community in House Springs; founding ministries and serving in others. Maybe you know me as a friend who has answered late night text messages about your family, or who has shared a 2 am meal at Steak n Shake with you after a long night out. Maybe you've seen me as a hopeless romantic, running into Dierberg's in Fenton empty-handed, returning to my car with two dozen roses and cough medicine when the girl of my dreams is sick. Or maybe you know me as a car enthusiast. The guy pulling out in front of you onto 270 East from Lindbergh to watch a race, turning around at Koch Road to give thumbs up and race back to the Marshall's parking lot. However you know me, I've given you some sort of insight into who I am, and the following entries will build upon that foundation. I'll give you more stories about my family, friends, interests, my walk with Christ, and that wonderful girl I mentioned earlier.
I have a million ideas as I type this. Ideas that confuse me, that leave me looking for answers, and that make me want to lay down in bed and not wake up for weeks, wishing for hibernation of some sort to take me away. But I also have ideas that make my mouth drop open in awe at our Lord as I witness His beauty in sunsets over Illinois hills, as well as in the homeless of downtown St. Louis. Ideas that make me smile as I drift off to sleep at night, that make me want to tell the world about what happened 20 minutes ago, and that make me close my eyes and just think in complete silence. So that's what you'll get here. Ideas. Ideas taken from all corners of my life, from friends, family, animals, and everything else. Sometimes my thoughts will be deep, compelling thoughts that really don't have any purpose other than to get you to think, while others will be a single paragraph, less shallow than puddles after a rain storm, but I can't wait to share them with you. Thanks for taking a few minutes to read what I have to say. It means a lot to me.
Finally, as I close each posting, I'll also include what music is influencing my words. To get away while I write, I put headphones in and turn on various songs and artists, so stealing the idea from the ever popular MySpace blogs, I'll incorporate the same idea into these postings:
Right now I have Lincoln Brewster on repeat, singing Amazed from his album All To You... Live. Beautiful music, accompanied by his trademark guitar riffs, and words that have really captured my heart tonight. I think it's pretty fitting for my mood. "Lord, I'm amazed by You, (and) how You love me. How deep, how wide, how great, is Your love for me."
Thanks again everyone, and leave comments PLEASE. Let me know that my words aren't falling on deaf ears.
My name is Josh Pfeffer. If you've stumbled upon my words, then you know me in some way. Maybe you know the son I am, the oldest child between a split household, who lives with my mom and sister in Dittmer, Missouri. Maybe you've seen me collecting the offering at Church on Sunday mornings, or speaking in our Youth Ministry at Faith Community in House Springs; founding ministries and serving in others. Maybe you know me as a friend who has answered late night text messages about your family, or who has shared a 2 am meal at Steak n Shake with you after a long night out. Maybe you've seen me as a hopeless romantic, running into Dierberg's in Fenton empty-handed, returning to my car with two dozen roses and cough medicine when the girl of my dreams is sick. Or maybe you know me as a car enthusiast. The guy pulling out in front of you onto 270 East from Lindbergh to watch a race, turning around at Koch Road to give thumbs up and race back to the Marshall's parking lot. However you know me, I've given you some sort of insight into who I am, and the following entries will build upon that foundation. I'll give you more stories about my family, friends, interests, my walk with Christ, and that wonderful girl I mentioned earlier.
I have a million ideas as I type this. Ideas that confuse me, that leave me looking for answers, and that make me want to lay down in bed and not wake up for weeks, wishing for hibernation of some sort to take me away. But I also have ideas that make my mouth drop open in awe at our Lord as I witness His beauty in sunsets over Illinois hills, as well as in the homeless of downtown St. Louis. Ideas that make me smile as I drift off to sleep at night, that make me want to tell the world about what happened 20 minutes ago, and that make me close my eyes and just think in complete silence. So that's what you'll get here. Ideas. Ideas taken from all corners of my life, from friends, family, animals, and everything else. Sometimes my thoughts will be deep, compelling thoughts that really don't have any purpose other than to get you to think, while others will be a single paragraph, less shallow than puddles after a rain storm, but I can't wait to share them with you. Thanks for taking a few minutes to read what I have to say. It means a lot to me.
Finally, as I close each posting, I'll also include what music is influencing my words. To get away while I write, I put headphones in and turn on various songs and artists, so stealing the idea from the ever popular MySpace blogs, I'll incorporate the same idea into these postings:
Right now I have Lincoln Brewster on repeat, singing Amazed from his album All To You... Live. Beautiful music, accompanied by his trademark guitar riffs, and words that have really captured my heart tonight. I think it's pretty fitting for my mood. "Lord, I'm amazed by You, (and) how You love me. How deep, how wide, how great, is Your love for me."
Thanks again everyone, and leave comments PLEASE. Let me know that my words aren't falling on deaf ears.
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