Another Adventure

The adventures are never ending! As I look toward Seminary this fall (yes, I am persuing schooling this fall and praying that if God wants me somewhere else that He would close that door) another adventure is knocking on my door.

I leave today, with a group from church, for the Boundary Waters! We will spend a week canoeing and camping and enjoying God's beautiful creation. I'm super excited about this trip, it is something I have always wanted to do and this is probably the only chance I'll ever have! There are two other girls going, we are going to have a blast!!

Please keep our team in your prayers over this next week. We will be staying at a cabin up north tonight (Wednesday) and then entering the Boundary Waters tomorrow. We will get home next Wednesday, the 7th.

Pray for good weather, strength and stamina and that none of us would get eaten by a bear!!

I'll tell you all about the trip when I get home :-)

Now What?!

You may be asking yourself, did Josie get into Grad School? Well, the answer is yes. I got a call late yesterday afternoon telling me that I have been accepted to Columbia Biblical Seminary to get a Master of Arts degree. Honestly, I am quite shocked. I did not think there was a chance that I would be able to get in anywhere on such short notice. If I decide to go to school this fall, there is a lot that I need to do in a very short period of time.

For those of you who are not sure why my blog is called Joise's Jericho, let me fill you in. The Israelites marched around the walled city of Jericho for seven days before they shouted and watched the walls come tumbling down. I see how I need this same kind of thing in my life. I have different "walls" in my life, or things that need to be prayed about. I need people who are willing to come along side of me and march. To persistently and obediently walk around those walls until we can give a victory shout and they come tumbling down.

This is such a time. I need you to join with me in prayer about Seminary. Here are some of the issues:

1) August is coming up very quickly, there is a lot I need to do to prepare and a lot of ministry that needs to be passed onto someone else if I leave the church right now.

2) Do I go now or wait until Spring or even next Fall? If I wait until Spring, I would have to arrange housing for two separate times, with a move for the summer in the middle. (I can get my degree in one year - just two semesters of 15 credits each). If I wait until next Fall, there is so much I could do here at the church and pay off my undergraduate loans before I go to accumulate more debt. However, there are always going to be things here at the church that I want to be involved in and is it ever going to be a good time to leave?

3) Can I afford it? No, God would have to provide like I have seen Him do time and time again. Even though Columbia is very inexpensive comparatively speaking, it is still a lot of money to someone who has none! However, if this is what God wants me to do, I know that He will provide, whether that is scholarships from the school or helping me pay off loans when I am done.

Will you march with me in prayer around this wall until we see it come tumbling down? Part of me thinks that God has been opening up doors very quickly and that if He wants me to walk through them, I had better. Then the logical side of me kicks in and reminds me of all of the debt I have and how expensive school is and how much I have to do here.... I know my God is not a logical God. He often works in ways that seem crazy to me, but fits into His perfect plan.

I was reading last night in Proverbs 20. The first part of verse 18 says, "Make plans by seeking advice." So, I am asking your advice.

Thank you for your prayers and concern for me and what God has planned for my life. I so look forward to what He does and where He takes me. Right now I feel like I am in a race car and I'm in the passenger seat holding on for dear life while God has the pedal to the metal! It's all quite exciting!

It's About Time!

Hi everyone,

I know, I have been terrible about getting my newsletter out. So, I am trying something new! Instead of sending you all an e-mail with an attachment of my letter, I will post blogs and let you know when there is a new one! This way, everyone should be able to read them and you can post comments if you would like.

So what has kept me occupied these last few months? I started working full time at the church in February and it has been busy every since! In February I went with the church staff to our district's Ministry Couples Retreat where we learned about love and respect in relationships. It was very good! March we put on a "Mock Wedding" to show international students what an American wedding was like. Last month I was swamped with the District Women's Retreat, a Christian Ministry Fair that I planned, Easter, District Conference and planning our church's Spring Missions Conference.

The biggest development of these last few weeks is that I have applied for Seminary. After speaking with my Candidate Director about what my next steps are, we decided that I do not need to do a year as an Apprentice and that my next step is to look at graduate schools. So I did! I applied for Columbia International Seminary where I can get a general Masters of Arts degree in one year. I have all of my application and financial aid information in and now just have to wait and see what God has for me. It is not likely that I would get in for this fall, but if God wants me there, He will make a way.

Life has been crazy, but God is good. He has provided for me financially and blessed me so that I could be a blessing to others.

Hopefully with this new method of communication, I will be able to keep in touch with all of you much better! Thank you all for your prayers. They mean more to me than you will ever know!