Award Ceremony & My Faves

• Jenglander

Good Monday to you my friends! I got nominated for a couple blogger awards by my two favorite bloggers, Lene and Heather. Lene nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award and Heather nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. These days with writing books and being so busssyyyy as a daddy and husband and lingustics student and analyst and connoiseur of fine coffees and above all passionate follower of Jesus, I decided to condense and combine the award into one post, this one. I’m breaking the rules a little bit too. I want to talk about just my favorites, keep it condensed, and actually tell you why I think you should go check their work out and why they’re awesome.

So first up is Lene. She’s nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. She’s a rockstar for Christ. She’s guest blogged on my blog before and I have guest blogged on hers too. And I think you should definitely go look up her blogs. She’s doing awesome things for God in Japan, a land where Christianity is almost void. She has a great heart, lives out her beliefs in Christ, is a mom and  a person of deep wisdom. You have to subscribe to her blogs!

Next is Heather Davis. What can I say about her writing…wow. She nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award.! Her blog is awesome. She is a writer who is probably working on a New York Times bestseller quality manuscript right now. One of these days you just might see her book at Barnes and Noble. On her blog she talks about not just life lessons with Scripture and family, but also homeschooling and learning Hebrew. Which I think everyone should give a crack at learning Hebrew and Greek, but I’m biased 😉 Definitely subscribe and check her blog Running the Race out.

A couple others than I really enjoy, don’t think I’ll hit the full 15 or even 7 required blogs here for the awards, but I want to really highlight my favorites and give my thoughts on each.

Matt Brumage has a really good blog over at Knothole Theology. It’s good, really good. His posts have probably forced me to rethink and think deeper on Scripture than just about anyone I’ve met in the blogging space. Put on your thinking cap and head on over to his blog and subscribe while you’re over there, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. He’s doing a series on the Passion Week that I think you’ll like.

Christina’s blog is my new favorite on WordPress, it’s just incredible. I mean seriously wow. I just discovered her on here and I’m really enjoying reading her awesome family story. They just adopted four boys from Latvia and has even just started an Around the Worldpress race, which I think you should join! Subscribe and go read through a lot of her blogs, especially her about page which tells about her and her family’s fantastic journey with Christ in their adopting saga.

A couple others to check out that are on my WordPress reader…

Shattered in Him. Great stuff, good thoughts. She’s a mom who has also learned some Greek, Hebrew and Latin, whoa! You gotta subscribe to her blog!

Stones from the Quarry (Johanna hasn’t wrote much lately, but I definitely recommend going back and checking out her older posts. Great stuff!) She has some good John Eldredge-esq thoughts! She’s very wise in Christ!! One of my favorite blogs on WP!

Gadol Elohai Ministries has some good stuff, just did a review of fellow blogger Fran Rogers’ book which is pretty good. This blog has some great and uplifting words for the journey with Christ!
 Well, that’s a wrap for the awards ceremonies. Now that I’ve shared my favorites, what are some of yours?!

Your brother in this wonderful family of God, 

Joel

 

 

43 thoughts on “Award Ceremony & My Faves”

  1. Wow, Joel! Thank you so much for the mention. I totally understand your busy schedule. We’ve been experiencing the same! It makes it hard to keep up with our online tribe, doesn’t it? Good luck with your writing and studies and God bless that family of yours.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You are very welcome!! 🙂 keep up the great work! Yes, you are so right, family and everything else God has called us to can make it quite difficult to keep up with the online tribe in different seasons. Hopefully I’m getting out of the busiest part now! Blessings to you too and your family! Hope your week is going well!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. Awwww, thanks Joel. I really appreciate your link and YOUR blog! :-). I’m already following some of these blogs, and I agree—GREAT STUFF! I’m looking forward to checking out the new ones you posted! Blessings!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You are so welcome!! 🙂 well, you answered about 10 billion of my questions on adootion so the least I could do is gve you a shout out on here Christina!! 😉 just kidding, love the blog, great stuff and look forward to reading more. Yes, agreed these are some good blogs!! Hope you’re having a great start to the week!! Blessings to you and yours!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thanks, Joel. Anytime with the questions! I know I have some awards/shout outs that I need to find the time to link to as well…GAH! Could we just collectively agree to add more hours to the day?? lol! many blessings to you the rest of the week!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I’m a night owl Christina, so if we could add hours, I’d say tack them on to about 10pm…make midnight 15pm? That way more night owling and more sleep 🙂 of course, then the kiddos would just wake up at 4am right??!!

        Blessings to you this week too!!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Thanks Joel – and in case you ever wondered: You’re definitely (one of) my fave too. Top blog you got, love reading it. Sorry I haven’t been online for a while now. Praying I can get back to it real soon!! – The devil has been coming at me for a while now… Gosh, how I would LOVE to see that “being” devastated!!
    It’s a beautiful sunny morning here in Tokyo. From my window I can just see the snow-covered top of Mt. Fuji in the distance! I’m just sipping the last of my 2nd cup of french roast and asking “So Lord… what do you have in mind for us today?” Smiling at you my dear brother and I love the way you chose to do this award celebration! Thanks so much for those amazing words about my blog/s. Love you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Aww, this is too kind of you sister. Don’t know what to say you left speechless with your kind words there! Thank you 🙂 oh that sounds like like a wonderful morning with a great view of Mt Fuji and a cup of coffee!

      Hey so I gotta ask, how are things going with the whole Fukushima deal over there? I read in Forbes and the Japan Times that the radiation is just off the charts, at like 530 sieverts per hour? Is that a health risk where you’re at in Tokyo? Anything I can pray for over it for you?

      Hey no worries on being absent!! If you need to jet from the interwebs, go for it! We got all eternity to talk coffee and Jesus so no worries on time. How’s the vertigo and everything else?

      And yes, can’t wait to see Satan devastated…Isaiah 14:12-19 put it well…’ How you have fallen from heaven,
      morning star, son of the dawn!
      You have been cast down to the earth,
      you who once laid low the nations!
      13 You said in your heart,
      “I will ascend to the heavens;
      I will raise my throne
      above the stars of God;
      I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
      on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
      14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
      I will make myself like the Most High.”
      15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
      to the depths of the pit.
      16 Those who see you stare at you,
      they ponder your fate:
      “Is this the man who shook the earth
      and made kingdoms tremble,
      17 the man who made the world a wilderness,
      who overthrew its cities
      and would not let his captives go home?”
      18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
      each in his own tomb.
      19 But you are cast out of your tomb
      like a rejected branch;
      you are covered with the slain,
      with those pierced by the sword,
      those who descend to the stones of the pit.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Thanks friend ❤
        It's a beautiful verse and i do so love the "ending" there… 😉

        Fukushima… well, best read the truest info on the matter:
        http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=16094
        Basically, the readings are higher because they were taken inside very close to the core. Newspapers tend to mislead with headlines, unwittingly or not, but to understand Fukushima this website is really the place to go check up on things when sensationalism checks in. We are in no more immediate danger than we were before… that's not to say we are not in danger over here. We have to be extremely careful about foods – where did our veggies and fruit grow and in this household we eat only imported meat or meat from areas that did not experience a fallout. Prayers: Pray for Japan… and the many many children and adults who are likely to get cancer in the coming years.

        My vertigo almost went away entirely. Thanks so much for remembering!
        Other than that… Things are going okay, but a little complicated.
        ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Well that’s good to hear about your vertigo! Ill keep you in my prayers for everytheing complicated. I’ll be checking this site going forward for Fukushima info. The media can be such sensationalists, it’s basically lying. That’s frustraing, when I first saw that I thought, ‘Oh no!!’ But the facts make sense now that I know them.

        I will be keeping the Japanese people in my prayers who will get cancer from it. Awful. On a coffee note: How’s Mt Fuji this morning? I’ve been brewing a wonderful Coasta Rica from Starbucks. Just yummy!

        Like

      3. Thanks for the prayers friend! Japan needs them.
        Honestly – I enjoy my coffee so strong and dark that I haven’t been able to find any other brew than the french roast to go with my Fuji view… which by the way is gorgeous today! (I would take a photo, but it’s quite far out for my camera to properly catch the beauty).

        Liked by 1 person

      4. And this is why we’re friends 😉 haha. Gotta have the coffee French roast, extra strong. Haha, you gotta have a bold roast to stand up to the Mt Fuji view right?! That sounds beautiful. My view isn’t as grand, but I have plenty to day dream about on the future view in Jesus’ house one day. I’m sure the view from the living room will be quite lovely!

        Like

      6. My coworker and I just polished off a french press at the office. I always forget the time difference between us Lene! I saw you responded and I was like, dang, she’s up early! But it’s like 7:15am over there right?

        Raining in Tokyo? Well, as long as there’s lots of coffee, we’re good 😉

        Like

      7. He he… it’s 7:15 (ok, 7:20) and I’ve been up for an hour. Still on my first cup though!
        Maia is home sick. Please do pray for her… doctor thinks it’s the flu, but there is a possibility that it’s pneumonia (they hospitalize kids here with pneumonia – and I just can’t see that happening with Maia and her anxiety!). So could really use the Lord to wiggle His pinky now! Thanks friend.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Oh no! I will be praying for her today that it’s not pneumonia. I can understand that would be an exceptionally difficult situation for her (and you). You have my prayers for her restoration today and for Jesus to wiggle his pinky finger at any thought of pneumonia to poof! be gone!

        Did they prescribe anything like Tamiflu, or are they just letting it run its course?

        First cup takes an hour for me only if I had a couple espresso shots just before it after I wake up. Kidding…I’m actually getting better on my coffee usage (yeah right) lol.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Thank you!! She won’t allow the doc to test her (I wouldn’t either… they poke that long cotton stick all the way up in the eyebrow sinus), so he can’t prescribe tamiflu. But either way, she’s a child and it’s better for the immune system I believe to let it run it’s course. She looks pretty bad and feels burning inside, but her fever is relatively low, hasn’t been above 37.7 C.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. I hate the nose swab!! Well at least fever isn’t horrible. Agreed on the immune system. Ill pray for quick healing!

        On thr swab…We took our son to the doc when we suspected flu and he was 2, he was really scared but he said he would let the doctor look inside his mouth and nose and then our of nowhere this PA sticks the swab up his nose without tell us or him, he freaked out. I was SO FREAKING mad!!! I’m pissed just thinking about it. He trusted the doctor and she did that, needless to say, we found a different doctor after that.

        Like

      11. That would have made me mad too! Our former doc did sort of the same, but he told me first… it was so fast that Maia didn’t realize what actually happened. Her reluctance to the swab comes from a few years back when she got the flu and the doctor did this swab thing but SOOOOOO slowly and it visibly hurt. Since then, she’s been off the swab!
        I didn’t actually know the flu could come with “low” fever… it’s new to me.

        Liked by 1 person

      12. Oh no! I flinched just reading that. Oh that must have been painful. Yeah, I’d be off the swab too. I didn’t know there was a low grade fever flu either. Whenever I get it, my fever jumps up to almost 103 and I lay in bed watching TV shows for 5 days moaning in pain while my wife brings me wet towels to put on my head and juice (I’m high maintenance when I’m sick!)

        Like

      13. LOL – so, you’re the “man-cold” kind 😉 I haven’t had the flu for many years and so far not in Japan. But usually the high fever jump is a sure indication. Which is why I’m uneasy inside about the doctors diagnosis. But I asked and he did say that several cases like hers had recently showed up. I’m just praying it really IS the flu!

        Liked by 1 person

      14. Huh, interesting. Hoping and praying it really is the flu as well! Well our family hasn’t gotten it yet, hopefully wont. One round of norovirus is enough for me!

        Wow. Yeah, I’m the man cold kind. PS we do get sicker than women. For the record 😉

        Like

      15. Norovirus, oh boy I hear you!! I’ve had that several times and surely can do without!! Yuck!
        I’m sure men get more sick than women ;-)… otherwise, nobody would eat in a household. After all, the real difference here depending on who is sick, is whether dinner is 10 min late or not. LOL
        Seriously: Thank you so much for praying for Maia!! ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      16. Oh norovirus is like the progenitor for a plague in revelation. It’s awful.

        My only response to that is…why was dinner late?? 😉 hehehehe.

        Absolutely you are welcome for the prayers! Hope she’s much better after today!

        Liked by 1 person

      22. The small group… has reached 2 1/2 year now and that’s actually a small groups normal lifespan. I haven’t told the girls that yet though and I’m pretty sure they don’t want to make changes, however – it’s needed so I somehow need to add another member, make changes in leadership or similar. It’s one of the complicated things actually.If I had the energy I would start a 2nd small group and then rotate members annually or so. But my energy level isn’t that high – even on french roast! And my girls are very tight, so it’s gonna be difficult.
        The mom’s group hasn’t gotten anywhere because I literally do not know where to start yet.
        Thanks for asking… I’m sure things will work out though. God has a way of wiggling His pinky 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      23. I did not know that 2 1/2 years is a small groups typical lifespan. Makes sense. What’s going on though that changes are needed to add another member? (or if that’s something that might wander into the area of gossip, feel free to not answer friend!) Well Lene, we need to get you to start adding espresso shots to your french roast! (My Uncle was a long haul trucker for years and he would go into starbucks with his 30 ounce Thermos and say fill it up with half coffee, half espresso!)

        Are there any outlets to start a moms group at your church? God is very good at wiggling things out of his pinky!! He’s done it many a time for me!

        Like

  6. Thank you so much Joel! What an honor. I have really had a rough couple of months. So many things going on in life and I have really just felt I needed to get fed instead of doing the feeding for a little while, but I’ll be back soon enough.
    God is working in and through at all times.
    I miss reading your blogs because yours was one of my faves.
    Hope all is well! Keep going with that writing–you certainly have a gift.
    Blessings in Christ,

    Johanna

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh im sorry to hear its been a rough couple months! You are very welcome! Hey, we all have seasons where we’re not feeding others, instead God has us put our head down, armor on, and charge into the work and the battle and there’s no time for giving of ourselves to others in certain places (like blogging) instead were doing so much we have to be the one’s getting fed. Sounds like you know right where you need to be. A great perk of having eternal life is we have all time forever to write snd create and share words and thoughts with others so no worries, take your time with God, and I’ll keep you in my prayers. And look forward to when you do get back around to writing more!

      Thank you so much, hey I always enjoy reading your blog. Your one of the few people on here who’s a John Eldredge fan and who’s CS Lewis literate. All is well on my end, for the most part. Have to say goodbye to a good friend and brother in Christ tomorrow…I’ll write about it probably tomorrow night. I’ll keep the writing up, thank you!
      Blessings to you!
      Joel

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks Matt! Agreed, I miss our coffee talks too. How are things going out in Nevada these days? And what kind of coffee are you roasting? I’ve been taking your advice and really focusing on the Ethiopian…good stuff. Thank you for your encouragement! Matt, you should definitely do that one day. I think you would make an incredible author. Blessings to you brother!

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment