yo,
i like to read the bible a lot - get to know my god better and figure out what makes him tick and all sorts of other stuff. lately i've been reading through the book of jeremiah, which is about this old prophet guy who spends most of his time telling this old school nation, israel, to quit being metephorical prostitutes by "getting together" with all these other new gods. he communicates these messages from god about how sad and envious and ultimately pissed off isreal is making their god. i really like it because jeremiah uses a real name (it's translated LORD, but it's a name not a title in this case, it's a name) when he talks about god, so when you notice that you see how personally god is taking it - he reaaallly likes israel and just sounds devastated at how they've gone off to be with other gods.
back to the story, this other major nation, the chaldeans (babylonians) show up and take a bunch of the israelites off into captivity (something the babylonians apparently liked to do), but some of them are still left in jerusalem. jeremiah is among the bunch in jerusalem, and he keeps telling the israelites that they gotta return to their first love - their first god. usually god says pretty harsh stuff to the israelites (through jeremiah), but every once in a while you get a glimpse of something awesome that's gonna happen in the future when god restores the nation of israel, and the israelites start loving him again.
that's just some context for the book of jeremiah, but what i REALLY wanted to talk about was this sick passage that god showed me a couple weeks ago, and that i keep returning to. i've really identified with it and prayed it for myself as i've moved to london:
jeremiah 24:4-7
"Then the word of the LORD came to me: Thus says the LORD, the God of israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place tot he land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.' "
i've been praying that god will give me that heart to know that he is the LORD. i want so much for him to be my God, and for my whole heart to be chasing after him like he's been chasing after me.
my god is something else! when my heart is fully turned towards him, and i get a little glimpse of who he is, i am so captivated! what a guy...
don't have the time or the words to do this justice, but just wanted to put this down in writing for now, as something to return to over my diasporic stint in london.
shalom,
- josh
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
My New House
Hello,
Two weeks ago they kicked us out of our temporary Barclays housing, so I've been livin on the streets. Some nights a generous friend lets me crash on their couch, but most of the time I just find a soft patch of grass or maybe a park bench if it's warm enough outside.
I was pretty content with life on on the streets until my colleagues started making a fuss about my personal hygiene. Being forced to take a hit for the team, I collected all of my belongings from the various trash cans where I had stored them, and moved everything in this brick and mortar cubicle they call a bedroom. It's taken some adjusting, but the place is growin on me. Here's a quick tour of the new digs:
Joking aside, I can't believe how quickly god provided this place for me. Let me give you a timeline of the events leading up to the move-in.
August 16 - Josh checks his calendar, realizes that he needs to move out of the Barclays housing by August 30 (two weeks)
Monday, August 17 - Josh starts asking his London peeps how he should go about searching for a new flat
Tuesday, August 18-August 19 - Josh is too excited about the upcoming weekend visit to Boston/is having too much fun hangin with his friends after work to be bothered with looking for something as basic as a residence.
Thursday, August 20-23 - Josh is in Boston for Zach's wedding, having a blast with his BFFs. In his mind, he thinks "Yeah, six days will be long enough to find a flat. I'll start when I get back to the UK."
Monday, August 24 - Six days to go, Josh tries to arrange a couple viewings after work, and fails miserably. Starts thinking that maybe five days will be cutting it a little close...
Tuesday, August 25 - Josh gets a text from a random dude. "Hi josh. Seen your wanted ad on christian flat share. Are you still looking? I think we have a great place you might be interested in near Oval. give me a call if you are interested. Paul." Oooh, someone contacting me? That's unexpected, but pretty cool. Josh sets up appointment to visit the next day.
Wednesday, August 26 - Upon asking his colleagues about the area around Oval, Josh finds out that two of his good friends from work have recently moved to the same area! He visits the flat, likes it quite a bit. Calls Paul later that night and says he'd like to take the flat.
Thursday, August 27 - Minal and Pat and Hani are going to Paris for the long weekend, leaving early Saturday morning. Against all sound judgement, Josh decides to come along, effectively shifting his move-out deadline from Sunday morning to Friday night. Aka the next night. Hasn't yet signed lease, hasn't yet met landlord, doesn't even know for sure the landlord will accept! Great idea, or the GREATEST idea?
Friday, August 28 - Josh meets the landlord, and both parties feel comfortable with each other. Landlord asks when Josh would like to move in. "How's about, 90 minutes from now," he responds. Heads back home, throws his six boxes in a cab, makes a withdraw from the ATM for the downpayment. Four hours plus two more trips later, Josh has all his stuff moved in to the new flat. He returns home with only minutes to spare before the final train departs. Throws the remainder of his stuff in a couple of suitcases, which he will drop off at his friend's place the following morning before they leave for Paris.
Soooooo, in short god TOTALLY hooked me up. I really should have been homeless given how last minute it all was. I've heard horror stories from other friends here in London who have spent weeks and weeks viewing flats before they find something they like, and here I effectively did it in three DAYS. thx for droppin that one in my lap, god :)
Shalom,
- Josh
Two weeks ago they kicked us out of our temporary Barclays housing, so I've been livin on the streets. Some nights a generous friend lets me crash on their couch, but most of the time I just find a soft patch of grass or maybe a park bench if it's warm enough outside.
I was pretty content with life on on the streets until my colleagues started making a fuss about my personal hygiene. Being forced to take a hit for the team, I collected all of my belongings from the various trash cans where I had stored them, and moved everything in this brick and mortar cubicle they call a bedroom. It's taken some adjusting, but the place is growin on me. Here's a quick tour of the new digs:
Joking aside, I can't believe how quickly god provided this place for me. Let me give you a timeline of the events leading up to the move-in.
August 16 - Josh checks his calendar, realizes that he needs to move out of the Barclays housing by August 30 (two weeks)
Monday, August 17 - Josh starts asking his London peeps how he should go about searching for a new flat
Tuesday, August 18-August 19 - Josh is too excited about the upcoming weekend visit to Boston/is having too much fun hangin with his friends after work to be bothered with looking for something as basic as a residence.
Thursday, August 20-23 - Josh is in Boston for Zach's wedding, having a blast with his BFFs. In his mind, he thinks "Yeah, six days will be long enough to find a flat. I'll start when I get back to the UK."
Monday, August 24 - Six days to go, Josh tries to arrange a couple viewings after work, and fails miserably. Starts thinking that maybe five days will be cutting it a little close...
Tuesday, August 25 - Josh gets a text from a random dude. "Hi josh. Seen your wanted ad on christian flat share. Are you still looking? I think we have a great place you might be interested in near Oval. give me a call if you are interested. Paul." Oooh, someone contacting me? That's unexpected, but pretty cool. Josh sets up appointment to visit the next day.
Wednesday, August 26 - Upon asking his colleagues about the area around Oval, Josh finds out that two of his good friends from work have recently moved to the same area! He visits the flat, likes it quite a bit. Calls Paul later that night and says he'd like to take the flat.
Thursday, August 27 - Minal and Pat and Hani are going to Paris for the long weekend, leaving early Saturday morning. Against all sound judgement, Josh decides to come along, effectively shifting his move-out deadline from Sunday morning to Friday night. Aka the next night. Hasn't yet signed lease, hasn't yet met landlord, doesn't even know for sure the landlord will accept! Great idea, or the GREATEST idea?
Friday, August 28 - Josh meets the landlord, and both parties feel comfortable with each other. Landlord asks when Josh would like to move in. "How's about, 90 minutes from now," he responds. Heads back home, throws his six boxes in a cab, makes a withdraw from the ATM for the downpayment. Four hours plus two more trips later, Josh has all his stuff moved in to the new flat. He returns home with only minutes to spare before the final train departs. Throws the remainder of his stuff in a couple of suitcases, which he will drop off at his friend's place the following morning before they leave for Paris.
Soooooo, in short god TOTALLY hooked me up. I really should have been homeless given how last minute it all was. I've heard horror stories from other friends here in London who have spent weeks and weeks viewing flats before they find something they like, and here I effectively did it in three DAYS. thx for droppin that one in my lap, god :)
Shalom,
- Josh
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Weekend in Paris
Jetsetting like a mofo. Hop it to Paris last weekend with my mates Pat, Hani and Pooja (aka Pooj-bro). We covered a lot of ground, as you'll see in the vids below. The place was better than I expected. There's all this hype around it being so beautiful and the food being awesome, so I thought for sure it was overblown. Turns out it's not!
In a string of almosts:
Enter the Eiffel Tow
Pooja almost believes that WE think the Tow is only ten stories tall. Notice her reaction to our estimations.
Top of the Tow
Hani almost guesses the correct height of the Tow.
Cool street
I almost get hit crossing the street. What I interpreted to be a gesture encouraging me to cross the street turned out, instead, to be a warning to stay on the sidewalk.
Notre Dame
I almost cause the flamethrower lady to catch on fire. Siiiiick.
Arc de Triumph
Napoleon almost conquers Russia.
There're a bunch of pics on facebook, so check 'em if you're interested.
Hats off to the worker dude at the London train station who was so friendly and helpful on Saturday morning (story to follow in later post).
Thoughts on Paris (perhaps) sometime in the future. Wakey wakey at 5:40 tom, so it's time to sack it for now.
- Josh
In a string of almosts:
Enter the Eiffel Tow
Pooja almost believes that WE think the Tow is only ten stories tall. Notice her reaction to our estimations.
Top of the Tow
Hani almost guesses the correct height of the Tow.
Cool street
I almost get hit crossing the street. What I interpreted to be a gesture encouraging me to cross the street turned out, instead, to be a warning to stay on the sidewalk.
Notre Dame
I almost cause the flamethrower lady to catch on fire. Siiiiick.
Arc de Triumph
Napoleon almost conquers Russia.
There're a bunch of pics on facebook, so check 'em if you're interested.
Hats off to the worker dude at the London train station who was so friendly and helpful on Saturday morning (story to follow in later post).
Thoughts on Paris (perhaps) sometime in the future. Wakey wakey at 5:40 tom, so it's time to sack it for now.
- Josh
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