Living the Journey

I came to Journey to the Heart as an overweight young man in need of a lot of change in my life both physically and spiritually. I really enjoyed the Journey and learned a tremendous amount about aligning under God and my authority and getting rid of the secret sins that had been eating away my life. I learned that the power of sin is in its secrecy.

After the Journey, I went to ALERT to honor my Mom and Dad, not because I wanted to. Though it was hard, I grew both physically in strength and endurance and spiritually in faith and reliance on God for my every need.

While taking law enforcement and property care to complete Phases 2 & 3 of ALERT, I learned so much more. One of the most important lessons I learned and am still applying it in my life is the concept of what really matters in life; all the frills and accessories are nothing when I compare them with my relationship with God and others. I must be willing to do anything to honor and defend these relationships.

~ Jevenn
April 2008 Journey

~

The following video on ALERT and Quest was recently aired on CBN.com:

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I wonder what the next step is for my life.
I have extra time at home but I’m not sure how to use it most wisely.
I came face to face with an emergency but I didn’t know how to respond.
I enjoy learning about medicine, but is it really for me? . . . I wish I could “try” it.

Do any of these ring a bell with you?

As a child, I played with doctor’s kits, nursed my dolls to health, used the toy stethoscope on anyone standing still, was the “medic” when we played house or cowboys and Indians, and dreamed of being a nurse.  The Telos Institute International gave me the opportunity to live my dream and develop my medical knowledge through the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) training held in Indianapolis, IN.

This month-long program gives those who attend enough information and skills so they leave with well-developed ability and capacity to deal with situations the Lord brings across their path. During the course, we had the chance to work at a nursing home and the seniors loved it when the “angels” show up! The Telos CNA course has a 100% passing rate and many have gone from this course and used their certification to either get a job or begin nurses’ training.

After taking my CNA, the Lord threw me into situations where the training was required. These included:

• A girl flipped over her handlebars and cut open her chin
• Another girl went into something that was similar to a seizure and while we were enroute to the hospital, I lost her heartbeat.  Those of us in the van cried out to the Lord and soon I found it again.
• Several people dealing with sickness and diseases
• A girl cut her thumb to the bone while trying to slice a large watermelon
• A guy cut his hand on glass and nearly fell on me as his body began going into shock
• A guy flew off his bike and was badly scraped up and nearly unconscious
• A person with a broken finger came to see if I thought it needed medical attention
• Sprains
• Back injuries
• Dealing with bad cuts
• Old age difficulties and making the seniors as comfortable as possible
• Caring for a lady two weeks before her death

In today’s day and age, everyone will be faced with a time when medical basics will be an asset: a co-worker has a seizure, your grandfather experiences a heart attack, your best friend accidently eats something she’s allergic to and goes into anaphylactic shock, your little brother goes into shock after a hard fall from a tree, someone gets dizzy and faints, a little child suffers from illness, someone complains of a sore stomach and it turns out to be an inflamed appendix, or your parents or grandparents need help with everyday living as they age.

This training will give you a foundation to rely on and develop from.

~ Kendalyn

The next CNA course is scheduled for May 2-28, 2010 at the Indianapolis Training Center. The registration deadline is March 3. For more information, visit www.ati.iblp.org/cna/

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Memorizing scripture is not an easy discipline to maintain, and completing 25 verses in 25 days can certainly be a formidable challenge! For this reason, we are proud to recognize the following 80 individuals (excluding parents and Journey leaders) who have successfully met The Challenge and memorized the entire chapter of Colossians 3 in just three and half weeks.

Let’s join together in congratulating them on this worthy accomplishment!

• Abigail Del Mul
• Abigail Reeves
• Alicia Gomez
• Amanda Godin
• Angelo Oliverio
• Anna Ferraro
• Ashley Norcross
• Ashley Bellamy
• Becky Keilen
• Bethany Stevens
• Bethany Vanderford
• Bethany Ferraro
• Caleb McLaren
• Carleigh Watts
• Carlin Bates
• Carmen Wilson
• Carolyn Lo
• Christen Richardson
• Crystal Dudley
• Daniel Staddon
• Danielle Noble
• David Morgan
• Diane Chou
• Dillon Whitaker
• Dinah Espineda
• Donald Staddon
• Eden Richardson
• Elisa Joulfaian
• Elizabeth Kilpatrick
• Emily Joulfaian
• Emily Kelley
• Erin Bates
• Ernesto Gomez
• Grace Benson
• Hannah Espineda
• Hannah Reeves
• Hannah Stelzl
• James Vanderford
• Jane Hynes
• Janine Noble
• Jayla Gillaspie
• Jean Linton
• Joanna Suich
• Jonah Espineda
• Jonathan Bell
• Jonathan Kilpatrick
• Julia Reeves
• Julie Oliverio
• Katherine Milne
• Katie Reeves
• Kayla Hills
• Kayla Whaley
• Kristen Vasquez
• Laura Dirksen
• Laura Johnson
• Lilian Chou
• Lydia Vanderford
• Mary Oliverio
• Matthew Richardson
• Matthew Kelly
• Melinda McAteer
• Michael Staddon
• Michela Bates
• Nekoda Cook
• Rachel Dudley
• Rebekah Kelly
• Ross Atkinson
• Sam Oliverio
• Sarah Espineda
• Sarah Stelzl
• Sarah Millings
• Sarah Ferraro
• Sara Mathews
• Stephanie Hills
• Stephen Reeves
• Theresa Vanderford
• Tia McAteer
• Tim Edelblut
• Tory Bates
• Vincent Oliverio

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Reporting Completion

If you have memorized Colossians 3 and were able to quote it for memory, you can have your father or mother call the Journey to the Heart office on January 26th or 27th to verify successful completion of The Challenge. The number is 630-323-9800 ext. 522.

We look forward to sending everyone who finished The Challenge an Inspiration of Creation 2010 calendar and another gift that will remain a surprise. We’ll also recognize your diligence in memorization by placing your name on the elite list of winners, which will be published here at livingthejourney.com on January 31.

For those who weren’t quite able to complete The Challenge, don’t be discouraged! The effort you put into memorizing and meditating on God’s Word will have far greater rewards than I could ever give.

Just Practice for the Real Thing

In the following video, Daniel Staddon, the winner of the 2009 National Bible Bee, shares a word of congratulations with his brother, James, who designed the Inspiration of Creation calendar.

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Welcome to the final day of The Challenge!
Quote the entire passage to your parents before midnight tonight!

~

But he that doeth wrong shall receive
for the wrong which he hath done:
and there is no respect of persons.

~

Robert tells the story of how a “Jonah experience” taught him the hard way that choices have consequences.

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Welcome to Day 24 of The Challenge.
Be diligent. There is only 1 day left!

~

Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance:
for ye serve the Lord Christ.

~

Change.

It has become a byword among us. We have so much of it we don’t know what to do. All this change! The confusion! The not-knowing, the questions! In the middle of it, we find ourselves crying out those questions to Jesus. Really big questions.
The decisions that must be made, the choices that must be chosen, the avenues that must be explored, the forks that must be taken.

I’ve found, as I have approached those difficult forks, that it is so easy for me to turn and rely on myself and begin to take those reigns back from God. I have the habit of saying “O.K., thanks God; You got me this far, now I’ll take it from here.”

And I end up humbled. Crouching like a coward in a corner.

“Oh, ye, of little faith.”

So many times the Lord has spoken those words to me.

I look back on those times with sadness and humility. Who am I to question the purpose, the plan, the ways of our Savior? He knows so much better than I.

I want to tell you about my Savior.

My God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was, He is, and He will be.

He is the God of putting money into my grasp when there should have been nothing.

He is the God of searching for lost reflectors for six months and finally, when I had done all I could, I broke down, gave that silly reflector to Him, and found it the next morning.

He is the God of stepping out on faith into a rushing river and letting Him catch you.

He is the God of every new year that we encounter.

He is the God of Christmas presents that should not logically exist.

He is the God of jobs.

He is the God of the house that you do or do not have.

He is the God that David cried to in Psalm 22: “Why have You forsaken me? I cry by day but You do not answer. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them.”

He is the God that David wept to for relief: “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He restores my soul. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. You are with me.”

And I have faith in Him.

I read Hebrews 11 this morning.

If you have read through that chapter, you know the feeling of awe that comes over you.

The inspirational stories of the children of Israel play over again and again in my mind!
Gideon, Rahab, Barak, Samson, Isaac, Jacob, Noah Joseph, Moses, Abraham – I never really compared myself to Abraham before, you know? I mean, he’s pretty old, right? Probably older than I’ll ever be. Yet, I identified with him in this passage here, in verses 8-10:

“By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where we was going. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

He went out as an alien.

He didn’t know where he was going.

He lived in little tents with his family.

He chose the life of an exile, having his hope fixed in God. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb. 11:1-2.

I identify with Abraham. He was an old man, without friends, only his family to rely on, in exile, waiting on the Lord to direct him. “Where next, Lord? I can’t see my own way. I’m depending on You, alone. I have nothing left. I cannot manage by myself. God, I need You. In You I place my trust. In You, I place my Faith.”

I am small. I have done nothing to deserve any blessing I have ever received. I am nothing.

And He is everything.

I don’t know you.

I don’t know what you are struggling with.

I don’t know what your needs are. I don’t know about your cousin that has cancer, your grandmother who passed away, your father with diabetes, your sibling with down syndrome, your friend’s accident.

But I do know this.

My God is enough.

Your God is enough.

He is the same today as He was yesterday, and tomorrow He will yet be the same again.

And…

He never fails.

Ever.

~ Anna Kraft

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