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LAST WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING BREAK

I had a moment this week where I felt sad to be leaving for break. I am so excited to get on a plane and see my family back home, but I have grown to love and cherish my time with everyone here.

Though we are all excited about the break, this was an enjoyable week in the building. We had Cory Fenn as our speaker and he did a fantastic job of laying out some foundations of loving God well, especially how to be still and honest with God.

We also were able to celebrate and give thanks with the Hume community at a huge potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We participated in good conversations, fantastic food, and fun performance from the kids in the school up here. It’s been such a blessing to not only be a part of the Joshua community but also feel at home in the whole Hume community. The other Joshua students and I feel like we are everyone’s adoptive kids sometimes, it helps it feel a little more like home up here. We got to end the evening with a huge Christmas tree lighting and sang some carols. The snow we have gotten recently has helped it to feel like the holidays are rolling around.

Other than that we have been having fun in our free time, singing songs and swing dancing with each other. I find these times to be some of the most relaxing and restful for me. I also tested out of Philippians 1 because this week was testing week! We have to memorize the entire book of Philippians while at Joshua and this week was testing for our first chapter. Though this is a hard activity we are all learning so much!

We are all headed home for next week’s holiday and are excited to see loved ones and celebrate and give thanks with them, but will also look forward to coming back to the building to see our Joshua brothers and sisters. 

I am praying for you all and hope that you have a fantastic and restful Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for you!

Cassidy Voss

Hello!
Can you believe that Thanksgiving break is already here?

It hardly seems real that by Sunday afternoon, the Joshua Lodge will be emptied of its students as we head home for a short holiday. Although cliché, it still feels like last week we were moving in and meeting our roommates, yet in some respect, it feels like I’ve lived with these people for years. Altogether, it has already been over two months of program here at JWI, and now in this upcoming week we students are facing our first time away from each other as we depart for some rest with family and close friends.

Many of us have been looking forward to this break, but for some it seems a bit daunting. Please keep our hearts in prayer as we strive to honor the commitment we’ve made to fast from social media, pre-
recorded music, television, and movies. It is easy work to avoid these things in an environment where the entire community is abstaining, but down the mountain it will be much more challenging. Our
commitments don’t change even when in places that surrounded us with what we fast from, and the temptation will be directly at our fingertips through daily life during this break.

Truthfully, it has been refreshing to have peace away from the hurriedness and distraction so prevalent in the media, but that doesn’t make it any less attractive especially when it can be such a healthy avenue for learning, expression, and connection! Yet everything at Joshua would look very different if we didn’t take this fast, and it is a joy to simply be present with one another. So although challenging, I deeply believe that this break will be just the opportunity we need to recharge, realign our hearts, and recognize how much we cherish this community.

As for the other events of this week, it has been such a blessing to celebrate the gift of Autumn here at Hume Lake. Sure, there’s snow on the ground and the temperature high is 37 degrees Fahrenheit, but there’s no denying the warmth of the fire or the joyful smell of pies in the kitchen! We ladies here at Joshua had the pleasure of getting together for a Girls Night event this past Wednesday where we baked cookies, sang and danced, and made pies for the Hume Community Thanksgiving dinner that happens annually with all of the local families. Our dear Cassidy planned this girls’ event for us, and then led us in
a spiritual exercise of encouragement to one another after sharing her testimony. There is nothing like coming together as sisters, connected by a truth and love that transcends all worldly personal differences.

As for our speaker, this week we were joined by Cory Fenn of Onward, a nonprofit ministry organization
designed to grow young adult leaders in the church and equip them with the tools to serve well. He and his wife Katie both graduated from the Joshua Wilderness Institute when younger, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to pick their brains in the realm of Joshua life and beyond. In his teaching this week, Cory reminded us of something detrimentally important to our time in this program: the goal is not to simply grow in knowledge of God, the goal is to experience growth in knowing God. Knowledge of God aids in knowing God deeply, but we must be careful not to get caught up in what we know, but how well and personally we know our marvelous creator. Chew on that!

Anyway, thank you all for your investment in our growth and development; I am already anticipating a mixture of tears and celebration come graduation in May. As said before, I can hardly believe we are this far in already, yet have so much further to go. If there are any prospective Joshua students reading, may I
encourage you send in an application, schedule an info meeting, or come to preview!

As for parents and friends, we all look forward to seeing you soon, and wish you hearts of patience and gratitude this
Thanksgiving.

Love in Christ,

Hannah Rockwood

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