Hey guys it’s Sydney! This is my blog!
I was so excited for this week because we had our first group of preview students come to the building. They stayed with us Tuesday through Thursday and took part in all the classes, meals and activities we do in a normal week. But before I talk too much about that, i’ll give you my week at a glance.
Mondays are becoming more and more like a blessing each time around. It’s a chance to recover from a loooong work week and catch up on homework as well. So for my sabbath, I took a nap and finished reading for the classes that got added to our schedule.
Tuesday was a bit different because our speaker showed up a day late. As a result, we had an extra session in the morning! The speaker was Doug Axe, a professor from Biola who specializes in biology and really anything science. For this week, his goal was to teach us about AI and its effects. After that, we split up and finished Mere Christianity in our book discussion groups. I really appreciated that book and even though it was hard at times to understand, C.S Lewis has become an author that I want to read more of and dive deeper into his content. Around 11 o’clock the preview students arrived! Me and my roommate were hosts and the girl that stayed with us was actually a family friend. It was so sweet to have that connection and show her around my new home. The rest of the day was filled with student grill – where the preview kids asked questions – dinner, and another speaker session.
Wednesday is always the biggest day. And I’m not gonna lie, my brain felt a little overwhelmed by the end. We had continental breakfast, devos, and started off strong with BibInterp. This class is for sure one of my favorites. I love the concepts we learn about the heart, spiritual formation, and new ways to study the bible. Afterwards, we had a speaker grill where we got to know Doug a little better. Next was lunch then New Testament. We’ve only had it for a week but I love it already! Dallas leads this class and as I’ve learned, he is really passionate about biblical history which makes the class so much more fun. That went for 2 hours and we finished off the day with theology and a speaker session.
Today, Thursday, was the last day with the preview kids. Doug spoke for the last time showing us the complex design of God’s design for the world and it was so cool. We then had current events where we were updated and discussed the LA fires. It truly is sad and devastating what is happening. Lunch followed quickly after along with the departure of the preview students. And my favorite part of today was line dancing with Jen for electives! It was so fun doing it with all the girls. Tonight we have dinner with our pause family then get ready for a weekend of work that we have on Friday!!
That was my week, so excited for the DR trip that we have coming up on Sunday
Love you guys God bless!
-Sydney (Current Student)
Hi guys!! Brooke here 🙂 As always, there is so much to unpack this week!
MONDAY – it started off normal, I just finished my homework for the week and went to the gym. Monday night turned very chaotic very quickly. My roommate Sydney and I decided to make scones for all of Joshua! We roped Ava in and Jess let us loose in the kitchen. The first batch of scones we made were gluten free and they looked and tasted amazing! The next round of scones were normal chocolate chip scones but we 6x the recipe since there are approximately 50 of us living in the building. Turns out, 6x a scone recipe is an arm workout… AND a failure. We ended up making about 90 scones that looked like cookies and tasted like pancakes but they were devoured anyway! The scone process took around two hours in total and ended up with Sydney sitting on the kitchen floor claiming nobody will ever marry her because she can’t bake (I’m pretty sure we are all delusional at this point, it was well past 10pm).
TUESDAY – This day started off at 5am in the gym! We have no other time to workout on Tuesdays so a group of us go before breakfast. In the afternoon, preview students moved in!!!! Sydney and I became “preview parents” for the week and it was amazing. We got to know each other, played games, and answered a lot of questions. Our speaker Doug Axe also started on Tuesday and walked us through the biology of why Darwin is wrong about everything. I sat by Myles and Elijah most of the week which helped a TON because my knowledge of biology and probability is lacking….
WEDNESDAY – This day also started in the gym with Ava and one of the preview girls. Wednesdays are heavy class days so the gym is a must. After a full day of classes and proving why Darwin is wrong, we had broom hockey! This has easily become one of my favorite aspects of the program. I am a fairly competitive person so learning this sport has brought me so much joy. There is a group of Joshua students who get really into it and which makes it a blast.
THURSDAY – Today! Preview students left 🙁 I am so excited to see how God will work in their lives even if it is not at Joshua. We had one class today and this whole afternoon is free. There is Pause tonight and we get to watch the Hume kids play broom hockey, I’m so excited!
Best wishes,
Brooke 🙂 (Current Student)
This week has been great! We have had the opportunity to host preview students (possible future students) and get to show them what Joshua is like. Otherwise, it has been a slow start to the new classes so I have tried to get ahead as far as possible on my school work. Working on memorization of chapter 3 of philippians, as well as pouring into the community as we prepare for our trip to the Dominican Republic. We are lucky to have Doug Axe as our guest lecturer this week. It has been wonderful hearing his input on science, philosophy and theology, because he is so well articulated.
–Myles Cooper (Current Student)