Wishing Well

2007-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Life...alright, submerged in work. Life...is stale, need some alone time. Any ideas on what to do for some good alone time?

Belated Thanksgiving

2006-11-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'm very thankful for my new niece Zoey Jae Nydam!

Observation

2006-11-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

I always read a lot of blogs, and I enjoy, taking a gander into people's lives. Im interested in what they are interested in and what is going on in their lives. I commend people who post every day or even every other day, because I don't. It almost seems like I have to discipline myself to do it sometimes. There are typically four types of blogs that I read, and they are all quite different from each other but in some ways they all have something in common as well. The least likely of the four that I read are basically for promotion. I know I recently have been guilty of promoting on my blog and have decided that I will not do that anymore, because I find it to be a little annoying myself. The other I don't take particular interest in are just general info about a person blogs (there are exceptions to this though.) The other two I really get into, and I don't really know how to catagorize them.

There are blogs that I read that are written by people who are concerned for things, like other people, the environment, the government and so on. They blog for the reason of creating dialog and trying to make things better, and in some cases, trying to make things better in specific relation to God. I really enjoy these blogs, they are blogs that have stuff that is posted that is genereally good for me to hear. It is ususally backed by good info, and is overall written with good spirit.

There are also blogs that are written by people who complain about things. They complain about people, the environment, the government, poverty, and so on. They blog for the reason to vent, or get attention, or to stir up conflict or all three together or something. I would say that I am more addicted to these blogs than anything else. They usually contain nothing all that worth while, and it seems as though they like to hear themselves talk and think. It also seems that in a way they are disjointed from the world somehow and are stuck in that disjoint or disjointment (which ever word it is). Sometimes I get really angry at the writers because they announce how horrible their life is, or how horrible our contry or world is, but offer nothing on how to change or fix. Sometimes I wonder if they even want to. It sort of reminds me of the old dutch guy elder in church that wonders why there is declining numbers and a spirit of discouragement, but when asked to worship in a slightly different way, claims it as heresy (that wasn't a very good word picture but I don't feel like writing it over). But mostly I have genuine pity for those people, wishing they would wake up, and look at and smell roses too. Im not saying that we should ignore the concerning issues at all, but we don't have to piss and moan aimlessly.

Apathy is such a sly thing, it can creep into everybody, especially in our culture today. We, who live in the United State and Canada, are the richest people in the world. God has blessed us tremendously, along with that wealth comes huge responsibilities. I agree that we could definatly improve on the actions we as people, as a nation and as christians, we have taken on the above topics I mentioned (and more). But lets praise God for what he has blessed us with as well.

I needed to get that off my chest...I will now resume the boring general life type blog.

2006-11-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

California

2006-11-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

Florida

Website

2006-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well I said that I thought there would be some music in the future, I didn't expect it to be anything like this. averagechurchband.com is the website of the band I am going to Iraq with. We got together last week and came up with some arrangements for a couple of songs and we quickly recorded them. These are pretty rough mixes so please bear with the process. And please give me your feed back. Thanks

Iraq?

2006-10-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I was telling you a little about Mike in my last post. This past Friday he called me up and told me that he was contacted to put together a band that would be doing a 10 day tour in Iraq playing for the troops. He asked me If I was interested in playing acoustic guitar and singing...I said yes. So from November 29-December 9 I will be in the desert. Mike told me that the two other musicians that he got are professionals and had to totally re-arrange studio time and things like that. I can only give God the glory for this wonderful oppurtunity. I am a very underqualified decision for the position in the band, but I am thankful that I can praise God through it, and that other great musicians can join me in praising God. I am also thankful that we get to go and worship with the soldiers In Iraq. I just hope that we can be of some service there.

Free Form

2006-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

This Past Friday I was invited to a guys house to "jam." The guy who invited me goes by the name of mike. Before I knew mike, one of his friends told me that he played drums with Steve Miller...yes "Thee" Steve Miller. I didn't ask for how long (it could have been just one night or something) but needless to say I was pretty intimidated. I actually got to his house early and so I got to make small talk with mike and another guy for awhile, then I found out that he was going to record the whole 2 and 1/2 hour free form session. That made me even more intimidated, and on top of that three of the other guys that were going to be there had been on record lables and have toured the country multiple times. I think I was the only non-accomplished musician there. I was really nervous before we got started. Then Mike asked me If I knew of a band called "Sigur Ros"...and from that point on I knew things were gonna be ok. We started talking about how we loved a layered and ambient sound (at this point I am saying Thank you Lord, this is something I can at least do and keep up with) and how we kind of wanted to build and recess and layer and have a huge, epic, slow type of session. So we did that and some of the other guys wanted to do some faster stuff so we did that too. But I cant even begin to say how good this guy was on the drums. It was rediculous. I don't know, maybe I have drummer who is on the same wave length as I am. Before the end of the night we had finished done a 2 and 1/2 hour session and gone out to the beach and watched the glowing red tide and listened to ( ) on while we looked at the stars sitting in the sand hearing the waves crash in the background. It was a great night of music. It was one of the best nights I have had in a long time.

The Prospector

2006-09-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

It is little steakhouse/bar with a very little stage tucked away into a corner that lives in Long Beach. I went to a show there and saw some of my childhood heros. There was a band that existed that only some might now, they were called Plankeye (they were of the Christian genre, but still cool) long ago they broke up (2001). Well the lead singer, the drummer, and the lead guitarist, started another band, "Fielding," with the lead singer's wife who plays keys and the fiddle. She is Irish and likes to stare at people. The guy I went with is good friends with all of these guys, so it was a pretty weird and funny encouter. My friend told them that I was a plankeye fan in the early days and they all busted out laughing (ok so they were a cheezy band) but it was a cool experience anyway. I got to talk with the the lead guitarist for awhile(good deep theological discussion mentioning CS Lewis a lot...blah blah blah) but it was good and their new band was good too. They moved away from the whole Christian Music thing and got real.

Im starting to get some of the ole creative juices flowing again, and I think there is some new music on the horizon...I don't know, we'll see. (It would be fun to play at the prospector)...

Surfer Dude

2006-08-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

So yes, today is the first day that I attempted surfing in California, and I love it. It is something that is right up my alley. The hardest part is paddling and then the rest the water takes care of. It does take a little getting used to, I randomly would fall off of my board quite a bit, but thats ok it was my first time. I didn't even catch a wave, the closest I got was when I got up to one knee, and the wave took me a little ways, then it passed me by, because I suck. But it was still really fun and relaxing.
Who wudda thought. . . me, a surfer

Not Good with words

2006-08-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Stripping layers off is hard isn't it. Its like we all have this overbearing wieght of dead skin clinging to our bodies and we get comfortable with it, even though its heavy. And sometimes we get forced to strip a layer off. And natruly it hurts a little bit. . . but after a while it feels good to get rid of that weight, but we are still comfortable with all the extra weight that we have, and it becomes hard, again, to strip off those extra layers. I guess this is an obvious story to all of you and everybody has a good idea of what this story says, but that doesn't make it any less true. I've been reading a plethora of blogs and I am realizing that people are stripping off their layers, some are doing it voluntarily, some are being forced to do it. Whatever the case may be, I have been encouraged. I feel like I am stripping off layers everyday, its hard to go from place to place and settle in and have everything be good. Within a year Erin and I have moved from Sioux Center to Florida to Southern California (Not many people can say they have done that). And to be blountly honest, it kinda sucks, but it is awesome all at the same time, because a long time ago we told God to run with our lives. We definately have experienced the blessings of that as well, Im not trying to complain, God has blessed us beyond our imaginations. But it still kinda hurts to take off those layers of dead and decaying skin. I guess in all of this what I am trying to say is that I am thankful to God for being so close.

Or whatever

Cloudy Day

2006-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry, Im failing in the post area of my life. Ha Ha (get it?)

Anyway I discovered this new Christian musician that actually is really good. Im not the one who is a superfan of Christian music by any means. The only time Im actually exposed to it is when I get in the car and my wife had driven the time before and therefore changed the station, but I quickly change it myself. But anyway, I was in a bookstore looking for ideas on fun stuff that 7th and 8th graders would like (found nothing). So I walked up to the CD station reluctantly to listen to the latest patheticness in Christian music history, and Jason Morant's music was playing. And I was actually very impressed. His music was very well written, and his words where eloquent. So I ended up buying the CD (it gave me a flashback of when my mom took me to "True Vine" to get me a Michael W. Smith Cassette after I got a tooth pulled). The Suprising thing is that I love the whole thing. Im I just becoming a softy on Christian music? So I will let you judge for yourself. Go to http://myspace.com/jasonmorantmusic and partake in this goodness. The four that are listed on myspace aren't all the good ones. Here's the order I would listen to them in: 1. I will Run 2. Abba 3. Open 4. Holy, but you do as you please. Anyway I think its good music regardless what anyone else thinks.

Really Annoying

2006-07-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

People say all the time that not posting very often on your blog site is really annoying because you never know when to check their blog. I am a person who is severely guilty of this, but this is something that I am willing to work on. I will definately need support and motivation but I am going to work on it. Now with that said I get to pick a bone, myself. Something that I find really annoying is when you leave a comment on somebody's blog site asking them to respond to you, and then nothing ever happens. That is really frustrating. For some people I understand why they don't respond very often, its because they don't post that often. But others have no exuse because they post virtually every day sometimes twice a day. So to those of you who are guilty of this horrible act, you have been charged.

Its hot in LA

Hooray for LA

2006-07-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well after a month of living out of our suit cases we will finally be moving into our new home in Bellflower California. It is exciting to be here and meeting all these new people but at the same time it is this overwhelming feeling of "whoa we are going to be here for a while." I personally have been getting settled into my new office for the past week (its huge). The church has been so generous to Erin and I. They set us up with this older couple who have a room and a bathroom above their garage, and thats where we have been staying for the past month. And they gave me a laptop to use for anything as well as work. The people have been very warm and excited that we are here. It makes me nervous. I just hope that I can live up to what they expect.

Anyway, Erin is very ready to move into her own place and have her familiar environment back. I think that our cat is ready for that as well. He has been in a garage where the heat has consistantly gotten to be over 90 degrees.

We miss all of our friends of course, it is very hard to move for the obvious reason that you get to know people where you live and you come to depend on them and them on you. You develop healthy relationships with people and when you move you feel like your missing something. So even when you don't like the place you live in you still have people, which really gives you no excuse to dislike the place you live in.

I'll quit babbelling

Upon request by Gabe

2006-04-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

I am going to post for the first time in ages. Don't get me wrong I love loging in and checking out everyone else's blogs but I always feel like I don't have much news. But Finally I have some news to talk about. Erin and I are moving to the Los Angeles area. I got a youth pastor job at a church out there. It will be a good situation for us. One of my buddies that I played and made music with is also out there, there might be some sightings of Justin playing public and heaven forbid some of his own songs. I am really excited because it seems as though the church needs someone like me (as weird as that sounds) and I know I will be making music again. I will miss Florida, I love it the water here and I like the people for the most part, but I guess it is time to move on. So everyone please respond so I can keep in touch.

Rejected

2006-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry its been so long,

Well I have officially been rejected from the Broward Sheriff's office. I was so close. I had made it through the preliminary testing, the application process and the conditional job offer. I blew it on my polygraph test. Yes, I failed my polygraph test. Now this does not necessarily mean I am a liar. Some of the questions they asked I honestly didn't know the answer to. For ex. "What items have you stolen from any of your past jobs, how much did they cost and, and what was the total estimated amount." The answer is "I have no idea." But they needed an answer and obviously it was the wrong one, or I was way too nervous to be accurate. Anyway its kind of frustrating because I put so much time into it. I have been working on the process since september, and now I have to start all over (any ideas). I still have the part-time youth position but when you live in Florida you really need more than 1 1/2 incomes to make it. The Lord had definatly provided for us, and this experience is making both of us grow to trust him more, but my selfish human nature wants to be comfortable. So I just ask that you pray for God's will to be done in our lives

Bitten to perfection

2005-12-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

For all you teachers out there, for it being her first year my wife is way ahead of where she should be in the teaching world. On her first day of school this year she finished the day out puking in the kindergarden bathroom (she teaches kindergarden) she has had to deal with upset parents because their child was kissing a boy under a blanket at naptime. She has had to deal with a list of other things that aren't appropriate to mention. But the lasted came yesterday. It was close the end of the day, and all the kids were sitting on the carpet criscross (indian style) and one of her students refused to sitdown, so she said "we are going to wait until everyone is where they are supposed to be, we will wait as long as it takes." This kid then proceeded to walk around draw pictures on other people's paper and then rip them up and throw the pieces on the floor. All the other kids told him to sit down and he got mad, and said "fine Im just gonna leave." Erin (my wife) said "if you leave you can walk straight to Mr. Patten's classroom (the feared classroom). My wife walked after him and had to try and get him off the floor and into Mr. Patten's classroom. The Kid then proceeded to chomp and latch on to my wife's arm. He bit her through a long sleeve shirt and broke the skin. She was bleeding! I don't know about anyone else but I know I would've lost it. Travis (Mr. Patten) said the same thing as me. So I guess that means that my wife can really keep her composure, she started to cry a little, but otherwise she treated the situation amazingly.

So hats off to all you teachers out there that have to put up with so much crap, still keeping you sanity and composure over everything. Thanks for showing up day after day.

Just got an email

2005-12-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

from my brother-in-law who is in iraq. if there are people that don't know me real well or don't know exactly whats going on my and my family's life, my sister's husband (Rodell Nydam) has spent the past year in iraq, providing convoy security and dismantling road side bombs. He is based in Ramadi. Anyway he just sent us an email, that he will definately be home for Christmas. This is great news to our family, but we are still holding our breath because I just saw on the news yesterday that 10 marines were killed in Ramadi, and Rodell's unit is attached to the marine unit there. Rodell's job, just like everyone else's job, is and was a very dangerous one where they have encountered explosives quite a bit. Anyway we are holding our breathe until he finally gets home. So I am asking everybody for prayer that Rodell gets home safely. If everything goes as planned he'll be home before Christmas.

thanks

Awkward Moment

2005-11-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

So my parents came down in the big rig this weekend with a load full of candy that is ultimately sea bound for Jamaca (spelling). We had a great time, my dad looked like a giddy little school boy playing in the ocean. Anyway have any of you watched movies with your parents when the sex scenes come? I don't know about you, but for me these are very awkward moments especially when married, because all kinds of thoughts can enter your mind, the worst of which is wondering if your parents have the same thoughts in their minds. This always offers a good distraction during these usually distasteful scenes, but it sure is awkward and uncomfortable. I'd like to know your thoughts and experiences. Enlighten me.

Dordt College

2005-11-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Contacted me about my blog posting about the picture in the brochure, and they went into this whole thing about how I should keep my nose out of their business and that I have no right to jeopordize their reputation. They said that they don't want to hear of or see any other postings from my blog on the related subject. So here I am writing about it because I think it is bologna, and that is exactly what this whole post is, bologna. I was bored.

Out of the Fishbowl and Into the Fire

2005-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

That is the blog title of late graduates of Dordt College (pretty funny). Another funny thing about dordt (graphic designers at dordt are gonna love this story). Since I am a youth pastor at a CRC church in Florida, I get all the promotional stuff from dordt, including the great video edited by Jack Maatman (clap clap) but also several brochures. Well I was looking through this very well designed brochure booklet that wasn't small by any means, anyway I was paging through and being very nastolgic <--(spelling error Im sure) and then I got to the last page and it was this big picture of all these fish in water and they were all shades of blue except for this big orange one in the middle. Maybe you have all seen it. Anyway I was admiring this this picture thinking that some designer at dordt did a good job. But then, I realized that I have seen this picture somewhere before. I was wondering and wondering, and then it hit me. I pulled out my cell phone, opened it up and there it was! It was the same picture that T-Mobile allowed me to choose as the background on my cell phone screen. Needless to say I laughed pretty hard. I was almost fooled again by Dordt College.

THE CONTINUATION

2005-11-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

There were trees everywhere! I mean it. We wouldn't have been able to drive out of our complex because there were several trees blocking both exits and blocking the road in several places on the way to the exits. We walked out to the road in front of our apartment complex, it is a boulevard type street with a median. On one side of the median there was nothing but solid trees down on the road for about a 1/4 -1/2 of a mile. If I knew how to download pictures to this site I would show how crazy this really was. Anyway we walked toward the school which is a half mile down the road, and people's fences were down, there some houses with the roofs torn off. The computer teacher at the school had a front portch fly into his pickup truck. We got to the school and checked out the damage (for those of you who are really curious you can go to flcs.org and check out some pictures of the school). After that we walked back and took it easy. The next day was a beautiful 65 degree day, and we didn't have power so the fridge and freezer defrosted. Travis and I decided to try and go to WalMart because its always open no matter what, because we needed propane (people were saying we were going to be without power for 3 weeks). So we went to WalMart and got a ton of propane and then waited in line forever becuase poeple were panicing. On the way back we found out that we were under a boil water order, and we had a 7:00pm curfew until 6:00am. They treated it like a freakin disaster. We played Cranium by candlelight that night, then went to bed. Over the next few days Erin and Sheena were perfecting recipes that included hamburger (the Vande Kerks and Pattens combined had 15lbs of hamburger that we had to get rid of before it spoiled) and they had to do it all on a little grill, we ate good. I luckily was smart enough to figure that we were going to have to boil water so right when we lost power I filled the Brita like 25 times and put them into assorted containers.
We got lucky because the days were beautiful and we didn't even need power, but we were the lucky few that got power on the Thursday following Wilma, the pastor at our church was still without power until this past saturday. Right now things are getting back to normal and thing are getting cleaned up

What an experience!

Justin

Its Been So Long

2005-11-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry, to the four people that look on my incredible blog site. We here in South Florida have been bored and busy (let me explain). After Erin's grandmother's funeral we came back to our lovely tropical home, we were the last flight that was alowed in to Ft. Lauderdale International before Hurricane Wilma came upon us (it was a beautiful night). I stayed up late watching the news wondering when it was going to hit us and how bad was it going to be. I thought to myself that it wouldn't be that bad because Katrina hit us directly from the East and only knocked over a few trees and we didn't lose power. Wilma was coming from the west which means that it has to cross over the penisula to get to us (Hurricanes usually weaken over land). So I went to sleep confident on the outcome. The next morning I woke up to the sound of full grown trees snapping in half. I had already slept through half of the storm, but the second half (the bad half) was upon us. 100mph sustainded winds, with 120mph gusts! It was exhilerating! I got out of bed and looked out the window to see the entryway for our Apt complex completly blocked by trees. I watched several 60-70 foot trees literally snap in half and buckle from the wind. I walked outside (stupid me) and I could hardly stand up. Now you have to understand that I weigh about 220lbs. The first thing I thought of when I stepped out the door and I said it outloud "God you are awesome!" Awesome in the true sense of the word. After the bad part of the storm passed, Travis and Sheena Patten came over and we walked around and saw everything that the hurricane caused. I've never seen anything like it.

Too be continued. . .

Erin's Aunt

2005-10-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

called to her home in West Palm Beach, which is about 30 miles north of us, and her husband said that we will probably get in Today yet, but then the airport will likely shut down shortly afterwards. It looks like the eye of the H. will hit West Palm Beach, with sustained wind at 90mph, and gusts up to 120 mph. In other words, there will be no electricity for them for awhile, and us only being 30 miles south might not get it so bad but still could lose electricity. So Rueben if I don't write for awhile it might not be just because I'm lazy. So please pray that we get home safely.

Anyway Erin will not have school on Monday and possibly tuesday (lucky).

Another thing I thought of that I should tell the four people who will read this. Rodell, my brother in law, from Des Moines, who is now in Iraq disabling road-side bombs and other deadly devices, will be home to Iowa by Christmas. It is a welcome sigh of relief for our family because his job there was so dangerous, and they were so busy that they barely had time to rest at all. The unit that is replacing them will get there on the 1st of Nov. and they will be in Kuwait by the end of Nov. to early Dec. Then they will spend a week or two there and then come home, debrief here in the states and then he will be free of the national guard forever!

Well thats all for now

Hello from Chicago

2005-10-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

So we have some good news and some bad news

Erin and I flew back to Chicago suddenly this morning because Erin's grandmother died earlier this week. I thought that I was going to be walking into an emotional pit of dispair, but gladly it has been quite the opposite. Ever since we got off the plane (first of all it was like 55 degrees, which was a welcome breath of fresh air) the atmosphere has been full of life instead of death. The Houtsmas and the Jongsmas have been celebrating grandma's life instead of being sad that she is gone. The family has been sitting around talking about her life and some of the great qualities. I getting the impression that she was a wonderful woman.

Anyway We ask for your prayers among the Houtsmas and the Jongsmas as they bury a mother.

On a more personal note, Erin and I ask for your prayers because of Hurricane Wilma that is supposed to hit Florida, we will be here but we don't know what is going to happen and if anything is going to get damaged.

Thanks for reading

Justin

Im stupid

2005-10-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to edit my links

Wow This really works!

2005-10-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that all I had to do is get a blog and so many people would comply (5) Well its a start.

Anyway not much and everything is going on here in Florida. I (Justin) am currently teaching band part-time at the school that Erin works at, and I don't really like doing it. It is just a bunch of 7th and 8th grade brats that never learned how to play their instruments in the first place, so guess who gets to teach them, you guessed it, poor little ole me.

I also just found out on Friday that I am going to be the part-time youth pastor at New Hope CRC here in Ft. Lauderdale. So that also should be an interesting job, but at least enjoyable. I start tomorrow, and am kind of excited.

There is also something else in the works with me and jobs. I am applying at the Broward County Sheriff's office, and the Ft. Lauderdale police department. I have always been interested in police work since you have all known me, but maybe never really voiced it all that much. But my chances of getting a job, at least in the sheriff's office are pretty good. One of Erin's student's father works as a deputy and has referred me to the office. He also knows a recruiter that has been helping me a ton through the process. I got very lucky, especially since this recruiter helps in the hiring process. This should come as a shock to you all, since all the police stuff has come about, I have voluntarily started running and working out, and am working on the eating healthy part. It feels good. Anyway I'll explain more about that job later. Right now I need your prayers for it because there is very stiff competition.

Erin has been doing well, it is a typical first year of teaching for her, and she is very busy. She has a lively bunch of kids which can be a handfull sometimes, but mostly are adoreable. I'll let her tell you about that.

Hope to keep interacting

Justin

The First Posting

2005-10-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, friends, family, and loved ones,

I don't know how all of this is going to work because I am basically computer illiterate. But I hope that at least some people come to my blogg to see how my and Erin's life in South Florida is going. So Welcome everyone!

Justin