Thoughts on "My Story"... looking for your thoughts, too!

Dear friends and class-mates!

I’ve so much enjoyed taking a class with several of you these past several weeks - you know who you are! ;)  Time really flew – I feel like we practically just got started, and then classes were over already!  Did it feel like that to you?

Ok, so I promised you I’d share a little of my life story with you!  I tried to make it a little interactive, so it’s easy for you to comment about things.  There are three parts - I decided to post part 1 last - it's at the top - so it's easier to read the whole story all at once (just scroll down for part 2, and then part 3).

I hope you enjoy reading "MY STORY."  Leave your comments about it!  I'd love for you to share just a tidbit (or however much you want to share) of your story as well!  Nothing fancy, and it's certainly not necessary to be anywhere close to as long as mine!  Lol!  Just a mini-version of "your story," maybe, in a comment?  And if you'd like to, answer this question, too: where are you at in your spiritual journey?  You definitely don't have to "have arrived" at some destination spiritually in order to share!  I'm very open to hearing whatever you have to say! :)       

Thanks for reading & thanks for sharing, too (in advance)!! 

Love,

Joanna

MY STORY - Part 1

              I was born in Wisconsin, the oldest daughter and third child in our family.  I came after my 2 brothers, and after me came 5 more siblings, so yes, we have a 10-member family! J  As you can imagine, having a growing family wasn’t easy with my dad’s teaching income, especially since he was teaching in a small, private, school.  But my mom was a coupon-cutter, financially-savvy person, garden-grower, home-made food and hand-me-down type of person, so we ate enough and ate healthy, and even had plenty of clothes!  (They just weren’t Disney or brand-name, but who notices that around age 5?!)  Then, after I finished the second grade, my family (there were 8 of us at the time), moved to Michigan, because my dad believed God was calling him to be a pastor.  So after 2 years of working and saving in MI, my dad entered a new seminary, PRTS, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  During this time, I struggled to make friends at school, being naturally shy as well as being the “new kid” at school.  I also had a lot of fears when I was young – not just fears of not being accepted, but fear of the dark, fears of terminal illnesses, fear of death, fear of the unknown – you name it!  I remember being “dumped” from friendship by a girl in 6^th grade that I had so much fun with for a small, but blissful time.  She simply told me, “We just don’t have anything in common anymore.”  I never could understand this, and it devastated me, since I felt like with her I finally had a real friend in school I could have fun with.  Have you ever experienced this before, or been let down in a big way by a friend?  At such a young age, it’s amazing how much it affects you, isn’t it?!  My parents decided to home-school me in 7^th and 8^th grade, because they wanted to try it out, and also because they knew I was struggling socially in school.  Besides, my class was considered one of the most notorious ones in our school at the time (or so I’ve heard), because for some reason as my class grew up, they got more & more rebellious!  So I got taught at home a little Hebrew & Greek by my rather intellectual father, a thorough bit of grammar including sentence diagrams, as well as the rest of the subjects a middle-school kid generally gets. 

 However, it was at this time that my life took a turn down-hill, because as I hit puberty, I hit a stage in my life that my fears became the most real thing to me.  I was most of all afraid of dying.  You see, I had been brought up in a Christian family, and knew very well that if I died without Jesus as my Savior, I would go to hell.  I was scared-stiff of that.  Also, because of various growing-pains, all my fears became larger-than-life, and I would regularly get panic attacks and have crying spells in secret.  The main problem was that I knew I needed God, but I didn’t know how to get to Him.  I had been brought up in a Christian family and in church, but I just didn’t understand how salvation worked, or what it really meant to “believe.”  I knew my life had a very large void, an emptiness I couldn’t fill, and I knew God was supposed to be there.  I was empty, I was lonely, and I was very afraid.

You see, I knew in my heart that basically not just this world is full of sin and evil, but my heart was, too.  I was born this way, and so is everyone else – we simply all have an inclination to do wrong instead of right.  A lot of people argue this, but they forget that our motives are often the hugest factor in what makes a right-looking action, actually wrong.  You see, God sees us with His perfect standard of goodness, because He IS completely good and perfect, and this is what He sees: “There is none who does good, not even one!” (Psalm 14:3).  The most basic measurement God has given is in the 10 Commandments found in Exodus 20 – it’s like God’s 10 commands for human life.  We may think we do well, until we realize that these commands not only apply to our outward behavior, but our hearts, thoughts, and motives as well!  For example, when God says not to commit adultery, Jesus reminds us that when someone looks on a woman with lust, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart! (Matthew 5:28).  Wow!  With this kind of heart and thought-searching according to each of God’s commands, each one of us finds that we are all completely guilty!  Those that sin against God in any way are worthy of His punishment.  This punishment is in hell, because God’s justice goes way beyond ours: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."  (Revelations 21:8)   Hell is real, and I knew it!  And who of us can claim that we’ve never lied, never been faithless, never been cowardly, or never been immoral in our thoughts?  We all deserve God’s just punishment in hell.  (Some people say that hell isn’t fair, but they forget that we’re not the one who calls the shots on what’s fair – we don’t make the standards – God is the Creator, the Standard-Maker, and ultimately, the just Judge of the universe.  He’s the One that makes “fair” fair!  He knows complete fairness as well as complete goodness, because He is the epitome or height of fairness and goodness Himself.  And He always operates in complete fairness & goodness, consistent with His Person!).  So we’re in a predicament – we don’t want to go to hell, but that’s what’s coming to us, unless something drastic happens!

MY STORY - Part 2

And something drastic did happen, in history, as well as in my own life!  After several months of fear, crying, and utter misery as an emotionally & spiritually troubled preteen, it finally happened.  What happened?  God changed my life.  How did He do this?  Well, it started when I read a little book titled “Around the Wicket Gate,” by Charles Spurgeon.  Suddenly God helped me realize how I could get to Him, and have someone come between me and God’s just wrath – that wrath that I deserved to endure in hell, because I didn’t measure up to God’s fair standard of goodness.  I broke all of His laws, especially in my heart.  But God showed “the Way” to deal with this.  It was crazy-simple, but it was just as crazy in how amazing it was!  You see God has provided a way for us to be delivered from our sin, and saved from hell.  He gave us a Perfect Substitute who suffered for sin on the behalf of anyone who would believe in Him, and take Him in their hearts as their own personal Savior!  This Substitue-Savior is Jesus Christ, Who God sent to earth about 2,000 years ago.  He was the Son of God, but was also miraculously born as the human son of the virgin Mary (just as was predicted earlier in history, see Isaiah 7:14).  He also lived a perfect life (since He was the Son of God as well), and died a completely cruel, shameful death on the cross by the hands of the Romans.  God allowed this so that His Son could pay the full price of physical suffering, as well as spiritual torment on the cross – so that WE wouldn’t have to pay this in hell!  This substitution & salvation was complete with Jesus’ own words on the cross: “It is finished.” (John 19:30).  And not only does Jesus “purchase” for us a substitution & salvation so we don’t have to suffer God’s holy wrath against sin in hell, but He also purchased for us eternal life in heaven with Him, after we die physically!  He clearly says in Romans 6: 23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Wow!  And not only that (as if that weren’t enough), instead of being a natural heart-enemy of God, wanting to rebel against God’s ways and go our own way, constantly living in sin in our thoughts, words, and actions, we are changed around by God’s power to “become the children of God,” (John 1: 12) desiring and doing what is right by God’s grace and help.  Yet although we really are a “new creation,” (2 Corinthians 5:17), we still battle our “old nature” which remains until we are perfected in heaven.  This means we still sin at times, and have to repent and confess sins to God.  But we are encouraged in 1 John 1: 9 that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Wow, our faithful Father is always ready to forgive us because of Christ who’s already paid for those sins, in whom we believe with all our hearts!  And the truth is, even though we still deal with some sin, God gives us a completely new direction & focus – living for Him!  Instead of being a slave to sin, we are free in Christ to do what is right and truly good, and we want to do that!  Since we’ve transferred our trust from self to God, we have a solid foundation for life, a “paid” stamp on our long list of sins that we would’ve had to pay for ourselves in hell, a new First Love & Director in our lives, a kind & caring Father who promises to work all things for our good (Romans 8:28), as well as a sure hope of heaven. 

Can you identify with any of these things?  Have you experienced this transformation in your life?  Have you transferred your trust from self to God, and have been changed by God from serving yourself, to serving God?  You see, heaven isn’t for everyone!  What’s going on in heaven?  All those who’ve been redeemed by God are singing His praises for what He’s done in their lives to save them from their sins, and give them new spiritual life!  They’re singing His praises at what a great, holy, just, but also merciful (especially shown through Jesus!), kind, gracious, magnificent God He is!  No one that hasn’t had a first-had experience in trusting their heart, soul, and life with this God will be there!  No one that really doesn't seek after God and want to know Him better will be there!  We need to have Jesus Christ as our Savior to be there in heaven!

MY STORY - Part 3

So why did I share all this?  Because THIS is exactly what transformed my life at that fearful preteen state I was in, and also what characterizes my life now!  I live by these truths, and believe them firmly in my mind, heart, and soul.  And all these truths are found in the archeologically-tested, prophecy-confirming, self-sufficient, historically-accurate, and God-preserved words of the Bible!  My life changed then from fear to faith, from panic to trust, from misery to joy, all because God opened my eyes from spiritual deadness to see what spiritual life in Jesus Christ was all about, and He gave me faith to believe in His Son-Substitute, Jesus Christ, and receive Him into my heart!  God was my caring Father now, I had no need to fear disease or unknown, for He was in complete control of my life, and would work all for my good as He promised.  God’s Son Jesus was my Savior now, so I now longer had to fear death and hell, because He had took that on Himself for me.  And God’s Spirit was always with me, so that I never had to be afraid of being alone, because He promises that His Spirit dwells within us when we believe in Him (John 14:17, 1 Corinthians 3: 16).  What an incredible change in my life!

So my life went from being characterized by fear, to being characterized by faith!  Later I found out that even my sisters noticed a definite change in me at that time!  After moving to New Jersey around the 8^th grade, I attended a small Christian school for a few years where I did make friends (even though I still had to battle my shyness).  God somewhere along the line broke through for me in this area when I was in high school, when I started noticing some women in my church that I wanted to be like.  They were selfless, giving, out-going, and thoughtful, and I wished I could be like them!  So I decided finally that I would do my very best, relying on God’s help, to be more out-going and others-focused.  I also found a new way to get over my shyness: I would try to find other lonely, shy people and go up to them and talk to them.  This way I could help them by trying to be a friend to them, as well as help myself in trying to be less shy and more others-focused. 

After a few years at that private, Christian school in NJ, my parents decided to home-school again, and I finished my last years of high school at home, as well as at the local community college.  I got fascinated with Human Biology when I home-school, and decided to make it a two year course, because I wanted to soak it all up!  So I ended up deciding to go for nursing in college, which I majored in at the Ramapo College of NJ, and graduated in 4 years with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a Spanish minor.

Then, after a year and a half of working as a nurse on a cardiac floor at a hospital in NJ, I married the love of my life!  I actually met him at my brother’s wedding, so I suppose, as they say, “love was in the air!”  We married this past year on April 24^th, 2010.  During the year of 2010 I helped my husband on the farm we rented, did some visiting of our families in various states around Christmas-time (see “Holiday Highlights”!), and then started a home-improvement kick.  We have since remodeled our two bathrooms (the master bath completely), and we’re currently working on some landscaping.  We hope to finish with putting a cement floor down in our garage, and refinishing a piano to move into the house as soon as it’s done!  Curt hopes to attend state police academy (he was just accepted), and in the meantime I will be starting a full-time job again as a nurse, Lord willing!  All in God’s timing!  We’re excited for the plans He has for our lives, since He promises us He plans our future in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  And all His promises are “yes” and “amen” in Jesus Christ, our Savior! (2 Corinthians 1:20).  Praise God!

Holiday Highlights are over!

Dear family & friends,

Holiday Highlights are over!  I hope you enjoyed getting a taste of our holidays in Kentucky, Arkansas, and New Jersey and seeing pictures of our family members...

As promised, sometime soon hopefully I will post a "2010 in Pictures" and will give you a mini picture album of what this past year was like for Curtis and I.

Upcoming now, though, I have a 3-part post called "my story" that I've promised to certain of you! ;)  I hope you all enjoy reading it!  I decided to post part one last, so it's easier to read with the first part being at the top of the page.  Enjoy, and don't forget to leave your comments & thoughts!  I'd love for you to share a little of your story as well!

With love,
Joanna

Holiday Highlights #6: LAST ONE! :D ...A New Year in New Jersey

 Punky-Gerto, as she's fondly nick-named (don't ask! haha), 

with the baby-doll she got from Curt & I for Christmas!  Adorable sweetie-pie with those little pig-tails I put in her hair! :) :) :)

Ok, so I forgot how much it can snow in New Jersey!!! So this is the mid-western born & bred girl that I am, speaking right now, but I have to say... I miss it!  (Not the shoveling & driving part, just the fun of it all and the vast beauty of God's creation of snow!!!)  This was a crazy blizzard that came just a few days before we were supposed to leave to drive back to KY!

So this is an almost completely buried car!  I pity the owner - the plows just kept pushing the snow on that side again & again, no matter how much the neighbors on that side of the street shoveled!  Poor guys!  

 Ok, so this is the totally buried car, minus that side-view mirror!  (And no help, except on the side from snow-plows)!!!  Crazy, crazy, crazy blizzard!

 Ethan could barely walk in it!!!  

But there he was, determined to help with his shovel, along with the rest of the guys!

 Curt & Peter shoveling out Mom Crick's van.

 Mandy & Adrielle - aren't they just so stinkin' cute?!!

 Awww, just look at that smile - caught this moment candid as Adrielle played with her Uncle Dan.

"Ok, you're turn!"  Adrielle let's Uncle Dan take a turn on her cell phone conversation.  :) Adrielle LOVES talking on the phone!!! She's been known to take the phone from Momma Mandy or Auntie Lyd and blabber away - she always has so much to say!!!  

 Mandy & Pete eating at Chili's with us!  Delicious!

 I liked this pic of Mandy & Pete inside the glowing chili pepper!  It's actually not a neon sign chili pepper, it's a painted red chili's napkin holder that lit up with the setting I used on the camera!!

 Uncle Curt, Auntie Jo, and Adrielle at Chili's!!

 Our gorgeous sister Mandy & lil bro Ethan!

 Bottle-time with Auntie Jo before nap-time - soooo sleepy!

AW!  I think the lil punkin just woke up here!  At least she still seems pretty happy 

to be with one of her babysitters - Auntie Jo!

Andy, Trish, Olive, and Eden Gruswitz - awesome friends of my family, and great musicians!  They even have their own music teaching business in NJ, and you can find it at http://www.olivetreemusicstudio.com/!!  

We had such a fun jam session that night, 

complete with Andy's guitar, Trish's violin, Pete's clarinet, and our voices! So much fun!  

I miss being able to hang out with these people terribly!  

But they're truly awesome friends!!

 Ethan & Olive - they had so much fun together!

 Mom Crick with Ethan & Adrielle - can you feel all the love?!

 I think we were actually playing Boggle in this picture!  (Mandy was just using the Taboo box to have something to write on).  Apparently it went something like this:

Mandy: Bwahahahahahahaha!

Curtis: Hahahaha - Gotcha sister!

Pete: I'm not sure what to think about this.

Adrielle: I'm leaving!

Ethan: What is going on here?!

 Curt & Adrielle together... this was our last night in NJ, 

and Adrielle was obviously very sad to have to say goodbye! ;)

Holiday Highlights #5: An Arkansas New Year!

This trip to Arkansas was about a week long that went over New Year's!!  We had such an amazing time, as always, with our beloved family, as well as with the GRCC church family!  

Some of the best memories were: basketball at the church across the street (with Dad, too!), New Year's eve get together at Neptune's (with lots of good food, great ping pong games, and even better people), family devotions, (especially singing with the fam), delicious lasagna dinner and Wii fun at the Keymer's, great visit (with amazing home-made caramel dip 'n apples) with the Silvy's, a night of friendly discussions & games with Rg, fellowship & services at church, shopping in Branson with the fam & Andrew, visiting Esther's (admittedly amazing) college, Micky D's with the family, and just being at the home sweet home of AR! 

Here's most of the Lipsy "kids" + Curtis (along with Andrew Jonkman visiting from Canada) at Esther's college: College of the Ozarks!  The college property ends on a cliff that overlooks a gorgeous view of the valley below.

Left to right: Elisabeth, Lydia, Esther, Joanna, Curtis, Andrew Jonkman, Nathanael.

Oh, it's the sisters (minus Martha)!!!  How I wish I could make them all live near us in Kentucky!!!  Enjoying a little sparkling apple juice Curt & I brought along as a gift!

 The handsomest hubby with Andrew.

 The Keymer family!  They had us over for a delicious dinner while we were in AR!

 The Silvy's!! We went to their house to visit as well!  I love both of these families!!!

 This was New Year's eve at the Neptune's home!!  My mom is relaxing in the chair on the left! :)

 Mom & Dad Lipsy at the Silvy's home

The family with Andrew!  

We must come back to AR soon - I miss all of you too much!!!  

But I love you all dearly!!!!!

Holiday Highlights #4: Some family love around Christmas-time at our house!

So this was the Monday after Christmas we six all got together, as a last shin-dig with Mandy & Pete before Curt, Lydia, and I headed out that very day for Arkansas!  Woohoo!  Great memories!

 Hanging out at our house with Mandy & Pete, Lydia, and Ethan!  We enjoyed some sparkling pear juice while we played the game Buzzword! Have you played it?  It's actually quite fun - as long as you've got a pretty quick mind & you're good with word-association!  Our brother-in-law Quinn is probably the all-time family champion!

 The adorable little munchkin next to my Christmas bear that I got in Mexico one year.  (He does have two eyes, you just can't see his right one the way he's tilted!)  This bear was from 12-year-old boy who might have been flirting with me (?)  I never quite figured that one out! haha!  He was very shy!

 Curt & I - so crazy in love still!!!  And here we've been 9 months married! (Ok, yes, we're still newlyweds, but we've got to admit: we haven't found anyone else as crazy in love as we are!  Mandy & Pete, you guys come in second! ;)

P.S. Don't worry, Curt - I didn't fall for that 12-yr.-old Mexican boy's flirting (if he was anyway, that is!)

 Soooo.... I realized very soon before Mandy & Pete came over that it was their anniversary that day (Monday)!  So I quickly wrote "Happy Anniversary" on the (almost) half of a chocolate cake I had made that weekend before! lol!  And by the look on Pete's face, it looks like Mandy & Pete are still good at feeding each other, even after their wedding two years earlier! :)

 The lovely anniversarians, Pete & Mandy!  Even if that isn't a word, I think it should be! ;)

Lydia and Adrielle in front of the Christmas tree!  I don't know how many times we tried to take this shot - but I think this was the best I got! haha!  Oh, but they're just so cute!  (Ok, yes, I'm a little biased.)

This picture is from another around-Christmas-time event at our house - I think it might have been to celebrate Curt's sister Kim's birthday!  You've got Dad Crick on the left, then Mom Crick feeding her grandson Cayman, and Cayman's daddy Quinn on the right. 

Holiday Highlights #3: An Even Bigger Crick Christmas - Extended Family on Christmas Eve

 Curt & I - I look a little sleepy, don't I?!

 There's a picture of my gorgeous sis Lydia - proof she was in KY!  She's sitting next to Curt's cousin Stacy.

 In this pic, along with my brother Peter & "Papaw Latham," we have 5 generations represented!  Great-grandma Fuller, "Mamaw Latham," Mom Crick, Amanda Crick, and Adrielle!!!!

  

 Some cousin love!!!

 Adrielle helps Stacy sweep the floors....

A view of our table at the get-together!  On the closer side of the table from right to left, you've got the back of Mom Crick, my brother Peter, Curt's brother Ethan, and Curtis!  In the background from left to right: Curt's cousin Josh, Uncle Tim, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Anthony!  And I think that's Uncle Anthony's wife Jessica sitting down.

A combination of fantastic food prepared by Mamaw, the aunts, & the cousins, along with good memories made being with the extended family this Christmas, this get-together was a success!

New Design!!!

Hi all!

Well, needless to say, I've gotten sucked into the blogging world a little deeply tonight, and decided to completely redo the look... I have also added a gadget or two. Let me know what you think, and what suggestions you have from your blogging! Thank you! :D