Friday, August 5, 2011

My Adventures to Date: 8.04.2011

Call me Nathan. 

I currently reside in Coeur d'Alene Idaho and have lived there for almost twelve years. I am a Christ-follower and was a pastor's kid (though "PK" is the term I prefer). I have played the cello since the age of 11 and I plan on pursuing a career in music. I have a wonderful church family whom I love insanely and a Father in Heaven whom I love even more! I am very involved at church singing and playing cello in the band and even more involved with music. 

I spend most of every year practicing, rehearsing, attending private lessons, driving to Spokane (40 minutes) every Monday night for Youth Symphony rehearsal, and competing in solo/concerto competitions and participating in Honor Orchestras such as All-State, All-Northwest, & All-American in places all across the country ranging from Seattle to Washington DC. I do all of this while taking rigorous AP classes at school. Needless to say that by the time Summer rolls around every year, sleep and I spend quite a bit of time catching up. 

I have a very supportive family. My parents, Paul and Leslie, and siblings, Bethany and Noah. They're amazing. They attend all of my concerts even though classical music isn't really their thing and they're always there for me. They're each crazy in their own special way and my love for them is crazy as well.

Yo hablo espanol y he estado tomandolo para tres anos. Quiero ser fluido. 

I am dating a girl by the name of Ashley Goff and we have been together for almost two years! She is my best friend as well as one of the most amazing people I've known. We like to look for adventures. Last summer we realized that we'd each lived in CDA for like twelve years and hadn't seen everything there was to see in our town. So we spent all summer looking for hiking trails, and kayaking our lakes and finding interesting restaurants we hadn't been to and stuff like that . One of our favorite discoveries was this place on Tubbs Hill with a set of caves and an awesome jump rock. That summer was the best. Over the course of our adventures I began to see the mundane as quite as being distasteful. Not that it had seemed tasteful to me before but I suddenly realized that my life could be a heck of a lot less boring. 

The following school year (my senior year) turned out to be anything but boring. I ended up getting a LOT more than I bargained for and frankly, it sucked. That, however, is an adventure I shall wait to share until a later time. Some stories, I believe, require the teller to be far enough removed from course of events he/she describes so that the bigger picture can be included. That is one of those stories and I am not yet far enough removed. 

I love my life. Even though I have hard and good times God takes care of me through it all and it things always get back to the way they should be. I have no complaints. 

I am writing this blog because I am about to leave all of this on a new set of adventures! 

Last summer I visited Wheaton College near Chicago while on a roadtrip with my family. It was a fairy long roadtrip. It took us a month. Yeah. Anyway, I knew within minutes of being there that I wanted to go to Wheaton and I made that clear early on to my mom who gave me this funny look and told me to get a job because there was no way that I could afford the $40,000 tuition. So after nine months, one audition, and many MANY grueling hours spent in the application process, the Lord came through and provided a financial package that covered almost all of my tuition! I felt so blessed! So in a couple weeks I will commence my life on my own, away from home, and on the other side of the country as a full-time music major at the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College!

Before that new life however, I have one more adventure to complete. Tomorrow I leave the country along with 14 other church friends to go and minister to the town of El Progreso, Honduras. We leave tomorrow afternoon as a group and will arrive in Honduras the evening of the next day. While down there, we will be building two Sunday-School classrooms as well as a kitchen and will help lead a Vacation Bible School Sports program as well as a feeding program for the poor in the city. I am expecting to see God’s hand like I haven’t ever seen it before while I’m down there because I’ve already seen it numerous times in preparation for the trip! I know that
God has unbelievable plans for the people of Honduras while we’re down there as well as unbelievable plans for us. 

ꜟTambien, estoy tan emocionado para poder usar mi espanol cuando hablo con los nativos!

And so, with Honduras being tomorrow, and college being immediately after that, I find myself experiencing my last night at home. I am overwhelmingly grateful for the life I have had here in CDA and for the wonderful people that God has placed in my life. The primary purpose of this blog is to keep those wonderful people in the know about my adventures so that I can keep all of those relationships. My hope, however, is that it will grow into something more where the lessons I learn through my adventures and encounters with God will be an encouragement for anyone who reads of them.

So there it is! My adventures up to date! I will miss you all while I am gone and will very much look forward to my visits home! 
Sincerely,
-Nathan
 
P.S. Here’s a great nineties video by Steven Curtis Chapman (one of my favorite childhood songs) that I thought was appropriate. 

5 comments:

  1. Very well stated...God's hand is on you. I am anticipating great joy in reading about your journey. You are regularly in my prayers.

    Pastor Chuck

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  2. Bravo! I cannot wait to hear what's next. I'll be praying for you and wishing you many blessings with each new discovery.

    Wendy

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  3. Well put! I look forwards to hearing about your ongoing adventures - you are going to THRIVE at college. :-)

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  4. It's time you and I posted some new posts! The adventures never stop!

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  5. Love, love love this blog but I'm thinking it must be time for an update.

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