Name:Michael Country:United States Birthday:8/7/1987 Gender:Male
Interests:Football, baseball, hunting, gaming, a good movie, friends and family, and most important: Jesus Christ. Expertise:Classical piano, sort of. Occupation:Student
You know what I have been struck by recently? God has been so good to me over the past little while...my entire life, but especially the past little while. I would just like to give God the glory by telling you about the way God has blessed my life.
1. He has given me Jesus. Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, the Spotless Lamb, the Great I AM, the Lion of Judah, the Rock of Ages, the Desire of Nations, died on an old rugged cross for my sins, when I was still far from Him and lost in my sin. Such Love we can never understand, yet the Lord of Heaven freely gives it to us, because He loves us. I was recently in convocation, and the speaker talked about the Fatherly Love of God, referencing the story of the prodigal son. We all who call Jesus Lord and Master at one time were that prodigal son, but thank God, when we come home to Him, He runs to us, throws His almighty arms around us, and weeps over us. Then He invites us into His house, and He slaughters the fattened calf, puts a robe on us, a ring on our finger, and sandals on our feet. He welcomes us back as His children, though we deserve to be cast out of His house and into the muck and mire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I am so thankful for love like that, aren't you? If you have not accepted that Love yet, what on earth are you waiting for? How can you resist Love like that?
2. He has given me great friends. I am so blessed to have many, many friends in life. I have over 500 friends on Facebook now, and though I do not keep up with every one of them, they have all been a part of my life at some point before, or else I know them through the grapevine of my parents, which I don't mind at all. There is absolutely no such thing as too many frineds, and if you believe that, you need to rethink your position. Friends are a blessing from God. God is our Friend, too. That is just awesome to think of isn't it? If He is not your Friend, He sincerely desires to be.
3. He has given me a great educational experience, which is still a work in progress. I am just overjoyed with my studies at Liberty. Except for College Algebra, I look forward to all my classes. And I even realize that God will help me to understand that complex subject too. All glory to God, He has blessed me with a good mind, and I intend to use that mind to bring honor and glory to Him in all I do in life.
Not only Liberty, but SVCC, and especially RBC, have been great experiences. At RBC, I made so many friendships, many of them lifelong, and strengthened ties with the friends that I attended with from back home. It is so nice to keep up with RBC friends online, and just see how God is moving in their lives to.
4. He is leading me into my career. This afternoon, I was once again blown away by the goodness of the Lord as I took a computer competency examination that was a required part of the application process to get involved with Liberty's IT department. Now on the exam, there was a whole bunch of questions about Macintosh (which I have nearly zero experience with) and other things. So as I took the exam, I asked the Lord for help. You know what? About a half hour later, I got an email. It read as follows:
Dear Michael Horst,
After reviewing your Computer Assessment Test, we feel that you may be a good candidate for our open position. We will be contacting you within the next two weeks to begin the interviewing process.
Sincerely,
IT HelpDesk Management
Do you have any idea how happy that made me? God is SO GOOD! Praise His holy Name!
These are just a few of the areas that God has been leading me. There are other areas as well, but these are a few of the main ones that I want to point out. I want this entry to be an encouragement to anyone who may be downtrodden and feel that God has abandoned you. Listen: God NEVER abandons you. You just can't feel His presence sometimes. Even King Hezekiah, one of the most righteous Israelite kings, felt this way at times. Just read about him.
I am overjoyed to share this blog with you. I pray that you may be encouraged by what you read here.
Well, ladies and gents, I have decided to return to Xanga yet again. I am not sure, but in the near future, I may leave Xanga and start a new blog, but for now I will keep on posting here.
Wow, so much has happened since I last posted. All I have to say is God is SO good. Wow, I have always known that God is good, but the past two months have been just amazing. I will let all of you in on some of the things that have been going on with me over the past while.
First of all, the apprenticeship with Kenneth Mann is not working too well. It seems like back in July when we were slow, we should have trained, but didn't. Now he is so busy with his own work that he does not have time to train me, and I am not to the point where he wants to send me out on my own jobs. So I am going to have to try and find something else in the meantime. More on this later.
As far as school, I have started school at Liberty University, and I have to say, this is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Liberty is an amazing school. The classes are enjoyable, the professors knowledgeable, the campus beautiful, and the main emphasis is spiritual. That is one thing that sets LU apart from most other colleges in this country, and this world. The Bible is the center of everything. Creationism is taught as fact (which it is) and evolution is debunked as a false theory (which it is). The convocations (for those of you who don't know, the English word for that is "chapel") are amazing. They have a wonderful worship time, followed by a good speaker.
And I have not even gotten to the classes yet! My morning starts bright and early Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:00 am with either a "deet! deet! deet!" or the theme song to Star Wars arousing me from my bed. After a shower and throwing on some clothes, I grab my books, my computer, and my coffee mug, and head out the door and off to Liberty, which is about 40 minutes away. My first class of the morning starts at 7:40 am - College Algebra. Now if you know me well enough, you know where this is headed. I HATE this class. I do not know why I am not more adept in mathematics, but it really irks me that I sit down to do stuff and it seems like I just can't figure it out no matter how hard I try. But I do try, and will continue to try. I want to do the best I can while I am here.
Anyway, after CA lets out, I have about an hour and a half to hang out and do whatever before convocation. Convocation is usually about an hour long, and let me tell you - at Liberty, unless you have access to premium parking spaces, it is best to NEVER drive. I tried that my first day - and was late to 2 classes. Not something that I want to get in the habit of doing. So then I tried the bus, but that takes forever too. Either you stand at the bus stop and wait for 20 minutes or else you get on a bus outside the Vines Center (LU's basketball court and main assembly center) and hope that it is going to where you want it to go. I have found that walking is the quickest way to get around. May not be the fastest, but it is the quickest.
Anyway, after convocation, I have to walk close to half a mile or more to Speech class. And once you get to the building, you have to walk for another five minutes inside to get to your classroom. But Speech is a fun class, and it is a subject material that I actually comprehend. On Mondays, we all have class together in one of the main lecture halls of Campus North. About 400 people in one room. Then Wednesdays and Fridays we have classes by section. There are about 20 people in a section.
After Speech is over, it is back over to Main Campus (which is where DeMoss and the Vines Center are located) for lunch and after that, it is on to my favorite class of the day: Old Testament Suvey with Dr. Harvey Hartman. This man is amazing - he has such passion for God's Word and he is so personable in his lecture. He makes it come alive to us. This class is in the Elmer Towns Alumni Lecture Hall, which is right across from DeMoss on University Boulevard. I think this class hosts about 700-800 students, though I am not sure. I do know the class is huge.
Anyway, after that, I go back across the street to DeMoss for Computing Foundations and Ethics with Dr. James Jones. That is a fun class. It is computers - do I need to say any more about it? :)
My final class of the day is GNED 101- Contemporary Issues. This is a class that all students - freshman and transfer - must take within their first year at Liberty. It is actually a two-part class (GNED 101 and GNED 102). It is taught (at least my class) by Dr. Will Honeycutt. He has a pretty good sense of humor, and it makes the class very enjoyable. The class is basically about developing a Biblical worldview.
After that, it is back home for me.
I am so excited about my time at Liberty. I am so glad that the Lord has given me the oppurtunity to attend here. It is an amazing place, a place that will challenge me physically (with the walking to class), mentally, and spiritually.
Hopefully in two years, I will be walking across the stage to recieve a B.S. in Computer Science from Dr. Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Until then, however, I will study hard and work hard at being the best I can be. I am currently trying to secure employment with the IT office here at Liberty, not only to make money, but to get valuable on-the-job experience which will help with my studies in the field.
Well, I believe that if I do not stop typing, I will contract carpal tunnelis. So goodbye for now, my friends. Please remember me in prayer as I attend at LU.
You know what? I am amazed at the faithfulness of God. In spite of all the boneheaded things that I do, I find that He still loves me with an evelasting love and wants what is best for me.
The Lord has provided work for me. It is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time, and it is what I want to do for a living: computer repair. I am now the apprentice (man, that sounds like something else I know, that happend long ago in a galaxy far, far away...lol) of Kenneth Mann, The Computer Guy. He lives in Meherrin, VA which is about 10 minutes outside Farmville. This job is going to perfectly complement my studies in computer science this fall at Liberty.
Well, i find myself at a point in life where I am trying to figure things out. I am really being drawn to Liberty University, but am so unsure of how it is all going to shake out. I am hoping that I will be able to room with a friend at his house and get a job on campus while I go to school. Just pray for me that God will give me the wisdom that I need to move in the right direction.
