josiahoslund-blog

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10,084 Reasons

My little book on worship has reached 10,000 downloads on iTunes according to my Lulu.com account:

Now I realize that's approximately 10million copies short of becoming a bestseller. And who knows how many people downloaded it just because it was free and have yet to crack it open? Or maybe they did open it, thought me to be an idiot and quickly deleted it? It is by no means a masterpiece as I have been graciously reminded of it's desperate need for editing, and it is surely too brief to ever be considered significant...

BUT...

It has helped people in: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom, and yes - even the United States. I am tearing-up as I read this list and can't help but lift up a prayer for these leaders around the world who long to see God's Kingdom come in their corner of the earth - just as much as I do in mine. This list doesn't even include folks that I've had the honor of talking to from places like Zimbabwe and New Zealand (who must have dug a copy out of someone else's trash).

First, I would like to say thank you.

Thank you Jesus for multiplying my meager offering. Thank you Apple and Lulu for broadcasting my message to the world for free. Thank you Joel for daring me to write it. Thank you reader for wading through the noise to hopefully find some nuggets of truth.

Second, I would like to extend an invitation to pray with me - wherever you are.

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

1. Spend some time this week fervently seeking the heart of God and praying for revival in your land (your country, state, city, on your street).

2. Look for opportunities to usher in a little bit of the Kingdom everywhere you go (work, grocery store, school, home, etc). A kind word, act or smile can go a long way in someone else's day:).

3. What are you thankful for? Go about this week with an attitude of gratitude - thanking God and people as you go.

God Bless!

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10,000 Reasons

I am going to be a foster parent.

Let me describe why this is a horrible idea:

1. I don’t have time for it. Seriously. Between full-time ministry, running a side business, fixing-up my 50’s ranch house, family time, travel, shopping, laundry, yard work, and the hope of a social life - I already run maxed-out most of the time. Do you remember the last time you felt bored? I can’t.

2. I’m an introvert. People drain me. I love them and my mission on earth is people - but I can’t love them well without spending regular, uninterrupted chunks of time in isolation to recharge my emotional batteries. Most parents would probably agree that parenting even their biological children can at times put their emotions, stress, and time to the limits. Multiply that by the possibility of severe trauma, behavioral issues, various addictions, incident documentation, legal processes, restricted travel and the fact that they don’t want to be with you in the first place. My “alone time” faces more than one challenger.

3. I am single (wow - that actually hurt to write). I was raised by a single-mom and I have the utmost respect for single parents - but why would someone voluntarily choose to become a single parent of non-biological children? How am I supposed to date, travel and do all the other fun things that singleness offers?

4. Confidentiality. Who do I get to complain to when I encounter the impossible? Not you. Is the emotional, physical, mental burden to great for one person to carry?

There are probably 10,000 reasons that I shouldn’t be a foster parent - but let me give you one reason that I should:

Jesus.

(to be continued...)

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Who needs flash? http://metronomer.com now let's you generate .mp3's plugin-free!

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The Power of Sound

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Sweet new speaker stand + a practical use for my book

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A verse from the hymn “How Great Thou Art” designed by Joshua Krohn (@joshuakrohn).

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New App: ToDo

ToDo

I am not a naturally organized person - but my job and personal life depend on me getting things done - and sometimes things don't get done. It's not that I don't have strong work ethic - rather I have proclivity to get "caught up" in the tasks that I enjoy and thereby inadvertently neglect others.

This week I read The Miracle of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracey. One of the parts that helped me most was his ABCDE Method for prioritizing tasks. I wondered if I were able to hold myself accountable to checking-off the right tasks (rather than my favorites) first, if I would ultimately be able to get more accomplished each week? Being a bit of a techie, Brian's paper & pen exercise left me wishing for an app on my iPhone - so I went looking for one, but after quite some time of searching and sorting through hundreds of apps, I thought I might just as easily create my own. So I did.

My needs for the app were simple:

Create/Modify/Mark Completed/Delete tasks

Prioritize tasks using ABCDE Method - all A's get grouped together at the top of my list as a visual reminder not to start any B items until all of my A items are complete, etc.

Wrap it as a web app with offline access and local storage cache so I could add it to my iPhone's home screen and use it as though it were a 'native app'.

That was it. No categories. No reminders. No due dates. Just priorities.

So I fired-up Espresso (my editor of choice) and within about 45min I was finished (including 3min in Photoshop to create a home screen icon). (In fact, it will probably take me longer to write this post than it did to create the app).

Check it out

How to add app to home screen

Caveats:

Tested only in iOS 7 and Safari 6.

I used classList, localStorage and cachemanifest which are only supported by recent browsers in an effort to keep the code light and vanilla. Theoretically, it should be compatible with Safari 5.1+, Chrome 8.0+, Firefox 3.6+, IE10+, Opera 11.50+, Android 3.0+, Firefox Mobile 1.0+,  IE Phone 10+, Opera Mobile 11.10+, Safari Mobile 5.0+.

No account signup = no syncing across multiple devices. Although, I might consider adding this in the future.

Let me know what you think!

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My perfect world...

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Send some love to my kid brother...

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I love my ghetto trailer. #urbanhillbilly

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Supercharged waterslide? Get yourself to block party tonight @renovationphx! (at Renovation Church)

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Song of the Day x10

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And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner (via bookmania)

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“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime” Psalm 30:5 designed by Ashley Hill.