Tomorrows My 19th Birthday

Wow, It is hard to believe that whole another year has passed by and it that tomorrow I am turning 19. Life goes by way to fast. I guess that is why we should focus on cherishing each moment that God gives us. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but that is something I have been working in the past year, just cherishing the moment. We never know if the next minute could bring our last breath. It is really sobering when you think about it. Well, God bless you all.

Justin

Snow Pictures

Well, it snow again yesterday, so I will post pictures. Here they are!!!

Jacob

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!!

Prayer Request

Hi All, 

Please pray for my grandfather. He is going in for open heart surgery tomorrow. Please pray that God would guide the doctor's hands. Also, He is not saved. Please pray that he would except the Lord as his Savior and that the Lord would keep him safe until he does except Him. Thanks in advance.

In Christ,

Justin Grassmyer

P.S. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

Snow

It's Snowing It's Snowing. Yes, as you can see I am totally excited because we are getting the first snow of the year. Right now!!!!! Finally, I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but I love snow. Yes, it is not a lot, but that is okay. I will post some pictures later when I get the chance of course.

Later,

J

Devotions

We started this week giving each family member a verse for each of us to breakdown in the chapter we are studying. We are studying Psalm 1! This is the verse that I had to study out. I hope this is a encouragement to someone.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Ps. 1:2a But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

The word But connects the previous thought and compares the actions of the ungodly to the actions of the godly.

The word Delight in Hebrew is Chaphets. It means to be pleased with or to desire.

His delight shows that those who are not ungodly delight in-

-In the Law of the Lord

The Hebrew word for Law is Towrah or Torah which means precept or statute and the word precept comes from the Hebrew word Tsav which means commandment. The word Hebrew word for Statues is Choq (khoke) which means necessary ordinance.

So, in JDG this verse says "But my great desire is for the commandments of God." Or "But the Godly man is pleased with the commandments of God

Ps. 1:2b And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And in his law, the commandments of God

Doth He, This is what he does.                                                                                             

Meditate means to murmur or ponder. So, that means that we think deeply about what we see, hear, and, read.

Day and night basically means all the time.

So, again in JDG version this verse says "And in the commandments or words of the Lord I do ponder all the time.

As people striving to be godly we must delight, find pleasure, in the law of the Lord and and ponder on what we learned all the time.

Remembrance Day Parade

This weekend we had a parade in honor of the Union forces that died during the battle of Gettysburg.
It was a lot of fun. We march about a mile and a half down main street. It was a lot of fun. The funny thing is... ... I was really hoping that my shoes wouldn't come untied, but sure enough we step off for the parade and what happens??? My shoe come untied... and every time we stopped we started again before I had time to tie them. O' well, what can I say.

Here are the pictures!!!!

Abraham Lincoln

Fredrick Douglas

Our unit The 100th Pennsylvania

The punishment for braking the rules was that you had to wear the offense written on a board.

Truck

I am so extremely excited. I finally started putting together my truck engine yesterday. It should be completely rebuilt by this afternoon!!!!!

Reenactment

Okay, so it has been a while since I have posted. I have been trying to find time within the last two weeks to post. So, I will post about two weekends ago. Alright, I had an incredible weekend. I went down to Virginia to reenact at the battle of Cedar Creek. It was the largest reenactment I have ever been too, but it was small compared to some the other Reenactments that go on.  There were 3,000 re-enactors in attendance minus the walk-ons plus 200 cavalry. There were also a couple of batteries of artillery. It was a great event. Some friends and I went down on Friday night to set up camp and were there through the end of the event.

     When I say set-up camp I mean that we slept in the authentic tents and lived basically as the soldiers did in that time. It was great. I paid to not shower for three days plus smell like gunpowder, wood smoke and bacon. I can’t wait until I can go again. 

One of the four camps.

The picture up above is the 2nd USV. This is the battalion that I was in.

The blessed fire

I can't tell you how much I looked forward to the fire in the morning. The first night someone put it out when everyone turned in and it took them what seemed like forever the next morning to get it going. 

The second morning I got up at 4:50 to go out on a morning tactical exercise. When I got up it was around 40 degrees and I wanted something warm in my stomach so bad. I left a tin cup of water next to the fire the night before so that I would have something warm the next morning, but  unfortunately I left it to close to the fire and it all boiled away. I do not think I have ever been that disappointed in my life.

Well, I am done rambling now. Talk to you all later.

Today

Going to work on my truck.... It is a never ending process I am afraid. Ya'll should have seen me when I came home yesterday. I was completely black all over with grease and loving every minute of it. Later

Joseph at Sight & Sound

I went to Sight & Sound yesterday and saw Joseph and it was incredible!!!! It is probably the best play I have seen in a long time. I would love to work there!

This week!

Well, this week has been pretty low key. I had tryouts on monday. Waiting to hear what part I have. I worked on my truck and stuff. The engine is almost ready to get dropped in. I started working on recording some Christmas music for a cd. Well, That is all for know. Later

Lately

Well, everything around here has slowed down. I have Auditions on monday and I am going to go work on my truck for a little. I don't really know what else I am going to do today. Later, JD

New Template!

Well, Everyone what do you think? Comment and let me know.

Summer Travels (a.k.a I am finally home!)

I am back home now and am finishing up my summer. I had a great time. My team was awesome!!! I love each and everyone of them.  In my spare time this summer I have been working on enhancing my photography skills. Here are a couple of pictures that I took during the summer.

Sunset in South Carolina

Cincinnati, Ohio 

I had a lot of fun with my team. We did some awesome stuff together. We went camping, went to an amusement park, and we got to go to the Creation Museum. We also had fun performing our play together. The play we put on was Creation, Evolution, and the Flood. I was able to play the part of Noah.

     Well, I had a great time traveling this summer and hope that I can do it again, but most of all this is what God taught me this summer. This summer has changed a lot of things in my life. Seeing God working in lives is something very special and awesome to see.  Experiencing God’s goodness every day as you're serving Him as well as working with a group of people focused on serving Him  is an amazing experience. If any of you readers have the opportunity to go and do missions work for a summer don’t miss the chance to do it. Lay aside other less important things in your life and go do it. It will change your life in so many ways! It has mine! God has taught me a lot of things this summer, but most of all He has changed my outlook on life. Life isn’t about us. It isn’t about what we want. Life is a ministry and everything we do while we are still on this earth will have an effect on people in a positive or negative way. Think about that for a minute. When you go to the grocery store, people are watching you. When you are out with your friends, they are watching you! Are you being a good example for Christ or are you going with the flow? This summer I have had to give up things that I really wanted for the unity of the team. It was really hard because some of those things were good things, but in God’s grace He showed me that some of the things that I wanted I wasn’t ready to handle yet. It wasn’t easy handing those things over to God. I still wish that I could go back and change some of the things that I did wrong this summer, but I can’t. I already did them. God has given me a desire to see souls saved. He has worked in my life to show me that if I can get up on stage and present the gospel to a large crowd of people then I shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to share it on a daily personal basis. He gave his life for me and I am afraid to give somebody a tract? This summer we had 30 people accept the Lord as their personal Savior! How awesome is that! We were able to perform our play at a Juvenile Detention Center. We had fifteen young men accept the Lord as their personal Savior that night. To see the joy on their faces was an experience in itself. It really made me appreciate the life that I have been raised in and all that God has done for me. This summer has also taught me to trust in God and follow Him. Not everything will be in my control. I need to just let God do all the work. That is what I have learned this summer. Thank you to all those who were praying for me. I really felt your prayers. Thanks!

I hope that some of this will be an encouragement to someone.

In Christ,

JD

I am Home!

Everything has slowed down. I am back home and am recovering from a long, but great summer.

Serving God is a great thing and now that I have started I do not ever want to stop. Well, God has really worked in my heart this summer. He has changed a lot of things in me that needed to be changed. I have learned to keep my focus on him and am learning to listen to that still small voice. Goodnight everyone.

Creation Museum!!!!!!

Today, I went to the creation museum with my team! It was awesome. There was so much information. Here are some pictures.

This on is for the Dales.....

This is outside the museum.

This is the creation room.

Signing off,
JD

It has been a while.

Hey Everyone,

I am doing well and am enjoying my summer! Today is a free day and we are just relaxing. A couple of the people on our team were sick, so we are letting them rest. We went to a water park on Tuesday for a group activity and we all had a great time. The preformances have gone great and we have 38 more to go. Sometime this summer I will try to get some pictures up. Don't count on it though. It is hard to get access to a computer. Talk to you all later. 

In Christ,

JD

Update!

Today, I had a good day. It is pouring down raining outside and it is the best thunderstorm that I have seen in a while. I am trying to post photos of my time here. It might be a while till I can put them up. Please pray for one of my team mates. He is pretty sick and hasn't been down since Sunday. Talk to you all later.

JD

Last night!

Hey All,

So far everything is going well. Last night we went down town for a while and got to see the night time sky-line.

I am having a lot of fun and have been made the cinematographer for our team. I have been able to work with pro gear and I am really learning a lot about how to operate pro video cams. I have taken a lot of pictures and will try to post some later.

JD

Play Parts!!!!!!!

Hello everyone,

I am doing great and wanted to update you all on my week. I have been assigned my parts and am really enjoying the parts. Here are my parts. Noah..... Which is really cool because I have a family and get to say a lot of cool lines.
I also have a reader, student and epicurean part. More updates later...

JD

First Day!!!!

Well, the first day is over and I am having blast. Tomorrow we know what teams we are on.... I have met a lot of great people and have made a couple of good friends.  Today we attended a couple of church's in the area. We had lunch at one of them and there was a ton of food!!!!!!!!!!! Well, I am going to sign off now. Later all,

JD

Leaving for the summer!

 Wow, There has been a lot going on these past couple of weeks. With getting ready to leave on a summer missions trip, have friends staying from out of state and finishing my last year of high school. I have been really busy. Since I have found time in my crazy schedule I wanted to post a couple of pictures for some photography sessions that I have had lately.

Here are some of the best ones.

It rained today and we had a gorgeous rainbow

We also had the privilege to go and see the Gettysburg Battlefield. We didn’t get to stay long, but I had a good time and took a couple of good pictures.

 Also, here is a picture of one of my friends who is visiting from out of state. I told him to put a smile on and follow me because I didn’t have a good picture of him and I want to try out some settings on our camera.

Well, It is hard to believe that I am almost a graduate. Please pray as I am looking for God’s guidance for my life and my career.

 It is even harder to believe that I am going to be away from home for ten weeks and that I am leaving in two days. Please pray for me in this area as well as it will be a long trip and a stretching one at that. It is also my first time away from home without any family member with me. Normal my brother always goes with me when I travel. We have always done everything together and it is hard to go knowing that he will not be with me.  I also hope that I can be a good testimony for Christ as I go. 

Talk to you later.

JD

Last night

Last night we did the Shakespeare play and it went extremely well. I want to thank all the actors and Mrs. Sam. You guys did awesome. Thanks!!! The song that I play on the guitar went well too, but I was so nervous that I was sweating about two gallons per minute. I also played a song on the hammered dulcimer with my brother on the guitar and that went really well. Got to run!!!

JD

Lately

Hey All,

As I said in my last post. I have been extremely busy. Tonight I am in the Shakespeare play 'The Merchant Of Venice' and I am really excited. I have the role of the Duke. My brother is in the play also. His part is Shylock the Jew and he is a protagonist for the play.

I am also going to play a number on my guitar. The name of the song is Not What My Hands Have Done. It is a beautiful hymn that was written in the 1800's. Well, I must go.

Talk to you all later,

JD

Senior Pictures!!!!

Hey All,

As you can see by the length of time since my last post. I have been very busy finishing up my last year of high school. Wednesday, I had my senior pictures taken and I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. They were taken at a small business on the other side of town. The scenery is beautiful there. I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Although, I do warn some of you coming up to your last year in school and are getting ready to get your senior pictures. Prepare to smile on and on and on. Here are the pictures. The first ones are the finished ones. The other ones haven't been edited.

Talk to you all later,

JD

Goodbye to great friends.

Today we said goodbye to our new found friends from Germany. After staying with us for almost a week it was hard to see them go as they became just like older brothers, but I am glad that we have a bond that is stronger than any other bond know on this earth. The bond of being brothers in Christ!!! Even though we may never see them again on this earth. We will see them in Glory some glad day. Good night all.

JD

Work day!!! Meditation on God's Holy Word.

Today, I had an eventful day. My brother and I got up early to help a lady from our church clean up her property with some other men from church. Two friends of ours that our staying with us from Germany came with us. We cleaned out a lot of stuff and took four dump truck loads to the scrap yard. We were burning everything else. We loaded all the wood into the truck and dumped it into the fire. After five or six loads of timber the fire was so hot we could not get within 10-15 feet of it. It was also so hot that it set a tree on fire near bye. We ended up having to call the Fire Department even though it ended up that we had it under control. It made me think about eternity and hell. It also made me think of the story in the Bible of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they stood up for what they believed in. They were not afraid of being throw into the furnace of fire that was heated 7 times hotter than normal for not bowing down to the king's image. They knew that if it was God's will that they should die they would be instantly with him. I don't know about you, but I am glad that I will never have to see the gates of Hell because of my excepting what Christ has done for me by dying on the cross. How about you reader? Do you know where you are going when you die? Jesus Christ paid the price of your sin by dying in the worst death that anyone could be given. He was given forty lashes with a cat-o-nine tails then nailed to a cross. The only way that he could breath on that cross was by pushing himself up by the very nails that held him there. It was a death of suffocation which is a very long and painful process. He did this for me and you. He gave up his life so that we may have eternal life with him in heaven. He rose from the grave on the third day conquering death and the grave, so that we would know that death is not the end. What is your decision? He is waiting for you with open arms calling you to him.

What will you decide? I leave you to make your decision. Good night.

JD 

Nathan Clark George Concert

Last night I had the privilege to attend a Nathan Clark George concert and it was awesome!!! He is way better to watch live. Here is a picture of the concert. I will try to upload some videos of the concert later. You all have a great day.

JD

Videos of concert!!

Here are the videos. Sorry the quality isn't that great, but I didn't have a video camera with me.

1# Don't I Know

.

Here is another one.

2# Little Trees

Enjoy all! Talk to you later.

JD

Snow, snow, and more snow!

Man, there is a lot of snow out there. We got about 18-20 inches yesterday on top of the 21 inches we got Saturday. We were out snow blowing and shoveling yesterday. Just one hint for all you who use snow blowers. DON"T bump your hand against the muffler at all costs. I made that mistake for the first and last time ( hopefully )  yesterday and it burned my finger through my glove! Figures it was on my guitar hand before a music day. Thankfully, there was lots of cold snow to stick my hand in. I thank God that it wasn't my whole hand! Well, We have been pretty much stuck at home. So, I have had plenty of time to practice my hammered dulcimer. I am getting started on arranging some songs to record for an album I am producing. Hopefully, I will get it done soon. Well, Talk to you all later.

JD 

Bluegrass

Friday, my grandparents and I went to a bluegrass jam at a music store. It was a blast we played music 'til ten o'clock. Can't wait to go again sometime. Talk to you all later.

JD

Hammered Duclimer

Yesterday, I got a hammered dulcimer that I have wanted to get for a while. It is a Masterworks 15/14. It is a very nice dulcimer. I recorded a video of it today. I will post it when I am done editing it. Talk to you later.

JD

Music Poll

Hey All,

I put a poll up about music. Check it out and vote.

JD

Snow Cross

Here is a picture of snow melting on our sidewalk. I did not make it. It happened by itself. I had to take a second look when I saw it. Talk to you all later.

JD

Lately

Hey All,

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. I have been extremely busy with school and other stuff. I have been messing around with some songs to record and am coming up with arrangements for them. I have been working on writing another song as well. Well, the weather has been pretty nice. not so cold. The other day it was in the high 40's and we were outside with some friends throwing snowballs at each other in t-shirts. Well, talk to you all later.

JD

New Years

Well, a late Happy New Years All. I hope all of you had a great start of the year. We started New Years with the shooting off of the shotgun in our back yard. It is an out in the country tradition. I pray that all of you have a blessed day and a great New Year serving the Lord.

JD