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Jacob Bradshaw

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11 years! [Jul. 18th, 2011|01:39 am]
[Current Location |Same place as before!]
[mood |ACCOMPLISHED!* * ... somewhat]
[music |Still hummin']

Oh yeah!

I almost forgot to add this little factoid to the internet!

Yesterday, July 17th, 2011, marks ELEVEN YEARS this journal has existed.

!!!!!!!

I was FOURTEEN years old when I started this thing.

I AM NOW TWENTY-FIVE. ALMOST TWENTY-SIX. Yes, this deserves obnoxious capital LETTERS!

When this journal was created, I had just finished my freshman year of high school two months prior. I didn't even have my drivers license! (or a girlfriend for that matter).

Well, I guess "existing" doesn't necessarily make this dusty thing that special. I suppose this momentous occasion would have had more "oomph" attached to it had I actually contributed to it's existence over the last couple of years.

Oh well. My journal. My party. And I will cry if I want to.

Goodnight Chicago!

(I'm really not in Chicago, I'm in a mobile home in Hubert, NC, and it's way past an acceptable starting sleep time)

Jacob
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First LJ post in two years [Jul. 18th, 2011|01:32 am]
[Current Location |Hubert, NC (Nicole's parent's place)]
[mood |tiredtired]
[music |Hum of the PC]

I don't even know where to begin.

I haven't been typing for more than one minute and I have realized just how much I miss writing out my thoughts. I usually say that every couple of years, when I want to wipe off the ole' journal, but *maybe* this time it was stick, like a cactus needle in flesh.

I would say it's almost impossible to recap the last two years in a single journal entry, but I can make an attempt!

1) My wife and I have been married for almost four years now (November 3rd is our anniversary). Since the last entry in 2009, we have since moved to a new place. In April of this year, April 16th 2011 to be exact, we moved into a 2 BR/1 Bath rental home a couple of miles from where we were living (in the mobile home on my Mom and Dad's property). It's nice and much more spacious.

2) We still have our pekingese Apple. Since we bought her in February 2008, she has developed quite a "legal" name (well, we say "legal" as if we're serious, but we're just jokers of course). Officially, Apple's name is Apple Furpo Fish Smiley Smeckles Mama Fu Lamb Pig Fish Bradshaw. Of course, we didn't think of that in one day. It kind of evolved. Our dog has more nicknames than, well.. (analogy fail). She's doing well and we just call her Apple, most of the time.

3) I graduated from Heritage Bible College on May 7th with a Bachelor of Religious Education in Biblical Studies, with a minor in Christian counseling.

4) At the present time I work in Kenansville at a US Cellular agent retail store. The company I work for is called Atlantic Wireless. At the present time, their are three retail wireless consultants (Alyssa, Jordan, and myself) and one in training (Kalvin) who is set to go live sometime this coming week.

5) My wife and I now attend Cedar Fork Baptist Church, a rural church outside of the city (HAH!) limits of Beulaville, North Carolina. We have been going there since February of 2010 and have been members there since April of 2010.

6) And for the most important thing, I am a father. I am a PARENT. Holy moley! Nicole and I welcomed our child, our first born, Raymond Jacob Bradshaw, Jr. (we call him Jacob) into the world on October 1st, 2010. He is almost ten months old as of this writing. He is such a blessing from the Lord. I can't put into adequate words the joy it is to have Jacob as my son. Sometimes I catch myself in little moments staring at him and my heart fills with joy. Just yesterday (well, the 16th technically speaking), Nicole noticed a tooth beginning to push through his bottom gums. He is crawling and can stand up in his pack-n-play. He also says "Dadadadadada" and "Mamamamamama" a lot. He loves his binky too.

My family is actually spending the night at Nicole's parents house tonight. I am in a spare bedroom. When I got home from work, Nicole got a call from her Dad that he was on his way to the emergency room. He has had difficulty walking the last week or so and has had a lot of pain in his legs. Tonight, Nicole's aunt took him to the emergency room. Roger and Chip, Nicole's brothers, are there with him now. We are here to help Nicole's mother, who is partially disabled. It was a spur of the moment thing but that's what happens in life. Surprises.

The last two years have been especially important as it relates to my relationship with Jesus Christ. I don't know, really, how to say this, but I will try. Jesus Christ, the son of God who is both fully God and fully man, came to this earth to die on a cross to take the punishment of sin that every man deserves. He did this so we would praise Him and worship Him eternally and, as a byproduct of His death, He has rescued the repentant that trust in Him from an eternity separated from Him in Hell. It is by His death and resurrection that we sinners can know peace, even if our external circumstances may dictate otherwise.

The label "Christian" or "Christianity" has become so abused in the Western Hemisphere that even identifying one as such neither proves, or disproves, one's faith. If we profess to know Christ, we must examine ourselves according to the Word of God to determine the validity of our profession (2 Corinthians 13:5-6). The gulf of separation that separates the unregenerate man from the holiness of God is so vast, so terrifying, that only Jesus Christ's payment for our sin is adequate for us to enjoy a relationship with Him. I want to be like him, but I struggle so much with pessimism, with laziness, and other things.

If you are reading this, my earnest desire is for you to realized Jesus Christ loves you. What else can I say, but He DIED for you, a worthless sinner who is neither good nor perfect, so that you may have fellowship with Him.

Thank you, Jesus.

Anyway, I sincerely hope I update this more often. I honestly attribute my (former) memory recalling abilities to the frequency of Livejournal posts from years prior. Someone could ask me what date so-and-so happened and I could almost, not always but some of the time, pinpoint the date without referring back to the journal itself. Whenever I stopped with the updates, that's when my long-term memory started slipping. I can't remember dates for the life of me now and that's a bummer.

My wife just came in to see what I was up to.

I think I will end this post now.

I hope it won't take this long again.

OH YEAH,

By the way...

We watched "The Lovely Bones" last night on DVD. I could have really done without a psychedelic pseudo purgatory storyline thing they had goin' on, because the reality side of the storyline was enough to keep me interested. Perhaps an occasional quip from the nether world to suffice?

Anywho.

Time to sleep, dudes...

Jacob
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Temptations [Feb. 12th, 2009|09:16 pm]

1 Corinthians 10:12-14 (Contemporary English Version)

12Even if you think you can stand up to temptation, be careful not to fall. 13You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.

    14My friends, you must keep away from idols.





Philippians 4:8 (Contemporary English Version)



8Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.




James 4:6-8 (Contemporary English Version)

6In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say, "God opposes everyone

   who is proud,

   but he is kind to everyone

   who is humble."

    7Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. 8Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind.





2 Peter 2:8-10 (Contemporary English Version)

7-8Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. 9This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.

    10The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven.





2 Peter 3:16-18 (Contemporary English Version)

16Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.

    17My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. 18Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen.

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(no subject) [Feb. 12th, 2009|08:59 pm]

Psalm 139:23-24 (Contemporary English Version)



23Look deep into my heart, God,

   and find out everything

   I am thinking.

    24Don't let me follow evil ways,

   but lead me in the way

   that time has proven true.

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Do you, uh, Yahoo!? [Feb. 7th, 2009|06:28 pm]
I just found after 10 years of surfing the internet that if you click the exclamation point on the Yahoo! logo, it makes the yodeling sound.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOO
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A stressful day turns into a blessing [Feb. 6th, 2009|11:28 pm]
[mood |calmcalm]

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

1 I have to brag. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I must brag about the visions and other things that the Lord has shown me. 2 I know about one of Christ's followers who was taken up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don't know if the man was still in his body when it happened, but God certainly knows.

    3 As I said, only God really knows if this man was in his body at the time. 4 But he was taken up into paradise, [a] where he heard things that are too wonderful to tell. 5 I will brag about that man, but not about myself, except to say how weak I am. 6 Yet even if I did brag, I would not be foolish. I would simply be speaking the truth. But I will try not to say too much. That way, none of you will think more highly of me than you should because of what you have seen me do and say. 7 Of course, I am now referring to the wonderful things I saw. One of Satan's angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud. [b] 8 Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. 9 But he replied, "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. 10 Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.




The Lord has been so good to my wife and I today.

Ever since the wee hours of the morning, my wife and I were beyond stressed out over our finances. With my unemployment and her recent injury on the job, it has been very challenging for us financially. Quite honestly, at one point today, I seriously was seriously doubting God and how in the world we would be able to live for the next few weeks. The Lord, I believe, is teaching us (at least I believe me, at least) to not rely on money or our own strength or provision for that matter. I have definitely placed my relationship with the Lord on the back burner, putting the worries of money ahead of Him.

My God is going to take care of us. This morning, my thought process was so twisted that the thought of God helping us do anything was laughable. Satan is the author of confusion and delights in the confusion and torment of God's children. Jesus, however, has Satan's number and has everything under control. Even though we don't have much money, I thank my God that we have something that no amount of cash could ever fulfill. My heart and mind may falter sometimes under the weight of doubt but my Lord God always cuts through the noise, one way or another, to remind me that He, not our bills, not Satan, NOT money, is in control.

I was able to make the car payment today and I paid the electric bill for this month, too. While I was doing all of this, my wife visited her workplace and spoke with her supervisor, Jeremy, about some stuff concerning work. I went home after taking care of those two things and Nicole came back a little while after me. My old friend, Brandon, called me out of the blue and asked for my help concerning landlord/tenant rules in the state of North Carolina. I have internet access, he does not, and he wanted me to look up some things for him because he's having quite a conflict with his landlord. I have yet to get back with him, though, with any information.

Some good news...

I found a job opening at http://www.yahwehcenter.org/ that I am really interested in. I spoke to a lady there today who's involved in the hiring process and she sounded really interested in me. I e-mailed her my resume. I hope to hear back from them soon about the position. Please pray for the Lord's will to be done.

Instead of filing our taxes through a tax agent, my wife and I have decided to go the online route this year. I've never done it that way though so we called our good friend, Janice Tanner, and inquired as to whether or not she could help us file our taxes. We left our home about 4:15 EST and arrived at her place soon after. After a little chit chat, and after I prepared my cup of coffee, we settled in around the laptop while we started the filing process. We were able to get all of the information in with the exception of my out-of-pocket tuition payments to Heritage Bible College. After I get those receipt totals for the 2008 tax year, we're gonna go back and punch those numbers in to complete the filing process. In any event, I am very happy that Jan was able to assist us with this.

While she was inputting our tax info, a local realtor led a couple around Mark (Jan's hubby) and Jan's home. Mark and Jan are trying to sell their home (obviously).

Around the time we finished up on the computer, Mark got home from work. After our greetings, he invited Nicole and I out to dinner with his wife and our mutual married couple friends, Harry and Jeri Ellen Bradshaw. Mark and Jan offered to treat us, and they are always a blast to hang out with, so we took them up on the offer. We arrived at the Mad Boar (the name of the restaurant) around 6:30 and ordered an appetizer (crab dip with bread) while waiting on Harry and Jeri Ellen. They eventually arrived though in addition to their grown daughters, Jill and Ginger, Ginger's little girl Jaleigh, and Ginger's boyfriend. The meal was superb, the dessert was awesome, and the fellowship was even better than all of that. Nicole and I both had flank steak except I had the baked beans and she ordered a baked potato.

After dinner, we went back to Mark and Jan's place. We chatted for a little while before watching some of the movie Mr. Deeds. I had a really nice cup of coffee. I can't go to Mark and Jan's without having a cup :-)

Next Friday, February 13th, Nicole and I are joining them for a Valentines get together. Jan is planning on preparing a big pot of homemade spaghetti (this woman knows how to cook, I tell you). My best bud, Chris, and his girlfriend, Chastity, might attend.

I had originally planned to help out my parents tomorrow at the mobile home park washing windows (and other little things) but I completely forgot about studying for my upcoming quiz. I've got a lot of reading to do.

My wife is asleep on the couch. This is how last night was. She fell asleep on the couch and I eventually fell asleep in my recliner (before we both got up at 2:30 AM and went to bed...that didn't last long though, for me).

Anywho...

Goodnight y'all.

Jacob
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A little bit o' snow. [Feb. 4th, 2009|09:45 am]
It snowed for a little while this morning. We only received a small dusting, nothing to grand, but cool nonetheless.

Jacob
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The foot, the pay per view, the transcripts, the nostalgia, and the dog. [Jan. 27th, 2009|02:28 pm]
Last Friday, I accidentaly injured myself. My wife, Nicole, was making homemade spaghetti sauce when a tad bit of vegetable oil hit the burner resulting in a small grease fire. When it flamed up, it scared Nicole and she froze and called me to hurry into the kitchen. I got up and ran to where we keep our fire extinguisher but, while I was running, I stepped wrong on my right foot which caused me to put all of my weight on the top of my foot, bending it sideways. I fell forward in pain and tried putting the fire out but couldn't. Thank God the fire burned itself out on the stove. In any event, my foot was really jacked up. For the first two hours I couldn't even move my toes.

Anyway, Nicole called my Dad and he and his friend, George, came and helped me to our car so Nicole could take me to the hospital. When we pulled up to the E.R. entrance, Nicole's co-worker's boyfriend was walking up to the entrance holding his chest. He told us that he thought he was having a heart attack. We learned later on that he indeed had a massive heart attack (three blockages). He was air lifted to another hospital where he had open heart surgery.

Anyway, Nicole got me inside, checked in, and in a room. The E.R. staff took several x-rays and gave me some pain medication. The x-rays didn't show any sort of break.

Since coming home that day I have been taking it relatively easy. Nicole has been helping out a lot. She's such an awesome wife.

Nicole and I did have a chance to go to church this past Sunday morning at Peniel PFWB. Chris (my best friend), Chastity, and Daniel (Chastity's little boy) were all there. The service was awesome. Later that night my wife and I went to Chris' place and enjoyed the company of he and his girlfriend. We grilled out (filet mignon compliments of Chastity who butchered the cow herself, grilled portabella mushrooms, grilled green onions, grilled shrimp, and twice baked potatoes) and had ice cream sandwich milkshakes. We really enjoy hanging out with Chris and Chastity. They seem to be very good for one another. GOD Bless 'em!

The Royal Rumble itself was pretty good. Randy Orton won the main match.

My foot has been bothering me quite a bit since the injury. The swelling hasn't gone down. My mom and wife both think it's either broken or fractured. We're gonna find out, one way or another.

Nicole is trying to get into the RN nursing program at James Sprunt Community College. Unfortunately, we've had quite an issue in getting all the necessary documents in order so she can take the nursing exam. Another local community college, Sampson Community Colllege, is holding the exam and they haven't yet received her high school transcripts. Nicole's old high school told her that they had sent the transcripts out. James Sprunt C.C. received the transcripts but Sampson hasn't. Unless Sampson gets them, though, it's all futile because for her to get into the program at James Sprunt she HAS to have her transcripts in the Sampson C.C system. Please pray for this situation.

I have been looking at my LJ entries from January 2006, when my family and I were in Florida doing hurricane cleanup work.

My dog, Apple, is staring off into space.

I love dogs.

Have a great day!
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Snow [Jan. 21st, 2009|09:07 am]
The past 24 hours have been really exciting.

Snow rarely falls in the part of North Carolina that I live in. Raleigh is two hours northwest of here, give or take, and that's about as far as the snow gets. Yesterday was the exception to the rule. Eastern North Carolina finally got a decent little snow fall! it only snowed a couple of inches here but it was enough to cover the ground and make it nice and white. My wife and I rode with my Dad to my parent's mobile home park to do some stuff and we were able to visit Chris after grabbing some to-go dollar menu goodies from McDonald's. I also visited my grandparent's grave. The cemetary was really pretty with the snow everywhere.

My Mom cooked a homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch. While we ate, we watched Barack Obama become the president. I didn't vote for Barack Obama. I voted for Joh McCain. Even though I don't agree with Barack Obama on some of his views, he's still the president of my country and I hope he does a great job.

Nicole and I ate at my parent's place again for supper (a nice bowl of chili). MMmmm.

Nicole was supposed to take her Nursing Entrance Test today but won't be able to due to the snow (school cancellation). Hopefully she will be able to make it up.

Yepper.

Have a great day!

Jacob
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Noises [Jan. 18th, 2009|12:52 am]
It's another lonely night. Just Apple and I. My dearest wife, Nicole, is working a 24 hour shift.

Saturday was an okay day I suppose. I drove Nicole to work and the temperatures were insane (for North Carolina anyway). The temperature reading on my Vibe went from around 10 degrees to 13, back and forth, back and forth. Tonight isn't nearly as cold but cold nonetheless.

I probably should update more often.

Tonight my ears have picked up on unusual sounds coming from outside. Just a few minutes ago I hear a loud framming noise against my mobile home. Earlier in the evening, I heard what sounded like someone stepping off of my back steps. I like living here but the one thing I don't enjoy is the close proximity of my body to the walls and windows. In comparison to the house I grew up in, there isn't much room for stealthiness. Whenever I walk, the floor makes noise. If I sneeze, you can hear it outside. So this places me at a clear disadvantage if an individual chooses to stand outside of my residence half the night waiting for me to go to bed. At least it's cold out.

Where's Macaulay Culkin when you need him? ;-)

Anywho, Barack Obama will become our 44th president on Tuesday. Even though I didn't vote for him, I hope he does well.

Nothing else to report at this time...

Jacob
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