SarcasticDalek

Not really a Dalek but really sarcastic.

[mrjoshd]

File #01: An Unexpected Beginning

It’s only fitting that a career that had an unexpected end would start with an unexpected beginning. If you had asked me 15 years ago where I saw myself 15 years later, After School Teacher was not anywhere on my radar. And yet, here I am. Reflecting on the time spent in that industry. Before this, I had worked at a small Private school where I co-taught the elementary with a wonderful master…

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[mrjoshd]

Introduction

This blog is an attempt to bring closure to a part of my professional career that came to an abrupt and unexpected end. From 2008-2023, I was a teacher in After School care across multiple programs. During my time, I learned a lot, made a lot of connections and friends. I also went through the mountain top experiences and the valleys. In this blog, I will tell stories (changing the name of those…

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[mrjoshd]

Division

The Bible always lays the cause of division in the church against false teaching/doctrine/teachers. It never accuses those standing for truth as dividers. Never. Not once. True division comes from the wolves that have snuck in and are preaching that which is not found in the Bible. When someone points out a false teaching, those followers immediately cry “love over division”. But the division…

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[mrjoshd]

Discernment

These next few posts will be from my personal FB page. Psalm 119:125 I am your servant; give me discernment. Discernment is to be desired. We are to pray for discernment. And then we are to wield it. Why is discernment important? Well Jesus himself tells us in Mark 13:22:For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the…

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[mrjoshd]

In His Image

“So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” – Gen 1:27

Racism is a sin. It’s a sin that is practiced overtly and yet rarely gets the attention of the White Christian like other overtly practiced sins (and many less overt). I want to point out before I continue that this isnt at all an attempt at white shaming. It’s also not a…

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[mrjoshd]

After School Care After School Closed

After School Care After School Closed

Once upon a time in February, kids were finishing off their valentines candy. They were going to school, filing into their rows, and chatting with their friends. Some might have even brought up Spring Break which was just a few weeks away. This is the week that divided the regular school year with the dreaded testing season. As March rolled in, so did the news about the Coronavirus wrapping…

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[mrjoshd]

The Blessing of "No"

The Blessing of “No”

I hear a lot of people talk about God not answering prayer. They pray and pray and when it doesn’t happen, they equate that with God not answering a prayer. While many people that pray acknowledge while praying that a no is possible, they don’t even remotely consider that no was the answer.

Some of this can be contributed to the name it and claim culture that has grown up around the church. In…

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[mrjoshd]

Starting Line: Spiritual Road Trip

Starting Line: Spiritual Road Trip

“But you, He asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!” Matthew 16:15-16

  I’ve been on a journey. A journey to deepen my faith, knowledge of God, and love for God. Each of these are different, distinct parts of my spiritual journey that took me through mountains and valleys and if I am completely honest, lower than a valley.…

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[mrjoshd]

Life Rerouted: The Path to Now

Life Rerouted: The Path to Now

Once upon a time, I wanted to teach Elementary school. In fact, I did teach elementary kids for two years. I learned a lot from that experience and loved every minute of it.

While things got a little murky after the school and I parted ways, I still had the passion to teach. I was enrolled in a teaching college and was moving right along to get fully certified.

Until I wasn’t.

If I was perfectly…

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[mrjoshd]

Faking It

This blog has always been part of a personal journey. It was once followed by a lot of people who would follow it and agree mostly with what I am saying. One iteration of it was used to attack an entire church body and hurt people that I cared about. Some of those people have been out of my life since then. It could have been different, but I accept responsibility for that.

This new journey has…

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[mrjoshd]

The Return is Coming....

The Return is Coming….

Behind the Waterfall returns. Stay tuned….

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[mrjoshd]

This site has moved

This site has moved

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[mrjoshd]

It's Not The End...

It’s Not The End…

Well, it’s time to close the book on anzanite.com and Behind The Waterfall. This will be the final post on this blog. I’ve decided it no longer fits where I am now and as I recently stated I wanted to head in a new direction, I decided this also means a new blog name and a new site. So, I am retiring the Anzanite name and Behind The Waterfall that I have used since the days of MySpace (yes,…

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[mrjoshd]

Better than You Found It

Better than You Found It

During my time in Cub/BoyScouts, I spent a lot of time at various camp-outs. We would learn a number of skills including cooking, fire building, first aid, and other wilderness survival skills. One point that was always emphasized was how to leave the campsite when we left. Usually we were told to leave it as if no one had been there or, even better than we found it. As a teacher, my goal is…

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[mrjoshd]

Truth and Lies

Part my journey in this blog is sorting out things I’ve come to realize on what is true, what is not true, and what is not known to be true. Of course, I am talking mostly about God and His effect on the world. This also has to do with morality, science, and social norms and how they all go together. There are some hot button issues going on right now such as who can use what bathroom, who can…

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[mrjoshd]

Burnt-Out

There’s just so much stuff. Maybe too much. I was on the computer, compulsively clicking refresh to see what the new posts were, how many likes and comments my previous posts and comments got, and…. I think I am done. How much time do we all waste on social media? I don’t pretend to know the facts and figures of how much time people spend at these sites but I aim to find out how much time I am…

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[mrjoshd]

The Debate Deflate

I’ve never really commented much about the deflate gate whatchamacallit that was in the news a few weeks ago. It really never surprises me that people who get paid millions of dollars to throw a ball around would somehow have integrity issues. It’s like they say, money is the root of all evil. But I digress. It wasn’t deflate gate that really got my attention. It was the reaction to it. A Go Fund…

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