Who am I?

In response to one of my closest friends linking me in his blog, (thank you Douglas :P) I had to make up my own personal version of the “Who I am” piece to be put on my blog (joelfreemanthejme.blogspot.com). I don’t think I have even done this on my blog before…ever, so here’s a chance for people to get to know me a little bit better.

• Joel Freeman
• Soon to be 25 (November 30, 2010)

I am fluent in sarcasm so be warned of my sense of humor, it will kill you. I blame this on the fact that I am a full-blooded New Yorker. I have been called a “Pizza Bagel” by my cousin (who is completely Italian) but the concept behind that description is that I have an Italian mom (Pizza) a and Jewish dad (Bagel); which is the most common family heritage dynamic of New Yorkers around. It is also because of this fact that I was brought up in an environment that focused on the Jewish heritage of Jesus the Messiah.

My parents are both missionaries working with CHOSEN PEOPLE MINISTRIES to share Jesus with the Jewish community of South Florida (where close to a million Jewish people call home). We moved to Florida from New York when I was 13, and it was there that I basically developed my tastes in music, movies and everything else that makes me who I am now.

My two biggest skills I have are writing and cooking. I have to be such a dork, but if I were to go out somewhere for fun, I would love to go to places like Central Market or Whole Foods (just to walk around and look at food; which is something that Julia Child did when she lived in Paris). My 2 favorite
ethnic foods are Japanese and Indian. (Italian does not count because I grew up eating that kind of food)

I have written a book that is in a serious pit of editing. “The Joy of Judah” is a modern retelling of the book of Job, from the perspective of a family of Jewish believers with a Holocaust survivor as the main character. Someday it will be published, but since I am pursuing my M.Div at Southwestern, I jump around to various things; and someday may be after Jesus’ second coming.

Like any good New Yorker, I love Billy Joel. He is one of my favorite musicians. Among the tops on my list are Mark Schultz (even though people say that “Running Just to Catch Myself” sounds like Weird Al Yankovic), Switchfoot, Third Day, TobyMac, Michael Buble, and Evanescence.

Recently I have come to like John Grisham books. I am currently reading “The Firm”, but one of my favorite authors is Ted Dekker. The Circle books are unbelievable (GREEN, BLACK, RED, WHITE). But like Douglas had mentioned being a huge Star Wars fan, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I love both the books and the movies. The same goes for Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. I love it when book series are made into movies and they are EPIC…But Harry Potter tops the books made into movies list for me.
When I attended Boyce College in Louisville, I would have movie nights in my room, watching the Harry Potter movies, and I’d even have food that was mentioned in the movies depending on which one we were watching. (Like Jelly Bellies for the first movie, cupcakes and gummy worms for the second, and dark chocolate for the third…you have to have read the books to understand how any of those food choices make sense)

Lastly, I will let you know the more serious side of me. I graduated from Boyce in May of 2010 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Missions, and right now I am typing this from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; where I am pursuing an M.Div degree in International Church Planting AKA the 2 + 2 program. So after 3 years of coursework here in Fort Worth, I will prayerfully move to Tokyo, Japan where I will serve as a missionary. I fell in love with Japan in 2003 after going on a short trip with my dad while he was there preaching (I was 17 at the time), and then 6 years later in 2009, I served for the summer with the International Mission Board in Tokyo as an intern, and it was through this experience that I confirmed God’s calling on my life to the mission field.

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know me better, and understand why I even write in the first place. It is a talent from God that I will keep doing until the day I die…

Grace and Peace