Ten Things That Make Me Happy Tag and the Before & After Tag!

achievements, announcements, awards, Blog 2020, fun 4 Minutes

Here I am with another post! Sorry for taking such a long break, but thanks for letting me have some respite! (Not that I was totally off my blog. I made some more pages and I hope you would check them out! 😊)

I was nominated for two tags not too long ago, so let me crack my knuckles and get to it already!

Thank you, Lydia, for nominating me for the 10 Things That Make Me Happy Tag and thank you, Robert, for nominating me for the Before And After Tag, a.k.a. the Then and Now Tag! Please check out their blogs by clicking on the links!

I hereby nominate the readers who are reading this post for these two tags… yes, YOU!!!

(It’s not my idea; some bloggers do the same thing!)

10 Things That Make Me Happy Tag

The Rules:

1. List 10 things that make you happy. (Linking to them, sharing pictures, writing poems about them, telling jokes, etc. are all encouraged but not required.)

2. Tag 10 people who make you happy (and notify them of their tag).

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. God’s Word

Reading God’s Word, the Holy Bible, gives me great joy! It’s 100% truth, and I thank the Lord for giving us His Word to read. “Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:5). “Thy Word is very pure: therefore Thy servant loveth it” (Psalm 119:140).

2. Salvation

Jesus Christ saved me, a great sinner, from my sins by God’s grace alone! “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). Jesus Christ came to earth to bear the punishment due to my sins. I am only saved because Jesus shed His blood on the cross as the Perfect Substitute for God’s elect. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I thank the Lord for Jesus Christ!

3. My Family

I am so grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful family!

4. Reading

I really love reading books, especially the Bible. I am relatively a slow reader (not as much as before though). Please check out the “Recommended Books” page at the top!

5. Sleeping　💤

Do I need to explain why sleep makes me happy? I don’t think I have to! ZZZ!

6. Smiles and Laughter 😂

(Does that count for one? I hope so.) Who would not be happy when someone smiles at you? It is good to be cheerful and happy in whatever state you are in. Laughter is the best medicine, so they say!

7. Music

I love listening to music! I especially like listening to instrumentals. Music is a gift from God, and I’m thankful for it!

8. Blogging

What do you mean? (You may be thinking) You just took a whole month off!

Well, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like blogging. We all need a break once in a while!

What I like about blogging is that we can chat with people all over the world and make many friends!

9. Writing My Diary

I’ve been keeping a diary since January 1st of 2015! (I have some diaries prior to 2015, but I did not continue them when I was little. How disappointing!)

10. Talking

And finally… talking. Yeah, talking makes me happy. To be frank with you, I am a quiet person who doesn’t really talk much. I usually let other people do the talking, but when I get a chance to speak, I unzip my mouth and try to talk the best I can. I dare not define myself as an extrovert, and I believe I “talk” more on the internet than I do in person.

That’s that! I hope I didn’t bore you too much.

Now let’s go on to the…

The Before And After Tag

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The Rules:

It’s pretty simple really: use the image at the top of the post; answer the 10 questions; and tag the people you’d like to answer the questions. 🙂

1. Who was family for you growing up?

My immediate family, namely my father, mother, and brother, and they still are.

2. Who is family for you now?

My brothers and sisters in Christ (who are saved only by God’s amazing grace through the blood of Jesus Christ alone), and, of course, Dad and Mom and Jeremy Swanson.

3. Where did you grow up?

I grew (and am growing) up in Kyushu, Japan.

4. Where do you live now?

I live in Fukuoka Prefecture.

5. What did you want to be when you were older?

I wanted to be… a soup chef, of all things. For some reason, I wanted to open a soup restaurant and feed different kinds of soup to my customers.

6. What do you do now?

I help my dad in his business.

7. What’s your earliest memory?

Hmm… that seems like an easy question to answer, but actually it’s quite hard! Maybe making a snowman with Mom at age 3 is my earliest memory! 😊

8. What’s one of your most recent memories?

My recent memory? Writing this post! I still remember that!

9. What do you consider your greatest achievement so far?

My greatest achievement so far is, by the grace of God, being able to have a blog that, if the Lord wills it, I hope will bring others to Christ!

10. What is your biggest hope in this life?

My biggest hope is that, because Jesus paid the fine for my sins, I am forgiven through repentance and saving faith that only God can give, and that Jesus my Savior will take me to Heaven to live with Him forever!! 😀

And like I aforetime mentioned, YOU have been nominated for these awesome tags. Yes, YOU who are looking at the screen and reading these words right now!

Thanks for reading. See you again!

Published by Joshua Swanson

"Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." - Isaiah 55:6-7 "[1] Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. [3] For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. [4] Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. [5] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. [6] Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. [7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [8] Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. [9] Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. [10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. [11] Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit. [13] Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. [14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness. [15] O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise. [16] For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. [18] Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. [19] Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar." - Psalm 51:1-19 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 I am a Christian, and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior from my sins! Praise the LORD for saving such a sinful wretch like me!! Courage, Christian soldiers serving under King Jesus' banner! "What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3) Favorite book: The Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Other favorite books: The Bell Mountain Series by Lee Duigon; The Remnant Trilogy by Tim Chaffey and K. Marie Adams; The Crown & Covenant Trilogy and Hostage Lands by Douglas Bond; The Ultimate Proof of Creation by Jason Lisle; Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon; etc. I highly recommend these books! 📖😃

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49 thoughts on “Ten Things That Make Me Happy Tag and the Before & After Tag!”

  2. It was fun reading about your life. Thanks for sharing, Joshua. Your biggest hope in this life is my biggest hope – salvation. And congratulations on your nominations.

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  3. Great post Joshua. It does my heart good to see such fine people as you, your brother, and Lydia, all whom I know from Lee Duigon’s blog. You are young Christians and I am nearly retirement age. I was a Christian when I was the age you are now and it brought me a lot of joy. The years since have had their ups and downs, but our Creator has always provided what I need and I’m happy to say that I am more confident in His promises than ever. No matter what else happens in life, always remember your Creator.

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  10. I’m answering in character. It is June 1995, and I am 18 years old. All the place names in these answers are the fictitious places I write about in my blog; each one is based on a real place I once lived, but I’ve never publicly mentioned where these places actually are.

    10 things that make me happy:
    1. Listening to music. Mostly classic rock and that alternative rock stuff that’s popular right now in 1995.
    2. Spending time with friends. I didn’t really have a lot of friends until the last year of high school, and we all went our separate ways once we graduated, so I don’t see them anymore. But I made lots of new friends during my first year of university last year.
    3. When cute girls pay attention to me. Haha. I’ve never had a girlfriend.
    4. Getting good grades. I’m good at school. It’s what I do.
    5. Watching sporting events. My younger brother Mark got all the actual athletic talent in our family, but we often went to games as a family, both his games and professional games, and sports was always on TV. I watched a lot of UJ’s football and basketball games the last school year.
    6. Riding my bike. Jeromeville is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the USA, and it is mostly flat with good weather for most of the year.
    7. Making new friends on the Internet. I used the Internet for the first time a year ago.
    8. Playing Super Nintendo. I love Super Mario World and Zelda: A Link to the Past.
    9. Reading. I’ve recently gotten into Stephen King and Sue Grafton, two of my mom’s favorite authors.
    10. Watching The Simpsons and X-Files.

    1. Who was family for you growing up?
    My parents (Peggy and Harold), and my brother Mark (he is 13, I was 5 when he was born). My grandparents also live nearby. I have cousins I see a couple times a year.

    2. Who is family for you now?
    Same as above, but I made a lot of friends my first year away at school. I still spend a lot of time alone, though. [Note from adult Greg: my grandma is still alive at age 99 and still living at home. I’m about a three hour car trip away from my parents and grandma now, though, and Mark lives far away in another state.]

    3. Where did you grow up?
    Plumdale, a little town in the hills near the west coast of the USA.

    4. Where do you live now?
    I just moved back to Plumdale for the summer after a year away at the University of Jeromeville. I’m moving back to Jeromeville in the fall.

    5. What did you want to be when you were older?
    When I was younger, I wanted to design video games.

    6. What do you do now?
    I’m not so sure. I think anything working in computers is probably out, because most of my friends who study computers at UJ grew up in families that could afford much nicer things, so they always had the latest technology at home, and all my computer knowledge is about 10 years out of date. I’m probably just going to stay in school forever and become a math professor or something. [Note from adult Greg: this is not what I actually do as an adult. I’ll tell that story eventually.]

    7. What’s your earliest memory?
    I kind of remember this mean preschool teacher. That would have been around 1979-80-ish.

    8. What’s one of your most recent memories?
    I was having a bad day, and my friends in the dorm woke me up in the middle of the night. I got really upset and threw something at them and ran outside. When I was calm, I decided to go back inside, try to sleep, and apologize to them in the morning. Their reaction really shocked me, though, in a pleasant way, and I know now that these people are true friends.
    (The full story: https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2019/08/29/march-3-1995-throwing-the-box/ and https://dontletthedaysgoby.home.blog/2019/09/07/march-4-1995-friendship-is-special/)

    9. What do you consider your greatest achievement so far?
    That’s a good question. I want to say getting good grades at a fairly prestigious university, but my grades aren’t as good as they could be; I had a couple of A-minuses.

    10. What is your biggest hope in this life?
    To graduate and figure out what I want to do with my life.

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