Camp Tukaway...

Back from camp tukaway in Virgina (outside of Blacksburg)... Such a great time... I had the opportunity to go up and lead worship for their Sr. High week of camp.

I took my dad with me to hang at the camp and we had a blast... On Thursday we went over to the Dixie Cavrens... crazy formations inside of caves... really dark when they turn the lights out... Overall I had some great times with my pops...

Well... I had a great time hanging with the kids, spending time with my dad, and just being out in nature a bit...

here are some shots from the weekend...


Here is Steve sharing with the kids at one of the sessions by campfire... Hanging with Steve was definately cool... great guy... fantastic teacher...


Some of the kids after the last session... The campers were awesome this year... so much fun...


Here some cool shots of the caverns... sorry about the images looking bad... not the best lighting in caves...






Hope you have a great weekend...

Love and Peace,

-J

No place like home...

So good to be home...

Well if you followed my blog while i was on the way down to Florida, you know the travels were a little crazy... and they lost our bags... Well, the way back was twice as interesting... Yesterday we sat on our plane from 9:20pm until close to 1am waiting to takeoff... thats right... over 3 hrs. on a full plane... before takeoff... YES!!! and then... they lost our bags again on the way back... YES!!!

We got home at around 2:30 am and I had to get up at 6:30am to head to the church building... I managed to keep myself busy there all day until our Hungry Worship Gathering... Then some fantastic dinner afterwards at Gypsy's with some great friends...

But now... oh yes now, I am at home... home sweet home... this has been a well traveled spring and start to summer... next week we'll be leading worship at a camp in Virginia but then things slow down for a while... I am looking forward to it... it has been a season of busyness... I am looking forward to a little rythym...

I also had the priviledge to teach (not sure this is the best word) at Hungry tonight... I really enjoyed it... It's really an honor to be able to share with people you love what God is doing in your life...

God, thankyou for this community I get to live life with... thank you for all that you're calling us towards... may we have the passion to live our lives as we were created...

Hope you guys have a great week...

Much Love,

-J

I WILL SEE THIS MOVIE MORE THAN ONCE!!!

As long as you are not easily offended, you should watch this trailer (I say this b/c it is typical Will Ferrell - some people don't like him...) - Maybe it is a short coming of mine - but I can't sit still b/c I laugh so hard... (too much info... maybe... for that, I apologize)

I believe it could make you laugh very hard... Will Ferrell is very funny... Would love to know if this at least makes you smile... Feel free to leave other things that are worth laughing about (videos, etc.)...

-J

PS
Florida is hot today...

PSS
I can't control my heart rate... I've got a wild cougar on me...

In Florida...

Diana and I are down in Sunny Florida. We got in last night (this morning) about 3am... Seriously, I love my wife so much... There are not to many people that can go through 2 delayed flights... lost luggage... rental car mishap... one hr. long drive at 2am... and two 24 hr. McDonalds that were closed (how is this possible) when we hadn't eaten dinner... and still be laughing... We honestly had so much fun... What a night!

We'll be down here until Saturday. I have the priveledge of marrying one of my friends from Highschool tomorrow night and a bunch of us are gonna play golf in the morning (should be fun as I've played golf once in the last 2.5 years)... I let you know my score... Really, I am just looking forward to seeing a few old friends...

Hope everyone is having a good end of the week...

Love and Peace,

-J

When I grow up...

I want to be just like Cam Ward (now is where you can make fun of the fact that I am obviously already older than he is - or a joke from Shannon about how I have less hair...)

On a more serious note... Wow... they really pulled it off... We won a Stanley Cup in Raleigh, NC... Insane... Such a good game last night.

These guys played their hearts out. They look like a team, play like a team, and talk like a team... everyone of their players seems like a class act... Brind'Amour is a flat out leader (maybe a presidential campaign coming up - him or Jack Bauer - as Chuck Norris is getting some years on him...) As good as Cam Ward is you get this feeling he would even be bummed if he saw his name mentioned here before the team was... such a team player...

I have said it before... there is just something about people really wanting something and passionately fighting for it that is compelling... you can't help but in a way want to jump on board... There is probably something to learn in there somewhere... what a story...

Well, I have truly enjoyed the playoffs and especially the finals. Thanks to all who have been hangin' at my place to watch the games together. It wouldn't have been the same without celebrating together.

Now if I can just hold off until football season...

Blessings,

-J

(all photos courtesy of cbssportsline.com - I stole them... but I am giving them credit)

So this is exciting...

At our worship gathering last night we started out by asking what a typical view of success is... then moved into summing up our current series in overviewing the first church in Acts... We talked through their apperent values and pondered their successfulness at living them out (which is not as obvious as you would think because a lot of them were killed...) We then moved into an overview of the history of Hungry (as a community), where God has brought us, and then where God is leading us... That my firends is the exciting (but scary) news...

We are going to be planting a church...

To be honest, it almost seems odd to say we are planting a church. I really believe God's church is a group of people on mission to live out the gospel together, following Jesus, and looking to bring God's Kingdom to earth. In so many ways I know we have this as a community within Hungry already. Within this community I get to live life with are some of the most loving, compassionate, caring, gifted, and serving people I have ever met in my entire life... So I guess that is what makes this seem so special... knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what God has called us to.

Don't get me wrong there are some things that make sense... it is hard for a community like Hungry (whatever it is) to have an identity within a larger church... It is hard to call people to a vision if they are wondering where their commitment is supposed to be... It is flat out hard to meet on a Sunday night when you've been there Sunday morning... For those that go no where on Sunday morning it is frustrating that we have to cancel our worship gathering because of other stuff going on... there are many leaders that aren't fully able to live out their dreams or capacity... and the list could really keep going...

But above all this... This is what God is drawing us towards... I have never been more sure of anything in my life (next to asking Diana to be my wife) that this is what is next for us... I feel as though it is something God has been prepearing me, my wife, Jeff, his wife, and our community for - for a long time...

So all that to say... I don't think I have ever been more sure, yet more afraid, more confident yet more nervous, never had more to lose but still as much to live for...

Lord we trust you... Would you continue to lead us...

Wow... what a ride... thanks to all who have been and who are going to be along for the next season...

Love and peace,

-J

Somewhere in Ohio...

We're driving home from a good friends wedding... trying to make it back to NC for another good friend's wedding... it's almost 3am... We are somewhere in Ohio... Couldn't drive any further... very tired... Found the trusty ol' Motel 8... If all goes well, we will be on the road by 7:00am...

Hope you're all having sweet dreams...

-J

Good weekend... Fun night... and Patrick...

We had a great weekend, although rather busy... Diana had dinner with Rebecca and Katie Saturday night (Rebecca is an amazing cook)... then we went to the Brewery to hear Ashley River Rising, Dakota Darling, and Yierling... great show!!! - Not too many nights where the whole line-up was as good as Saturday...

I also met Patrick (more on him later) who is the front man/guitar player for Ashley River Rising... Super cool guy who's moving to Raleigh... I'm pretty stoked about this...

Then last night we had some folks over (Ashley, Jane, Emily, Adam, Patrick, Fish, Jeff, Rebecca, Ben) for dinner and and watched the Hurricanes game (soooooo intense...)


One of those people who came over was Patrick (see previous paragraph)... Funny thing about Patrick is, he wore this shirt for 3 days straight... amazing guy... not only cool but the only guy I've ever met who could wear a shirt 3 days and not smell bad... amazing....

This is Patrick (and his shirt)


Go Canes...

Love and Peace,

-Jason

I am officially a hockey fan...

I never thought I would say it... I could never sit and watch an entire hockey game... I have always thought sports didn't exist in between football seasons (minus the NBA finals - and ofcoarse wrestling season, which no one cares about)... Until now... My heart has been won by the Carolina Hurricanes... The last time they made a run at the cup I was a little into it but figured it was a phase... For some reason this year and especially through this last series with Buffalo, they have grabbed me....

It probably has something to do with their intensity and desire that is so obvious... These guys are straight up passionate about playing this game... They really want The Stanley Cup!!! Anyways, it's hard not to care about something when it means so much to someone else... I could go spiritual and suggest the church (myself included) could stand to show a little more passion... and that is prolly true... passion is inspiring... but for now, I will leave it at this... Our local hockey team has won a new fan... I can't wait for the finals...

Here's to a championship in Raleigh!!!

If anyone has any ideas on some tickets, please let me know...

Cheers!!!

-J

A good week...

Memorial day was good... I didn't get up until 9:45am - which is crazy for me... All the travel lately has had my sleeping patterns all out of whack... I then didn't leave my house until about 4:00pm when we headed to hang at the poole to celebrate Matthew's (one of Jeff's kids) birthday...

He is a stud for a 2 yr. old...













Doesn't Jeff look like a great dad... awwwww....













Also on the late breaking news, Diana and I have a new roommate... We were a little worried having someone move in we didn't know because... well, that could be just weird. Seriously though, I don't think it could be any better... She is super cool and really laid back... We're happy to have the new family member - hah.

So everyone... Without further ado... Meet Emily...




Hope you're all having a great week

Cheers...

-J