New Family Member and Happy Birthday Ashley...

Yesterday was the first day in the life of my new baby cousin...

My cousin Steven and his wife Amanda (also my cousin - right? - well, I love her either way - hah) had there first child... She was only 8 months pregnate and due to some health considerations they decided to have the baby now... We were a little nervice about everything as it was a bit early but, alas... Welcome to the world - at 4 pounds and 13 ounces... lying at 17 inches long... My new baby cousin.. Brady Luke Rhodes... Can't wait to get to know him!!!

New baby Brady...


My cousin Steven... Look at that proud daddy grin...

AND...

Yesterday was also the birthday celebration for my good friend and favorite firefighter... Ashley Apt... Happy B-Day!!!

A bunch of us ended up over at Flying Saucer to celebrate... Dang, we've got some good friends... I feel like we should all have more nights like last night... really days like yesterday... days of celebration and happiness... Just something too right about it to ignore... especially when you compare it to what's on TV, the paper, and the internets... people killing each other... people dying... all that stuff just feels wrong... Anyways... I am thankful for a great day of celebration and life...

Fish and Pat... of all the pics of Pat I have... he looks absolutely crazy in all of them...



Love and Peace,

-J

ps
Here is what happens when you ask three crazy people to bring you your camera because you left it at your house....





Craziness...

People I Love...

I am sitting in a room with people I love... Our band just finished playing the second service/gathering at Hope Community Church... It's been a great morning so far... still our Hungry Worship Gathering tonight... Can't wait... not just for the gathering's sake but just to see everyone... Tons going on right now within our community...

Anyways - It's a blessing to have friends like these... it's amazing and exciting to be on mission togther...

Lord, thankyou for people to live life with and thankyou for something to live for...

-J

Long Day...

Yesterday was a long one... Some friends and I (my brother, PRATT, and Sneeden) went over and helped Lauren and Aaron move her stuff out of her apartment and into his grandma's basement... They have 8 days til the big wedding day... CRAZY!!! - I will say this... he was mad organized... all the small stuff was gone already... big stuff - in the garage, cabinet doors taped, pillows off the couch... definately could write a book on how to maximize a movers time and effort (this could potentially be a later post explaining the how to's of moving) - Aaron - Nicely Done!!!

-on a side note... Chris Sexton drove out to meet us in Apex cause he got off work late... That was awesomely cool but then none of us had our cell phones on... Since he couldn't find the complex we were in he had to drive back... Awesomely bad... sorry Chris...

Then band rehearsal last night... after the move... YES!!! - I think music is something for me that no matter how tired... I would still do it... Simply said... I love playing music with people... glad we get the small things ya know...

But once rehearsal was over... the bed... ah yes the bed... The bed was ever so sweet to me last night... - (poetry moment)
I could feel her beckoning me as I proceeded down the highway... Line after line on the wicked asphalt... Toils and tares of delaying stoplights... But wait... there is hope... Alas, I arrived... sleep was then engaged...

...ofcoarse after I checked my email and had a late night snack...

Have a great Friday...

Peave and Love...

-J

Fun Week so far...

Diana and I had Shannon and Kim over for dinner on Monday... Such a treat for us... It was the first time they had ever been to our place (and we've been friends for how long?) - anyways - Thanks for talking life with us... We needed it...


Tuesday we had dinner with Josh and Grace... So good to hear how God is moving in the lives of people and in the world... It's so cool to inspire and be inspired be simply speaking of what God is doing... - Thanks for dreaming with us...

I also had a meeting at Cyclo' with our design team after dinner on Tuesday... I can't believe I get to work with such talented people...
This is a funny picture from that meeting...



I got to talk with Corrie on the phone today... thanks for the words... Also, I have made communication with Ashdown twice in 2 days... Love ya dog...

Tonight we had dinner with Jon and Christy... We went out to eat at Red Room downtown... Tapas restaurant off of Glenwood... Amazing food... I seriously almost felt guilty... - Thanks for taking a step of faith with us... it's more encouraging than you know...

I praise God for love, laughter, and life... I am thankful for being able to have friends and to be able to dream... may we keep our passion...

much love,

-J

Busy Last Week...

Dear Blog,

I miss you...

-Jason

ps
not as much as Jeff misses his...

A Beautiful 3 years...

It's July 5th at 2pm... Exactly 3 Years ago this hour and this day I was standing on the altar at First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, NC. Since that day my life and our journey together could not be summed up with words. Possibly a painting that I have never seen but would know if I saw it could do it justice... maybe a song but not only the lyrics... it would take more than that... or perhaps just a feeling that could not really be explained... the closest I can come up with would be... Beautiful... Simply beautiful...

Together we have had to make tough decisions, we've enjoyed blessings, we've made sacrifices... we've loved until it hurt... had friends that we love dearly move away, made new friends close by and far away... we've lost loved ones, watched our friends bring other life into the world... and trusted God in situations that we had no idea what was going on.

My eyes fill up with tears even now as I think of some of the moments we've spent together. Sharing moments with friends and family, and sharing moments alone together we would never speak of to anyone else...

What a journey it has been. I can do nothing other than give thanks to God for bringing us together and allowing us to love together... I am sure we have so much to learn... I find that out more everyday... we are constantly learning what real love really is... love that's patient... love that is kind regardless of the situation or emotion... I can honestly say I couldn't dream of another I would rather learn with...

Thanks to all who have been apart of the journey so far... We love you much...

Most of all, thanks to my beautiful wife... my princess... my love... its more beautiful than I ever thought possible...

-J

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

Origins Conference

So I am back from the great state of California and probably one of the greatest conferences I have ever been to. I drove a sweet ride (1990 Hundai - sweet) and I got to hang with some amazing people... Mr. Ashdown who I miss already and one of my new best friends Corrie Paxton... So great to dream with you guys...

Erwin McManus was speaking this week at the conference and he said a few things that I hope will stick with me for a while... One is this...

"We have to get away from Christian Discipleship as the removal of sins... If we only strive to remove sins then the best we can achieve is "Zero"... The human soul is not meant to live at zero... We need to unlock the dreams and creativity God has placed inside of each of his children, empower them to live them out with passion, and we will see they have no time left over for sin..."

I understand we humans can have some pretty crazy dreams... but I believe this combined with humility and character could bring us close to something big... that sounds like something that could change a life... it sounds like something that could change the world...

I have this burning desire to point people to the heart of God... to help them find what they were created to be... I have no desire to help people become nicer or to not steal... I don't think those are bad things obviously... I just don't lay awake at night thinking about them... I ask God for direction in how to do such a thing... I ask for Him to continue to awaken my soul for what I was created to be...

Hope you all have a great Weekend...

Blessings,

-J

ps
please go to jeff's blog and post as he is down a little because he hasn't gotten many comments lately...

From California...

Arrived in LA yesterday and so far everything has been awesome. Jon Ellis’ mom and step dad picked me up from the airport and are letting me use their Hyundai (more on this later as it is about the coolest car ever - everyone looks at me while I’m driving), I am getting to stay with Corrie and Danielle Paxton (who is Traci Rowe’s brother and sister-in-law and super cool), and getting to hang out with one of my best buds, Jasen… If only Jeff were here (see, I don’t hate you)… I'm still upset Marlow didn't show up too...

So far the The Origins Conference has been amazing. It is nothing less than inspiring and packed with reminders of what God is calling his followers to be about.

So far either Erwin or Alex McManus has taught each main session. It seems they are taking the Core Values of Mosaic (their church here) and sharing each one in some detail. M , vb nioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nun njn . – (Pardon the typing as Hannah – who is Corrie and Danielle’s daughter is sitting in my lap and trying to type – an unbiased male , maybe her father, says she is the sweetest little10 month old ever)

I am hearing/learning tons of fresh insight on leadership, life, vision, passion, and mission. Hoping I will be able to grab hold of some of this and mesh it with our life and community back home.

-J

Off to California...

Wow... 4:30am is early... About to leave for the airport to head to California... I will be spending the next few days at The Origins Project..

Some more good news... I am gonna get to hang with Ashdown and crash with the Paxton's...

-J

Back in the US...

Well... after getting up at 2:30am on Monday May 15th, flying out of Kyrgyzstan at 6:30am, traveling for over 27 hours straight, we arrived home at 10:45pm on.... - Monday May 15th... SO wierd what this does to your perception of time and what day it is...

All the same we are back here in the US.

I originally entitled this post "back home" but I had to change it... it's funny how a place on the other side of the world can seem as much like home as where you grew up. I fully believe this world as it is right now is not our home... I believe we were created to experience life in a different way... A life where God's Kingdom reigns from one edge of the sky to the other... I believe one day we will experience life in a different way... in that way... Where truth, love, justice, and peace fill the air...

I am not sure how it will all happen but I believe in a new heaven and a new earth... maybe that is why certain places can just feel "right"... maybe it has nothing to do with location, demographic, or weather... maybe feeling like "home" has to do with how you are opening yourslef to God's Kingdom... experiencing things/life as it was intended by our creator... maybe "home" is more of a state of being/living" than a location... maybe this team that I was living life with in Kyrgyzstan for 2 weeks is closer to living out God's Kingdom in a place where unemployment is the norm and injustice is regular than I am here in Raleigh...

Either way I have come back to the US, I believe, a different person... I think some of my values have been tweaked a little and I am more passionate than ever at seeing God's Kingdom come... May it start in my own life... I pray it for me, my wife, my family, our community, Kyrgyzstan, and the world...

Love and Peace,

-J