I feel like a complete slacker. We arrived back from Raleigh late Sunday evening. Unfortunately we’ve been at war with lice since are arrival home. Anyhow, here are some reflections from our NC trip.
We decided to take a different route. Usually we take the southern route through Atlanta. Not a very fun trip. So this time we decided to take the 40 and go through Arkansas, Tennessee (the Appalachian Mountains are amazing) and NC. Beautiful trip heading through some amazing country.
On the trip we spent time in Asheville and Wilmington. If I ever live in a small city I would live in one of these cities. Lots of culture, great weather and so many things to do!
We arrived in Raleigh at 3PM. Quickly unloaded and headed to Visio Dei at 4PM. The Launch Party started at 5PM, so we had to rush to set-up. I will blog more on this later.
Monday night a handful of us connected at Boylan Bridge Brewpub to chat about all things church with Bill, Mike, Hugh, Vince, Mike and Wes. It was a great time to connect and chat about how we deal with those who live in extreme poverty. I really love that all of these dudes wanted to help each other succeed, that speaks volumes!
Tuesday we hung with our good friend Jodi and Wahba. Great times as always.
Wednesday we had dinner with Bill & Cherie Cummings at their cozy house in downtown Raleigh. Great conversation, food and dessert!
I forgot when, but I also got to hang with Jeff and Gore. They are co-pastors (I think) at Visio Dei. I think Visio is a phenomenal faith community trying to deeply live out the gospel in Raleigh and the world!
I also was able to grab a beer with Tyler Jones, who is the lead pastor at Vintage 21. I love Tyler, we always challenge each other and I think the world of V21. I somehow must get Tyler to Facebook, blog or Twitter.
Thursday and Friday we headed to the beach. We booked a cheap room in Wilmington with an ocean view-lovely! All was going well until I dropped my daughter on the hard sand, I’m such an idiot! I love seeing my girls at the beach, its like a little bit of heaven: sand, sun, water and nothing to do but scream, run and laugh!
Friday night I met Bill Gross. Bill is the pastor of Hope Chapel in Cary/Apex. We had a really good conversation about the church and social issues that we are facing. We also chatted about old times and looked into the future to see what might be. Later that night we hung-out with some friends from the old days. Fun times seeing everyone.
Saturday we loaded the Element and headed home. But first we had to make a stop in Asheville. We took a quick trip on Blue Ridge Parkway, amazing drive!! We also made a detour into some off-roads in the Smokey Mountains, let’s just say that was SCARY!!!
After staying in some ghetto Days Inn MOTEL (ugh, I’m lame) in Jackson TN, we finally made it back to Austin late Sunday evening.
All-in-all it was a fun trip, got to share our vision for HELP, spend time with the family, enjoy beautiful scenery, capture great moments with friends, met new friends doing some awesome work like building water-wells and fighting human trafficking. Really inspiring stories of passionate people who want to make a difference in the lives of others.
Thanks to everyone who journeyed with us while we were in Raleigh!
