Where Has May Gone?

Is it the end of May already? I feel like we've barely begun the month and here it is almost over. But, I'm okay with this month being gone because it brings the beginning of several great things.

1. Summer! This is my favorite season! Cookouts, longer days, nice weather, baseball, etc.
2. Lake! Since I was a baby, we've had the privileged of being a lake family. End of May means boating, skiing, soaking in the rays, and hanging out with family!
3. Missions Trips! Normally in the summers I have led at least one mission trip (usually to Jamaica) however this summer we are hosting several missions teams. Being a brand new church means there is a lot of ground work to cover and we have at least 2 teams coming in June to help with community surveys and getting some groundwork done with our neighbors in Noblesville. If you are interested in bringing a team to Indy/Noblesville to help with some projects for our church plant contact me today!
4. May ending means June is here and with June being here that means Josiah will soon be arriving! We are really ready to meet the newest member of the Brown family!
5. Festivals/Parties! - Enough said about that one

Okay, so as you can probably tell...I'm excited its the summer!!! What are your favorite summer memories?

Sunday Night Unwind

What an amazing day! I missed being with our friends at The Pointe Community Church, but loved being invited to share my heart at St. Joe Community Church for a great friend of mine.

Here are a few thoughts of my day:

• Haven't preached this hard in a long time-I LOVE IT!
• I'm pretty sure I pissed some people off
• I'm pretty sure I inspired some people to BE THE CHURCH & Christians Jesus wants us to be
• COMPLETELY BLESSED beyond belief this weekend, God totally did some awesome things in the Brown family life this weekend.
• Loved watching Butler beat VCU...still a little upset that Kentucky lost, not because I like them but because I DO NOT LIKE UCONN!!! Blah!
• I am going to be glued to the tv on Monday night, watching Butler (wish I had my tv that is sitting in KY, watching a game of this importance isn't the same without my big screen HDTV)
  
• As I preached this morning, God laid it on my heart to step up even harder in our efforts for reaching Indiana.
• I believe that Generation Church is going to be influential in planting at least 10 churches/campus' in Indiana in the next 10 years and at least 1 new church in every 50 states in the next 10 years.
• Reading "Sun Stand Still" with my leadership team...only two chapters in and am BLOWN AWAY!
• Looking forward with connecting with my mentor/coach, Charlie, this week!
• Got to act like a lil kid today at Chuck E Cheeses with my son and some new friends of ours!
• I AM SO PUMPED ABOUT what God has called us to do in Noblesville, and excited for the churches and people that God has placed in partnerships with us (thanks The Pointe, Fall Creek, St. Joe, LifeGate and many of you out there thinking about partnering)
• Looking forward to seeing some of our logo concepts in the next few days...which reminds me I've gotta get a website started (any ideas on cheap hosting domains, etc)
• I CANNOT WAIT FOR NEXT SUNDAY...and for EASTER!
  

Well, those are about all of the thoughts I've got going through my mind this evening!
Peace, Love, & Chicken Grease!

It's Been an Interesting Few Months

Yes, I know many of you may have noticed that the last time stamp for my last blog was the end of January. Well, this blog is more of just an update, and I will get back to more meaningful blogs later this week.

Cyndi, Micaiah and I are all together in Indianapolis!!! We made the decision that it was getting too close to Josiah getting here and we hate being apart. Another factor is that in order for Generation Church to be launched when we feel like God is leading I needed to move up here and start meeting people. So, we are renting a 1 bedroom apartment for all of us to be together while selling our house in Kentucky and our new home in Noblesville is being finished. We laugh because we have gone from 1800 sq ft to 650 sq ft and sometime in June we will be going to about 3400 sq feet. God is truly working, we have signed a contract to build our dream home (for the same cost of buying an already built one) in Noblesville. I have already met several of our neighbors and have already began to invite them to Generation Church (and we aren't even meeting yet). We have several families very interested. Please keep praying, we want our house in KY to sell very quickly but know He has the right family for the right time!

Cyndi is doing great! She is loving her job, although recruiting is very slow at the moment, mostly because of lack of marketing. She is healthy and strong, as well as Josiah. We go back to the doctor on April 11 for a 3D ultrasound (which was ordered by the doctor due to a potential complication) several third trimester tests and just to keep things on path for Josiah's June appearance. Cyndi has definitely entered the very uncomfortable state of her pregnancy, as it is becoming difficult for her to sleep, having to use the bathroom every five minutes, and (although I think she is HOT and looks fantastic) she has now become self conscious about the baby bump that has taken place. All in all things are awesome!

Micaiah has started preschool/daycare and it was a bit of an emotional time for he and I. You see, he has been my side kick for the last two years. Although, I will miss being with him all day everyday and the awesome ministry doors he opens for me, it is time for him to get friends his own age. It also frees me up to go to Starbucks and meet with people (that's where I am at right now, and I just had a random lady shout to the entire store that she knows me, but she really doesn't). Micaiah being in preschool also allows me to partner with and serve alongside The Pointe Community Church while we getting things under way for Generation Church. Their Lead Pastor, Charlie Fehrman, has been a great blessing in my life and has become a mentor as we plant.

God is truly blessing us! Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and love that you have show for Cyndi, Micaiah, and myself.

Tech Geek

If any of you know me very well, you know that there are several material things that I absolutely love: Tools and Technology! Seriously, I am a bit of a geek when it comes to these things.

Well recently, I have acquired a Flip camera. I have lots of digital cameras and video cameras, so I definitely did not need another one. However, it was on sale and my wife thought said it was ok. So I bought one. I have only had it for a day but I love this thing. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It is smaller than my cell phone, so it is able to be taken with me everywhere.
2. It is High Definition. It shoots better looking footage than my previously owned Canon XL1
3. I can "flip" it out and record on the moment without having to drag it out of a camera bag and wait for it to warm up. From the time I take it out of my pocket to the time I start recording is under 3 seconds.
4. I don't have to carry extra cords with me because it has a built in usb.
5. Lastly, IT IS MAC compatible!!!

For less than $200 you can get an awesome HD camera! Here is just a short video (of my son, of course) that I filmed today with this camera.

Life...

Life, many times, has an interesting way of redefining your priorities. Lately, this blog has not been one of them. I have so much I am trying to accomplish: get my son to sleep in his big boy bed, finish my Master of Divinity Degree, planning a move, planning a church, and planning for a new baby.

However, I have come to realize that this blog has been a way for me to vent, and stay stable in my emotionally unstable mind :). So I will be back at it in the days to come.

Any ideas on topics you would like to read about?

I'm Back

Okay, so I have done some updating to the look of the blog. It is not exactly what I want, but it will do for now. The plan is to be back and regular in my bogging. I have a lot of thoughts rolling around and so here you go.

Be back on Monday for the first blog post in the new look.

Random Thoughts and Updates

Okay so we've been busy not only in the Brown household but also at LifeGate Church.

Here are just a few randoms and updates:

• We keep seeing more and more new faces at LifeGate...God is doing something BIG and we're gonna bust some major barriers real soon.
• Doing a series at church called The Blessed Life. I'm being blown away by it. GREAT REMINDER that our money is not ours, everything we have is God's and He allows us to use it, but He does require 10% back to Him.
• Spent some time at KY prayer focus group this week. Pastor Larry Stockstill was there and blew me away!
• Micaiah is 9 months old and completely mobile, will probably be walking soon and eating table foods...where has the time gone.
• Classes are going GREAT. Being challenged deeply but loving it.
• My friends the Nelms' are in the country (they are missionaries in Nicaragua) and coming to visit us soon!
• Been trying to figure out some fundraising for LifeGate and for a trip I'm taking to Jamaica in January
• My wife turned 26 this month. By the way she is such an encourager!!!
• Finally, God has been turning my world upside down with such a passion for people's lives to be radically changed for Jesus. Not only those who are far from God, but those who may have forgotten about His calling on their lives!!

I love what God is doing!!!

Finals

This week I've been working to complete my first quarter as a full time student (once again). I've been working towards my Master of Divinity and this week is finals. So my plan is to finish this week strong and be back to the blogging world next week.

I've enjoyed being in seminary and am really striving towards excellence. My goal is to finish with a 4.0 and if this quarter is any indication of what is to come, I'm on track for that goal!

I Love This

It's October 1st and I must say I love it!

Where has this year gone? Back in February I spent a snowy winter in Indiana as Cyndi and I waited for Micaiah to get here. And then we went back home to Charleston, for our "spring" like weather...which is a mild summer to be honest.

Over the last couple of years I have really found myself missing having four seasons, especially fall. Now that we are in KY, I remember why I missed it so much. The changing of the leaves, the cooler temps (chilly but not too cold), and the smell of the air also has a "fallness" to it. I just love it!

I never thought I would end up in KY but obviously God has bigger plans. And since He has us here, I am going to enjoy every single season, love every moment of it, and embrace it with my family. Now that fall is here, that means winter is just around the corner...so I may need to pick up a snow shovel at Lowe's while I am there.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Recently, I listened to a sermon in which I was very excited about hearing. The church that I was specifically listening to is being used by God and I AM PUMPED ABOUT IT!!! It has been an extremely long time since I've listened to one of their Pastor's messages and so I decided that since God is doing amazing things there, something must be happening. So I downloaded a sermon from iTunes. While listening to this sermon I will be honest with you...I got pissed off. The pastor calls out a former youth pastor who resigned and says from the stage that he should have fired him. WOW!! Really? My thoughts were, can't people make mistakes and can't we let things go. And then I moved on to how in the world is God allowing this church to be used? Someone needs to give them a reality check and then something blew me away...

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

God spoke to me through Job 38-39. He goes through this conversation with Job basically saying who do you think you are? I've created everything for my purpose and you may not understand it but know your place. And Job answers in Job 40:4, "I am nothing - how could I ever find the answers?"

So who do I think I am that I would try and question what God is doing? God keep using me as Your tool. That's right I'm a TOOL!!! And help me to not question what you are using others to do!

I Love Movies

One of my favorite things to do is to pop some popcorn, snuggle up on our couch with my wife and relax, entertaining ourselves with a nice movie. We also love going to see movies at the theatre.

I tend to be an extreme critic of movies that I see. For instance the latest installment of the Harry Potter (and the Half-Blood Prince) film is good, but not great. This has a lot to do because it is missing a lot of key action elements and most likely has to do with the PG rating. However it was good.

There is one director/producer in particular that I have been following since I was a wee lad. This probably has to do with the fact that he directed my favorite movie as a kid, Batman. That's right with the original movie Batman of Michael Keaton, aka Beetlejuice aka Jack Frost (for the younger crowd). This director/producer is Tim Burton.

Mr. Burton has produced a wide variety of films with sort of a dark twist. Movies such as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factor, and Sweeney Todd just to name a few. One thing that Tim has really done well is put his signature on his films. This signature tends to be a dark, over exaggeration of characters, film shots, and even music. However, one other signature tends to be with the actors he works with. You can almost always find Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's films, or even Helena Bonham Carter and even more recently Alan Rickman (both of which can be found in the Potter films).

All in all I thoroughly enjoy Tim Burton's dark, twisted, and highly entertaining films. I look forward to his next film set to release in 2010, his take on Alice in Wonderland should be quite interesting. Of course it will be, with Johnny Depp taking on the role of the Mad Hatter it is sure to be an experience.

Love My House

It has been so awesome to be a home owner. Definitely a new experience and I've been loving doing little fix ups and creating a nice yard. Cyndi and I started putting together a list of things we've wanted for our house if and when we get some money.

Things like:

• A Lawn Mower a thanks Mom & Dad!
• A Snow Blower (yes, it will snow this winter)
• A Big Screen TV
• Organizers for the Garage
• A Dining Table a thanks Mom & Dad!

Obviously there are some more, but those are just a few. God has truly blessed us! I love that my family is going to grow in the Lord and we have our house to do it!

Side note: our very good friends The Moschella's will be welcoming Charlotte in about a month! Oh, and Happy Birthday Jamie Engler and Courtney Moschella!

Why I Love Skype

I have known about and have even been using skype for years.  skype is an interactive video conferencing program that is absolutely free.  Very recently I have realized how much skype has been a big tool for me and my family and so here are a few reasons why I love skype:

• Allows me to communicate with my friends overseas (got some in Australia, Nicaragua and Jamaica).
• Allows for conference calling to get a lot of friends together in one big conversation.  I wish more of my friends had skype.  Think of the possibilities if Randis, Kyle, Brian and I were all in on one conversation.
• Allows us to see our family when they are states apart.
• It's FREE!
• THE BEST IS IT ALLOWS ME TO SEE MY SON AND WIFE EVERYDAY THEY ARE APART FROM ME!

What a great application!  Check it out:  www.skype.com.  When you download it.  Add me I'm jeremiahjb.  GET SKYPING!

Patience is a Virtue...

That I don't have!  I never really have been a patient person.  Every time I pray for it, God always sends a challenging situation my way. 

I am not saying that God has put me in a challenging situation but I always get a little antsy right around Christmas.  I love Christmas!  But this year is a little extra special for me.  This will be the last Christmas that it is just Cyndi and I.  I am also getting a little antsy that in a month in a half we are going to be blessed with a little one.  Someone that God is entrusting me and Cyndi to be responsible for and raise up to love, respect and follow Him.  WOW, what a calling!

Please pray for Cyndi and I as we embark on this adventure, but also pray for Monecia as we are still trying everything in our power to get her as soon as possible as well!  God is good!

Keeping Busy

It has been awhile since my last post and I know that I have been slacking.

So much is happening though in my world...

1st- We have finally kicked off student ministry at Seacoast Church at James Island!  And what an impact this has already been!  We have seen a lot of students come to be a part of what's going on.  To kick off we beat up a car and already within the first week of having Student Ministry we have already had an all nighter with our Middle Schooler!

2nd- Cyndi and I have been packing.  And when we haven't been packing, we've been thinking of packing.  We are making a shift in our housing, which we are thrilled about!  We are getting a much bigger place for a lot less!

3rd - We are planning on going to Jamaica towards the end of October.  The main reason is to try and setup an appointment to get the process rolling on the adoption of Monicea.  Please pray for us as we are in this process as well as we find the funds both to travel to Jamaica as well as the adoption.

4th- Our friends Matt & Kathy had their baby girl today!! (Okay, Kathy had her...Matt just helped).  Congrats to them!  Got to talk to Matt tonight on the phone and he is pretty stoked!  Matt and Kathy are two of the coolest people and two of the most awesomest parents ever!  

Well, thats about all of my ramblings for this night!

Monday Morning Madness

The last two weeks have been a bit busy in the Brown household.

Cyndi and I decided to go to Indiana for vacation and it has been a crazy few weeks.  But normal blogging continues.

Here are just a few random things happening in our life:

• Currently listening to Coldplay. Their album Viva La Vida is amazing!
• Going to look at some housing options today.
• My 14 year old Brother-in-law is spending two weeks with us (anyone want to hang out with him?).
• Filling out an application to start taking classes at Strayer University this week. Classes start in October, taking web design classes so that I can maybe start a side business that will help us support more missionaries.
• I can't believe how much cheaper it is to live in Indiana than in South Carolina!
• Reading a great book by Rob Bell right now.  Sex God.  Got a couple great quotes I will post later this week.
• The Olympics begin next week!  How many gold medals can we rack up this year?  I am really pulling for a couple of Jamaica runners...they are fast!

Okay, enough randomness for this morning!

Great Movie!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the greatest people I know...my wife, my brother Zach, and my friend Randis.  And we spent the afternoon seeing The Dark Knight.

I have very high expectations when it comes to films that have anything to do with comic books, especially BATMAN!  Batman is definitely my favorite superhero of all time and so seeing this movie was an exciting adventure.

I must say GO SEE THIS MOVIE!  and after you have seen it GO SEE IT AGAIN!  This by far is the greatest Batman movie I have ever experienced, and I've seen them all.  Heath Ledger's rendition of The Joker is going to win some awards!  He was so creepy, funny, and just plain evil! If you have anyone that likes superhero movies this is a must see for all ages!

The Weekend Update

Here's what went on this weekend:

Friday, 4th of July

• Cyndi's parents arrived
• We celebrated Courtney Moschella's birthday (I promised I wouldn't tell the world that she is 31) at O'Charley's
• Cyndi, Courtney, Mark & I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert at The Joe (our local baseball stadium)...A TON OF PEOPLE WERE THERE!  The line to get in 2hours before was still insane, we missed a lot of the opening act.

Saturday

• Drove over to Seacoast's Long Point Rd. campus in Mt. Pleasant to show the in-laws.
• Went to Old Navy and then Big Dave and I went a cigar shop while the girls went to Bath and Body Works.
• Sat in traffic heading out to the beach
• Took a walk on the beach at Sullivan's Island
• Walked around Fort Moultrie
• Grilled out: I made Steak & Shrimp Kabobs
• Watched The Bucket List~GREAT MOVIE!

Sunday

Sunday we drove to church in the morning and it was quite different.  Our drummer wasn't there so the worship was more a stripped down acoustic version (we even had a ukulele played).  And then surprise: my good friend Joey Svendsen, Campus Pastor of Seacoast Church James Island, brought a great message on the grace of Jesus (I'll post more on the message later)!

All in all, what an amazing holiday weekend!  Not only did we celebrate our country's freedom and independence, but we celebrated the best freedom and independence and that is through Jesus!

Big Day Ahead

Here we are half way through 2008 and I cannot believe where this year has gone so far! 

I love July.  As a kid it was a time where summer was really kicking off.  We were in full swing of Indiana's summer baseball season, our pool was just the right temperature, and the only worry of the day was do I have to get up at 11am or 2pm.  

Even as an adult, I've seemed to really grow fond of this particular month.  Maybe its because we remember that our country is so free and that in turn reminds me of my freedom I have in Christ. Maybe it is because that in this month (four years ago) I told my wife, "I love you," for the very first time and she knew at that moment that she was stuck with me forever.  I'm not sure what it is about this month but July seems to be a month of remembrance but also a ton of fun!

When I started dating Cyndi, she really got me hooked on Dave Matthews and his band.  And every summer she would go to one of his concerts and tell me how awesome it was, etc.  Well, tomorrow I get to experience one first hand!  I am ecstatic not only to be at a concert (which I would spend thousands of dollars, if I could, to go to a lot of concerts) but to be with the girl of my dreams beside me!   

What a great life!

The Countdown Begins

One of my favorite things to do is go to concerts.  Seriously!  I love music and I love the atmosphere at concerts!  My sister went to a Kanye West concert in Detroit a few weeks ago and I really wish I could have been with her.  

But tonight officially marks the countdown until Cyndi and I go and see her favorite band/artist: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND.

They are performing here in Charleston at our baseball stadium, and I cannot wait.  It will be my first DMB concert.  ONE MONTH!  4th of July...Independence Day, is the day we will be jammin'!