Kristen arrives!

John and I travel to the Oklahoma City Airport today to pick up Kristen as she flew in from Tucson, Az. It was rather chilly with snow flurries here and there.

Great trip thus far.  And some great eating!

Another day in Oklahoma. The day AFTER Christmas.  It was a good day.  IT SNOWED!!!!

Snow to me is a rare treat, which I enjoy VERY much.  Madison, Uncle Alvin and myself make a small snowman in the front yard.  That was a total blast.

This day held a full day of afternoon shopping.  I really enjoy shopping with my family.  Jennifer is the queen of shopping.  She looks for the best deals and will look though every item of every store before she moves on.  Myself on the other hand…  I just walk into a store and am out in about 45 seconds unless something catches my eye.  And I will NOT try something on just to see if it looks good.  I will only try something on if I know I am getting it and need to double check the fit.

But, time with Jennifer as she slowly treads though the sea of clothing on sale at the shops in the mall is one of my favorite things in the world.

On the reading path for today I was able to sneak away to Starbucks for a few hours before the sun came up.  I started reading A Theology as Big as the City, Bakke.  It has been an excellent read.  What drew me to this book besides Sean Benesh talking about it was the title.

You see I live in an urban setting on the east side of Tucson.  Within a 5 mile radius of my home there are about 129,000 people.  My home is a little over 30 years old.  There are plenty of apartment buildings within my area.  I tell you this to let you know what I view as an important ingredient into contextualizing the gospel into the Tucson, Arizona setting.

Today was a great day.  I drove the RV out of New Mexico into Texas.  This is a very exciting thing in my book.  You see anytime we travel in the RV there is always a problem and it ALWAYS happens in New Mexico.  So, as I was driving across the NM/Texas state line I was rejoicing.  I looked all around to celebrate with someone and EVERYONE was sleeping.   I was listening to my iPod.  And if you must know I was listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermon in his series of Philippians.

Today I alway finished my first book, Radical Reformission.  It was an entertaining read really.  It had some tidbits of theological information.  And a lot of rants.  Both which I would expect from Driscoll.  The read was intriguing to me because of the subtitle.  “Reaching out without selling out”.  I wanted to explore with Driscoll the thoughts of what it takes to reach people in your city with the gospel message while not selling the gospel out to cultural relevance.

I am up late with my oldest, my wife and brother-in-law watching Deal or No Deal.  Ahhhhh…. Christmas time and family vacations….   I love them!

And by the way!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

-Jake

EastPointe really cool today. We did things a bit different. There was no preschool or children’s church today as we were all together in the Magee Middle School Cafeatorum. David had his guitar and we sung some Christmas songs and read the story of Jesus’ birth togehter. It was capped off with everyone lighting candles and the children opening presents provided by EastPointe.

As we left church this morning Jennifer and I rushed home packed out bags and waited in the driveway for the big RV to roll up. And roll up it did! All 35+ feet up of her and a jeep in tow. He all jumped in an off we went.

We are curzing on the good ol I-10 as I write you this bit of summary. Everyone except myself, David and Madion are asleep. And Maddie just put her lipstick from Mema on the sleeping Riley. She is so proud that she just pranked her little brother. And to be quite honest I am pretty proud of her too!

On this trip I hope to better connect with my family. Not just the Rasmussen’s but the Houchins as well. You see I don’t have the normal relationship that the majority of son-in-laws have with their wifes parents. We actually really do love and enjoy each other. I deeply enjoy spending time with David and Glenda. They treat me just like one of their own children, I look at them like my own parents.

On this trip I hope to read a lot, work on the Epic Church website, connect with my family and relax.

Here are the books I brought:

Avoiding Parental Landminds – Kyle Dodd

A Theology as Big as the City – Ray Bakke

Finding Them, Keeping Them – Gary McIntosh & Glen Martin

Radical Reformission – Mark Driscoll