ISRAEL - Part 1

Lia and I just returned from a life-transforming trip to Israel. In the coming days, I am going to do my best to share it with you.

I am daunted. The task will not be easy. For one, there is much to be said. For two, there is much I'm still absorbing. For three, there is a magnitude to this region that is better experienced than read. (Plus, the fear the Mossad could be eavesdropping and never let me return!)

Here, Lia and I stand on the precipice over the city of Nazareth (the same precipice the Nazarenes threatened to throw Jesus off!) with so much to see and so many things to discover. It is day one of our trip and already we are filled to overflow.

So come. Consider this an invitation. Join me as I share over the next couple weeks some observations on this beautiful, strange, complex, volatile, explosive, and remarkable confluence of cultures, religions, ethnicities and peoples.

Hunter Lambeth (along with is wife Lauri and daughter Haley) is the Young Life Area Director for the Middle East. We're on his committee (not sure how or why, but I'm not asking questions), which is the reason we were invited on the committee trip overseas to see what's going on. Here, Hunter (can you pick him out in the crowd? Lia's in the way back) prepares to speak to the ninth and tenth graders at Nazareth Baptist School (where he does Young Life). 

  

He starts with a picture. What do you see? There are whispers. Points. Then, ahh's. Then, more ahh's as people begin to see that there are not one but two pictures, two faces - one old, one young. (Do you see them?) He transitions into the point that so often we can look at the same picture but see entirely different things. It's a great point - 

- a point that hit home over and over again throughout the course of our visit. 

A picture that for me would change day to day as I met people from every side of the issues and from every walk of life - the privileged to the oppressed - and I was forced to face my prejudices and racism - and discovered a new appreciation and love for the people who live here. Every single one. 

Young Life Club

Islam our van driver - takes me back to China with the peace sign

Nancy Keshian and girls at Young Life

House of Hope - Bethlehem

Osam and I - both dads. 

Priest at the Church of the Nativity, checking how his stocks are doing

House of Hope - Lia and Ibrahim our tour guide

Gary and Cindy Bayer - the two most hospitable people on the planet

Lia gets yelled at by a nun for showing too much skin

Ari spends his Sabbath with me at the Western Wall

Yousef and Nisreen share our anniversary!

The best falafel in Jerusalem

My entry for next year's National Geographic amateur photo competition.

Foaling

The "Wild" Ponies at Grayson Highlands are foaling. Get on your high horse and visit them!!!

Grayson Highlands

Doe Eyes

who could say no to this face?

"Spring" Break 2013: It was so cold last week in Philly we had to organize our errands around trips to the hot chocolate store (what my kids call coffee shops).

We went to a shop I'd never been to before. Since leaving Media, my hometown (and yours, apparently - the town motto is "Everybody's Hometown" so there you have it), it has become quite the cool place. From what I understand, Seven Stones is but one of several places to drink hot chocolate. When I was growing up, the only place I knew to go was Dunkin Donuts, and they didn't do or did the whipping cream there.

We entered Seven Stones, my mother placed the order, and we found a round table. Anna Rose came up with a game called "Score" which involved a stone she had picked up from somewhere and a curled up arch of a receipt. Think finger-soccer and you'll get the picture.

We played until our hot chocolates arrived. The children drank theirs with vigor. (The barista had their drinks temperatured just right.) Anna Rose was making vacuum cleaner noises with her straw and Dave Dave was wiping whipping cream from his top lip when I heard from his mouth a phrase I had never heard before.

"I want to talk to her."

I followed his line of sight to a doey-eyed brunette the age of three. Perhaps it was the velocity of sugar intake that created such boldness. I'd never seen him so determined.

"Go for it," I said.

Dave Dave hopped down from his chair. He walked halfway up to her.

As it happened, her mother was bussing their mid-morning snack in the trash bin across the room. Doe Eyes was standing alone, innocent as can be.

He loaded at her. She looked at him.

"How you doing?" my son said. (I'm not making this up)

Doe Eyes replied, "Get out of my way!" And brushing poor Dave Dave aside, she brusquely walked passed her mother (horrified) and out the door.

no bumpers in life

Man! Philly girls are tough.

Or maybe I'm wrong. As my friend Drew said - "That's how most marriages start in Philly."

All I gots to say is Doe Eyes didn't know what she was missing.

Zero Sum Game

This photo betrays the month it has been. Lia gave me the old: Things can't go on like this speech a few days ago, and I agree. 

The hard part for me to swallow is that life this month has been full with good things. Lots of activities. Great times with friends. And a number of opportunities - I've given twelve talks since March 1. I love giving talks. But I agree, twelve in a month is a few too many.

You see, the thing is it's not really the number of talks. It's the price my family pays when I give them. It often feels like a zero sum game. Like the better one of us does - the worse it is for the rest of us. 

Is that like the fourth law of Murphy?

I don't really know what to do with it. Other than to hope for better balance. The challenge for me is that too often things seem to come my way in feasts and famines. If only opportunities would spread themselves out...

Unfortunately, opportunities come when they come. 

For me, I need to make decisions not solely on the basis of whether I can do them or not. I need to say yes when it is great for all of us. In order to accomplish this: Lia and I are implementing a few new ground rules for Ned. This blog is another way to hold me accountable. It helps to get my desires written some place where I can see them. I have also recruited some fellas to lash me down to my seat when they see I'm getting a bit too excited. 

All this to say that I'm thankful for the opportunities, but there are also things to be thankful for when they don't come.     

  

As I was reminded this weekend: childhood only happens once. 

First Ever Basket

Turn up your volume for the full effect:

: o
: )

Talk on Rest

Here's a talk I gave at Southside Community Church Last week on Rest. Sorry for the bang at the beginning. I haven't listened to the entirety because I haven't entirely gotten comfortable with the sound of my voice.

Defining Photo

Yep, this about says it.

My New Friends from New Providence

Just returning from an incredible weekend with my new friends from New Providence, NJ.

I had the true honor of speaking to my middle school youth pastor's church (this is twenty-three years back y'all). We reconnected a few years ago, and I can't tell you how cool it was to hang out with him again. Mike Flavin, you are the man.

One of the many cool cats I had the privilege of chilling with. (It was seriously like 5 degrees)

Never one to be unambitious - I set out to answer life's two most important questions: who am I? and why am I here? It was a quite a bit to bite off, but hey, why shoot for less?

Here's me and Mike.

So now you know where I get it....

He wasn't the only dead head (see below)...get it? Pretty funny. I didn't come up with it.

The camp was located directly next to Bushkill Falls, one of the prettiest places in America. I snuck into the park and took a few pics. If you are ever in the area, be sure to check them out. (And pay an extra $7 bucks for me)

We spent Saturday morning thinking about how we have been shaped. For those of you who don't know, I've written a book called Clay that will be coming out later this year. It was a lot of fun to share some of the story with these new friends. 

One molded a mini-Ned for me! Bubble butt and all. It's now waving at me in my office! Thanks Jeremy.

Thank you everyone. I have never felt more appreciated.

Till we meet again. Keep stepping into the promise.

My Favorite Things All Mashed Into One

I have been eyeing this place for awhile now. It's called the Allegheny Jubilee. From the looks of it, the joint looked like a bluegrass-squaredancing-clogging-party-my-kind-of-place. I had never seen it open. Friday and Saturday nights in Sparta we're usually half asleep by seven putting the kids to bed.

So when we were thinking about things to do with the Young Life leaders - it dawned on me that this was my chance to see what the Jubilee was all about.

The week before, I decided to stake the joint out. So I show up with my family and in-laws at seven and the place is empty, the door is locked and the lights are out. But there was a phone number. I called it on the way home and got Agnes.

I asked Agnes why they weren't open. She said the band from Winston cancelled on them for fear of bad weather. Bad weather! Come on! I said. I know, she replied. So I told her that the following weekend I was bringing up college students and was wondering if there'd be a band next Friday night. Agnes told me that they didn't do shows on Fridays in the winter.

I told Agnes that if they did do a show on Friday it would be a party they would never forget. She told me that they didn't have a band. I told her that from the look of their billboard the Rise and Shine Band liked to play. I asked if I could get their number. She said that her husband played in the band. I said, well can I talk to him? She said, "Honey, do you boys want to play next Friday?" I said, Tell him we're bringing forty college students.

Agnes said, Did you say forty? I said, Yes. She said, People? I said, Yes. Then she said, Yeah, they'll play. I said, Great. And she asked, Can we make signs and invite the locals? I said, PLEASE!

Look what she made us!





She gave me a hug when we got there.

And we gave them a night that none of us will soon forget.

Thank you Agnes! Thank you Allegheny Jubilee. Check out their website and go visit them yourself some time. We went with our dear friends Kim, Crick and Ellory last weekend. Check out this video to hear Dave Dave's laughter. 

Dave Dave's Year Three in Photos

It started with Blue Cake

We mixed it up at the Soccer Plex for your party

We hiked with Granddaddy and Grammy on a warm March day looking for frogs at Reynolda Gardens

You bowled your first strike in April

In May, you climbed Bluff Mountain

And hung out by the pool in June

Over 4th of July, the sprinkler was fun to run through and taste.

In August, we spent a weekend of fun at Windy Gap

As fall approached you discovered a new love for dragons.

In October, you "helped" daddy rake leaves.

We cut down a Christmas Tree over Thanksgiving.

A polar bear swim in December!

Happy New Year!

A bouncy castle birthday for you!

Happy Birthday Dave Dave! What will next year be like?

Valentines Day Part 2

For those of you who have read the book (and for those of you who haven't, it's just one click away hint. hint), you know that Valentine's Day has played host to several of my not-so-shiniest moments. So this year, I asked for help.

"Anna Rose, I need to come up with a great idea for Valentine's Day for Mommy."

She thought a while then shot up in her booster seat. "I got it! Let's make a huge card the size of a wall!" 

"OK."

This is what we ended up with:

Pretty cool. Anna Rose did the tracing. Dave Dave put on the stickers. I wrote the words. It was a team effort. 

We unveiled it on Wednesday morning. Thursday, Lia and I went to a winery for the afternoon. Weathervane Vineyards in Welcome, NC. The owner is the grower, wine-maker, and wine tasting guy. He does it all. He even bought a billboard while he was serving us.

If you look closely, the picture below is from another vineyard. We forgot to take pictures. 

On the way home, we stopped by Bojangles for a couple chicken biscuits. How about that for a Valentines dinner! Then, I was off to speak at Intervarsity at Wake Forest. Not the greatest romantic ending to a Valentine's week. But not bad either. The best love we experience is the love we share with others. 

Happy Valentines week to you, Leela. I won't double book next year. I'll try not to. One of these years, we'll get this right.

Valentines Day Part 1

Now that there are two women in my life, I get to celebrate Valentine's Day twice. Anna Rose's was last Saturday thanks to the Daddy Daughter Adventure Princess Dance.

Cuter Date? I don't think so.

The Raging River Tribe went all out. First, dinner at Forsyth Country Club. Then, off to Winmock for the dance. We killed it I must say. One of us, I am forbidden to say whom, even cleared the dance floor with his break dancing skill.

It also provided me a perfect opportunity to wear my tuxedo. (I mean, when is it not a perfect opportunity to wear a tuxedo, but you know what I mean.)



Anna Rose and I had a blast. The highlight for me, in a night of highlights, happened during a conversation we had while we were taking a dance break for cake. Anna Rose looked at me and said, "When I get married, I'm going to make my husband take our daughter to this."

Wow.

Valentine's Day Number 1 - Check.

You're next, Leela.

Taking the Plunge

Ah. The Waffle House, where all great dreams begin.

It was an appropriate subject for my first picture on my new phone, no phone is not the word for it - high capacity digital media rectangle - that's better - it's like if Disney World was shrinked to the size of a cigarette box.

Last week, Lia and I "upgraded" to high capacity digital media rectangles. I am not ready to call these contraptions "smart" yet - at least not in regard to the decision to get one. But they are pretty snazzy.

And like most plunges Lia and I have taken in our life, we have gone all-in with this one. We are facebooking, instagramming, angry-birding, even tweeting! this, coming from a guy who thought # meant pound.

(Confession. I actually thought the word was "splashtag.")

I still don't know what it does - but it hasn't stopped me from slapping them on every tweet I've tweeted so far.

1. Ned Erickson ‏@NedErickson

   I usually wait for the sermon #luvuclyde http://instagr.am/p/VRzxygi7FS/ 

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2. 2 FebNed Erickson ‏@NedErickson

   Ernest and Agnes you are the greatest #alleghenyjubilee#powerofpersuasion

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3. 2 FebNed Erickson ‏@NedErickson

   #splashtag

So anyway, it feels great to be back on the blog. The platform has served me well. So, until next time - happy tweeting.