swirling in my head and heart

volunteer sign up form

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 14:18:21 -0500

Consectetuer arcu ipsum ornare pellentesque vehicula, in vehicula diam, ornare magna erat felis wisi a risus. Justo fermentum id. Malesuada eleifend, tortor molestie, a fusce  a vel et. Mauris at suspendisse, neque aliquam faucibus adipiscing, vivamus in. Wisi mattis leo suscipit nec amet,  nisl fermentum tempor ac a, augue in eleifend in venenatis, cras sit id in vestibulum felis in, sed ligula. In sodales suspendisse mauris quam etiam erat, quia tellus convallis eros rhoncus diam orci, porta lectus esse adipiscing posuere et, nisl arcu vitae laoreet.

volunteer sign up form

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 14:18:20 -0500

i have moved my blog

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 16:00:22 -0400

I have moved my blog. For those of you who have this blog plugged into your Google Reader or another blog aggregator, please change your link or your feed to:

http://www.jasoncdukes.wordpress.com

Thankful to be doing life with you.
-jason

a summer of first times

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:55:42 -0400

When you have young kids, there are a lot of “first times.” This summer, however, was extraordinarily full of them. What a blessing they all were. Here are some of them. From me and Jen to the kids to my Dad even, it has been a great summer.

Katey’s 1st dance recital. She was
winking at me during practice.

Abby’s 1st time having her finger nails painted.

First time Pop got an iPhone. He was giddy.

Caleb’s 1st time riding a bike. We were all giddy.

Abby’s first time at survival swimming
lessons. She cried almost the whole
time on the first day, and just plopped
down on this towel afterward. Whew.
Now, she’s swimming!!!

First time bowling for Caleb and Katey.
I blogged about this previously.

Jen and I visited New York City for the
first time. This is us on Time Square.
We even kissed.

Katey tried on a flower girl dress for the first time.
This was surreal. Made me think too much about
the day this is for real for her. She’s not allowed to
date til she’s 35, though, so it will be a while :o)

Abby’s first time to balance a spoon on her nose.
Well, she tried.

Abby’s first time to wear a baseball cap that she
claimed as her own. She’s so cute.

Caleb’s first time out golfing. Pop (my
dad) and I took him out to Stoneybrook
West near our house. Fun!

Katey’s first real bike. It was too big, so
we have to exchange it, but it still
counts as a first.

Caleb’s first trip to Talladega. We
stopped on the way home from visiting
with my brother and sister-in-law and
nephews in north MS.

Caleb’s first day of first grade. WOW.

Our first time as a family to have a
bowling tournament on our brand new
Wii that Pop (my dad) got us for the kids
birthdays coming up.

Pop and Caleb built a pretend campfire
in our living room by the first tent that
we ever owned as a family. It happened
to be a Disney Princess tent that Katey
got for her birthday, but that didn’t bother
the manly men by the fire.

Jen and I are experiencing a first - celebrating 10
years together. We are doing this on the Gulf Coast
in the FL panhandle with the family and friends of
Rick and Cosette (a couple whose wedding ceremony
I am leading 2 days from now who is a part of the
Westpoint Church family). We are also doing this
alone - Jen’s sister is keeping the kids. And, we are
doing this to retreat for the sake of advancing in
our marriage.

What’s going on at home is not a first.
Tropical Storm Fay exposed some flaws
in the western wall of our home as
water leaked under the baseboards
again like it did during the three storms
of 2004. We will get to it when we get
back. More importantly, we get to go
home refocused on pouring into and
growing with our kids. Finally, we get to
go home refreshed to continue to
live sent with the wonderful people of the Westpoint Church family.

Please pray. Pray for our family when you think of it. For strength and protection. Also, please pray for wisdom and direction for Westpoint. There is an awesome future ahead with Westpoint in that community as people keep on being the church there. There are also growing pains in various elements of what we are doing in which we are committed to listen to the Lord and through which we are excited to follow Him as He leads us into the next steps of this amazing and sobering journey.

May the firsts keep coming.

celebrating ten years, part 1

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 21:17:31 -0400

It’s hard to believe that Jen and I have been married for 10 years this coming Friday (August 8th). Amazing. What a journey it has been, with lots of ups and lots of downs and lots of growing in the difficult yet worthwhile transformation toward oneness. I must say, that 1/2 of me that continues to need to be surrendered so that I can be a part of 2 becoming 1 is really tough to let go of. It’s much easier to just try to win your case or have it your way or act like everyone should be playing a support role to the movie that you are starring in. However, that way is also very lonely and hurtful and hollow. I continue to learn that.
 I also continue to learn how beautiful my wife is and how deep her love is for me. Everyday she amazes me. Everyday, I am sure we both annoy each other, but everyday she overwhelms me with her heart and support and touch and kiss and encouragement and prayers and life given into our kids.

I love you, Jen. Happy anniversary!!!

Now to the reason why there’s a picture of Manhattan as the highlight pic for this blog. We were asked a while back to do a wedding at the end of August up in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, so we planned for that to be an anniversary trip of sorts. The beach there is amazing, and the town is quaint with lots of peaceful and soulful amenities. I like it simply because when I go out chest high in the ocean, I can see my toe nails. Pretty cool. Nonetheless, we are planning on celebrating 10 years there together while we celebrate the beginning of another marriage with some friends of ours.

Well, a $400 voucher from Delta, a monetary gift to help cover most of the costs, and the desire to go and visit some friends of ours who are being the church among the people of Manhattan with hopes of seeing His church blossom all over the city produced the idea of a part 1 trip to couple with the part 2 to Santa Rosa. So, July 29th to 31st, Jen and I ventured off to see Erick and Mandy and what their life was like in the big city.

Now, their life there doesn’t normally consist of a Yankees game and a Broadway show, but we decided to do it all together since it gave them an excuse to go and since we wanted to. Little known fact - my wife is a Yankees fan. You can’t go to New York if you are a Yankees fan and not see the Yankees play. Especially since this is their last year in “the House that Ruth built.” So, that’s what we did. And, we both dig Mary Poppins. Among the lower cost tickets left that day at the place where locals get tickets, Mandy was able to grab Mary Poppins tix. Thinking of Katey the whole time, we went! She loves Mary Poppins. She was just singing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious this afternoon. AND, we got to see where Erick and Mandy do life. It was amazing. A great part one trip to celebrating 10 years, as well as a great opportunity to be a part of what Erick and Mandy are doing there.

Here’s the video I put together of our adventure. Enjoy.