Heading for home

Last night was our last night in New England. We were very sad to say good by to our new friends there. We have made great connections to several families in the area. The Webers hosted us sight unseen the first several nights. We made fast friends with them and will miss them greatly. The Beenes hosted us the remainder of our visit in their home in Bristol, CT. We were treated very well and have made good friends with them as well. We made connections with many people there and were welcomed with open arms. Thanks very much CLC for all of your sacrifice. I truly hope to return the favor some day.

We spent the evening last night in Springfield, Mass playing at "The Underground Cafe" there it is a cool little place where on Friday nights a local church there hosts an open forum style coffee shop, music venue and radio station. It was pretty cool. I met some new friends there and hope to return sometime in the future.

After an amazing trip to the northeast, meeting new friends, playing music in big cities, visiting several new states and seeing the beautiful countryside, we are once again on the road. We have decided to take the scenic route going home instead of the suicidal pace I had originally planned. We took a detour and are currently in Roanoke, VA. We drove about 10 hours and arrived about an hour ago. I have long desired to drive the blue ridge parkway up from Roanoke. So tomorrow we will get up early and head out to enjoy the artistry of Gods hand in Virginia. We will then cut over and travel through West Virginia, Kentucky and finally end up in Missouri late tomorrow evening. I will post pictures of the trip on my face book page as we travel Verizon network permitting....thanks for reading and keeping up. Jamison

and on the 8th day...

Even God made a day for rest...We have been traveling since the 19th. We arrived in Connecticut on the evening of the 21st and have been non stop ever since. Today was spent having a great lunch with the Pastor of Christian Life Church in Berlin, CT and his family followed by some shopping and general running around town with Keith. Then we went to the church for service. We have decided to just veg out here in Bristol tomorrow. Maybe a little shopping, but not much else. We just need to rest. Tomorrow night we are having a get together with some new friends from the area here in Bristol. Looking forward to some pork chops and Maine lobsters. Yum! Yeah, I know you are envious. Seriously though, we have made some real connections here and cannot wait to continue building relationships with the people here in CT for years to come. -DJ

Updates

Ok...A good nights rest will do wonders for you...We traveled all over the east coast of Mass, New Hampshire and Maine for the past 2 days before driving a very scenic back road through the mountain country of New Hampshire, into Vermont and then south back to Connecticut. Whew...that was a nice drive. Got in late last night and passed out. Slept in and are just relaxing in the home of the Beenes, our host family in Bristol, CT. They have graciously allowed us to stay in their home on a mountain overlooking the city of Bristol and surrounding areas. I will be posting photos later of our trip. Today we will be having lunch with the pastor of the Christian Life Church and his family. They have asked me to lead worship again tonight at the church. That will be fun as they told me it is fairly free and up to me how to take the praise and worship for the meeting. If any of you know me, you know that means it will be a little louder than normal....The church worship team is a great bunch of people who learn very quickly and have fun playing music for the Lord.

Tomorrow is pretty free for us so we will just have to figure out what we will do, or we will just hang out and do nothing. Sounds like a plan to me...Looking forward to the rest of the week and then heading back to Kansas on Saturday and Sunday. Please leave comments to let me know if you are keeping up with the blog. Thanks! DJ

Boston...ub boy...

We awoke this morning after our very long day yesterday and decided to go back to Boston to see more stuff. With the traffic and lack of parking, we did not see much...But we did see the USS Constitution. That was cool. Very tired tonight...will post more about todays trip in the morning.

Boston

This weekend was a weekend of firsts. It was my first time playing in New York City, and the first time I have ever played with another churches worship team in a worship concert setting. I had the chance to run through several of my songs with the team from Christian Life Church in Connecticut. I made some great lasting relationships with several guys, Gary, Dan, Troy, Isaac and Thomas as well as the pastors wife Cathey and his daughter and son (twins) Chanel and Luke. They were awesome to work with and very patient with me. The morning on Sunday found me leading the church in 2 worship services, then we had a special service that evening as an outreach of the young adults ministry team in the community. That was when we really amped it up...good times. Had a great turnout and received many kind words.

Today we awoke at 5:30 am to get an early start at our trip to Plymouth and Boston Mass. We went to Plymouth Plantation and got to walk through there and visit with people whos job is to learn every minute detail of the character they are portraying and to make them come to life for visitors. It was pretty cool. It was like stepping back in time. Very unique experience. I highly recommend it. We then munched on some great seafood and headed to Boston. I had a coffee house/bookstore event scheduled. Unfortunately, the manager had no idea we were even coming. I guess someone dropped the ball. Either way, I set up in the bustling coffee shop of a downtown boston Borders book store and played some hard hitting christian music along with my 13 year old daughter acoustically to a room full of people who could care less....until the last song. It is one called "One". It quite bluntly proclaims that Our God, Jesus Christ, is the only true God. The only One...that seemed to turn some heads and make people make some faces...Some even walked out. You see, this part of the country is known for it's liberal ideals and value system. It was obvious to me that we were a light in a very dark place. I could not help but notice how clean the city was...how people seemed content. I heard God while preparing to leave...He told me how easy the enemy can deceive people into thinking they were fine, no need for Godly things...Nice clean exterior with garbage on the inside....

We are of to some sight seeing in the Boston area as well as Salem Mass and on up into NH and Maine. Till next time...DJ

New York, New York.

Well today was a wonderful day of sight seeing in the Big Apple. We left out about 9 am and drove to New Haven, CT. From there we caught a train to the city. We got off at Grand Central Station. That was an experience all in it's self. To be from the mid west and see something as huge and bustling as a big city train station makes one feel quite small.

We proceeded up to 42nd street and made our way to Times Square. All the things you hear about in NYC are actually very close together. We saw Broadway, the Hershey building and several famous buildings along that strip. Then before we knew it we were at Central Park. So we just kept on walking. We saw the Trump Tower and the insanely expensive property along Central Park West. We walked through the south end of the park and then made our way to 5th Avenue. We attempted to hail a cab to take us the 20 blocks south to the Empire State Building, but none had room for 6. So we just kept walking. We saw FAO Schwartz, Gucci, Armani and all the high end retailers there. There were literally millions of people walking around the streets. The classic taxi's, buses, police cars and people driving all over honking and yelling. It was classic New York.

We finally reached the Empire State Building and caught the subway downtown to see the World Trade Center sight. Unfortunately, we missed the last boat to the statue of Liberty by over an hour...so we only saw her from distance. We went back to Times Square for some chow and came back to our host families house for the night. After walking over 10 miles, we are pretty pooped. Going to go to bed as tomorrow Keith and I will return to the city for another round and a concert at a NYC record store as well as a CD signing. I am looking forward to it. Keep checking the blog for updates. - DJ

Awesome time so far

Well, we have been in Connecticut for 2 days now and are loving it. We come from a relational church in Kansas. What that means is that our church is a big family. We live lives together, we spend time together outside of the walls of the church. We laugh together, cry together, help one another and serve each other whenever possible. It is not the typical American church you could say. In fact, it is quite rare. We found it several years ago and have never looked back. It is home. Coming to the North East was purposed 3 fold for us. We have never been to New England, so the chance to do so with our kids was a big part. To see the history come alive in their eyes at the same time it will come to life in ours is awesome. To see things that we have never seen before...Like Niagra falls, New York City, Boston and the North East coast of the Atlantic...wow. Also to promote my CD by playing at several venues in the area. But our primary goal was to spend time with a good friend who moved out to Connecticut 6 years ago who once was a part of that church family we love so much. Keith Marshall has been a friend of mine since college. We reconnected in Pittsburg and have been close friends ever since. When he left to move to New England, is was as if I was loosing a good friend. In fact, we gained more friends because he moved out here. Our visit here has been a blessing in that Keith, having found a church in Connecticut not that different from our church back home, the transition has been quite easy. We have been staying with the Webers here. They opened their house to total strangers based solely on the words of our friend Keith. This is what is called relational living. They have been most gracious to us and have not only opened up their home, but their hearts as well. it is truly good to know that the family of God is wide reaching...this is a relationship that will not be lost with absence. Once we leave, we will continue to keep in touch with them.

We travel tomorrow to NYC and are very much looking forward to it. We are traveling by train from New Haven, CT to the city. I guess parking is a booger there....So till next time...Jamison

We made it!

Dennis and I were too tired when we made it to New York last night to blog, and we have been non-stop today driving to Connecticut. He stayed after church tonight to practice with the worship team, so I will blog tonight. :)

The first 10 minutes of our trip will HOPEFULLY be the worst of it. We loaded the van, and at 9:45 p.m. got in to head out. The van didn't start. The battery ran down (a new battery!), so Jesse helped us charge it. Off we went. We just crossed into Missouri, and we were pulled over for speeding. No ticket...just informing us it is 55 mph, not 65. Whew. The rest of yesterday was many hours of driving. Dennis drove until Indianapolis, I drove from there to outside of Cleveland, then he drove into Buffalo. We checked in, went and saw Niagara Falls, ate, then crashed.

We got up this morning and drove through beautiful countryside of New York, saw the Erie Canal, Massachusetts, and arrived in New Britain, Connecticut this afternoon. We are staying with a lovely family who graciously opened their home to strangers. But, because we are brothers and sisters in Christ, it felt like we have known each other for years. Keith Marshall, our friend for many years, met us for dinner at our host family's home, then we all went to church. We met very nice people and have made plans to get with several of them. Their church is going through 1 Thessalonians. The pastor spoke about it verse for verse, then we broke into small groups and discussed it further. I really enjoyed that.

Tomorrow we are meeting Keith and his sister for breakfast, then we will check out things locally. We appreciate prayers so far, and please continue to pray that God would use us on this trip and for our safety.

VACATION!!!

Well, that magical time has come...the summer vacation. I have been so incredibly busy through the summer starting in May with playing events all over the midwest, working countless hours and saving my pennies in anticipation for this particular time. We (my family and I ) are about to set sail on a voyage aboard the USS Big Red. Translation, our 1993 Ford Club wagon van. It is a huge van purchased for the sole purpose of touring and long trips with the family. There is enough room for the whole band and all of our gear. I found it on craigslist for $1500! This van is in amazing shape...New motor, tranny, exhaust, ignition system, battery and 4 brand new tires. Been to the shop for a full on inspection and it is ready for the road. So tomorrow at 8pm we leave the heat and humidity of S.E. Kansas for the lush mountains, sandy beaches and sprawling cities of New England. I have booked 5 events out there to promote the CD release. I have a concert in New York, 1 in Boston, another in Western Mass. and 2 in CT. So needless to say, I am pretty stoked about just getting to play. On top of that, we will be doing extensive traveling in the area taking in all the sites. I will be posting photos on my facebook profile as we go so check that out if you want to see where we are.

August is building up to be a busy month of playing all over the local are as well. We have been blessed to have several opportunities to play and have been blessed by those who have hosted us. I look forward to the next few months as the band and I play and hopefully reflect the relational church message that we sing about. Thanks for checking in! Till next time - Jamison