JeremyHigdon.com

A Lesson From Zaxbys

 

Yes, this is Ryan feeding himself with a fork and yes, I know, he is the cutest! But stay focused, that is not where I am going right now...my family went out to eat at Zaxbys, a place that serves up mostly chicken...and one of our family's favorite faster food type places...they have this awesome Zaxby dipping...but I digress...

The lesson came when I looked down at the receipt and I read these words:

Zaxby's mission statement  "Consistently create encore experiences that enrich lives one person at a time!!"

This is a great mission to have...but is it only for a fast food restaurant? How much more should this be a statement for the church? Every word could apply to what we are trying to seek and live and be as Oasis Church...

How can we be consistent?

How can we keep creating?

How can we keep the encores coming?

How do we make this experiential?

How can we enrich lives, one person at a time?

Make sure you go to www.oasisnfl.org to see more of what we are doing and planning to be as a church...And all I thought I was getting from Zaxbys was some great chicken fingers!!

Cold Front in Jax

Ok, so it has been really cold up here the past few nights... like in the 30's! I went biking last night for only a few moments...it was all I could handle! Hopefully my blood will thicken up...

But, it has been absolutely beautiful...clear, sunny skies and at night the stars have been amazing...another good thing about the cool weather? I get to use the fireplace...sweet!

 

Lowes will never be the same...

 

The Higdon boys behind the wheel...watch out!

A Sad Day... that could have been a lot worse

 

Ipod on kitchen counter...

Jeremy in a hurry, on a walk-by attempts to gather in Ipod...

Ipod falls 4 feet to the floor...

Jeremy looks on in horror...oh the calamity!

Ipod has scars but still works...

Jeremy is grateful...and will try to slow down!

Did you get it??

There is nothing like free food...and today is the FREE TACO DAY! Hurry, time is running out...by the way, mine was crunchy and yummy and tasted so good cuz it was free!!

And, except for Free Tacos, I could care less about the World Series! What a bunch of wimps...can't even finish a game because of some rain...do you think that would happen with the Super Bowl???

We are in Jax - Part 5

So, we pull up to the house, not knowing what to expect. God had brought us safely here through the storm and craziness of highway driving. Jenny (my sister) and Wally (her hubby) Bowden were waiting for us as pulled in to our development. Our rental house is on a lake and a cul-de-sac. Perfect so far, and we have not even seen the inside!

Our landlord shows up and gives us a tour...wow! We sign the papers and another part of the puzzle is in place. We take a breath and relax for a few minutes until we remember...we need to unpack! I pull the Escape off the trailer and we unload it and then I play the "back the big truck up" game once more. Our unloading party continued with Johanna (my other sister) and her son showing up (although Tyler didn't help very much...I know they are all under 4 but I was pretty disappointed in Tyler and Zachary and Ryan...I thought they would at least unload THEIR stuff!). Jonathan and Charissa showed up and I was very excited to see Billy, Tammy, and Zachary (their son) Moses be part of the party as well...It was so encouraging to have so much help! A few hours later, the truck was unpacked and we basically collapse once more... our first night in Jax!

Hard to believe that happened two weeks ago...we are getting used to the area and are loving the weather...we are excited to see what will continue to happen in our lives as we live in Jacksonville! 

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

I love it when your child is at a store and he sees something and you can see the gears turning in his head...here is Zach at Home Depot...

We are in Jax - Part 4

Ok, so let's finally finish the story of our move...we woke up on October 9 and packed up the last few items that were left...the kids beds, our air mattresses, stuff we needed that morning, etc...As we are doing this, the clouds build and it even begins to rain a little. After that passed, we were able to stuff a few more items in and I began to maneuver the 26 foot truck in place to hook up our car transporter. After putting the trailer on, I had to turn it around inside our complex...that was fun but we pulled it off! I then took the Escape and drove it up on the trailer...my dad said he kept imagining something from "America's Funniest Home Video" would happen!

We literally packed up the truck AND the Escape to overflowing with some last "essentials"... I even had some items in the cab with me! We said good-bye to my dad and Shelley and her boys (we miss you guys!) and Jeanine and her dad and the kids took off in my car. I took the above picture in case no one ever saw me again! The truck and I took off and headed to the highway...I kept looking back to see if the Escape was still back there...but I could only see it's shadow!

Things went pretty well and I met up with my family for lunch in Palm Bay/ Malabar area (that is about halfway to Jacksonville area).  We ate and let the kids play on the indoor playground at McDonalds. I checked the straps on the tires and filled up the truck with diesel...wow, that adds up fast! Things were going well until...

we hit the Daytona area...wow, this huge storm blew up and I was fighting the truck with winds and and trying to see the road through tons of rain...the storm literally held it's intesity for about 25 miles...it was crazy! I kept praying a verse that my mom had given me a few days before... Deut 31:8  "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." I kept repeating it over and over! It was a great time of worship in the middle of the storm...

We made it the Jax area about 5:30pm and we got to our section of town just after 6pm...we were so excited to see our house for the first time!!

 

No excuse...

for me being a terrible blog host!! I have gotten WAY behind on keeping you posted on the happenings of me and my family...but, because of your patience, you will be rewarded!!!

Check back soon...I promise you will OD on all the blog goodness!!

Love ya!

We are in Jax! Part 3

   

So, we find ourselves last week on Wednesday the 8th. The day begins as I head to Home Depot to get some more boxes and the new kitchen faucet and then to Starbucks for a wakeup coffee. We were not sure who would show up to help load the truck but we had faith some would! I was amazed to see that we had a great team of staff, wives, and community service friends (thanks Wally!) show up with the perfect combination of muscle and packing expertise. Our formally "way to big truck" was filled to the gills between our house and storage unit and by 12:30pm, the majority of the house was finished.

We spent the rest of the day packing up the last boxes and running the last few errands. We also had to switch the power in Jax to our name and of course, make sure Directv would be up and running ASAP! We also found out that we had a signed contract to rent our house in Pines...perfect timing!

I determined that our exercie bike and another workout machine were too big and would have to be left behind. Instead of throwing them out, I decided to list them under the free section of craigslist.org. That afternoon and evening (and for the next three days) I probably had about 50 phone calls asking about the free stuff! The funny thing is the very first person I talked to came and picked them up. Amidst all this craziness, I remember I wanted to line up insurance so I dashed over to Al Mendez insurance and he had me taken care of in about 30 minutes...thanks Al!

I went back home and we got the boys ready for bed (last time in old house) and my parents came over to see us. We spent some time with them and began to settle down for the night on our inflatable mattresses. I decided to go to the office and determine how many boxes I could take with me and to pick up a portable sound system that Luke and Ben Windle gave to our church plant. I gassed up the car on the way home and basically collapsed after a long, emotional, exciting day.

Come back for the grand finale! And thanks for all who helped to make last Wednesday a success...we really appreciate it!