More pics from Ohio

Out for a walk (and RipStick) around the KOA Kampground.


Back from the walk, and we see Ryan has made new friends, and temporarily traded his guitar for a banjo!


Playing Password. Fun, fun!


Bino giving his clues.*


Matthew on his turn.


Bino and Lion-Deer


The Carolina Crew getting ready to head out.


The Bloggers!


More pics on Facebook, of course. Also, Jamie has posted some here and here.

*While playing Password, Bino had the line of the night: The clue that someone gave said something like, "Where you go to find out if you're guilty or not guilty."

With perfect timing, Bino said, "Church." =D

A HILARIOUS line for us gracers... LOL

(The actual answer was meant to be "court"). ;)

Having a blast in Sandusky!

Just a quick post to say that the other bloggers (or at least some of them) in our blogging community are really real! Of course, I already knew that about a few of them, having met Matthew, Gary, John and Jamie in Atlanta in March. But now I've seen two more of them with my own eyes and I know they're real!! LOL

Something that we've been talking about for several months now has become a reality, and my family traveled to Sandusky, Ohio yesterday and we're spending time with Matthew, Jamie and family, Bino and Leonard at a KOA Kampground! We were able to just spend some time last night getting (re)aquainted and talking some grace talk and just having a great time together. Today we went down by the lake (Lake Erie) and walked around a bit and then had some lunch. I went swimming with my family after we got back, and otherwise it's been a lazy afternoon. We're getting some supper ready (tacos and other good food) and we'll all be spending the evening together.

It's so great to be around these wonderful friends! We're "separated" by distance, living in different parts of the country, but we're a real family and we're really soaking this in!

Jamie, me, Matthew.


Jamie, Leonard, Bino, Matthew.


Facebooking outside... LOL.


Hanging out, S'mores, etc.


Looking out on Lake Erie (that's my wife Tracey on the left).


Waiting for some good grub outside a pub.


The blogging crew!


More pics to come, I'm sure.

One week to OHIO!

I'm excited about going to Ohio... but not because it's Ohio. Not that I mind Ohio. In fact I really like Ohio! No, I love Ohio! I would've married Ohio had person-to-state marriages been legal! I wonder what kind of kids a Joel-Ohio marriage would've produced? Hmm.

But really, I'm looking forward to Ohio because me and my family are gonna meet up with some really wonderful grace-friends there next week! You're invited, too, by the way. I know this particular blog post is short notice, but we've been talking about this since October. A link to the details is below, in case you're nearby and wanna come spend some time with us!

We're staying a couple of nights at a KOA Kampground near Sandusky, Ohio, with no agenda except to have some fun and to get to know each other a little better. A few people have expressed regrets at not being able to join us, and I truly understand. The distance makes it an issue for some, and we hope to be able to have grace gatherings in other locations in the future. The people who are planning on coming to this grace gathering in Ohio, in addition to my family, are Ryan and Jamie Weeks, Matthew, Leonard and Bino's family. It's also a wonderful thing that my parents will be staying with us! Because of distance, I normally get to see them only two or three times a year, but this will be my third time seeing them in a month! Our family has made reservations to stay in a park home next to Ryan and Jamie's park home, so we'll have a common area to spend time together.

As with my experience in meeting and spending time with some fellow bloggers at the Radical Sonship Conference in Atlanta this past March (John Fincher, Ryan and Jamie, Matthew, Gary and Sherry Kirkham, not to mention Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh, and meeting a few new friends as well), I imagine that this will be somewhat of a surreal experience. Words and photographs on blogs and websites are one thing, but it's quite a different thing to be there in person! I'm really looking forward to this time with my online friends!

Here's da details.

Ohio gathering in June!!!

Who: Just some people who want to share Christ's life with one another!
What: Gathering in Ohio!
When: Friday - Sunday, June 26 - 28, 2009
Where: Sandusky/Bayshore KOA Campground and/or the adjacent Knights Inn, Sandusky, Ohio
http://www.mhdcorp.com/
Why: Why not!!
How: Make your reservations, and show up in June!

Wow, wow, wow... it's only a couple months and a couple weeks away from our gathering in Ohio! If you want to come along and share some simple friendship and fellowship with other people who are walking in grace, YOU are invited!!! Ok, "simple" maybe should be replaced with "radical!" ;) Ha ha!

Really though, we have no agenda, except to meet one another and spend time together. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, and have read some of the other blogs as well, you've perhaps noticed that a "community" of sorts has developed in the past year or two. We simply love sharing in Christ's life with one another, and we're moving things away from the blogs for a couple of days for some person-to-person "real life" fellowship! I certainly understand that there are those who are a little shy, or leery of meeting people they've only known online! In that regard, I think that with our venue being in such a public place, it's probably the safest and least 'intrusive' way to meet. Everyone will be free to 'come and go,' spending time together or to 'retreating' back to their own places.

There is quite a choice of accommodations. The campground has tent and RV camping, and cabins and mobile homes of various sizes (see the website for various rates and options). There is also a motel adjacent to the campground, the Knights Inn. The link for the Knights Inn is also on the website.

My family will be staying in one of the three bedroom mobile homes at the campground, along with my parents! Ryan and Jamie and their family, along with Matthew, will be staying in the same type of mobile home. While making reservations, we requested that we be next door to each other, so that no matter where others stay in the campground or motel, we'll have one common "gathering place."

There are also such things as basketball, volleyball, a playground, swimming pool, game room, etc, on the campground site. Again, see the above link, where you'll also find links to area attractions, such as the Cedar Point amusement park and many other things. I'm guessing that since our time together will be relatively short, we won't necessarily be doing a whole lot of extra activities - but that is up to individuals and families. Again, people are free to do what they please! With all the local attractions, feel free to make this into a longer family vacation if you'd like! We've simply set aside these particular days for our get-together.

FYI, Sandusky is in northern Ohio, and is located on Lake Erie about 65 miles east of Toledo and 65 miles west of Cleveland. Any questions... email me and I'll try to help! My contact info is on the side column of the blog.

Now, or at least very soon, is the time to make your reservations! "The sooner the better." :) I don't know how far in advance the campground and motel begin to fill up.

Hope to see you there!!!

By the way, if you are planning on going, would you let me know? I'd like to post an update to let others know who is planning on going. You can either reply here or send me an email. Thanks!

Get-together in Ohio - June 2009!

I can't believe it's been over three months since I posted From internet to interstates - Ohio - Summer 2009! At the time, the summer of 2009 was so far off, but now it's just a few short months away!

What this is all about is a weekend get-together for some of us who have, up till now, known each other mainly through online interaction. We all live in various parts of the United States and around the world so we obviously can't all meet in person often, but if we plan in advance, we can at least get some of us together! I'm really, really looking forward to meeting you, if you're able to make it! This will all take place during the last weekend in June: Friday, June 26 through Sunday, June 28, 2009. We have no "agenda" except to meet one another and share in Christ's life with each other!

Note: Our previously planned meeting location has changed, so please disregard all of that particular info on the link above, but we'll still be meeting near to where we originally planned. We had originally thought of meeting together inside a community called Lakeside, which is a place on the shores of Lake Erie where my family vacationed when I was a child, but there are daily fees involved just to get into this gated community, in addition to lodging fees, so we decided to go with something that will still cost money, but hopefully not as much!

Our new location is the Sandusky/Bayshore KOA campground (and/or Knights Inn - next to the campground). My family will be staying in a "2 Bedroom Park Model" home next to Ryan and Jamie and their family and Matthew in a similar model. We figure this will give us kind of a larger general meeting area. The campground also has larger and smaller cabins/homes, as well as RV and tent camping, so you've got a choice of places to stay! There are also such things as basketball, volleyball, a playground, swimming pool, game room, etc, on the campground site. Click the link at the beginning of this paragraph for rates and information for the campground and motel. You'll also find links to area attractions, such as the Cedar Point amusement park and many other things. (With all the local attractions, feel free to make this into a longer family vacation if you'd like! We've simply set aside these particular days for our get-together).

FYI, Sandusky is in northern Ohio, and is located about 65 miles east of Toledo and 65 miles west of Cleveland. Any questions... email me and I'll try to help! My contact info is on the side column of the blog.

I'm not sure yet who all is coming... but I believe we've got at least 4 or 5 states represented, as far as people who have talked about coming, and anywhere from a dozen to 20 people so far! If this sounds like something you want to do, give it some serious thought and prayer and see what Father wants to do!

From internet to interstates - Ohio - Summer 2009!

I can't tell you all how wonderful it's been to get to know you by interacting through blogs, comments, emails, phone calls, etc! The internet has been such a great tool that has allowed so many of us to connect with each other and share the life of Christ and His Grace with one another. Since we're all scattered around the U.S. and the rest of the world, we obviously can't be in the same "space" together most of the time.

But this summer we want to change that, if only for a few days! Thanks to RJW (Better Than We Know) and a few others who have helped to start this ball rolling, we're planning an extended weekend get-together (most likely Friday thru Sunday) sometime in the summer of 2009 (most likely the last weekend in June) in a community called Lakeside in northern Ohio (north of Sandusky, near a town called Marblehead - see map below), and we want as many of you as would like to be a part of this, to be a part of this!

No matter where you live, if you are in any way involved in our growing online community (hopefully you feel a part of it, and not excluded in any way), whether as a blogger or as someone who comments, or if you're a lurker (you read but don't generally comment or interact)... or if you're a "real life" friend or family member of any of us... we'd love to have you there to be a part of our huge "group Grace hug," as RJW calls it!

The purpose of this is mainly to be able to meet and chat with each other in person! It's also possible that you may even want to extend your own personal time there into some sort of family vacation, as there are lots of things to do in the area, including Cedar Point amusement park, beaches, ferry rides to nearby islands, etc.

As I said, RJW (Ryan and Jamie) have really gotten this rolling and you can find their "invitation" here. (Consider this post as your invitation as well!). Check out the Lakeside link above for more info on lodging and such, and if you have any questions or would like to let us know you're coming, feel free to contact me by commenting here or emailing me (address on side column) or by contacting RJW. Now is the time to plan this, although we'll be sure to remind you in the months to come in case you're needing time to think about this and talk it over with family and friends!


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