scotthodge.org

Hope.

 

This past Monday marked five years since my dad passed away.  It was a good day actually.  Spent it with my mom, sister, and our families. It's always good to be together on "the day." 

What a five years it's been.  On one hand, there's been a lot of mixed emotions as I've tried to journey past the loss of my father.  Grief is a crazy thing.  Just when you think you've conquered it, you realize you've been duped. 

At the same time, however, my life has also been full of overwhelming joy as I've watched God pour his blessing upon my family and church community.  And so of course, I'm extremely thankful.

But the thing that I'm becoming more and more thankful for as times goes by, is this thing called hope.  For the first time in my life, I think I'm finally starting to "get it".  In fact, I'm not even sure I was able to truly grasp the depth or idea of hope until I found myself in desperate need of it.  And now, I find myself becoming more and more dependent upon it as each day passes. 

From my journal (8/09):

Hope tells me that...

The future will be better than today.
What's broken will one day be fixed.
What hurts will one day be healed.
What is wrong will one day be made right.
What has been missed, will one day be compensated for.

I'm choosing to embrace this with both hands.  

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

Aurora Through My iPhone

Walked around Aurora for a bit this weekend.  Took a few shots w/ my iPhone.  

(Click photos for larger size)

Amsterdam 5.09

Finally posted a few photos from my extremely brief visit to Amsterdam this past May. 

Click here to see them in FB.

Wisconsin.

A few shots from my time here.  (See, it's not just about the cheese!)  :) 

Orlando...Austin...Atlanta.....and next, Uganda.

Ok, I'm diving back in to the blog.  It's been way too long.  My lame excuse: I've been running 200MPH since a few weeks before Easter with writing, travel, etc... and blogging just hasn't been that high on my priority list.  Sorry faithful folks.

So anyway...  Rather than try to knock out a bunch of amazing blog posts, I thought I'd throw out a few random thoughts of what's been happening over these past few weeks.  Here we go:

• Easter.  This year's Easter weekend The Orchard was a record-breaking weekend!  Our teams did an amazing job and I think my head is still spinning after a HUGELY successful Helicopter Easter Egg Drop.  All I can say is WOW.  If you missed the video review, click here.
  
  
• Orlando.  Had a great time at Exponential in Orlando.  Exponential is sort of a like a big family reunion (but without the weird uncle and the funky potato salad).  This is actually the largest church planting conference in North America and one that I would definitely encourage all church planters to attend in 2010.  Had fun teaching a session with Gary Lamb (did he really say "wanker"??) and then participating in some great conversations in the Exponential Lounge with guys like Erwin McManus, Francis Chan, Dave Ferguson, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, and others. 
  
  
• Austin. After a couple of days home I found myself in the amazing city of Austin, TX to be a part of Q.  Q is one of my favorite gatherings of the year.  It's small and all about influencing and changing culture.  Think TED format.  Loved connecting with a bunch of friends - both new and old.  People like Kem Meyer, Mike Foster, Jeff Shinabarger, Tim Stevens, Alan Hirsch, Kyle Zimmerman, John Burke, Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, Gabe Lyons, Mel McGowan, Charles Lee, and a bunch of other amazing people. Next year, Q will be here - in Chicago!
  
  
• Austin II.  All I can say is - what a cool city.  And with a slogan that's all about keeping it "weird" what do you expect??  Check out a few photos I posted in Facebook.
  
  
• Jackie Huba.  Writer, Author, Speaker, Blogger, Marketing Guru-ess, co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth.  Forbes calls her work "the word of mouth gospel."  Anyway....  Had a chance to grab lunch with Jackie while in Austin.  That was worth the trip alone.  If you don't follow her twitter you need to. 
  
  
• Atlanta.  Orange.  It's THE premier and the BEST family ministry conference in the flippin' universe.  Loved being a part of this and having the opportunity to share The Orchard's story and some thoughts/ideas on the topic of navigating change with a room full of Lead Pastors and Senior Leaders.  Just wish I could have stuck around for more than a few hours, but was glad to be able to hang with a few of our staff who were attending and introduce them to some killer Korean BBQ. 
  
  
• Uganda.  In a couple of weeks.  More on this later, but looking forward to getting my heart messed up by this trip. 
  
  
• Study.  It's what I should be doing right now.  So I'm done.  Hopefully back in the groove of blogging.  We'll see.  Thanks for the encouragement folks.

Generosity Hearts = Generous Space!

I'm excited because we just completed phase one of our Orchard Kids environment makeover!  This is the space where our elementary aged students gather each weekend as well as our jr high & sr high students on Wednesday and Sunday nights. 

It's the second major makeover for this space since 2003 and I can still remember how amazing it felt when we changed it to "Wahabu Land."  Now....I'm feeling that all over again and we're not even finished yet!  The next phase will include new flat panel TV's.....theatrical style lighting.....new carpet.....new (larger) screen....staging upgrades, etc....etc.....  It's going to be incredible!

And of course, this is all the result of a whole lot of people's generous giving, creativity, labor, and lots and lots and lots and lots....of LOVE!  I'm telling you...the Ochard Community is an amazing place.  I'm so thankful to be a part of it.

Also - if you have any ideas for names for this space, let us know!  Leave a comment or email us at: info(AT)orchardvalleyonline(dot)com.  Think urban/SNL type feel when it's all said and done.  And oh yeah, if we use your idea we'll do something cool for you!

Here are some photos.  (Click for larger versions.) 

Los Angeles

It was a busy trip out to CA last weekend, but luckily we had a few hours to run around LA, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos. These were all shot on my Canon Rebel XSi using either the standard EF-S 18-55mm or the EF-S 55-250mm lenses.  It's my first "real" camera...  Picked it up a couple of months ago and honestly have no idea what I'm doing, but having fun!  Here are a few of my favorites.

Click for larger images.

What we do when mom is at yoga...

Dim Sum Today

Enjoyed some wonderful Dim Sum with Mike & Kristen Jones and Ted & Kathryn Egly today.  Tried out Triple Crown in Westmont. 

Let's see....  Here's a sampling: Roast Pork Buns, Shrimp Dumplings, Pork Dumplings, Spring Rolls, Shrimp Rolls, Steamed Pork Ribs, Stir-fried Chinese Vegetables, Steamed Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaves stuffed with Chinese Sausage, Mushrooms, & Pork. 

Sorry, no Phoenix Talons (chicken feet). 

In case you're wondering....  Dim Sum is a Chinese cuisine that involves a wide range of small dishes - similar to Spanish tapas.  You can read more about it here.

Here are a few photos (click for larger images):

 

Alex + Dad's iPhone = Not good