Jonathan & Rebecca Huffman

I am so excited for my friends Jonathan and Rebecca Huffman. They have recently moved their family to Charlotte, NC to start a new church.

Below are snippets from their website.

The Sowers

Rebecca and I have been married for 15 years and have spent our entire time together serving Christ’s body and enjoying our precious children. Rebecca is a “full-time” mom and spends most of her time keeping up with our crazy schedules. If she’s left alone for just a minute you’ll find her redecorating the house, reading a fashion magazine, or joining me for a hot cup of coffee. Rebecca has also been involved in our student and college ministries through counseling, leading a girls’ small group Bible study, and helping me lead events and retreats. Girls love her “Chic Chat” sleepovers and her “Spring Thing” fashion shows – better her than me! One of Rebecca’s greatest roles in ministry has been her involvement with the Women’s Ministry at West Park. While serving on leadership of our women’s ministry team, she was responsible for overseeing all small group studies and was a featured speaker at our annual women’s retreat. I (Jonathan) am still trying to convince my family that a 37-year-old should be allowed to own a motorcycle again - until then, I'll roll my windows down and pretend! More than anything else in life, I love to introduce people to their role in the story of God and help them play their role to its fullest.

The Seed

I recently did a major renovation at home that included replacing all the landscaping and adding irrigation to my front lawn. The most satisfying part of the project was the reseeding of the lawn. After days of raking and aerating I was finally able to spread the NEW SEED! (Only later was I told that the 50 pounds of seed I put on my front lawn was a bit much.) After watering and waiting for weeks, I began to see tiny bright green signs of new growth. Frankly, my excitement diminished a little when I realized that my over-seeding would result in over-cutting! One thing was for sure - the new lawn looked great.

Every harvest begins with a bag of seed!

It’s not that I didn’t want a green lawn all along…I just hadn’t ever invested the time and energy it took to produce new growth. I finally got tired of seeing a brown and weed-ridden lawn when I knew what it could be! (Mostly due to my neighbor’s putting green.) I guess that’s where we are right now – looking across the spiritual field of opportunity.

The Soil

Rebecca and I prayed for months that God would reveal to our family how we could best sow the seeds of Good News and every response ended with the word GO! God spoke through his Word, his Church, and his Spirit. As we stepped out in obedience and shared this vision with our Pastor, God continued to confirm those initial desires to stake out our own mission field for planting. While we would love to stay in Knoxville for this venture, God has burdened our hearts to take the Seeds of Good News to a city that is outgrowing its laborers.

Charlotte, North Carolina 1.6 Million +

Recently ranked as the 20th largest metro in the United States, Charlotte continues to grow by 80,000 people per year. Fueled by a growing house and job market, the “Queen City” has seen its surrounding communities grow to over 1.6 million people. Diversity is an accurate description of Charlottes’ racial and religious landscape. Charlotte is historically a very “religious” city, yet an increase in transfer growth has introduced a whole culture that doesn’t understand the question, “Where do you go to Church?” Specifically, the north side of Charlotte has seen some of its most rapid growth and has spilled over into it's surrounding counties.

Click on the link below to see their NEW website they recently launched.

the venue church

My Sassy Nieces - Sydney Lauren Hawkins & Riley Jean Hawkins

25 Random Things About Me

1. In my dreams I am always flying.

2. When I was born I lived in Crabtree Holler on the Stanley Branch side in the mountains of Clintwood, Va. Not a day goes by that I don't miss the mountains.

3. When I was 8 I decided to punch my left hand through the window of the back door of the house while trying to get it open. I had to get 6 stitches and a large scar still remains. But it was worth it because the neighbor boy - Andy Collins - that I had a HUGE crush on - came over and assisted in my rescue.

4. When I was younger I loved collecting slugs, worms, water dogs, snails and pretty much anything low to the ground I could catch.

5. I hit four deer in one year with the same car.

6. I love shuckey beans (leather britches), fried chicken livers, dry land fish, poke salad, white cornbread and sweet tea.

7. I know the correct pronunciation of Appalachia. Y'all from the south HOLLA!!

8. On February 17, 2009 I broke both bones in my right forearm and am still in the cast.

9. My momma had a canning closet in her kitchen. I would climb up in there and spend hours making crafts. I called it my "cubby hole"

10. Nothing makes my heart melt more than - after pulling into my parents driveway - hearing my Dad exclaim, "THERE'S SHELLBUCK!! How's daddy's baby girl doing??" and him giving me a great big hug.

11. I have almost died several times while on adventures with my brother.

12. I have several nicknames - Shellbuck & Boone are the most popular and were given to me by my family.

13. In 6th grade I went to a girl scout camp called Camp Sky-Wa-Mo (stands for sky - water - mountain) with my friends - Maria, Christina and Alicia. We were wild. We ripped it up. Maria & I were the ring leaders. As a result we had to clean dishes and toilets almost every day. I spoke to Maria recently and she has promise to post our Camp Sky-Wa-Mo pictures on Facebook. This should be interesting because those were the days of the fro.

14. I am a very touchy feely person.

15. As a child my mom could not keep clothes on me. 5 minutes after she dressed me I would strip down to my diaper. I still maintain this disdain. I am for sure there will be no clothes in heaven.

16. I have been a sailor for 5 years now. I own a 12.5 foot Barnett Butterfly that my brother and I have sailed many times in Lake Michigan. Yes, this would be one of the times I almost died.

17. ALL my close friends know how laid back I am. For some reason I can't convince my co-workers of this.

18. I have never been tested but I am certain - on some level - I have A.D.D.

19. I love music. I love to sing. I love to play music. Being surrounded by music amazes me. I can't drink it all in.

20. I hate decorating.

21. My favorite flower is a ranunculus - pictured above.

22. My dad was an electrician in the underground coal mines of Virginia for 15 years.

23. Both of my parents went to college in their 40s and earned their degrees.

24. Socializing is my pastime. I surround myself with people I admire and respect. I think I can learn something from every person I meet.

25. My older sister - Melissa Slayton - is a pretty amazing person. I know when she wants to give me unsolicited advice because she will cross her arms, slightly purse her lips and the famous raising of the eyebrow occurs. The conversation after these actions usually goes something like this -

Me - "What??? Should I have not done that???"

Melissa - "Well, I'm not saying that. You should probably just think before you do it again."

I Broke My Arm

The cast has been on for almost 3 weeks.
3 more weeks to go.

Friends & Family

I hope that I never take for granted
the amazing people in my life.

Thank you for your friendships!

Hanging with the Coolest Person On Earth - Laura Dickinson

I am a bit behind on blogging . . so, here's to catching up!

Over Christmas break, my friend Laura and I enjoyed lunch at one of my local hangouts - Zuppas. I believe the phone conversation on Friday afternoon went something like this . .

Shelli dials Laura's cell . . ring . . . ring . .

Laura: "Hey Shell! What's going on?"

Shelli: "Not much just trying to wind down from a crazy week of work. So, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

Laura: "Hmm . . well . . . nothing really."

Shelli: "Great! How does lunch tomorrow at Zuppas in Neenah sound?"

Laura: "That sounds great!"

Shelli: "Cool. How bout I pick you up around 11:00ish?"

Laura: "Sounds good. See you then."

The Saturday morning sun rose. I picked up Laura at her parent's house and off we went to a local favorite restaurant - Zuppas - tucked way off the beaten path in a town just a couple miles south of Appleton called Neenah . . . somewhere between a real estate office, a hair salon called Snips-N-Clips and a grocery store.

The conversation was light and fun. Lots of laughing. Lots of talk about girls stuff. Lots of just plain nonsense. Put it this way - Laura and I both LOVE to hear the sound of our own voices. If we were on the floor of the Senate in a filibustering contest . . . not sure who would win . . . . it would be a tie . . . . I think.







Laura - have a great semester. I know you will knock calculus 4 and discrete math outta the park! Get ready for some more sailing adventures this summer! MISS YOU!!