I’ve missed you!  We’ve missed you! How crazy is this?  After almost 4 years in Hibernation we were having a family conversation a few weeks ago and I decided for all of us that we should start blogging again, but this time as a family.

I actually just hit send on a book of Frankie’s Blog I used to keep.  Reading through the posts I was reminded how as an introvert it’s important to take the time and actually write.  It’s really a spiritual discipline not only for me, but for Dave and now as our children as they grow older and begin to share their story.  And I feel like along the journey we have learned so much.  The process of Discipleship requires us to look at the life of Jesus and to learn what He did, learn how to imitate Him and then look at ways to innovate in our lives in a way that causes us to ask who would Jesus be if He were us.. with our life, with our family dynamics and the giftings that he has given us?  When you live that way… He will take you anywhere…

So welcome to our new adventure “Rhodes to Anywhere”

We have certainly traveled many “Rhodes” over these past 4 years of blog hibernation and what an amazing adventure it continues to be.  One of the fun traditions we’ve taken on is collecting snow globes of the places that our family is coming and going from.  Each represents a story, a community, a people, a mission, a culture, a breakthrough, a barrier, a family, a mission. They are truly more than snow globes as they sit in our home.  They represent the pictures of the Kingdom to us.  They represent ways our own family is trying to live into our Family Mission: To Show and Tell People Jesus.

So what have we been doing for the past four years?  Well I’m glad you have asked.  It’s really simple.  We have been dying.  I guess that sounds a little harsh… but it’s what we have been doing.  Daily coming to the cross.  Dying to ourselves, our plans, our wants, our needs, our dreams in hopes of being reborn into something new.  Dave just tweeted today.. “There is no issue in life that the cross does not address. And there is no struggle in life that resurrection does not teach me to conquer.” 

Just last week someone dear to us said she had been praying for our family and was given the verse John 12:24 to share with us.  Little did she know that I had already penned these words you are about to read. “When you lose your life you will find it…  When you try to hold on to your life, you will lose it.  John 12:24 – “Very Truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” So we as a family press into knowing it’s all His, we daily lay it down to die in hopes of multiplication and daily trust to follow His Voice as we seek to lose our lives and go “ANYWHERE” the “RHODES” we walk lead.

We are pretty excited about where we have been and where we are headed.  The amazing thing about dying is that is when the fun happens.  It’s the most messy beautiful process to get to walk through. We have never lived in a time filled with so much joy, fruitfulness and blessing.  Never as a family have we been more passionate about living and being a Family on Mission.  I hope all 5 of us can share parts of our story here to encourage those of your own pursuit as you live out all you are going after in your life and your context in the Mission he’s called you to.

Excited to be back.

With Love,

Rhodes to Anywhere…