Halloween 2013::

Every year, Halloween is my only time to become that triplet dad.  While many will dress their kids alike each week, Halloween was my one day to splurge on our abundant family and come up with some good thematic costumes...unfortunately now that they are 4, they have been able to revolt on my suggestions.

Years Past:

    2009:  Three Peas In a Pod

    2010:  Duck, Duck, Goose (accidental because the third duck costume was white)

    2011:  Goldilocks and the Three Bears 

    2012:  Thomas the Train

2013??

SCCPP: Vision Dessert

Three years ago, I was running my favorite route in SouthPark when I saw a for sale sign in the yard of the perfect home for our exponentially growing family of 1+Triplets.  Fast-forward to this past Sunday night, and I realized that God had orchestrated things perfectly.  Our home laid out ideally to host 29 friends for our Vision Dessert.  The home bustled with conversation as connections and stories were being shared.

After doing ministry for 14 years in Charlotte, it was awesome to see how a variety of people could come together to hear the vision and mission field for the South Charlotte Church Plant.  Our mission is to equip men and women with the Gospel in order that they may live out the Gospel in their places of influence.

The challenge is that in order to accomplish this mission a core group must form; like the Green Egg this church community will be a slow cooker of building Genuine Community, on a Biblical Foundation so that we may Authentically Worship God in order for our faith to have Daily Impact on our lives.  

At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus doesn't tell the disciples to go and build churches, but to go and make disciples to invest in people's lives-and help someone else draw one step closer to Jesus.

If you are interested in a future vision gathering or would like to meet for coffee to learn how you can help in this mission please email me at wbbarry at mac dot com.

Become a Trailblazer

Stay Updated and Join our Newsletters

The Plan for 2013

Fall:  2 to 3 more vision gatherings

October:  Trailblazer Social Gathering

November:  Trailblazers begin to meet for prayer, bible study and forming genuine community.

December:  Trailblazers gather for Advent Vespers

A Child Gets It

^"17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Luke 18:17

On this past Sunday, my six year-old daughter took her digital camera and left out the front door on a secret mission. She walked up the street to take a picture of our street sign, and then proceeded to come back and take a photo of our house number. Excitedly, she came running back into the house saying, "Daddy, you can put these on your posters to let people who don't have a church know where ours is going to be. Maybe they will put them in the newspaper for us too!"

She spent her sunny Sunday afternoon wanting to make sure that everyone would feel invited and welcomed onto this journey. Strangely, my daughter "received the kingdom of God" through this act, because in her heart she knew that receiving the kingdom of God means that we share Him with others.

As we are in the process of gathering a community of people to serve as the launch team--Trailblazers-- we are praying that God would raise up people like my daughter, who will be wondering who is someone I could share the message of God's love with.

Later that day, she turned to me and asked, "Daddy, when will people start meeting in our house for church?" To which I replied, "probably a few weeks or so." Her response, "Phew, I thought it was going to be a few years."

Interested in joining her?
We will be gathering in a few weeks to begin praying and dreaming what God has in store for our lives. Email Wes to get more information.

Memory Lane: An Uptown Run

Friday night I stayed packing up my office after six years of ministry with First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte.  Called there in the summer of 2007, I remember touring the campus with Dr. Wood as he pointed to the skyline of Charlotte's emerging uptown condos while we discussed the tremendous opportunity to reach out and share the gospel in this city.

After loading the last box, I decided I would do one last uptown run.  This zig-zag map hit some of the highlights of my uptown ministry.

1)  I ran to the apartment Ellie, Lindsay and I shared when we first arrived.  Wanting to be "Uptown Cool" we found a fully furnished condo with concrete floors and brick walls.  The only problem...I found the condo on craigslist and never toured the place, so the "one bedroom" apartment actually was one giant room because the 12 foot walls did not reach the 18 foot ceilings.  This meant that 6 month old Ellie's cries, or my watching the Panther's lose was audible throughout the entire condo.
Not to mention the Subway across the hall so we would awake to the smell of Asiago Cheese-bread.

2)  Then I ran through Elmwood cemetery, were I had the opportunity to officiate a funeral.  Running among headstones, I was also able to connect with families and names in the city who have touched my ministry.

3)  Huffing past the Gateway YMCA and on down to Ray's Splash Planet, I recalled the Wednesday night runs I was introduced to by Kevin Griffith as my daughter practiced choir.  As well as the #RichieRun of F3.

4)  Heading off the trail, I went past the 3rd Ward home where we had a staff retreat last year when we anxiously wondered who the new person to lead FPC would be.

5)  Passing through the campus of Johnson and Wales, I remembered meeting students on moving week and welcoming them to Charlotte.

6)  Then I turned off to visit the old condo of good friends--the Smithwicks.

7)  By now I discovered something new--the tunnel to Bank of American Stadium.  Realizing I will lose the benefits of free parking for Panther games, I started scouting how I could get to the games.

8)  As Catalyst, Avenue and Trademark came into Vue, I thought about each of the members and visitors and young adults I had met over the years.

9)  And then finally, I went past the old sights for Theology on Tap (or after the Catholics sued me Untapped Theology): Cans, Feast, Press.

The run was an encouragement to see how my ministry had touched many different parts of this 4.25 mile run.

And how God is sending me off into a new (ad)venture in the same town!

Doing what I love

Now this is a solid day...doing what God designed me to do

4:30am::Wake up
5:30am::Workout with some solid guys of F3, running, bear crawling, backwards bear crawling all while griping but deep down knowing we all want to be out there getting stronger, faster, better.
6:30am::Bible study with some solid guys of F3, sharpening my faith as we dug into one of my favorite scriptures of Luke 5.
8:30am::Driving my boys to their school
10:30am::Having a Birthday lunch with Ellie, and her friends at school with Linz. Great fun to see her with friends, and the joy she got in giving out donut holes to her classmates.
12:00pm::The pure privilege of preaching God's Word.
3:00pm::standing out at the bus stop with a party hat to pick Ellie up. Of course as a kindergartener she thought it was funny. By next year she will quickly learn to be embarrassed by me.
4:00pm::Watching the boys helping her open all her birthday presents.
5:30pm::Birthday dinner at iHOP
7:00pm::tucking the kids into bed
9:00pm::prepping to fly and see my closest friends from seminary (landing at midnight)

God is good, and is was a total wheelhouse day of fitness, faith, and family.

With God all things are possible...well almost.

Thanks to my Boston bound bro and sis-in-law,
This is probably as close to these schools as these guys will ever get...

1st Half: still alive

I imagine most people were wondering why I haven't been on social media for the past ten minutes or couple of days and may have feared the worst. No my boys did not realize they could gang up on me...yet. Here is to hoping I don't get "Falconed" (means choking when the games on the line).

The weekend so far...

3:13pm--Drop Ellie and Linz at the airport
3:30-4:45--Watch planes take off at the overlook (really cool place)
5-7--Dinner and a Movie (curious George)

Saturday
9:30-11:30: Chuckecheese
11:30-12:30: Chickfila
12:30-1: buying bat,am and spiderman toys at target to keep me distracted
1-3 YMCA pool
3-5: playing in the front yard and workout
5-6: sat. Pm church (free babysitting!!)
6-7:30: pizza and ice cream

Sunday
9-12: church
12-1: lunch
1-4: nap
5-7: dinner with friends (and adult conversation w/ little whining TBG)

Mon.
8-9:: Batman cartoons (definitely too aggressive for 3yo boys)
10-11:30: Monkey Joes
12-1: lunch
1-?????: nap (made up a workout...kettle bell, steps, and reverse bear crawls....released some pint up frustration)

I'm out of ideas and have 52 hours to go!!!!!


I think this is my own version of 127hours...

Trickotreat

First Day of Kindergarden Stories

Ellie begins Kindergarden tomorrow. It made me think of my first day and I wanted to tell her the story: On the first day of Kindergarden I my parents were called into the principals office.

Upon further reflection I realized this is not a story to be shared...to her.

There I was enjoying this new thing in life called "recess" when I found myself stuck behind Josh (to this day i remember his name but don't want to expose his full name so the googlebots blow my cover) atop the playset. He nervously looked down the 8 foot wooden ladder, probably trying decipher how to best navigate this apparatus while his mother is miles away at home enjoying the first real respite of motherhood in the past 6 years.
Anyway, as Josh hesitated...I got irritated; shoving Josh off the playset. The dull thud of his body hitting the dirt (we didn't have the luxury of mulch back then) overpowered the soft snapping sound of his arm breaking.
As he was rushed to the hospital, I was rushed to the principals office.
My parents celebrating their youngest child been sent into the structure of school, were abruptly called out of the celebration to come pick me up.
Thankfully Dr. Brown already had two Barry kids come through her school that she and my parents knew each other. Their earlier relationship had been built over a positive experiences but now she clearly had to wonder what had happened with this third child.

Josh returned the next day as did I, and overtime he became one of my closest friends in elementary school.

So what was your first day of school like?

Ellie: Triathlon Race Report (2nd of season)

I Loved the Triathlon.


My favorite Part of the Triathlon is Swimming

Dad Walked Beside me Well I Biked

Ava Ran Beside me well I Ran

Barges, Trains and Dinosaurs: #toDEN2012

Having mastered the cross country drive, we are working on perfecting the stops. Meals in the car saves 30 minutes; gassing up before Paducah means you won't be turning the radio off and praying the fumes carry you through Illinois. Union Station in Kansas City is the perfect place to stretch your legs.
While we did pass on the worked eat biggest ball of twine in Cawker City, Ks (the biggest ball of string is in Minnesota), we did stop to see a fish within a fish fossil. As Kansas has its own evolution museum (who'd a thunk that?).

Shots from the road:

Thomas Hiking

Jack Llama racing

James First Catch (& 2nd)

Ellie's Race Report: My First Triathlon

the  Brothers   Are  in  the   Trailer!

&  James   doesn't  want  To   Be   in  the    picture.

Ellie

 

I  Liked  Swimming   Next  to   Ava 

Ellie

 

I  Love   My   Bike

Ellie   Talking

 

I   Ran  To  The  Finish   Line

Ellie 

 I  got  a  Medal  for  How  Hard  I  Worked  On  My   Triathlon.

Ellie

Ava  &  Me  had   a  time  together

Ellie

Carpool Buddy

For the past four years, I have been able to drive my daughter to work and school together.
We have obessedly listened to Raffi and James Taylor on every drive. I've heard about who her five best friends are and who she is going to marry. Thankfully they planned their wedding on the last day of school and forgot to actually have it.

To my carpool buddy it just ain't gonna be the same with those three brothers next year.

To Shave or Not To Shave...

based on the recent interest of my beard/mustache...I put together a little montage of the variety of hair I've had (and lost) over the years.
Enjoy, mock, laugh...to quote Bubba Watson, "I take my game seriously, but I don't take myself seriously."



Tweet

They'll let anyone in the pulpit these days...

JWB::1-on-1

Jack and I went to the NASCAR Hall of Fame today. Last year on MLK day Elli and I went, and that was the only other time I've been. Let's just say Jack and I had a near run of the place. Though not sure going to the NASCAR Hall of Fame is an appropriate MLK celebration.


But as the car lover he excitedly ran up the ramp screaming each car's color as he passed by. His favorite activity was the riding in the simulator, and making me crash 4 times.

In the end we took the train to Pikes and had an ice cream.

Up next Tman.

1-on-1

So last year was all about giving stuff up. This year, each month I am going to do a one-on-one event with each of the children.

Ellie and I went to a Davidson basketball game;

But James and I discovered an awesome event. Twice a month, Lowes hosts a Kids Build and Grow gathering for free (at least I hope so, otherwise I owe some money to Lowes).

They gave him an apron, a pair of googles, loaned him a hammer, and then gave him a woodset that eventually turned into a castle.

When we got home, he napped in his googles and apron--and each other child has jealousy tried to swipe his builders gear.

Definitely a cool event to check out again.