Day 424: Dark Is the Venue. Light Is a Presence.

Day off bullet points:

• slept in (needed that a lot)
• worked on my assessment, turned it in
• went to one of the best shows I've ever been to, thanks to Anberlin.

One thing I want to express about Anberlin's show is the presence of God within it. They had these other two bands alongside them for the concert, but these other bands were just off-putting; the first band was very much on drugs while on stage, and the other guys just weren't very "entertaining". Anberlin, however, was completely different; these guys were just happy. You could see the joy in their faces as they were performing; God was in that room when they were on stage. That's the beauty of bands in the mainstream culture of music; these guys are in the middle of secular bands, but they're presenting God's love to these bands when they tour with them. Anberlin's been one of my favorite bands specifically for that; they also announced that they love coming to Sydney so much, they're coming back in the fall (I hope they mean American fall though, because I saved up to go to this concert; and as much as I'd love to see them in a couple months, I'd prefer to save my money this time). Anberlin, thanks for an awesome evening; pretty much set my week up for a win.

God bless,
Steven

Day 423: Generally Specific

So God showed me something pretty cool today. It was mainly during the evening service message given by Joel A'Bell. He spoke on how God can be both general and specific with His directions; Joel used example from Jesus and Joseph and how there were directions given, but not directions that were specific enough to tell them what to do and where to go. Usually we tend to fill in the blanks with what we're used to, but obviously that wouldn't work; kinda made me think about how many times I tried to answer my own questions and got nowhere. Now that I think about it, I've asked so many times before for God to show me the way; but maybe He was giving me subtle signs and I wasn't reading them properly... but now I want to make sure it's not about finding answers for my sake, but rather letting God give me the answers when I'm ready to hear them. Overall, it was a great day; thank God for 3 day weekends.

God bless,
Steven

Day 422: Getting the Perfect Angles

Today was a filming day. A totally awesome filming day. It started a bit early for the sake of simply getting the project out of the way; I met with the guys involved at the church and then headed out to our location. We got in contact with a local barber about borrowing the outside of his shop for a video project in the name of Hillsong Men. We got four guys to play a barber shop quartet, and within a 30-35 minute period we finished all the filming. Now I just have to edit the video alongside Tommy, a new student that we've taken under our wing. Once the footage was transferred, I made it back to my place in time for the other film project. My friend Justin came by to be the lead for the advertisement of the Box, and it worked out perfectly; I edited the video in less than 10 minutes (completely normal when you've figured out how to use iMovie really well). I spent the rest of the afternoon working on a couple other videos, and before I knew it the evening arrived. I just finished watching the Others with Josh, Donny, and the other Josh from South Africa; it was very funny watching their reactions.

God bless,
Steven

Day 421: Building From the Bad

Today was quite the experience. This morning at rehearsal we had quite the scare: while we were setting up the screens and cameras for the rehearsal the power to the control room went out. In a split second we were completely cut off from everyone else in the main auditorium. It kinda felt like a scene from one of those war movies were a group of soldiers get separated and have to fight their way back to the rest of their group; fortunately, our great team made a laugh about it and had fun waiting for one of the building managers come to help figure out what happened. Once everything was solved we could finish the rehearsal right, so that gave a sigh of relief. Our Musicianship tutorial was awesome; we got to go through one of our assessments, and I was actually able to submit the first one during class! One down, many more to go.. Chapel itself was great; God really moved during the service, and it was a privilege to support what was happening from the background. After chapel, I was free for the rest of the day; I spent the afternoon working on a few things here and there. In the evening, I joined a group of great friends to celebrate my friend Stephanie's birthday; we had dinner at the Shakespeare, and later dessert from Max Brenner (I've heard a lot of hype over Mr. Brenner, but I don't think I'll be rushing there anytime soon). It was a good day as it progressed onward; this weekend should be no different.

God bless,
Steven

Day 420: Being Heard

Thursdays are the long days. If I don't plan my Wednesday night well, I'll end up struggling throughout the day. This morning we had the Be the Change event; usually on these days I don't serve in my regular allocation. So instead of serving with TV, I was rostered to Mums and Bubs, which is Australia's name for moms and babies. All I really had to do was offer assistance with moving the strollers in the room; unfortunately I wasn't really needed, since the moms didn't need need my help. It would have been weird for me anyways I think.... but anyways.. after Be the Change, our chapel core team had our weekly meeting to update on what's happening in the next couple weeks. I got to show Toast my stop motion opener for College News, and he loved it; basically, everyone's getting excited for College News since it's never been done before (one small part I'm privileged to contribute to the church's legacy; surprisingly enough, Laz was joking around if I should start a TV & Media stream here in the city campus. Now that would be another shicker entirely). The next 5 hours was all class; amazing classes, but a bit strenuous. With the classes over, I get a one and a half hour break until Team Night, which is turning out to be better than before. Tonight was Gabe Kelly's potential last night with us before he moves out to New York to help build up the new church there; Gabe has been the city campus creative director, so for him to leave is a bit of a bummer. Fortunately, we are now under the leadership of Dean, who is a former student but now teacher and regular staff for the church.

If I got anything out of today, it's that my plans and ideas of how this college experience would go have completely ben swept under the heavenly rug. God's placed me in areas that I never thought or considered before coming, but the things He's doing through me are so much greater than what I would have wished to accomplish on my own strength. Even now that our music classes are in full force again, I'm getting back into the habit of practicing the bass; so I'm still fitting in pieces of the dream alongside God's work. One thing I really need prayer for is the assessments; so far, we've been given a layout of what they will be looking like this semester, and all I have to say is I'm going to need a lot of support and prayer to make this remotely possible due to my busy schedule. I also need to find a way to get Microsoft Word on my computer so I can fill these assessments out right; otherwise, they would look horrible on the only other writing program that's on here. So far the best deal I've found is a downloadable one for $60, so hopefully it can work out very soon.

God bless,
Steven

Day 419: When Opportunity Calls..

So I found today to be very enjoyable. My original plan for the morning was to chow down some cereal before class, but for some reason Donny wanted to go out for breakfast. So he and I went over to ChickensPlus to grab a couple bacon & egg rolls (these bacon & egg rolls are an Australian traditional food; they sell them just about everywhere). I hadn't had the ChickenPlus version before, so it was worth a try; and now I know exactly where to go if I'm ever in the mood for a celebratory breakfast. Theology of Worship today was great; we talked about definitions of worship and their backgrounds, and to end the class our classmates Jessica and Joy led a little time of worship for the class. I'm looking forward to having this worship thing every week. Our workshops today were great; so our recent mission is to take one song and rearrange it to the style of a completely different artist. The band I'm part of has two songs: Eleanor Rigby , originally performed by the Beatles, rearranged in the style of Beyonce, and the hymn Blessed Assurance done in the style of Jonsi. Today we focused on the Beatles song; all I can say about it so far is that we're going to have lots of fun playing around with this song. The main purpose of this assignment is to help us gain more expertise in the way we compose music; by rearranging songs, we can look more into the practical things of writing and composing our own music. After this class, I had a college creative meeting, which went very well; we've got the next couple weeks planned out, so all we have left to do is to make sure it all happens according to plan.

God bless,
Steven

Day 418: Connections to Pastimes

Today was awesome, for real. It started early with chapel rehearsal and TV; I got the opportunity to train one of our new recruits with one of our cameras. After what was our smoothest rehearsal so far, I had a little bit of time before my first class of the day, Analyses. We looked over the kinds of planes that music covers: one that gets your attention, one that can trigger emotions, and one that solely focuses on the music. It was a fun class, and I'm looking forward to next week's class. Chapel this morning was so good; it seemed as if almost everything went right. Our advisor Ben gave an awesome message that was very inspiring, and it was another awesome day working with TV. Our pastoral care class was great too; Catrina gave us incredible insight on things like being active listeners and approaching situations carefully. Since that was my last class, I decided to try out some more stop motion; I used these little containers we had in our flat and turned them into minions from the movie Despicable Me; the video took a good forty minutes to finish, but it was worth it in the end. I just got back from my connect group, which was lots of fun; I feel like this semester with my connect group is going to be such a highlight of my week. The good news is I get to sleep in, since I don't have class until 11; a good night's sleep, here I come!

God bless,
Steven

P.S. If you want to see a small little video of the stop motion projects I've done, I put together a small video on Facebook; that should give you an idea of the kind of things you can do with moving pictures.

Day 417: The Song In Us

I want to focus on a particular part of today. I was writing for the monologue part of my idea for an advertisement for the Box, and God gave me some great words. This is what I wrote:

The Word of God says, "Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth."
What if we all did that?
What if we took our everyday words and crafted lyrics from a fresh perspective?
What if we created melodies and rhythms that could broaden the way we see and hear music?
What if we could write songs that would not only capture society's attention, but capture their heart as well?

Hopefully I can get the spirit of these words translated into film. It's amazing the kind of things that God implants in your mind when you ask Him for help.

God bless,
Steven

Day 416: Testimonials

Today was such a full on day, I am left here completely exhausted. I served in the 8 a.m. service, and soon after I went over to Lauren's place to prepare for the day's mission: to film testimonial videos. It was a long, hot day, but with our amazing team we managed to pull it off. I want to go into details, but I am so tired and I need sleep. So I'll try and expand on the details later. The only other thing I want to say is that Robert Fergusson is the man; his message tonight was so awesome, I love it.

God bless,
Steven

Day 415: The College News Animatic

Today was pretty much task-oriented. In the morning, I went to a nearby coffee place for the second time since I've been here (keep in mind that because I don't drink coffee I save a LOT of money) for a media meeting with a few of the guys. We took a good hour and a half just talking about ideas for Misterhood in the coming weeks, and it was a very exciting meeting. After the meeting, I had only one mission: to create the opening animation for college news. I started about 11:45 a.m. with a simple plan in mind, and for the most part it started well. As things would go with long projects, there were a few lazy periods of the afternoon; I stopped for things like lunch and mental breaks a little longer than I should have. After using well over 300 Post It notes, I made the animation video in just under 6 hours; cool part is the actual video is 8 seconds long! That's 2 seconds longer than the trial version, which is a good thing. I was very exhausted by the end, but it was worth it now that I have a finished product. Now I just have to film the rest of the advertisements and I should be ready to go. Tomorrow's an important day, so I'm going to sleep before I get caught up in editing!

God bless,
Steven

Day 414: An Unsung Hero and His Partner

Today I got a revelation. Funny thing is it came out of my mouth and didn't register in my head until later on. I was talking about something that impacted me during first year during our Musicianship tutorial, and what came to my mind was the fact that the heart of this church is found in every single area. Whether you are on stage or in a position that's never publicly seen, every team lives out the heart and vision that the senior pastors have set over the church. It's pretty awesome to see it for real; every team that I've been part of has been passionate about following the heart and vision, and it sure made me realize something about my personal pride. When I first came here, I knew it was going to be a while before I could get an opportunity to be on stage. Then again, I had a very musical vision then. Then along the way God led me to TV, and ever since then I have dedicated more of my time into that ministry. Especially now that I'm helping run TV, I tend to really be behind the scenes. And you know what? I love it. I absolutely love being unseen, because I see it as a form of personal growth. I've been on stages or in front of people serving for as long as I can remember; yet I find myself enjoying servanthood more from a place that's not visible. Plus, our TV crew is a family; we know each other so well, and we work as a team to a professional level. I've felt so honored to be part of this college, church, and ministry; I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's as if my whole life of service has prepared me for this specific season. I've never worked so much before, but if it wasn't for being part of my family's ministry projects like C.P.O.M., Operation Samuel, and other parts of church life. Today left me feeling inspired and at ease; I'm just loving life so much right now.

God bless,
Steven

Day 413: Branching Out

It's amazing the difference it makes when you wake up and just dedicate your day to God. This morning, I just stayed in my bed and said a simple prayer, that this day would be His and not mine. The fruit that came from that decision couldn't have been sweeter. My day started with Sisterhood and working with my favorite people in the world: TV. I was given the privilege to once again man camera 1, and I had such a fun time doing it. This however, was the last day I will be doing TV for Sisterhood because I have been drafted to the Misterhood media team; it's like my camera is taking me to more places than I planned! I was thinking about how I had no experience with filming when I got here; sure I've done acting before, but never actually making videos as a hobby. Look at me now: I'm head of the video creative team, and I'm being involved with so many other video outlets within the church. If I had known this was going to be my life in Hillsong college, I probably would have done things a bit differently; but then again, who am I to complain about what God's preparing me to do in this season? The classes today were phenomenal; I had Old Testament Studies, Pastoral Care, and Team Leadership, which are all so empowering and filled with practical tools to make my life easier. Sure, it's the longest day of the week, but I can handle it because it's helping me grow in every way. Tonight was also the start of Team Night; we got to hear Sanga preach on making God the most high in our lives. Great message from Sanga, as always. As I look back on what's taken place so far this week, I can't help but wonder: how will I be able to handle having every week this semester be so AWESOME??

God bless,
Steven

Day 412: College Creative, Go!

Today was probably the best day so far. For one, I don't have class until 11 a.m. (which balances out the fact I get out at 5:15), so I could sleep in a little more. I got to show a few of my TV crew my progress on the advertisement, and so far every single reaction was more than positive; I've got some golden here =) Our classes today were Theology of Worship (which I totally love) and Musicianship 2 (which will probably grow on me as we get more involved musically). So far every class has been so much better than first year classes; I love how the courses are set up that way. It's like first year was oriented around being a team player while giving you practical ways of living a God-centered life. This year focuses more on being a team leader while empowering you with personal ways of living a God-centered life. Putting it all together is what makes the ultimate difference in how you do life; it's awesome. We actually got out of class almost a half hour early, which was perfect since I had a college creative meeting at 6. Basically, the college creative team is made up of students that specialize in a certain area of college/church life in Hillsong. As you would know, I am assisting with the video side of things, and the rest of the team is certainly among the best of the best. We had a 3 hour meeting, just throwing out ideas in preparation for the next two months; forward thinking as Relient K puts it. This meeting got me excited about this semester in a whole new way; if I had any doubt for this year, I'm pretty sure it's gone now.

God bless,
Steven

Day 411: Let's Punch It.

Today was the first day of the rest of my life. Just kidding, it's only the first day of the rest of the semester. Chapel rehearsal was so much fun; sure there were the occasional slip-ups, but the ultimate highlight of the morning was filming the advertisement for TV. We've been planning this video for quite a while, and today we finally got to make it happen; it was an absolute success. What I have edited so far is looking amazing, and I can't wait to get this ready for college news. Our first class was Analyses with Matt Capper, where we're going to be learning what it takes to analyze and make great music. I'm excited for this class =) Chapel was awesome as usual; nothing much else to say. My last class was Pastoral Care with Catrina Henderson; I have a strong feeling this class will be a semester favorite. The rest of my day was focused on getting a few other video things done; I really got to see the kind of appreciation I ought to have more of for God blessing me with the abilities I have. Dad, sorry I never got into sports; but at least I have the arts!

God bless,
Steven

Day 410: Videos on Valentine's Day

Today was literally all about videos. It started in the morning with me and Josh meeting with our former TV oversight Vanessa. She's been wanting to meet with us for a while to check how we've been doing with the whole TV thing; she even went as far as to make breakfast for us. We thanked her by washing the dishes; it was literally the least we could do. Right after the meeting, Josh headed to work, while I went back to my place to get some video work done. My mission was simple: upload the last of the Future of Forestry concert videos as well as my New Year's vacation video, start editing the Skillet concert videos, and put the video of Saturday's Valentine's mission on DVDs for Luke and Toast. How did I do? Well, I definitely finished the Future of Forestry videos and uploaded the vacation video too, but I didn't start on editing the Skillet videos; as for the DVDs, I'm in the process of getting the first one finished. I "celebrated" Valentine's Day by hanging out with Donny, Josh, and our friends Alexis and Kappa sharing pizza and discussing movies and television. It was fun! I have an early start to the day, so I will be going to sleep now, so good night!

God bless,
Steven

Day 409: Sugar and Other Fuels

Today was quite interesting. Not much happened, but I did get to hang out with my flatmates which was great. We discussed readings in the Bible, played The Legend of Zelda (both the Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker), and just caught up on life. It was a nice, relaxing day, and I'm looking forward to having these kinds of days in the future.

Acts is a great book; I read the first four chapters this morning, and I'm definitely going to keep reading during this week. I got super inspired about the story of Pentecost and how God took the number of followers from 120 to 3,000. It's amazing the things that happen when people are doing life; I got homework to do.

God bless,
Steven

Day 408: Love and It's Accomplices

Today, there was a mission. Only a mission. Nothing else. Last night, I was recruited by my amazing friends Luke and Sean (Sean is famously known as Toast here in college; trust me, long story) to help in a Valentine's plan for the special women in their lives: Julie, Luke's wife, and Kat, Toast's girlfriend. Josh was the main glue between the whole thing; we both gave ideas and stuff, but Josh was the driving force behind the large part of this plan. Basically, we all put together a scavenger hunt kind of thing for the ladies to be part of for the afternoon; there were four main challenges, and at the end of the adventure they would meet the guys at a fancy restaurant. We made our flat the location for the first challenge, which involved the ladies playing Mario Kart. It was pretty entertaining, considering neither of them had ever played it. As soon as they went to find their next clue, Josh and I had to change and beat the ladies to the next location; it was hilarious, that's all I need to say. The second challenge involved them having to beat Josh and our friend Dan in a friendly arm wrestling competition; they won, just so you know. At this point it got a bit tricky, because Luke hid the next clue somewhere in the courtyard for them to find while Josh and I headed out to the next building. We managed to beat the ladies there and awaited their arrival for the third challenge: writing a song for the guys. The thing about Julie and Kat is they've never written songs before, and they aren't musicians in any way; so in logic this would normally have been impossible. Luckily they managed to write a really silly song that Josh volunteered to sing to the camera; I can't describe in words how funny that experience was. This last challenge was the toughest, mainly because Josh and I almost didn't make it to the next location in time. For the fourth challenge, the ladies had to go inside Coles and find specific food items that Luke and Toast would love. After maybe 15 minutes, they managed to get all the items (but we didn't buy them, because there was no need to). Our final clue was attached to two bus passes, and the instructions were for them to go back to their flats and get ready for a nice dinner at a restaurant just a bus ride away (the men were already there waiting for them). Once Julie and Kat went to get ready, me and Josh's mission was complete. Now I get to edit all the footage we got of the event!

God bless,
Steven

Day 407: Leadership 101

Second year focuses on giving you the tools to be able to lead a team. With these intensives, we've been getting a lot of input in such little time; I'm honestly surprised I caught up as well as I did. Our intensives were all led by our college vice president, Mark Hopkins; it's always a treat to have Mark around. He's one of the more genuine people I've ever known, and he definitely knows what he talks about. Chapel was awesome this morning; one of my good friends from last semester, Aksel, played bass on stage for the first time. Aksel is one of my favorite people in college, so it made me proud to see him up there; he definitely works hard enough to gain that privilege. TV was interesting today; in the early morning rehearsal, there were a few complications along the way. Although we didn't figure out all the problems, our amazing team kept it together and made it work until the end. Sometimes I can't help but wonder how Josh and I are so blessed to have people that are legit, trustworthy, and passionate about the world of TV. I'll make it up to them somehow. Intensives finished around 3:30, so after that, it was a lot of winding down and hanging out with my flatmates. This weekend is already shaping up to be fantastic, and I'm just so relieved that the internet in our flat is working again. Seems like good things do come to those who wait.

God bless,
Steven

Day 406: Plans, and Their Potential Change

Today's schedule was a tiny bit different. Usually there would be Sisterhood in the morning, but because there wasn't, our intensive schedule was changed. We started classes at 9 a.m. and finished at 3:30 p.m.; not too bad for originally having our last class end at 5:30. It was mainly Ministry Safety classes, and at the end of the day we had an exam covering everything we learned over the past two weeks. Fortunately, this one wasn't as difficult as last year's Christian Doctrine exam; that one was tough beyond belief. On the upside, our last day of intensives is tomorrow; after that, is freedom.

Also, Josh and I have been in a Zelda phase lately. We've been playing through The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker with our good friend Luke for about 3 weeks now, and we are just hooked. It's all we can do until our internet comes back, really.

God bless,
Steven

Day 405: Small World, After All

Wednesday was simply time to relax a bit. I did a tiny bit of filming, which was cool (I pretty much have to get a lot of random footage for abstract videos I'll be putting together soon). In the evening, I managed to train one of the new students in how to be an events assistant; since my video responsibilities are priority, I really needed to step down from Powerhouse duty. I'm a bit relieved, to be honest. My new replacement is named Melissa, and it just so happens she's a former youth pastor at Jubilee church in San Jose; talk about a small world... she's very experienced in this whole thing, so I'm grateful for that. Life in college is getting both easier and harder at the same time. Go figure.

God bless,
Steven

Day 404: Head To the Hills!

Today was a Hills day. I wasn't completely looking forward to it, but I knew either way it was going to love it in the end. Our classes were pretty much all led by instructors from Hills, which was a nice twist to the usual, but at times it was hard to catch up (especially when Aran Puddle was teaching. He's a loose cannon, talking about everything at the same time). The student/staff meeting was awesome; I got the opportunity to film bits and pieces of it for future videos. Leadership Vision Night was amazing. Then again, it always is; but this time was especially amazing. Pastor Brian spoke on the most recent developments, including the announcing of the new church plant in Germany, the school project in South Africa, and the new campus building for the city. They Skyped with the pastors of Hillsong Germany (of which the husband actually went to the college back in 2001) and Phil Dooley (one of the most respected pastors that moved to South Africa to pastor the church there), which ended up being hilarious. If there's one thing I appreciate about Brian Houston, it's that he's genuinely himself. In fact, it's the spirit of the whole church: that you're genuinely yourself wherever you serve. I believe this is one of the biggest reasons Hillsong church is so highly respected.

God bless,
Steven

Day 403: Well.... Nah...

Today was another one of those random lazy days where you have things in mind to do, but you end up not doing any of that. Funny how I find myself in these kinds of days a bit too often. At least I have a roof over my head, food on my plate, and good friends to keep me company. God IS my provider, after all.

God bless,
Steven

Day 402: New Vision, Classic System

Vision Sunday is a big deal for the church. Every year Vision Sunday shares with the congregation the vision that the church wants to carry for the year, and it tends to be an amazing experience. This year, the theme was the church as a tapestry and a scarlet thread as the blood of Christ. My favorite part is the video presentation; they do such a great job in expressing the heart of the vision, and it definitely leaves me inspired about my filmmaking. I found this year's Vision Sunday to be a real empowering time; Robert Fergusson's message on the costs of living as a Christ follower opened my eyes. The main point that got me was the cost of leaving; he was speaking about how whenever we move to a new and different place, we have to leave some things behind. This whole college thing came with the cost of leaving my family, my friends, and the world I was so used to; I've lived in San Francisco almost my whole life, and living in Sydney never crossed my mind. It's amazing how God works; but then again, I'd rather have Him guiding me through all this than trying to do it myself. Just saying...

God bless,
Steven

Day 401: A Record 85 Years In the Making

So today was recorded as the hottest day Sydney's had in over 85 years; wanna know how hot? Try 108º F. Even the shade wasn't enough to cool you down!! The summer weather's biggest weapon is the humidity; sure the sun is hot, but the thick humidity and warm winds can really hold you down. So how did I manage to live through this day? By going outside only once! Thank God for whoever he gave the idea of air conditioning; it was the hero of the day. On a lesser note, the flat is looking a bit cleaner now that the guys that lived here previously have more of their stuff moved out; now we can start rearranging the place for better convenience.

God bless
Steven

Day 400: The New Guys

This morning with TV, we were a bit shorthanded. We had 5 people for a 9 person task, so we were a little worried about the situation. However, we got the surprise of new recruits; two of the new semester students, and a friend from my intake; it was my first time seriously training people, so it was interesting and fun. Intensives are just amazing still; I'm really looking forward to next week's. Chapel was intense; there were a couple technical difficulties in the studio, but our awesome team pulled it together to make it work. Right after chapel, I met with a few of the college creative "big guns" about plans for bringing more creative media into college life; let's just say I have a lot of work coming up very soon. In the evening, I got to help out with Wildlife TV; usually whenever I serve as a camera operator, I don a ninja outfit to blend in the darkness (as well as have some fun while it's happening). Sure, I got a lot of weird and humorous looks from people, but the fact of the matter is this is what youth is all about: being fun, creative, and giving the youth of Australia an awesome environment to encounter God. How can it get any better? Maybe some more ninjas would be cool...

God bless,
Steven

Day 399: I Am Sisterhood, Again.

Sisterhood's back! One again I have been placed to help with TV, and I honestly can't wait to get started next week. Intensives are just awesome; couldn't be happier with the knowledge flowing with each session. Today was the longest day, since we ended at 5:30, but at least my evening was relaxing. I got to hang out with some great friends and try garlic salt; I pretty much dropped two chicken breasts on a grill pan, covered both sides with garlic salt, and prepped some rice to go with it. It's scary how I'm getting better at this with practice. If only my mom could see this...

God bless,
Steven

Day 398: Passing the Torch

Because of intensives, I get Mondays and Wednesdays off; I figured I could take advantage of this to just wind back and chill (literally due to the heat). The only thing that happened was that I was asked to help with Powerhouse again; just in case I didn't mention this at any point, I informed my superiors that I couldn't continue helping with Powerhouse this year because of my new responsibilities with college. However, my replacement needed training, so I pretty much had to save the events department this evening. Seeing all the new students visiting PH made me look back at how I came to find PH as not the place for me; I just couldn't find it personally enjoyable. I don't know what it was, but for me, I didn't enjoy being there. Serving there was much better, but I'm just relieved that I don't have to be there any more. Then again, they might need my training services next week...

God bless,
Steven

Day 397: Team Leadership, Part 1

Intensives began today. Last year it wasn't the most memorable parts of my HILC experience, but they're there for good reason. This year, I wasn't too sure of what to expect; it could go in so many directions. For the sake of time, I'll just say that the intensives were awesome, and it's looking to be one of the best parts this time around. I will also mention that chapel was epic; every team was on target, and it made us super excited for what comes next.

God bless,
Steven

Day 396: Core Teams Rule

Today was the first day off of the college semester, and for the remainder of the semester, Mondays will be my day off instead of Wednesdays. Wednesday had the advantage of being a halftime break for the week, but Mondays have the advantage of being a three day weekend (win-win situations). The best part of today was the chapel core team meeting. Here's the roster:

Sean AKA "Toast" is our second in command overseeing all of chapel
Lazaro (my old roommate) and Aaron are overseeing the musicians for chapel
Jared and Joelle are in charge of the backup vocalists for chapel
Liz oversees the worship leaders for chapel
Anja is in charge of the events/stage managing side of chapel
Yana (our only core team member from first year) will be overseeing the choir
Leon will be in charge of items, which are special performances
and lastly, Josh and I are heading the TV department (and myself with videos)

This team together could very well be unstoppable; we're all full of energy and ideas to make this semester more than awesome. I don't doubt at all that it'll be exactly that.

God bless,
Steven