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