Kinda Down

So, lately, I have been in a weird state. I am just really worn out and confused about where my life is going. I am more upset because I am semi-talented at several things and not really good at one thing. I want to go places with my "talent", and don't think I ever really will. I am bummed about church, and things that happen to good people. I try to be fair and nice to everyone, but I guess my efforts will never be truly rewarded.

Depressing huh? Maybe not so much....but tough. I just want something to latch on to and be successful. I want something to be MY thing and make it work. I keep losing more vision every day and that's upsetting. I could wear like SUPER THICK glasses and see SOMETHING, but it's not worth that.

Well, sorry to be a whiner, but this thing was made to put my feelings, and if I didn't express them, then it would be useless and I would mope around all day. Hope to have something GOOD to talk about tomorrow.

Holy Moly!

God is bustin' down some walls that "we" could never have done "ourselves". See, Wesley (and any youth or college ministry for that matter), loses students (and leaders) each semester. I have gone throgh three different teams since I've been here. A common problem always arose that we don't have anybody to fill vital positions (vocals, guitar). Today I met with Nicholas, Sierra Lawson (a new vocalist), and Carl Hanke (a "new" guitarist) to run some stuff before the full band rehearses next week.

DANG! Sierra is really REALLY good. She's not just talented vocally, but she has the heart to be on-stage. She knew what was tasteful and not distracting, but she also knew when to lay out. I ended up having her lead two songs and she did GREAT! Carl, who I've worked with in other capacities, is actually a really good guitarist. I didn't have any doubt, but you never truly know how a guitarist is until he plays with a band. He's good and could potentially replace Nicholas next spring. God's makin' it happen!

The order of worship stuff has worked out, and I printed our WORSHIP GUIDEs for the first service this afternoon. It is going to be great, and I am pumped about the team. We've got a lot of fresh faces coming in and that's good. New ideas and direction.

I am off, I have to go pack for the big dorm move-in tomorrow. YIKES! I WILL update tomorrow. Later!

DABC Day 4

So, last day....kinda sad. See, as small as Lufkin is, I won't see most of the new folks I met again for a while at least until we do this thing again next year (which is definite that we will). Jessica's mom (John's mother-in-law) said "See ya again, well, never." and it kinda hit me....doing this brings you to meet alot of new people. However, you rarely come in contact with them again. At least I have Keith Nash as a contact now, which is cool.

We played a good set this evening:

My Glorious
You Are Holy
Whole World in His Hands
Rescue
Nothing But the Blood
Here I Am to Worship

Pat Camarada (finally remembered his last name) is a great speaker. What's cool is Angela and I want to keep learning more from him because he is so interesting. He talked about sin this evening. He seemed like it wasn't what he planned on talking about. He was very real about it, and spoke boldly. He said that he felt like alot of the kids were caught in the biggest sin of all; not knowning Christ. I felt like it is something that is hard to take, but true. Pat did a great job the whole week, but tonight in particular, I felt like he was really reaching the kids. One student was saved, and another re-dedicated her life. Good stuff, that's what it's all about.

Afterwards, Pat and John talked a bit about something that Pat was working on in Houston. A service for those to just come and worship. Sounded like a pretty regular gig, and seemed definite about wanting John to do it. Hopefully, if he does, I will be able to do it with him. John seemed very pleased with the sound we produced, as did I.

Ralph and Kacoos for dinner! DANG! It was pretty stinkin' good...but it reminded me why I don't eat seafood....too filling. We talked alot about what Keith and his team could do differently next year...and he seemed like Pat and John (and myself) were the ones who would do it. We all ate and then said our "good-bye's". I sure did have a good time!

Off to Dallas tomorrow at 5:15am for doctor's appointment all day and then again on Friday. FUN FUN FUN!!!

DABC Day 3

Today started rather late....woke up really late. I got up and ate some delicious cake that my sister made yesterday. Dang! Strawberry cake for breakfast rocks!

Showered and got dressed and took care of some stuff around the house. Angela was not feeling too well so she came over and slept for a little while as I wrote e-mails to Tom and some Hearts members. I got bored while she was asleep so I watched some TiVo'd episodes of "King of the Hill". That show is pretty funny. She woke up feeling better so we went to get some lunch and pick up my brother at the high school. Her gas was running low and we went to the gas station to find that prices ROSE AGAIN! Enough is enough, it is definately getting way too high!

Headed to the church at about 5:15. We pulled up just as John did. We ran through the set and got a good sound check in.

Holy is the Lord
Famous One
My Glorious
Whole World in His Hands
Rescue
Psalm 19
Majesty

Set went well. "My Glorious" was really cool acoustic. I am getting to the point on djembe where I am finally building some fills and better technique. "Rescue" is a Jared Anderson tune that is pretty cool. Jared Anderson is so good, I am really listening to alot of his stuff lately. The students were definately engaged in the worship this evening. I found out later that there were projection issues and John gave out a good amount of vocal cues for the kids. They still hung in there and sang, which was very cool.

Pat spoke to those who had not been saved this evening. His messaged focused alot on Paul and his journey with Christ. It was a very good message and I truly believe God was working in the room. Pat called for an invitation and we went back up and did "Nothing But the Blood". Two kids were saved this evening, and a couple more re-dedicated their lives' to Christ. It was a very good evening. We packed up and hung out while the kids filtered out.

Chili's for dinner...chicken crispers as usual. It was a pretty big group as usual so we were isolatd as to whom we talked to. It was Pat, John, Angela, and I at one end. John and I talked about my good buddy Ricky Davis. John actually led worship with him a few times. I got to brag about my "I LOVE RDB" shirt!

Tommorrow is the last night of the revival and I am excited about it. Pat has been really good and I look forward to hear what he has in store for the kids tomorrow.

DABC Day 2

Got up "early" this morning. Sleeping until 11 is just so tough on me...haha! I got up and showered, shaved, you know, the usual....and then I watched a bit of TV. I got to work on the sample CD that I am sending to the praise team.

Around 1, Angela showed up on a lunch break and we went to the bank. Made a much needed deposit and went home.

I listened to some music and got ready to head up to the church @ 5.

I showed up and we were in their youth room today. Keith had moved my stuff so I just set my cymbals up and placed the mics. John showed up and we ran through a couple of songs and talked through the rest. Their youth room rocks! Very trendy, but not distracting.

We started at around 6:30 and here's out set:

- When I Think About the Lord
- O Praise Him
- Majesty
- Indescribable
- How Great is Our God
- Your Love is Extravagent

We ended up throwing in these throughout the service

- You Are God Alone
- As the Deer
- Take My Life
- Give Us Clean Hands
- Holy is the Lord

THE KIDS WERE INTO IT! Even the songs we just threw in, they sang the whole time. It was very cool. John didn't break any strings this time either. John did some cool transitions, and I really was pleased with the responsiveness.

Pat did another great job as well. He was a bit more serious this evening, but, he still got my attention and I know that he had the entire room's attention. Tonight he discussed how we don't need to just be a Christian, we need to DECLARE it. He was very good.

We ended up at Outback for dinner and had some funny conversation. Keith is a hillarious guy and I am glad I was blessed with the opportunity to play at this.

DABC Day 1

Church went good this morning. Was a bit worried, practices were a bit sketchy, but it went well.

Today was the first day of the DABC gig with John. I am somewhate nervous because this is my first gig with John...but it went well. We ended up leading the ADULT service in their new worship center. BEAUTIFUL building! Sound was nice, we did some cool stuff. John switched mid-set to piano and I used djemebe, shaker, and 2 cymbals.

Funny thing, FIRST SONG (Sing to the King), John breaks a string...I thought, "holy cow, this is going to be hard to pull off"....he pauses mid-song and says "keep singing, just a broken string". THEY KEPT SINGING THE WHOLE TIME!!! John pushes the string out of the way and play the rest of the songs without the string. Tough situation, but he handled really well. I was quite impressed.

Pat, the speaker, was PHENOMINAL. He was funny, knew what he was talking about, and knew how to make us understand it. I expect to LEARN alot from this week.

Went to IHOP afterwards, had the International Passport. All in all, good start!