Today was a good day

I started the day at Sovereign Grace. Got Dawn to let me into the studio (A key is coming soon, hopefully), caught up on Facey-face, and started downloading videos and reading about exporting files from FinalCut Express. Went to the staff prayer meeting, and reviewed several different video projects with Bob and Dave. It was nice to see that my detailed work with Summer Celebration performances and sermon clips (clipization, more accurately) was well-spent. Now I have a bunch of video work to do that will be productive and help get resources distributed that nobody else would have the time to put together.

Enjoyed two delicious fajitas for lunch, along with more pages of 1st and 2nd Kings. This is a sweet spot in my Bible voyage - the stories are interesting, and tinged with the understated grandeur of ancient writings. Then it was off to the Sunday planning meeting, which is always boisterous and instructive. I made the quality decision to stay in the meeting past 1 instead of going down and playing guitar to accompany the high school choir practice. I'm on the tech team this Sunday, so it's helpful to know the ins and outs of what's going on. And they have a piano player on Tuesdays.

Met with Ken briefly after the SPM, set up an audition date for acoustic guitar and voice (looking forward for some honest outside opinion, though I anticipate that it will be painful), and headed back down to Sovereign Grace, squeezing a phone call to Daniel in between.

From there it was more video work, capturing Summer Celebration clips from iso cams and starting to watch and outline Bob's main session message from this year's WorshipGod conference. The workday ended with getting permission to use a drumset, and practicing for a long time to the Psalms album. It was fun, but it will significantly improve when I procure some bona fide sticks. One tipless hickory and a brush don't quite cut it :)

I left the darkened offices at 7 and discovered a new kind of Altoids at the Exxon on my way to care group (Seriously, every time I think they've come up with every possible type of Altiod, they proffer something new. Honey mint, like its predecessor--Creme de Menthe--is delicious). Since this is a fifth Tuesday, my care group and two others got together for pizza, fellowship and Bible trivia instead of a regular meeting. Green team came in second, and I still believe that the ESV had "remain" instead of "abide" in John 15! It doesn't now, but I really really think it did when it first came out. Anyway...

Decided to go hang out with a couple folks at "Buffalo Wings," which turns out to be right by home. "A couple folks" ended up being more than 15, and we had a great time talking and causing a racket. Met an awesome guy who does free financial consulting, had some deepening conversations with folks I'd met in past weeks, and ended up talking outside with the last couple people after the joint closed down. It was one of the first times I've really felt like I had some friends, and really enjoyed hanging out with people here. That may sound mean to say, but it's true, and I don't think it's unreasonable for friendships to take some time to develop. Doing things together is ALWAYS the best way (or at least a really really good way) to go from acquaintances to friendships, and being elected as the care group's quiz leader was perfect for that. I'm beginning to feel like I've got some social-life buds peeking up from the soil.

I came home late, but feeling like writing. I ended up doing a spurt of music research, taking some notes for Grooveshark listening tomorrow, and listening to Stevie Wonder intentionally for the first time in my life. Now I've written this, which makes me happy, and I'm cold, which makes me hope I don't get sick. It's fall now, for sure. Warm sun but cool, crisp air. The leaves are still green, but their days are numbered. Some of the roads are starting to feel like home, and there are people I'm looking forward to seeing in the days ahead.

My goals are to continue my Bible reading challenge with Justin, practice drums, prioritize my widespread projects, intentionally make myself a part of the tech team activites, strive to do everything I do with excellence, diligence and thought, and get together with some of the older musicians to learn, hang out, and learn. I don't feel yet that I am directly moving towards DOING something employable with this whole music/sound area, but to push that too hard right now would, for me, be going outside of God's plan and timing. Be faithful, BE HUMBLE, don't think of myself more highly than I ought, love people, work hard, and turn the wheel over to God. That's the only way.