In the old days of blogging, I used to come home and blog about my day because I thought it was interesting. Usually it went something like this although sometimes I got overly enthusiastic like this.

These days I tend not to talk about my day because, no one reads my blog to find out about it. But in honour of the past, just once, I'm gonna do it. This was Thursday 9th February 2012.

I woke up this morning to the sounds of Adagio for Tron, which is my wake up music. Thank you Sleep Cycle App. It's nice to wake up to if a little sad (the music not the app). I read my Bible in bed, which was bad because I kept drifting off and dreaming about Jeremiah. I guess dreaming about Jeremiah isn't too bad, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out if Jeremiah really was at your primary school with you or if you just dreamt it.

I took my time this morning because to today was late arrival day at work. I went in at around 10. The traffic was pretty nice, but I had to park a long way from the office. I had two green bags full of commentaries on the books of Mark and John to carry with me too. I felt like a biblically literate homeless person. It was difficult holding the bags safely while standing on the median strip in middle of our local busy road. I was worried a car might clip one of my bags and drag me down the street grazing my knees, ruining my shirt and dashing my brains on the road surface. It would probably be the first time someone had ever been killed by a Bible commentary. If you get killed by a Bible commentary can you call it martyrdom? It is getting killed in the cause for Christ kinda.

I arrived at work a little before 10 just in time for Bible study. It was good.

Then I spent the day working. It was solid. I sent emails, did a little talk prep, made phone calls, booked visits, printed invoices, went to the post office. Boy, it was amazing. And I didn't get distracted by Facebook or SMH once. Maybe more than once, but certainly not once.

On my way back from the post office I bought myself lunch. It was a chicken and salad roll from the Vietnamese hot bread shop. There are rumours that the pâté from the shop will make you poo excessively. I thought about trying it to see if the rumours are correct, but felt if I discovered the truth it might ruin the mystique of the shop, so I said "No pâté, thanks."

During my lunch break I read a book on church planting for my church planting tripastorate (the three pastors) meeting tonight. I also sent some non-work emails.

At 6:15 it was almost time to go home. I broke one of my rules and did a work poo. I don't really like pooing in my work place but there were very few people left in the office to smell my present's presence so I relaxed the no-work-poo embargo. I also got changed while I was there out of my business clothes into my casual clothes.

At just past 6:30pm I left work. I walked all 13km back to the car and crossed at the lights seeing as I thought trying my luck with my voluptuous commentary carrying twice in one day was a little too much.

I drove to Pastor Scott's* house via Caltex to pick up some over-priced soft drink. Just after leaving the petrol station a lady almost drove into me while turning right at some lights. She was coming from the other direction as I drove through the lights, she didn't see me and almost smashed right into my side. After that I turned the invisibility switch on my car off because it's too dangerous. Suburu's do have a lot of neat gadgets though.

I arrived at Scott's just after 7, Pastor Kaye* was already there. Scott was cooking us a barbie. He's a real man. We ate then spent three and a half hours talking about Gotham City Church (the working title for our church). It was very exciting. Tonight we talked a lot about church government and how we want the church to function. We also spent a while discussing humour in our church, which I think others thought was a bit of a tangent, I felt it was a core theological issue. I think we decided some good things; racist jokes are out, poo jokes are probably still up for debate.

Still talking concretely about what we want the church to be like (everything from theology, to people we reach, to ministries we run, to how we run a service) was very exciting. It's good to finally be getting really concrete. And it turns out we all agree on most things.

We finished our discussions and prayed then I drove home. I sent an email to some youth group parents for tomorrow and now I'm blogging.

That's my day.

Don't expect another one for these for 8 years, but at least now you know what I did today. You can finally stop wondering.


*We don't call each other Pastor, but it'll help you know who they are.

I was meant to be on camp for work this week, but not enough people went on camp, so I was made redundant from camp.

But I did go to camp for one day. It was pretty fun. As soon as I arrived I was asked to tell a joke. 7:30 in the morning and I have to tell a joke. It's traditional that I tell a joke at this camp. So I told this one:

Am man walks in to the doctors with a penguin on his head. The doctor says "What seems to be the problem?"

The penguin replies "Well it all started with this growth on my foot..."

It went down ok, but people didn't think it was as good as I think it is.

I did other things today other than telling jokes. I listened to a talk, and almost hit a girl in the head with a frisbee. I threw the frisbee and it was meant to go over her head (silly idea) but it did not, it skimmed the top of her head, glancing off her plastic head band. She was talking to her dad at the time. Oops, that was embarrassing. (Can frisbees kill people? That would have been more embarrassing.) She forgave me, I think.

Oh and I dressed as a bearded lady for a carnival event. I haven't done that since 2008 so I thought it was time. Wearing a dress and fake boobs; That's what my job is all about.

And that was my day on camp. I would have liked to have been on camp, because it's pretty fun. But at least I can probably sleep more here.

Today I wasn't at work but I did plenty of work. I had a meeting with a potential new youth leader, had a meeting with my second in charge at youth group, the two of us then had a meeting with another potential youth leader, then I went want and watched Cobra (Yes!), then had a meeting at the pub about our upcoming YouTube Bible extravaganza. So much meeting. I felt like I was back in church ministry.

Still I enjoyed myself. I drank a lot of beverage and did a lot of wee. It's the work of the kingdom.

I've been at a conference today for work. It's a chaplains conference.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought I would have to do a lot of networking, which isn't really my strong suit. I hadn't put any thought into the sessions.

Turns out the sessions have been pretty good. Good for the head, hard on the heart, important for the soul.

The first keynote speaker we had (we have five keynote speakers, which could be a record for keynotes) was John Dickson speaking about humility. He said a lot of good stuff but what struck me most was something he didn't really talk much about but is something I've been thinking about and that's seeking criticism. I never go out of my way to have people tell me what I'm doing wrong. I never look to have anyone tell me of my sin. I just hope the people close to me are kind enough to tell me my faults, and I'm humble enough to listen.

I've been thinking maybe I need to figure out a way to listen to people criticisms of me, and to help people to feel safe to tell me where they think I have room for improvement. But until I figure out a way to do that, feel free to just tell me, or email me, or comment on my Facebook, and I'll try and humbly listen and change.

We had a talk about burn out and stress, which was nice, because I feel like I'm doing ok with that one.

Tonight we had a talk about the pornification of our culture and the sexulisation young girls from Melinda Tankard Reist. It was pretty horrid content but quite important. Very emotionally taxing. I feel like there's probably a whole other post in it, so I might leave it till I get to it.

In summary, this conference has been harder and easier than I expected. The networking has been pretty low key and easy. The sessions have been demanding, but good.

Maybe tomorrow will be easier.

We'll y'all seem pretty excited by the idea of me going to a database meeting. But sadly, I didn't go. I was home sick today with a case of the poos.

The silver lining to the brown cloud was that I could lie around at home and watch DVDs and stuff. And that I did. I watched Layer Cake, Hollywoodland, Q&A and two and half episodes of Friday Night Lights. I also couldn't resist spending a few hours doing work too, so I sent a whole bunch of emails. Oh and I slept on the couch and ate mashed potato. So apart from being sick, it was a pretty good day.

I went to the chemist and bought medication for my ailment, in case I was need to perform on stage at short notice this evening (turns out I didn't, funnily enough), and I decided not to become friends with the pharmacy sales assistant because poo pills are a bad foundation for friendship.

And that's the story of my day.

Tonight I wrote a song with Matt for Soul Survivor. Then I chatted to him and Beck for a while. That was nice.

I came home. Everyone was asleep. It was 11:30pm. I watched an episode of The Wire.

Then I was hungry and I had one episode of The Wire left, ever. So I went to McDonald's, came home, and watched the episode. I'll write about the show later. The food hit the spot. I spilt some tomato sauce on my jeans.

Now it's 2:50am. And I'm probably going to go to bed.

And I'm happy. I can stay up late, watch TV and eat McDonald's whenever I want, because I'm a grown up and I'm on holidays.

Life is good.

Today I had a shoelace coming out of my shoe and dragging on the ground. I noticed it just as I was walking into the toilets at Hoyts to do a wee. I had been planning to use the urinal but had to change my plans because, had I gone to the wee wall, there's a high chance my shoelace would have fallen through the grate and into the urine flowing rapidly below. I re-adjusted my heading and went to a proper toilet instead.

It's because of quick thinking and ingenious problem solving like this that wars are won, nuclear meltdowns are averted and men don't go around smelling like urinals as often.

It's also a clear indication of why men have harder lives than women. Women don't have to contend with such dangers or make decisions of such magnitude on a daily basis.


Speaking of women having hard lives, my sister's due to have a baby today. How exciting. If the nurses know about anatomy then she's having a small man. May he grow up to have clean shoelaces and a peaceful life.

So today was a rather enjoyable day.

Nathan was coming over so I got excited. I got so excited that went on a housework/gardening frenzy.

Originally, as per Nathan's suggestion, I made my list of things to do it like this:

Things to Ninja Do:

1. Eat my breakfast with no lights on
2. Do the washing up without touching the ground
3. Clean the bathroom without being seen
4. Bring in your washing, like a ninja
5. Sweep the balcony without making a noise
6. Mow the lawn with a ninja sword
7. Read Romans commentaries upside down

I even planned on doing it all, like a ninja. And I was going to take photos and stick it up here on the blog. You would all have been impressed.

I did number one easy. But number two, not so much. I was going to do the washing up sitting on a stool so I didn't have to touch the ground. Ingenious. However it was too uncomfortable and I was too far away from the sink so I gave up on ninja housework and just did the rest like a normal person.

When Nathan came I had been dozing on the couch pretending to read about Romans 8. I hadn't mown the lawn.

Nathan (I've mentioned him 4 times now. Lucky he's not a girl or you'd think I'd have a crush on him. He's married so I'm not allowed to have a crush on him, even if he was a girl.) and I watched Bender's Game and ate wedges. The movie was not very good. There were funny jokes but it was just like 4 mediocre Futurama episodes stuck together. I think I slept through some of it.

When Nathan left I got into mowing the lawn. Actually I got out the mower then sat on the front lawn and pulled out weeds while Mark Driscoll shouted at me. I took over an hour and only managed to do a third of the lawn. I don't know if that's normal. I think we may have an abundance of weeds. Still I do love gardening. I have no idea about plants and stuff. But looking after the garden feels good. I think it feels similar to the feeling you get when you chop down a tree. Only chopping down a tree feels better because it's a lot more manly.

Tonight I tagged along with my church's youth group to Alive. I'm not part of the youth group, but I wanted to go to Alive, so I was allowed to tag along so I didn't just look like a creepy random guy there.

It was an odd experience. My old youth group was there, and it's the first time I've seen the youth group since I left. I was happy to see them. Especially happy to see young people there I didn't recognise. That's what I like to see.

Seeing as it was a big Christian event on the North Shore, I spent all night seeing people I know. There were people there from all three churches I've attended, people from camps I've spoken on, conferences I've been to, colleges I've attended, and people who I know but I don't know where from. It was pretty intense.

I sat in the meeting tonight and missed being a youth minister. I missed having the young people to look after. And the many moments of silliness. And the chance to disciple young people in Jesus. As my life is shaping up I probably will never be a youth minister again. That's sad. I did love it. But there will still be teenagers around, and I'll keep doing ministry with them. I'll keep doing camps, and youth group, and church. And I'll still do ministry. But things will never be how they were and I'll miss that.

However the future is coming (isn't it always?), and I'm excited about that.

Like tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to do more weeding.

And that was today. I thought you all might want one of those "Day in the life" blog posts. And if you didn't, I don't care.

Oh and after Alive I went to Maccas with my church crew. Just in case you were wondering.

After Good Friday (which was good) everything else was pretty bad.

I had a bad sleep on Friday night, woke up Saturday feeling lethargic, got worse. I slept all day Sunday, except when I was on the toilet. I had a headache. Since then, it's been more of the same with a slow recovery.

I ate nothing for Sunday and Monday. But now that it's Wednesday I've had some toast, mashed potato and rice, so I can't complain.

I had things planned every day this week. Today will be the first thing I'll actually make it to.

And I was meant to be going flat out on Soul Survivor prep, I was excited that this year I'd have plenty of time to work on everything I needed to do. But that's gone out the window too. Bah.

I usually love Easter. Oh well.

I went to church this morning at my new church. We had communion and they ran out of wine (juice actually, cause they're Baptists) just when I got to the server. It was most disconcerting for me.

After church I got invited to a Barbie with my friends. I ummed and ahhed, and eventually after being chased up, I decided to go.

It was out in Berowra. I went for the Barbie, which turned into a Monty Python watching, which turned into roast dinner, which turned into post dinner Wii games.

I was only expecting to be out for the afternoon, but I only just got home. I'd left my jacket at home so I got a little chilly by the end.

I had fun. I'm feeling more comfortable with the group now. I get the jokes more, I'm better at speaking up. I did like spending a whole day with this crew, they're a good bunch, I enjoy them a lot.

I had a good Friday.

I spent much of today sitting in the backyard reading. I also had butter chicken for lunch. And I watched the special features on The Bourne Ultimatum as a special treat because it's Sunday which means it's the Sabbath which means it's a day for special features. I'm pretty sure that's what God intended.

I also went to church. I'm really liking going to church. I just sit there. I'm totally a church consumer. I do nothing. It's the Sabbath, why work? Church workers are Sabbath breakers. They should be stoned to death.

So Sunday the 11th was the day the Harbour Bridge went cashless and I quit my job (which funnily enough will also involve me going cashless).

I was pretty sure the day was going to be a little unpleasant. Partly because I was leaving my job, partly because I was going to be the centre of attention all day, and finally because I was going to a party and I was the "host". I am really only happy at parties when I'm with comfortable people and hiding. When everyone is there to farewell you hiding isn't as much of an option.

I started the day by catching the train to Chatswood early in the morning to collect three samurai swords I had bought the day before. They were to be part of my handing over ceremony to Courtney the new Youth Minister. I had left the swords at Grandpa and Valentina's place because I didn't think transporting three real swords on a train would be a good look in today's paranoid world. Who would have thought?

Happily enough Forest Coach Lines was totally uninterested in the guy with the swords on their bus. I could have slaughtered a passenger or two and nobody would have batted an eyelid.

I arrived at work early to clean my office as I still had a bit of dusting to do. Rach wandered in got hay fever so she left again.

The 10am church service was uneventful. I thought there might be some sort of prayer or something, but there was only an announcement to come to the barbie afterwards. It was the last time I wasn't going to be in the limelight all day.

After Church I found they'd decked out the playground and Kindy area for a party. They had a table covered in cans of Coke with a tower of Coke many stories high. There was a big cake which said "Seeya Tom" on it. And there were my t-shirts hanging from the roof. It was pretty cool. I felt loved.

We had a barbie and I ate a sausage. I was pretty hungry because I didn't have breakfast, but I didn't get to eat much. I was too busy farewelling myself. I realised I should probably be hanging out with people and talking them and all that. So I popped over to a group of parents to say "G'day" but just as I got there they started the official part where people say nice things about me so I had to stop. I'm not a very good host. I have lots of lovely friends at my church and they said lots of lovely things. My favourite comment was from one girl who said she knew that I'd "touched" everyone in her family. The sentiment made me pleased and the wording made me smirk.

It's kinda awkward having to sit there and accept everyone's thanks and praise. You don't really know where to look or how to respond. I'm so glad I'm not a head of state or a celebrity or someone who gets nice things said publicly about them all the time. That'd be tough.

I got a chance to respond and I muddled my way through some thanks and encouragements. It felt pretty dumb trying to sum up 6 years of gratitude in 5 minutes. Really there is such a depth of thankfulness in me for my time at the church and all the wonderful people I have worked with and served that I don't think I could ever find an adequate way of getting it out, so I just fluffed on for a while.

After that I was given my presents. Rev Michael had been paying attention in my sermon the week before. I had done an illustration about my love for Coke so he rung a friend at Coke and got a bunch of merchandise delivered for me, along with 96 cans of Coke. It was pretty cool. I was going to be pretty happy with that. But in the bag of Coke goodies there was a large wad of cash to go towards my desired MacBook Pro. I was pretty chuffed. People were amazingly generous. I'm so loved.

I went back to my office after that to finish work in preparation for the impending camp. It's kinda silly to go straight from work to camp, but I think in the end it worked out for the best.

Church that night was a little surreal. I had the old fan club there. The Commy crew, Ma and Pa plus some randoms who came to farewell me though I'm not sure who they were. That was all on top of the usual church crew.

The worship was good, though I was a little distracted. I was told by someone they thought it was the best worship we'd had in years. That's pretty good I reckon. I got to do the announcements for the last time. They were, as usual, silly. I'm not sure anyone I did the announcements for would have actually appreciated my input, but I was leaving, so I could be a silly as I wanted. There were probably a bunch of new people sitting there saying "I'm so glad this guy is leaving."

I was prayed for in the magic spot. Almost the whole church got up to lay hands on me. I thought I might get emotional during this bit. But as it turns out I just struggled to stay standing. The weight of all those hands is much greater than you would expect. Lucky I work out.

After I got prayed for I had the chance to do a hand over ceremony for Courtney. I gave her a big long ninja sword. I gave it to her explaining that it was an ancient sword from a group of ninja Japanese Youth Ministers. She was to pass the sword on to whoever comes after her. I did it mainly because it'd be cool if there was a sword that the Youth Ministers in the church pass down from generation to generation from now on. People saw symbolism in there for the Word of God and what not. Certainly not symbolism that I discouraged, but also not nearly as important to me as just having something cool.

I then got to lead the prayer for Courtney which was nice. I know that often people don't get to do much of a hand over to their successor so I was very happy to endorse and bless the woman who is coming after me. She'll do good.

I preached. The sermon was all about people knowing Jesus. I figured I didn't have much I really wanted to say, except, "know Jesus". He's pretty much the summation of everything the matters, why should there be anything else worth talking about?

After the service I spent a bunch of time saying good bye to people. It's pretty odd saying good bye. I felt like it wasn't significant because I can't understand that I won't see a lot of people for a while, and I certainly won't see most of them regularly ever again. It's totally sad, but I can't really get my head around it.

I ended up being the last to leave. I left my office by handing over the keys to Courtney, turning off the lights and locking the door.

Helen was kind enough to give me a lift to camp. That seemed right. She was the one that I started the youth group with (in it's current state) she was the one I ended it with too.

And that, was my leaving. I didn't cry. I got a voice wobble. But none of it seems real. I'll cry one day when I break a cup or something and it'll all come tumbling out. Till then though I'll just live with the unresolved pain and take it out on all those I'm close to. Sounds great!

Usually my Tuesdays are relaxing but a little depressing, because I have my day off, but there is no one around to enjoy it with. Today however was a different story.

I work up early, pumped to buy a suit for the upcoming wedding in the Gong on Saturday. I walked into the first shop I saw, flirted with an older lady, and walked out 20 minutes later with a new suit, tie, shirt and a saving of $100! I'd like to say it was because of my flirting skills but I think it might have been the tag attached to the suit that said "$100 Off!".

Next it was off to Glebe to pick up Mil, so we could use my Van of Power to pick up a pink desk from my Marrickville place (the one I'm on the lease for but don't live in and don't know most of the people who actually do live in it). There we picked up a desk and Jemma, and headed back to Glebe.

In Glebe it was over priced lunch for the three of us from somewhere trendy with red couches, which Jemma liked, but they were probably made out of dead animal.

Jemma left us after some fair trade coffee, and Mil accompanied me to Broadway to buy some swanky shoes to go with my swanky suit. We did well, it's helpful having support, especially from a girl because girls know about things like looking good.

My final act in Broadway was to get my haircut, to remove the hair that doesn't go with the swanky suit and swanky shoes. It occurred to my that almost all the money I spent today was on improving my appearance. This is a little disconcerting. I'd better look hot on Saturday.

I headed back to the house of Mil and Martin, where I found Mil and Martin and Martin promptly invited me to dinner with them (and Ryan and Van). The movie, Happy-Go-Lucky, was lovely. Full of happiness and very little conflict. It had one of the most pleasant characters I have ever seen on film. And I did laugh much too.

Dinner was good too, full of discussion about inappropriate jokes. My favourite.

So my day as been full of people I like and fun things to do. Only down point was having to come home to do some reading for the theology intensive I start tomorrow (Was Jesus' post-resurrection body physical most of the time or just some of the time?) and finding out that I have be at college at 8:30am. Grr. 7:15 on the train. Grr.

Oh well, I'll do it for theology because I love theology. And I'll do it for Jesus. Though I feel I could glorify Jesus by sleeping too.

Today wasn't really a day of joy. It wasn't anti-joy either. Although if joy is that deep way of being and knowledge of salvation, then I guess that today was a day of joy. I appreciated my salvation today. The sun was out so I appreciated it more. I know that may not sound connected. But sunlight is part of grace so is salvation. So sunlight reminds me of Jesus.

Gosh, I sound like I should live in the Blue Mountains.

I think I was going blog about my day.

I was stuck in traffic for about and hour and a half for some unknown reason. Everyone in Sydney decided to drive north across the Harbour Bridge this morning. And why not? It's a world icon and it's beautiful who wouldn't want to drive across it on a sunny Wednesday morning.

I got scripture in time but not having done what I needed to do.

I told my class that it was our second last lesson together and I felt sad. I really do like that class, they're the nicest scripture class I've ever had. If I was 11 we could have all been friends. Not that we're not friends now, but I wouldn't invite them to my birthday, their parents might think I was strange. Friends with your scripture teacher is a little different to friends with your peers.

I pushed buttons and read Bible stuff in my office and had salad for lunch.

Did mentoring with my mentor.

Did small group in my small group.

Now I'm home and happy to have Jo's iTunes music on my computer. Good for iTunes and their 5 authorised computers I say!

The end.

It was filming again today. It started at about 5:30am as I wandered hundreds of metres down my street to find my car buried in the rabbit warren of streets. This is the issue of getting home too late ore too early to get a park if there is a show on at the Enmore.

Anyway, we (Helen, Jon and I) made it to church late to meet the others. We got on the road and after a few shenanigans and stops to buy tape and breakfast we all made it all to Budgiwoi Beach, location one for the day.

We spent the day filming at the beach with a 3 metre high structure stuck in the sand and and a dingy on the beach. People kept looking at us as if we were a little strange. One kind surfer warned us that it'd be stupid to launch the dingy in the surf. Which is true. Had we tried to launch the boat we probably would caused someone or something a large amount of damage. It wasn't a particularly friendly see today.

It was slow work today for some reason. We did two shots in the water with a water proof camera case. They were pretty fun. It's hard work trying keep steady while the wave pound you and the the ocean is trying to suck you out to sea. Matt stood with me and kept me steady so I didn't drown. I did managed to get dumped in the shallows with the camera, it was extreme! And I was recording it all too! I'm sure it all looks fab!

In the middle of the day we got a large break while the special effects crew worked some magic. I slept in the beach tent. Brilliant!

When it was time to shoot again angry clouds were threatening and the whole thing had gone overcast. We moved fast and tried to make everything look the same. It was hard. Sea spray was covering everything and the lenses were misting up. But we got it all done.

Then, only 3 and a half hours behind schedule, we headed back to Sydney. We were planning on shooting again tonight, but alas the storm set in and we couldn't do it. I figured this was probably a good idea because we would have been filming on the top of a look out with a big, metal jib. I doubt the lighting rod thing, while looking cool, would have done much to advance the overall benefits of the production.

So we headed home. I came home to find the street full again and absolutly no where to park, so I took refuge at Jon and Helen's till it was safe to come home again. That was fun. Though I think we were all rather stuffed and sun burnt. They were kind to take me in in my hour of need.

I look forward to my rest tonight.

I went out with the Little today. We went to an internet cafe and played Need for Speed against each other. That was heaps of fun. But he's a better keyboard driver than me. He won most games. Although I'm a better drag racer. I know how to change gears using "shift". It made me want to go drive fast cars fast for real. I think I'd be better at that. Although if I drove into a lamp post it wouldn't just bounce out of the way like in the game, it'd probably kill me.

I came home and bummed around a little. I uploaded a Tabitha video to YouTube, which doesn't seem to be working yet. And then decided it might be time to head off to Matt and Beck's Engagement party.

I realised that getting to Clareville Beach from Enmore, is like getting to Newcastle from Sydney, but less pleasant. Especially when you're stupid enough to take the Spit Bridge. I arrived fashionably 2 hours late. I was the most fashionable person there I reckon. Except perhaps for the hair cut.

But the party was fun. I managed to avoid talking to most people. I don't think I was in party mode today. I did enjoy myself, I probably wasn't the best contributor to the socialisation of the party. I had fun play fighting with some little cousins I found. It made me look good with kids, and I didn't have to talk to adults! Yip! Everyone wins. Actually, I win twice, which is even better! Plus I like kids.

Tonight I hung out and at Thai with Jon and Helen. I know why I'm friends with them, 'cause I like them.

Update: Tabitha is working now. You can watch her here.

The camp was good fun. Nothing exceptional really. A camp like many camps. Except it wasn't Christian so there were no Bible talks, no one said (or sung) grace, and there was no worship anywhere to be heard (or seen, or practiced). Strange, it was like "We're on camp, but if there's no Jesus, what are we doing here?" I guess I feel like Jesus and the pursuit of the kingdom are a better reason for a camp than team building activities. But I did enjoy myself, and I did enjoy the team building activities. Hooray for High Ropes! It was good to spend a weekend with the "little" as they're called.

I made it to church tonight too. Youth group was fun. We had a record number of people turn out of the retirement village today. We usually get about 10, today we got 28. That was cool! Unfortunately the residents didn't know we were coming and there were only 6 of them. The exact opposite problem of last time. But still a good problem to have.

Youth stuff is going off at the moment. It's great. God is doing stuff.

I went out on the town with Mil and Gemma today. We went to see Stranger than Fiction which was pretty good I reckon. It made me laugh, Will Farrel did a better job at toning himself down than I've ever seen from him. And it had good things to think about, like death, and sacrifice, and literature, and art, and probably other stuff. I did enjoy.

We also ventured to sushi train and a dancing machine. The girls did alright at the dancing, I on the other hand am not what one would call skilled. Maybe unco would be the word.

We parted company around then, I ventured off into the wilds of the Botanic Garden to plant myself among the pashing couples on the grass and read, pray and sleep. Then I came home and watched the special features on Superman Returns and ate Pad Thai.

We finished the massive weekend of filming today. Lesley has summed it up pretty well. I did have fun shooting today. It was interesting how much the impending announcement impacted the day. I told Matt this morning it was coming so he could manage the day well for the few people who had just found out at the morning service and the rest of the people who were about to find out.

But apart from that it was a fun shoot. I love the jib. And I really enjoying the camera. Shooting in Chatswood last night with big lights and council permission was heaps cool. Plus we have Guy with us who knows what he's doing. We feel like we're becoming more and more pro.

So good for us. Now I'm going to sleep. And sleep well. No alarm tomorrow morning. Thank you God.

5:00 - Woke Up had quiet time
5:30 - Went for Run
6:00 - Shower
6:15 - Breakfast (Musili, mmm)
6:45 - Light Church History reading to keep the brain ticking
7:45 - Travel to work
8:30 - Check and reply to emails
9:00 - Write report
9:45 - Research for sermon
10:45 - Short break
10:50 - Bible Study prep for Term 2
11:03 - Help homeless man
11:04 - Back to Bible Study Prep
11:45 - Meeting with Bishop
12:15 - Lunch
12:45 - Phone calls
13:05 - Help Homeless Man again
13:06 - Resume phone calls
13:25 - Paraphrase Calvin's Institutes for Kids
14:00 - Meeting with Council Youth Panel
15:00 - Attend Prayer Healing Group
15:15 - Buy Carrots for the Dinner
15:30 - Fill out application form for Young Rotarian of the Year
15:42 - Refer Homeless Man to someone else
15:43 - Resume application form
16:15 - Prune Church Gardens
16:45 - Paint Church Doors
17:15 - Plan youth ministry care and support vision till 2012
17:45 - Visit from troubled youth
17:50 - Call Police
18:00 - Check emails and reply
18:15 - Go home

Really, I saw Tim off at the airport, went to work, did some, caught the bus home at the end of the day and watched most of Die Hard. Now it's off to bed. Filming tomorrow.