Looking Up

It’s a shame that, on nights like these, I enjoy words more than their meanings. It makes it increidbly difficult to ink out an update to you, dear reader.

But, blog I must. I was riding in the car with Elizabeth the other day and, again, she got that Josh Groban song stuck in my head. So I have three or four lines of lyrics to an absolutely stellar melody that won’t leave me alone and I’m trying, desperately to figure out how to preach on Sodom and Gomorrah (the assigned text for my next sermon).

What do you think of this title: Judgment Isn’t Popular

That might be followed up be the less-selling sequel, Judgment: Still Not Popular

It’s a working title.

Anyway, it will not come as a surprise to learn that I’ve been up to my eyeballs in several projects. One of which is a not-insignificant number of purple hoodies that are now sleeping in various sized bins in my room.

Beneath the Surface was a great success. It’s amazing how much you learn as these things progress. I’ve worked as the logistics coordinator (sort of like an event coordinator, but with a more supportive/collaborative role) since 2005. We’ve done 5 of these conferences since then. 3 in Oregon, 1 in Washington and 1 in Louisiana.

I think it’s safe to say, the whole team has learned a lot in the past 6 years.

When I look at how much history has transpired, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach at how much has happened and how much hasn’t happened. How much has changed and how much has stayed the same. It’s a lot of data to process.

But my reflections notwithstanding, the feedback for last month’s conference was quite positive and there were several requests to do another one very soon.

Between me and you, I don’t think that’s likely to happen. But you never know.

My session went pretty well. It was extraordinarily difficult to juggle all the behind-the-scenes prep work, volunteer coordinating and writing a session (all while continuing my normal lecture schedule for the worldview class and a few other projects).

But God, ever faithful, allowed me to get the content I needed when I needed it and I have been truly blessed by those who have told me how the content has changed their view of their family.

After the conference, the team went down for some much needed R&R at the beach. The hurricane-like weather gave us plenty of reasons to stay inside and talk –a task we conquered quite aptly.

Coming home wasn’t as bad a jolt as I thought it would be. When you’re running an event like BtS, it can sort of suspend you from day-to-day operations that quickly pile up, roll off the line and squash you dead. Mercifully, that didn’t happen this time.

In fact, BtS gave me clarity. Going back to a job I did 6 years ago allowed me to get in touch with my roots again. I started to remember what I really loved and cherished. That spark of re-focused ignited a nice trajectory that I’ve been chasing for the past few weeks.

Speaking of which, here’s more from the highlight reel:

-The worldview class is almost 75% complete! This year has been an intense time of learning –which is awesome. I’ll post an update later on. For right now, I’m just trying to find a good groove while preparing all of next year’s material (it’s March, why oh why am I writing schedules for April 2012?)

-I’ve been asked to guest lecture at several Apologetics (competitive and non-competitive) classes in the next few weeks. I love, love, love visiting other classrooms. Getting to watch other teachers and classrooms gives me an invaluable perspective. I sometimes think that I learn more from these classes than the students.

-Speaking of guest teaching, we’ve set a date for “What About (Internet) Socialization?” I’m really excited about this evening. I think it’s a much-needed subject for parents and I’m excited to prepare the content. Right now, it’s a semi-closed event, but if it’s well-received, then we might try to offer it to a wider audience. We’ll see.

-I’m stoked about leading worship in a couple weeks.

-In the not-so-distance future is the speech and debate regional tournament. I came on board to help provide some much-needed back-end support. Basically, I’m doing the exact same thing I did for BtS, but on a larger scale.

By the way, this event has a rockin’ crew who really know their stuff. Our club is immeasurably blessed to have this caliber of families collaborate on such a huge project. For those of you qualified competitors, this regional has the all star team. I’m really excited about it.

That’s about all the news. There’s a lot to look forward to, a lot to look back on and more than enough to look up for.

Happy Tuesday!

-David