Unable to think of a creative title....

So my creativity is a little stifled. Sorry. :)

It's been a very long 10 days since my last post. I can't believe it's only been that many. Feels like a million.

The silent retreat went well. I had a good time just sitting there, being with God, no complications. It did, I admit, get rather boring at times. But in all, I think it was a very positive experience for me.

While I was there, I spent a bit of my time writing because I was preaching Saturday night at the Lighthouse. I think that went ok. I had some people tell me they enjoyed it, but you all know how critical I am of myself, so I really don't know. I did, however, manage to incorporate some dramatic elements in the form of a scripture pyramid. (For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a type of reading scripture that builds the words upon themselves in reverse order. It also incorporates aspects from "audience participation". It's really pretty cool. You may not get it at all, but believe me, it's cool.) I think in all I did pretty well, but I also believe that it's really just up to God. I hope God used me well.

Monday at our weekly meeting the worship team met with some pastors and worship leaders of a local church. Honestly, though, that doesn't quite get there. The reality of the situation is that it is a mega church, mega with five campuses all over the county. It's mega in so many ways... schools, services, bands, pastors, etc. They bring in over $80,000 a Sunday. Seriously. In reality, I haven't liked this church any time I've been to any of their campuses, and I'm skeptical of their mission and the way they approach the gospel. But all the same, they have a knack for bringing in people and have a lot of money. So Monday night, we the worship team, met with some of their staff to discuss potential partnerships. We have been talking with them for many months, but things have never really come to a resolution. Well on Monday night, to put it simply, a resolution did come. We resolved not to work together. I think it's the best outcome.

Thursday, I had an amazing day. Richard and I went to a local correctional facility. We have been trying to set up a volunteer opportunity to play a concert at a prison for quite some time and finally a meeting with a chaplain had materialized. We went, and it was a wonderful thing. I'm pleased to say that we are able to go in a month or so and play for the inmates. Everything we learned about was fascinating.

Friday was community day and my housemates and I went to the Miami Book Fair, which has been going on this week. The MBF is really famous and HUGE. It was a lot of fun, but unbearably hot (over 90 and maxed out humidity) and a few of my roommates and I decided that the Thai Food booth would be the wise choice for lunch so we added hot, spicy food to the mix.. Ha, that was smart.

After the book fair I drove (accompanied by my roommate Rachael) to Florida City and picked up Lily. This weekend we had music school and band practices and church, of course, but we also had a gig earlier today (Sunday). The important thing is though, that the races were in town today! Three races this weekend at Homestead/Miami racetrack, including the final race of the Nascar Sprint Cup series (this race determines the winner of the season, essentially). So traffic in Florida City and Homestead was terrible. So Friday I picked up Lily (Zoraida was coming up Saturday morning on her own and Nahomi is out of town). It took 3.5 hours to go down, pick her up, and bring her back. Long day.

Saturday was a good day with lots of good students and fun. I'm really enjoying the theatre class and my students in it. I'm proud of them and think they are doing well.

Today, we played at a local church. In fact, it's the one that my aunt and uncle attend. It was a lot of fun, and I thought it went well. But now, I'm exhausted. I'm here at Richard and Heidi's watching football and working on a grant that is due tomorrow. Heidi and I are working on it now, and we will be again tomorrow, before we go hand it in at five pm.

No rest for the weary! :)

Oh well. I'm enjoying myself though. Things are going well.

I guess it's off for now. I'm going to watch the rest of this game and then head home.

Cheers,

Em