Hillsong United....rock & roll....

So I know I don't blog about my job very often, but here's a job-related post.

One of the things I am most passionate about in my life is worship through music. I know there are lots of other ways to worship, but I connect to God best through music. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that God genetically engineered me as a musician, who knows.

So last night, a whole bunch of our arts teams from various CCC campuses went to see Hillsong United in concert. They are a kickin' worship band from Australia. We have been introducing their songs left and right in the past eight months or so, which means we have officially shifted from Crowder Community Church to Hillsong Community Church. In fact, we finally planned our first service with ALL Hillsong United songs this past week. It was quite an accomplishment.

I didn't take any pictures....because they told me not to. The big screen said no cameras or video recording devices. But if you would like to experience a little bit of the concert, check out Bill Carroll's blog (www.multisitearts.com). Apparently he didn't follow the rules. He also posted several pictures of Lucas with his hands way in the air....I don't know why he is so weird. But I did inform him that his shirt was clearly not up to stage standards, because you're supposed to do the arm check before you leave the house. If you raise your hands and your stomach is showing, you are not dressed appropriately to be on stage. Good thing we were just in the parking lot.

It was a great show. Great company as well. We didn't get home until after midnight due to a post-concert stop at Steak 'n Shake because we were all dying of hunger. It's been a while since I'd been to a worship conference...as a worship leader, it's nice to be able to go to a worship service and just relax instead of analyzing everything to death.

Thank God for youth group bands from Australia who write really catchy songs with great instrumental hooks.

finales...etc.

Thank God for DVR....sometimes. It helps when you remember to set your favorite TV shows to record.

So Wednesday night, we watched the whole 2 hours of the American Idol finale...except for the last 5 minutes where they actually told us who won. Because our DVR cut it off.

And then to my extreme disappointment, we forgot to record LOST. So I had to wait a whole day to see the LOST finale. Which was well worth the wait. It was a brilliant episode. Oh man.

Heroes was a little bit...disappointing. I mean, they built it up to this big moment all season, and then...it didn't happen. Which I guess was good. But still a little anti-climactic. And of course, the villain got away. The villain always gets away.

Oh, and don't even get me started on Grey's Anatomy last week. The fact that they left almost every relationship or possible relationship on the show in shambles....as the finale??....is just plain irritating.

But the good news is that my blog will (hopefully) consist of more than talking about TV for the next few months.

Speaking of finales, we had our recital for School for the Arts last week, and it was madness, I tell you. The thing that I love/hate about recitals is how nervous all my students get. I love it because it's good for them to feel that pressure, but they get nervous and they don't play as well. Almost all of my students played better in their lessons that week than they did at the recital. But nevertheless, I was proud of them all in the end. It was kind of a long semester, and today is our last day of lessons.

I still feel like I deserve a summer break. Anyone else sympathize? I feel like I don't want to do as much work during the summer. I want to be lazy. And go on vacation. Even though I've been out of college for 3 years. Alas, the joys of being an adult....

the few. the proud. the viewers of LOST.

So let's take a moment to review my current TV habits.
The American Idol Season Finale is next week, so I will have 2 nights of my life back. And I don't know who's going to win. Honestly. It could go any way right now, that's the mystery of it all. What will happen? Who can say?

But it's spring, so everyone is ready to wrap up their seasons. I am also eagerly anticipating the end of Heroes next Monday, because they have promised to answer many of my questions, and we finally get to see who blows up New York City, or doesn't, whatever the case may be. It will all be resolved, and a new conflict will start next season, and I will buy the first season on DVD and watch all of the episodes in a row, back to back to back....maybe not.

But speaking of wrapping things up....the classic show that refuses to wrap things up is once again one of my favorites. That's right, I am part of the few, the proud, the loyal fans of LOST. I never stopped watching, even when the beginning of this season totally sucked and it seemed like the writers didn't have a clue what to do (oh wait, I still think they don't have a clue). They came back with a vengeance after their 2-month hiatus in the winter, and now I can't stop watching. It's like the first season again--the mystery, the questions, the chaos and confusion...LOST is back, people. Start watching again. But they have signed on for another three seasons at least, which means that my questions will not be answered in the coming weeks, months, years...maybe ever. But I keep watching in the hope that eventually...all the stuff that doesn't make sense....maybe, just maybe, it will. Someday.

And as for my own long hiatus from blogging, that can best be explained by the fact that my laptop (my free laptop from the church that was several years old) has died. The hard drive crashed. Which sucks. And my desktop? It won't connect to the internet. So the only computer available at home (which is usually where I do my blogging) is Shelley's laptop, which is in use most of the time due to its being the only working computer in our house...and there are still 4 of us who live there.