It Must Groove: What Was I Thinking?

After a weekend like the one I had, I often times ask myself the question "What Was I Thinking?" I had one of those over extended weekends; you know, the ones that doesn't seem to have an end to it and all you feel are heavy eye lids after.

Most of what I did was for good causes and I am glad I did it; but I think I would weigh the options better next time round. It was overall a really fun weekend.

I drove about 260+ miles just on Saturday. The day started about the same time as a normal working day. I had a morning dress rehearsal for the Hiz Kidz Praise Project. Hiz Kidz is a huge worship, music and arts program that is a part of Cedar Park Church. I have been involved with this program for many years now and recently I have being given the task of "directing" the band. The Praise Project is a concert to conclude the season of the program. It is quite a massive undertaking, especially, considering you have to manage over a hundred kids on one stage. It truly is a remarkable program and the concert is a testament to that. These kids love Jesus, and they give their best, singing, dancing and acting on the night of the concert. Here are some pictures from my vantage point:

The crazy band...

Some of the vocalists

Some of the kids getting prepped at the dress rehearsal.

These pictures show the audience settling in (from left to right of the sanctuary).

This is me at my station just before we went live.

Saturday continued after the rehearsal with about a 2 hour drive. I headed south for the graduation party for Kayla Rasmussen. Kayla is the daughter of Kyle Rasmussen, who is a great friend and mentor to me. Kyle was my music pastor for a very long time and he gave me the opportunity to play worship music in church and from there around the country. I owe a lot to this man. So, I have known this family for a very long time and I have watched Kayla grow up - it is unbelievable how time just flies. Kayla is definitely a very bright and gifted girl. She is not only graduating from high school, she also has completed 2 years of college. I am very proud of her and when I got the invitation to the party, I already knew my schedule for the day but I knew I couldn't miss the party.

Miss Kayla & me

After the party, I had another event to head to. I was invited by my friend Marcelo to go to a soccer match between Brazil and Canada. Marcelo had recently interned with us at LATR and he and his wife Elise are a part of my life group. I had agreed to go because I wanted to spend time with them and o meet some of their friends and also because I had never been to Qwest Field where the game was going to be played. Qwest Field is the home to the Seattle Seahawks, whom I am a fan of.

The soccer game was fun and it was fun to watch and hear Marcelo. He was so excited about the game and he was yelling in Portugese throughout the game. Marcelo is originally from Brazil so this was his team. The stadium was definitely impressive and I would love to visit it again for a Seahawks game. There were about 47,000 people in attendance for the game, a really large crowd for a soccer friendly in America.

Needless to say, I was completely wiped out by the end of the day. It was a fun and worthwhile day. Now, I had to look forward to the Sunday.

The teams filing in.

The singing of both national anthems.

Live action on the screen with the beautiful downtown skyline in the background.

Kick off.

Capturing the moment.

Sunday came around quickly. I lead worship at church, a little rough morning but we made it through by the grace of God. Josh did a great job talking about Freedom and immediately after the gathering I had a conversation with a team member about not believing in the deception of the"almost truth" but instead encouraged her live free of that lie that she was not good enough. Thank God for those moments.

After church, I headed over to Aik & Lily's. Chef Chen wanted to try out a new recipe. He was making "Hor Fun" - a very tasty noodle dish from Asia. He also made some of Braised Pork to be eaten with Chinese buns. It was an excellent meal! Yummy! Thanks Chef Chen!