the band

I have been given the amazing responsibility to create a new band that will start leading worship once a month at ncc for the entire congregation.  We're not talking children's worship or student ministries worship, we're talking church-wide worship.  Don't get me wrong, all of those time are important and shouldn't be taken lightly, but my group has been honored with bringing some more youthfulness into the mix for everyone.  It is going to be quite the task.  The LORD just finished off the group by giving us an electric guitar player who's rapidly becoming one of my favorite people musically, philosophically, and comically.  So here's the group; pre-named "analogue groove" (it won't stick, I'm sure):

Adam Van Liew :: Leader/Vocals

Jenny Brothwell :: Rhythm Guitar/Vocals

Daniel Kwast :: Electric Guitar/Vocals

Kha Do :: Bassist/Vocals

Ben Esh :: Drums/Percussion

Jenny (23) has been a friend for years, but never really close; I respect her insight and ability.  Daniel (20) and I just met on the KAIO get away trip to Lake Elsinore, CA, but he has impressed me with his philosophy of worship and his desire for excellence in what he does before the LORD.  Kha (18) and I have known each other for years; he is an incredible musician with an amazing heart; I am truly blessed to be working with him (and we share the same birthday!).  Ben (23) is now one of my best friends; I can truly say that I love this man; he's about half my size, so I make fun of his height all the time (yes, I'm cruel and rude); he has a great heart and I am just glad that he and I can talk and learn from each other.  I am so pleased to be a part of this.  We practice as a group for the first time tomorrow morning, though Kha will be missing (he's at a student ministries lock-in right now and will need to be sleeping when we are practicing), and our first time to lead the congregation will be July 6th.  We've got three Saturdays to be completely ready.  These are an excellent bunch of musicians who care about the LORD and I have no doubt that we'll all put our effort in to make this worth something glorifying to the LORD.

summer

Yesterday was my last day of summer school.  I am now official experiencing my summer break.  It's amazing, but there are always things to fill a day.  As for summer school, I had only eight students, all passed, and we had a pretty good time of it.  I won't say that I will remember this time as fondly as I do my first summer school teaching experience, but it was still quite a bit better than the normal semester was.  I love that I had every quiz and test graded just minutes after the class was done and it was handed back to them immediately with immediate feedback, as well.  I love that I knew exactly where each student was on the worksheets.  I love that I didn't have to take anything home, and I didn't have to make them do homework, either.  I love that they had no other subjects to worry about other than this one.  I love that we only worked for four hours at most per school day.  I love that a full semester's worth of material was completed in less than four weeks time.  I love that I've been able to be home with my family more.  I really love that summer has now started and I can be here to help Amy with tons more (like potty training Aidan: next week!).  I'm sure I'll have much more to post over the next few weeks.