This weekend I drove to Olathe, Kansas with three of my friends to tryout for the DCC band.  Every year Campus Crusade for Christ has a gigantic Christmas conference where 1400 or so kids come to worship God and grow in their faith together.  Usually they book some big name band to do worship (usually a group my old band opened for at some point, i.e. Foolish Things or Tifah), but this year they want a student-led band.  That’s exciting.  So tryouts were on the Eastern edge of Kansas and we drove and drove to get there, finding the church finally after ten hours on the road and about nineteen bathroom breaks for Courtney.  The tryouts lasted all day Saturday, and I feel like all of us played really well.  On Wednesday we find out who made it, and I can’t wait.  I could be totally wrong, but I feel like all four of us (Dan, Jeremy, Courtney, and I) have a great chance of getting picked.  So that’s fun.

 

The only regret I have about the weekend is that the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, came out on Thursday night.  Phil, Dan, and I dressed up in 007-esque suits and went to the midnight showing after Crusade and the Roe CD-release show (pretty awesome, way to go Dave ).   Consequently the next day’s drive was made on a compromised number of sleeping hours.  

Dan took it like a man and got us there. I thought about the movie a lot throughout the drive.  Not just because I’m a shameless Bond fan, and not just because the Bolivian Bond girl was incredible.  I thought about the movie all day because it made me think of my life in a different way.  Sorry to take this blog in a thoughtful direction again, but this is worth hearing I think!  James Bond has a hopelessly unrealistic life, but I still want a life like that so bad.  He goes form country to country defeating countless bad guys and driving Aston Martins for her Majesty.  Never stays in the same room for more than a night, and never sleeps alone.  Always knows what his plan is, and never makes a mistake he can’t fix with his handgun.  I know God’s plan for my life probably doesn’t involve jumping from airplanes and sleeping with women to gain information.  Those are not good ideas.  I do however, have hope that God’s plan involves something as exciting and fulfilling for me.  I want to die having lived a life worthy of a movie series, but tonight, like most nights, I find myself sitting on my green couch with Kyle and Phil blogging on my computer instead of fighting global terrorism.  But it’s fun and I love it.  Even though my car is a 1997 Camry, and my coolest gadget is an iPod, I love my life after all.

 

It would have been cool if we learned from our mistake, but we watched Quantum of Solace again the night before we drove home from Kansas, again making the drive home on less than adequate sleep.  So worth it though!  The experience of the weekend was great.  Even if we don’t get “picked” for the DCC band, I really got to know just about every person who tried out.  This means I’m going to be connected to every member of the band this year regardless.  I love that.  I met some great kids this weekend and grew much closer to Dan, Courtney, and Jeremy.  For those of you who aren’t involved in a worship ministry, allow me to apologize, it’s a really wonderful thing to be a part of.