May 31st (Day 17)

Where has the month of May gone? I looked at the calendar to see what all I had listed to do and I realized that tomorrow is June first. That's just crazy to me, haha. Well today was just awesome, aside from the getting up early part after going to be late, haha. I got up at 6 am, got ready, then arrived at the theater at 6:50ish. We got the stage and sound/tech. gear set up pretty quickly and by 8:30 am we were beginning sound check. The service went over great. The people REALLY got into the music praise and worship time and were screaming, celebrating, and just going crazy. It was pretty awesome. My friend/roommate/good buddy from school (Andrew) came so that was awesome too! After the service, we began tearing down. I was able to teach some other people how to wrap cables correctly, which was actually a good thing. You can never have too many people (especially volunteers) who know how to wrap cables because there are PLENTY of them laying around, haha. The only down side of tearing down is that I thought I was going to be Dan's counterpart on crutches. As we were wheeling the cart with all of the staging and backdrops on it, I got pinned between it and the wall and the wheel ran over my left foot and pinned it in a very awkward position sideways. It was pinned in such a way that I actually couldn't move it at all, so I had to wait for them to push the heavy cart back the other direction. It was a little painful and when they finally got it moved I fell because that foot gave out for a second. It's a lot better now and I can walk fine on it, I just had to stay off of it for a little while. For lunch Andrew and I went to Qdoba and chilled and chatted for about 2 hours before we finally went home. Once I got home, I unloaded everything and then started changing strings on my guitar. I also got a message from one of my bosses/good friends (Paul Rice) from school asking if there was a chance that I would be able to help him out at a high school week of camp in Grundy, VA. Normally there probably wouldn't be a way, but the weekend that he is doing it is actually my last weekend here. Memorial Day weekend, I was supposed to travel down and help him out at Round Lake, but James talked to him and asked if I could stay here because Velocity needed help that Sunday. This would be an awesome chance to make it up to Paul. PLUS, it would also relieve me of having to drive 7 hours straight after church on Sunday. I'm going to be talking to James about it tomorrow, but as of right now, I really don't see how that would be a problem since I was going to be leaving that week anyway. After changing strings on my acoustic and playing a little while, I went to my room, read a few more chapters in Romans, and then took a 2 hour nap. I woke up and went back into the living room area and got on my computer to finish some of the weekly evaluations I have to do for James. Dave got home shortly thereafter. He had been at a cookout/hangout get together that I was going to go to, but since Andrew was here and I was tired, I skipped out on. Some other good news is that the Indians beat the Yankees!!! WOOOO!!! Haha. Well I'm probably going to go work on some things that are due for Dr. Baldwin this week. I hope you all have a wonderful ending to May and an awesome beginning to June! Till tomorrow!

Pat

May 30th (Day 16)

Today was an awesome day! I had to get up early, which stunk, but I got to the office at 7:45 am and went off to do a video shoot. We were filming a parody of the McD's "filet o' fish" commercial to promote Mo-Groups. After about two hours or so, we were finished getting footage for the 30 sec ad. When we got back to the office, I worked with Michael Bartlett (another intern) and Josh (volunteer) and began editing the video. Once 11:45 am rolled around, I loaded the black back-drop in my car and drove over to Starbucks to meet James, Shelly (volunteer), Ben (volunteer), and Dan for a photo shoot. We wanted to get a photo of Dan on a Harley. After about an hour of driving a couple of places to find a good view and taking pictures, I headed back in to the office. When I got back I began working on developing 'remixes' of modern worship songs so that they would be more of Momentum's style. Once James got back from his meetings, he had me modify the audio/jingle track for the ad a little more. Once I was finally finished with it, we recorded Josh doing the voice over part for the ad. To add kicks, we also recorded James singing a few "OoO's" in the background with the choir. I put the video at the end of the blog, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to put it on so enjoy and don't let it get out. ;-) This evening I had dinner with Dan, his wife Shannon, and Jason Peterson. It was an excellent meal along with some awesome conversation. After dinner I headed over to Matt Caton's house to play a little bit of Poker. It was a $5 buy in, which I barely made, but it turned out to be a wise investment. By the end of the night, I had come from last place to win $35. I took off after the first game because I wanted to get back home and take care of a few things before having to go to bed. I'm up at 6 am again tomorrow for church. I'm pretty excited about the whole service tomorrow though. I hope you all have an amazing Sunday!!! :-)

Pat


P.S. the video doesn't want to upload right now, so I'll let you know where to go see it or try to upload it again tomorrow or so....

May 29th (Day 15)

Today was simply amazing. There's really no other way to put it. I got to work at 7:55 am and then went straight to work on trying to get the 'Filet o' Fish' jingle finished for Dan to come in and do the vocal recording. Over the past two days, I have put 6-7 hours into creating a 30 sec jingle. I find it kind of funny really, but I think that it is worth it. Throughout the day I would work on and off on the jingle and then help out by giving input to some of the other guys who were working on a video for Sunday. In the afternoon, Dan came in and we recorded the parody. It was great. I laughed so hard. Dan was able to mask his voice and make it sound like the fish voice on the McD's commercial. After that was done I found out some sweet news. I'm going to be in the video!!! Haha. Imagine my surprise when they said I had to meet at the office at 7:45 am tomorrow to go film and that I needed to dress as close to one of the guys in the video as possible. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. But the funniest thing of it all, is that the reason they wanted me to do it (besides me being an intern), is because I had a beard and the guys in the video had to have beards. Haha. Having a beard, finally paying off. Can you imagine that? Haha. I went and grabbed some dinner and then headed to James' house where we had band practice. It started storming during practice, which made for a pretty amazing and powerful environment. We practice in his garage and we had the garage door open. It was pretty amazing to see the lighting and the rain while we played worship songs. I hung out with the crew for a little bit then headed home. Right now Dave is heading downstairs to pop in a movie, X-Men 2, I think. So I guess I'm gonna head head down stairs and chill with him for a little bit, then head to bed. I hope you all are doing well! Till tomorrow!  

Pat

P.S.  If you want to see how goofy my boss is and how much fun we have at work, check this out! He's in the running for a $10,000 prize pack for the "Dance Flick" movie contest. It's also a link to see the guy that I'm staying with. (Now you see why we get along so great!)  ;-)

James Fruits (My Boss)  -  Click on "Dance Flick: Cleveland"

Dave Mariano -  Click on "Cleveland Dance 8"

http://www.danceflicksweeps.com/cleveland.html

Enjoy!!!  =D

May 28th (Day 14)

I have to start out by mentioning that after I posted my blog last night, I went in the living room and helped Dave out with guitar for about half an hour or so. It was a lot of fun. I'm actually going to start helping him out and give him little mini lessons every week (one of James goals for me this summer). But anyway, to today. Wow what a day. Haha. It started off with me meeting James at Starbucks where he and I went over some things that I needed to get clarified for some school assignments so that way I could get them done and turned in on time. We ended up talking a little about some other stuff that he really wanted my help on this summer. He was really appreciative that I was willing to do whatever was needed for the past couple of weeks. Once I got to the office, I started on my list of to-do stuff. I sent out two emails to people that I am going to be meeting with and/or working with to create recording manuals and guides to run sound on Sunday mornings and stuff. I'm pretty excited to be working on it. It can get tedious and strenuous and all, but at least it allows me to get better at what I like to do in running sound and stuff. After I finished up those things, I got a Line 6 midi keyboard from Jeff and used it to continue working with Ableton Live and see if I could figure out how to use the program and create loops and other musical compositions. When James got back to the office, he put me on a new project. It was a very fun project, but it's turning out to be pretty tedious and stuff. What we are going to do, is we are making a parody of the new McDonald's 'Filet o' Fish' commercial. My job was to try and recreate the music track that plays. It was a fun challenge, but even after working on it for 5 hours today, I feel like there's still more that I can do to improve on it. You can check the commercial out here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bJOIqVAD-s. I'm going to see if I can load a quick demo so you all can hear what I've come up with so far, but if it doesn't work, I'll let you know when the video is put up on youtube so that way you can all witness the fun we have here. :-) I finally got home about 6:45 pm or so and I made a sandwich. I played a little guitar and then talked with some friends for a little bit. I actually just got done watching a sermon that lasted about an hour and 5 min or so. Well I guess that's about all I can update you on for today! Till tomorrow!   :-)

Pat

May 27th (Day 13)

So today it was time to get back to work after a having a couple days off. I got in around 8 am as usual. It was also Michael Bartlett's first day working, so I got to meet him briefly and then it was off to work. One of the first things I had to do was email the pastor back at the church plant to see if we could return the s-video cable that we had bought from him because it turned out not to be what we needed, nor was it what he had told us it was. I ran to the post office and mailed that off and came back to the office. James had me working with a new program that I had never heard before because he wants me to figure out how to use it and then teach everyone so that way we can start building and using our our music loops. I got a free demo of Ableton Live to try out, but I have to say, it is one confusing program for me to figure out. I worked on and off of that for most of the afternoon and then tabbed out a song that the band is going to play this Sunday. I also found out that I'm playing guitar this Sunday, so I'm pretty excited about that. Tonight I had Mo-Groups and I had loads of fun as usual. The night was filled with laughter and honest questions about the Bible. It was some wonderful home-cooked food as well!  :-) Tomorrow I'm supposed to meet with James at Starbucks at 8 am so he and I can go over two assignments for school that are due next Monday. I'm really glad James is willing to work with me so that way I can get done everything that I need to. Well I guess that's about all I have for you all today. Till tomorrow!

Pat

May 26th (Day 12)

Today was a productive, expensive, enjoyable, and fun day. I woke up a little later than I normally would, since I got in late from the baseball game last night. I did a couple loads of laundry and that pretty much completed my morning. Around noon-ish, I hopped in my car and drove to Canton, OH where I was going to meet up with two great friends from school. An hour or so after leaving, I arrived at the mall in Canton to the pleasant surprise that another one of my great friends was able to get off of work and come as well. We had lunch and socialized then walked to a hat store so we could find an Indians hat for when they come up and we all go to a game. Then we drove around and ended up at Coldstone and socialized even more. We eventually headed back our separate ways and I got back home and began learning some songs from one of the new Hillsong CD's I bought today. The day was a pretty much relaxed day, filled with laugher and great company. I'm thankful for so many great friends that I have the privilege of knowing and hanging out with. I know today is short but trust me, I'm sure tomorrow will have more than enough to make up for it, haha!  :-)  Till tomorrow!

Pat

May 25th (Day 11)

Happy Memorial Day everyone!!! I hope you had an awesome (and somewhat relaxing) day! I sure did. As I said yesterday, I had today as well as tomorrow off. I slept in this morning, getting up around 9 am or so (giving me about 10 hours of much needed sleep). I practiced some guitar, talked with Dave a little more, and read a lot more in the current book that I'm on, When God Builds a Church by Bob Russell. About midday, I got a call from my very good friend Ariel, and she said that she and some friends had an extra ticket to the Indians' baseball game tonight. I ended up driving past the stadium that afternoon to get an idea of the streets I would have to maneuver around on and then I headed to the Starbucks in Garfield Heights, near the Momentum office. I got a coffee and read for a little while I was there. One of the Momentum members (Mike), who is volunteering a lot more recently with video editing and other Creative Arts jobs, was working so I chatted with him and saw how he was doing. When 3:30 pm rolled around, I pulled up to a gas station and put an extra 2 gallons in, just in case I was going to be stuck downtown for a little while tonight. Then I headed off and found a parking area that was just outside the stadium. I walked over and found Gate A, sat down, and began to read again while I was waiting on Ariel and the others to arrive. About 5-10 min. after I sat down, a woman came up and sat beside me to rest. We commented to each other on a few things about the weather and the stadium, and it quickly evolved into a 3o min. conversation. During this conversation, she saw that I was reading a book and asked about it. I told her what it was and that I was reading because I was up in Cleveland for the summer for an internship. That struck up her curiosity and it led her to ask some questions about where I was working and other things like that. She seemed to have a bias against Christianity and Christians, but (and I'm not bragging, it was totally a God thing) I quickly broke down all the stereotypes she had about Christians. When she found out I was working at a church, she seemed to get more defensive and withdrawn. I made myself just as transparent as could be, asking her about the city, stadium, if she grew up in the area, and just about other things in general. When she saw this, she opened up and began sharing things and talking to me as if we had been friends for years. I even got to plant the seed of telling her that Momentum met at the Cinemark theater in Valley View. I think that she might have been interested in attending, except that she lives in Cleveland and doesn't have a car (she takes the bus everywhere and can't walk too far). She even pulled out a container of baseball cards that she had just gotten signed that day and shared them with me (side note: growing up I was a HUGE sports cards collector, so just to have this connection opportunity was yet another God thing). After a half hour passed and the stadium was opened, she began to pack her stuff up and head in. The funniest thing for me was that as she was just about to leave, she complimented me and said that she loved my beard (I know a good many of you probably just snickered at that. To be frank, so did I when she said that, haha). We talked a few more min. about my family and who all I inherited what from and all that jazz. The conversation with us laughing heartily and slapping hands and she thanked me for the conversation and took off to her seat. I took a moment to just soak up all that had happened. Another 15-20 or so min passed and Ariel and the rest of the group showed up and we entered the stadium and made our way to our seats. The game started out a little rough and by the end of the game, some fans were giving up hope and left before then end. However this game turned out to be the best baseball game that I've ever been to. The Indians rallied in the 9th, scoring 7 runs to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a great ending to a great day. I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as eventful and enjoyable. Until tomorrow!  

Pat

May 24 (Day 10)

It's hard to believe that I've already been up here for over a week. I'm getting accustomed to being in Cleveland I guess. Still hate all the traffic and not knowing where I'm going half the time, but other than that I seem to be getting accustomed to it, haha. My day started at 6:30ish am. I woke up, got ready, loaded my car with my guitar and pedal board, and then headed off to Velocity. Once I arrived I pitched in and helped set up some chairs and whatever else they needed. Finally 9:30 am came and the first service started. I had a blast playing guitar with the other band members. They are all GREAT people and I had a blast hanging out with them before, between, and after services. We chatted, laughed, and just had a great time. When our first set was done I went and sat down to listen to the sermon. Now something you have to understand is that the head pastor/minister for Velocity is Scott Pugh, who used to be the youth minister for some good buddies of mine that I met down at KCU. I had heard him preach once before and I had really enjoyed it, so I was really looking forward to this one. They were wrapping up a series called "Video Killed the Radio Star". I sat down and Scott started off. But something seemed very familiar with what he was talking about. I listened for a little bit longer, and low-and-behold, it turned out that this sermon was the same one he had preached a couple of years ago down at KCU (with a few minor alterations of course). I didn't mind, though. I felt like God was speaking this to me again as a reminder of the commitments I have made, and the ones I hope to. The first service ended and I was able to go chill out and talk with two high school students outside. It was awesome just to talk with them, hang out, and answer questions that they had. Then 11 am rolled around and we started all over again for the 2nd service. The 2nd seemed to go even better than the first. It was great! After that service drew to a close, I help tear down and pack up everything then headed off back to my host home. It had already been a long tiring day so when I got back, I got online for a little while and then took about a 45 min. nap. When I woke up, Dave and I took off and headed over the house of one of his best friends for a bbq/cookout. We were there for a couple of hours and then we headed back. Since the Cavs are in the playoffs, there were many people meeting up to watch the game and all, so Dave invited me to go along with him to another friend's house but this time I just decided to stay at home and work on some stuff. It was a fun filled, overall great day. I actually have the next two days (Monday and Tuesday) off for this week, so I'm planning on going to visit some friends and hang out, maybe grab a bite to eat or something. Well I guess that's about all I have for you all today. Have a great Memorial Day everyone!

Pat

May 23 (Day 9)

Another day completed. It was a pretty good day. It started out with me heading into the office at 8 am to work for about an hour. Then I drove out to the other church plant that Momentum helped start, Velocity, for band practice. It was a lot of fun, and the guys out there are pretty awesome. I was there for about an hour and a half or so. After I was done there, I headed back home for a day complete. I fixed myself some lunch and popped in "I Am Legend". After lunch I headed upstairs and worked on some homework, listened to a little bit of a sermon, and read. About an hour later I decided to walk to the grocery store and pick up a few things. When I got back from the grocery store things really got cool. Dave was about to grill some chicken he had marinated in teriyaki sauce and make some salad for dinner. So we cooked and chatted. Over dinner, we had one of the best conversations that I've had in a while. We talked about things going on in our lives and our spiritual journeys and stuff like that. We chatted for about 2 hours before finally cleaning up the left overs, haha. It was great. Dave and I are becoming pretty good friends and I'm really glad that I'm able to be a part of his spiritual journey this early in his relationship with Jesus. Well, I figured I'd keep this one short for all of you avid readers. Have a great evening! Till tomorrow!

Pat

May 22 (Day 8)

To begin the day, I decided to try a different route to work. The plus...it's a little shorter distance wise and there's two LESS highways to have to travel (meaning two less times I have to fight crazy traffic when merging). The down side of it all...IT'S NO MORE/LESS FASTER! haha. Oh well. But anyway today was pretty fun. I arrived at the office just before 8 am and continued working on experimenting around with Final Cut and Livetype. Around 9 am, I took off to Kent, OH. A church plant there, Catalyst Church, was closing up shop until they could reorganize, so they were trying to sell everything they had. James was interested in some possible A/V equipment, but he wasn't able to make the trip, so he asked if I could. It was a pretty interesting drive to say the least. Once I got there though, I spent about an hour and a half walking around, looking at items, talking and getting to know the minister, and communicating back and forth with James (via text messaging of all things because he was on a field trip with his kids....one word for the experience of being a middle man via texting, RIDICULOUS, haha). While waiting for some of his responses, I asked Michael (the minister) if the books in the back were for sale. He walked back and looked because he hadn't even thought about them, but he said whatever looked good that wasn't on certain shelves, were for sale. I ended up finding three books that really stuck out to me (2 of which were ones that I had VERY recently been told about and had become interested in reading). The cool thing about that was that he gave all three of them to me for $5. After my work there was done, I headed back to the office and worked for a few more hours. Then Tyler and I took James' truck over to the theater to load one of the backdrops in it. We brought it back and repainted a portion of it. After we had finished all of that, we set up the Creative Arts office for a video shoot. Dave Mariano (my host guy) was coming in to be filmed as he talked about his baptism and his new dedication to be a follower of Jesus. After the video shoot, I took some time and grabbed some dinner. After eating, it was back to work and I worked with Micah and Josh (a member of Momentum who was wanting to learn video editing stuff) with what we had just filmed. I eventually threw in the towel and headed home at about 9:45 pm. It was a long and tiring day, but good none the less. It all starts up again at 8 am tomorrow! Until then!

Pat

May 21 (Day 7)

Today was a good day. I got to work with plenty of time to spare, so I was able to stop by a gas station and pick up a drink for lunch and one to drink while I worked in the morning. I sat in on a conference call with James and Dave (my boss and my host home guy, so it could have gone badly for me, haha  ;-)...but it didn't). We talked about the worship band ministry and what it means to be in the band and what was expected from each member. After the conference call I went back to work, trying to learn some cool things on Final Cut and Livetype. For lunch James and the four of us interns headed over to Quaker Steak. We had the buffet, and boy was it good! I had planned on just eating an apple and a couple of cereal bars for lunch and to keep on working so I could get this demo video done that I had been doing to practice using the program. While at Quaker Steak, James figured it would be a GREAT (sarcasm intended on my part) idea for us all to try the Atomic wing (for those of you who don't know, the Atomic wing is Quaker Steak's hottest wing, and I believe you have to sign a waiver to even eat them). Well somehow we got our waitress to bring us out a free cup of the sauce. We got some wings off of the bar and covered them with the sauce. We were a VERY entertaining for the rest of the restaurant, you can be assured of that! Haha. In the midst of our anguish of the intense heat, Jeff and I came up with an idea for the next Momentum video. We told James and he absolutely loved the idea. Unfortunately for me, the video was that we would video different people's reactions after eating an atomic wing. Then at the end, we would have some of the guys screaming at each other because of heat (much like we were doing just a bit earlier). When editing the video, we would add subtitles and it would be like we were communicating through screaming, haha. It was a hilarious idea that paid off, so I got on James' good side for a little bit, haha. Later in the afternoon I was finally able to finish the video. I was able to load it on my facebook, and I'm going to try to load it on here, but if I can't, you're more than welcome to go check it out on my facebook. Once I got home, Dave and I hung out for a little bit. I practiced some for Sunday and then worked with him on a few things on guitar as well. That's probably about all I have for you for today. Hope you all are doing well! Until tomorrow! :-)

Pat

May 20th (Day 6)

So today was a great day! (I'm not be sarcastic either, despite what it may seem as you start to read, haha). I woke up and headed off to work. 40 min later, I finally arrived, haha. Darn Cleveland traffic. Oh well, I guess it's just part of living in a big city haha. Shocking thing is that I was the first person to the office. It was just the four of us interns all day until mid-afternoon. Tyler and I returned the supplies that we didn't need from this past Sunday's service. He and I also stopped by the theater to fix the backdrops. The boards were warped really badly so we took them off the cart, laid them down flat, and put a piece of staging on top of them in the storage room. All I have to say is that I'd hate to have to be the crew that has to get that out, haha. For the remainder of the day I started working on a sheet that people can use to follow when recording the audio of the Sunday service. Then I spent a great number of hours trying to explore and learn more about how to use Final Cut and Livetype. In an effort to actually practice using these programs, I went ahead and began creating a new Evensong logo and video for the KCU campus ministry that I'm a part of. It was really cool, being able to "kill two birds with one stone," so to speak. I'm getting experience with a program I'm going to be using more here at Momentum while working on a new project for a ministry that I'm very passionate about. Later tonight I went to Mo-Group, the small group. I went to the same one that my host guy goes to. I can honestly say that it was probably one of my favorite experiences in a small group setting. I was there from 6:30-9:30 pm. The night was filled with laughter, food, God, and basketball (what more can a guy ask for? haha). It was a good day and a productive day. I'm pretty tired so I guess I had better cut this off now. Till tomorrow!  :-)

Pat

May 19th (Day 5)

Well today certainly wasn't as eventful as previous days have been, but that's because I had the day off, haha. I took the opportunity to sleep in and get 1-2 more hours of sleep. I ran some much needed errands and picked up some important things (guitar gear/accessories and food stuff for the week). I worked on the music for this Sunday. I'm going to be playing electric guitar for Velocity Christian Church (a sister church plant that Momentum just helped start within the past 2 months on the eastern side of Cleveland). We share and work together a lot so I am able to extend my services to help out there this weekend. It'll give me another opportunity to see and be a part of yet another church plant in action. This afternoon/evening was an enjoyable/enlightening one for me, I was able to watch a video sermon and work on some reading that I've been wanting to do. I start back at work again at 8 am, in what should be a fun yet once again busy day. I hope to update you on more exciting things come tomorrow! Till then!

Pat

May 18th (Day 4)

Today was the beginning of my first full week as a Momentum intern. The day started off with a staff meeting at 8 am. I was actually the second person to arrive at the office (second only to Joyce who is the Executive Assistant). So considering I live across the city and have to take 3 interstates to get to the office, I'd say that's not too bad!  ;-)  The meeting went well. We started off by sharing some things that happened during the week that were amazing and whatever else. Then we moved on to Dan going over the whole mission and aim of Momentum and what it means for us being on staff and stuff. After we went over that we closed with prayer requests and prayer. For the rest of the morning I was given the task of reviewing some of the creative arts/worship leader magazines that James Fruits has gotten in the mail but hasn't had the time to review and look at. I was able to read about some stuff that really appealed to me so it was a pretty sweet task. Around noon I left to go pick up lunch and a few things, then headed back in to the office. At around 2 pm, James got back from his other meeting with Dan and then we had a Creative Arts meeting between the 4 of us interns and James. We went over what it is that James would like us to do at the beginning of each week as a reflection on the previous week so he can discuss it with us in individual meetings that we will have starting next week. Then we went over everything that we needed to get done this week in preparation for Sunday and other important events. After our meeting, I went and helped Jeff with the job of tabbing out a new song for this week, which oddly enough was "Back in Black" by AC/DC (I know what you MUST be thinking, but no this song is not part of the worship set. During this series [The Man Series] we have been picking some 'Man Songs' for prelude songs that begin the service. For instance yesterday's song just happened to be "Danger Zone" which ironically enough spurred me to watch "Top Gun" tonight while eating dinner). Once we were finished with that I worked on figuring out a few more things using the video editing/creating software that we use (Final Cut and Livetype). I left the office around 6 pm for a day of work completed. Some of the best news all day? TOMORROW IS MY DAY OFF! Kinda cool, but I wish I could have scheduled it for like Thursday or something, just because it's so early in the week and it would probably be better for me if I could place days of rest strategically throughout the week to keep up rest. Well that's about all the excitement for today. I hope you have had a wonderful beginning to a wonderful week! Until tomorrow!

Pat

May 17th (Day 3)

Today was my very first Momentum church service! It was quite the experience as well. I had to wake up by 6 am so that I could get ready and drive over to the theater to help set up for the service. We began setting up around 7 am and it took us nearly all 3 hours before the service started to get everything up and running. Once the service started, I worked my way back to the sound board area because James asked if I could shadow the sound guy. It was a good service and the congregation was into it (especially one lady who was awesome and would reaffirm everything, ranging from a song to a sermon point). At the end of the service some announcements were made and we were introduced as the interns. So as people were leaving I was able to meet and greet for a little while. I got to meet some really awesome people. They love doing ministry and they have a heart for each other and the work that they are sharing in (we even got invited to a barbeque here in a few weeks!!!  =D....). I was given the rest of the day off since Sunday's are pretty tough, with getting there early and setting up then tearing down later. Overall I would say that it was pretty good day. Tomorrow is another one of those early starts, with a staff meeting at 8 am. Well until tomorrow!

Pat

May 16th (Day 2)

Today was a VERY busy day for us interns. James was nice enough to let us sleep in a little later and didn't require us to be at the office until 10:30 am. I ended getting up around 8:50 am anyway, got ready and went to the office. Since I was there early, I got a head start on one of my assignments for the schoolwork portion of my internship. Once James and the other three interns arrived, we were assigned our duties for the day. Tyler and I were given the job of traveling over to an area costume store and "repaying" them for their services. The store has a deal with Momentum that they will allow us to rent whatever we need for 50% off, if we will advertise for them. Tyler and I got to wear some pretty awesome costumes while we waved at people as they passed by. Even though it was hot, tiring, and boring at times I enjoyed the opportunity to put smiles on peoples' faces. So many little kids' faces lit up when they saw me standing there (I was dressed as a VERY famous children's hero/see picture). One even came up with his mother to say hello and shake my hand (also a quick/small form of a hug). After completing our tenure of being in costume, Tyler and I headed back to the office. We were then sent off to find some supplies for the series that we are actually starting tomorrow. The new series is entitled "The Man Series." I'm pretty excited about it. We had to get some bins and some miniature footballs for the mini-triathlon that we are going to host in the theater. Once we collected all of the supplies, we had the awesome job of testing it out. (There's nothing quite like being able to walk into a theater without having to pay for a ticket... : ) ...now if only it were to watch a movie...) Once all that was done, we returned once again to the office and began touch-up work on the new backdrops for the new series. The backdrops look like caution signs, but instead of the typical symbol that you see, you see things that are associated with men (ex: a grill, a remote, a guitar, a deer head for hunting, and a drill). We ended up working pretty late, but the job was ultimately done. I'm pretty excited for tomorrow. The only low point might be that I have to arrive by 7 am to set up everything, but that's quickly out-shadowed by the fact that I'm given the rest of the day off after church is done so that'll be sweet. Well thanks for reading about my experience for today. I hope you are having a wonderful week! Until tomorrow!   : )

May 15th (Day 1)

Well today was the day. I started out by getting up around 6 am and got ready, hitting the road by about 7 am. Talk about early. The trip took about 7 hours or so and I arrived in Cleveland around 2 pm. I met up with James Fruits (the Creative Arts guy/my boss) and met the rest of the guys (and gal). It didn't take long for us to get to work. Tyler (another intern from KCU), Micah (an intern from Milligan College), James, Jeff (another intern who is a regular attender at Momentum), and I went to the theater where they hold their Sunday morning church services. We brought some of the props and backdrops out of the storage closet and loaded them in James' truck. Afterward we took a short little tour of downtown Cleveland and arrived back at the Fruits' household for dinner. James and the other members of the worship band had practice around 7 pm. My host was actually a member of the band (Dave Mariano). While they practiced, I was asked if I could go back to the office and work on the backdrops for Sunday. (We are starting a new series at Momentum this week. It's a 'Man Series'. haha) So I worked on putting a second coat of paint on the backdrops. The rest of the night was enjoyable, filled with conversation and laughter. I guess that's about all I can update you on for now. Till tomorrow (hopefully).  =)

Pat