one GREAT day!

There is so much excitement oozing out of me right now, I can hardly handle it. Church was great. 9 students confirmed their faith today, which, by the way is different than being confirmed. They choose to confirm it, not have it done to them. All of them were so excited, dressed up, and authentic as they came forth to proclaim their faith! Greg asked me to help out, so I got to lead the creed, pray for two of them, finished out the service, and took their group photo. My first time on the other side of the railing asking questions, and surely am in 95% of all the pictures taken during the service. Good thing I didn't wear jeans today.

As if that wasn't fun enough, the Focus Finders Art Show went all morning, and we sold 58 prints! Basically, we raised over $1,000 for Smile Africa to help build a water tower in Uganda. And the reception and feedback to the event was nothing but praise. I have to say, it did turn out awesome. A number of people thought it was just going to be a few 5 x 7's and maybe some 8 x 10's. Imagine their surprise when they walked into a room of 130 12 x 18's! Some people spent nearly 30 minutes looking at the prints. Some even praying over the prints and the people who took them. Between and during each service, the CLC was packed with people checking out the prints, voting for their favorite, and placing their order. After the hours of work, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people writing checks and supporting the Uganda mission. My surfboard picture sold about 5 copies! To think I just about didn't print that one! Out of my nine submissions, eight of them sold. A few sold multiple copies. It warmed my heart to hear people say they wanted one of my photos as a way to remember me by. So sweet. Due to the success of the event, people asked that we keep it up another week to make sure everyone got a chance to see the work and buy prints. I hope we can sell at least ten more next week and raise more money for Uganda! So glad my first real ministry event was such a success and that we're that much closer to building a water tower for people who really need it.

Greg, Dana, and I grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald's (gotta get some dairy in each day with a McFlurry--not that it's real dairy). A quick change of clothes, a chauffeur at the end of my driveway, and within 15 minutes I found myself at the King's Harbor Yacht Club for an afternoon of sailing with the VP of the club. This was no casual day of sailing. We were heeling at what seemed like 30 degrees, water was splashing up on the side of the boat, and we were cruising upwards of 10 knots. The wind was blowing 13 knots. Enough to create whitecaps and mega swells in the water. Jim let me steer for a while. No round drivers wheel here, just a tiller to move the rudder right and left. We sailed all the way down to Manhattan Pier, then tacked and turned around. Though I got some cool shots, I probably would've enjoyed myself more had I not brought my camera. I was so worried water was going to splash down below and get it wet. Next time I'll know better and leave it at home, or at least bring my old one. I was really hoping to see some whales or dolphins, but the only thing we spotted were sea lions. I'm much less afraid of them when I'm in a big boat verses a kayak or on a surfboard. We passed a dock where they were all sleeping on each other. Hardly any barking at all. They looked dead. Cracks me up the way they lay on each other while they nap. Just like cats and dogs. We had a few minutes once we got back to the yacht club, so we went inside, met a few people, and got to play two rounds of bingo. I love bingo. Pam won a prize, and we forced Bob to play with us. Apparently he hates bingo. Who hates bingo? It's the greatest game ever!

We had to leave to go back to church, then more art show, some tarimisu to celebrate Bobby's birthday, and far too many hours on my feet today. Time for bed.