Day One - LA

10 January 2006
We got into LA last night, & were famished so we hit the first steakhouse we found – Outback. I haven’t eaten that much red meat in months – my stomach was letting me know that it was not too happy with the gut bomb I sent it.

In spite of Ben’s worries, we navigated our way to the Super8 motel using our Mapquest directions - & it wasn’t a roach motel. Our wives would even approve of the cleanliness & spaciousness of the rooms – we could totally pack the 5 of us into one room & have plenty of space to share.

This a.m. we made our way to the Brooklyn Bagel Bakery; it only took about 30 minutes of getting lost, many U-Turns & other difficulties of LA traffic. Fortuneately, only Ben gave me crud for my not knowing where we were going.

Found a parking spot in front of Angelus Temple, & hope & pray that it doesn’t get towed. J Then, we stood in line for a while to get into the registration area. Boring. So, a division of labor was required – Moe & I walked to Starbucks to amp up our caffeine intake, & Ben & my dad stood in line to register.

We greeted Johannes & the other 7 Euros (national youth leaders from different countries...) that he brought with him to the conference – the rest of the a.m. has been spent saying hi to old friends, finishing my 5-shot Americano, & waiting to get started.

Worship today has been a “United Live” Hillsong Church-like group. About 7 singers in the front, lots of jumping around & dancing – several guitars (3 electrics & 2 acoustics, 1 bass, 1 keys, 1 drummer). No songs I’d ever heard before.

Speakers today were James Craft, Kim Dirmann, & Wayne Cordeiro – Kim & Wayne really were great – I’ll be posting the notes from both of their sessions this evening after we get to hear Jack Hayford.

I've just finished a tall stack of blueberry pancakes & am feeling a syrup-driven high/low coming on.