A Day In the Life of the Mighty Z3

Hello all!

Hope you all are doing well. We're having a blast. We are so glad to be here. Natalie and I often thank God for the many ways He prepared the way for us to come up here. To name just a few: the finances, the pastoral staff's blessing for me to leave for a month, Renee and her awesome three kids to take care of Sammy and a house to live in that looks like something out of a Pottery Barn magazine, seriously. We are so blessed.

Sammy slept through the night for the first time last night since we've been here. Praise God. It's a lot harder to let him "cry it out" at 3am when he's a few feet from your head. Sammy's day is pretty much filled with fun. He plays from the moment he wakes up till the moment he goes to sleep. Renee's kids have really raised the bar for Sammy regarding fun and entertainment. Natalie and I are afraid that when we go back home Sammy's going to go through some withdrawal. Here's a little video of his morning today:

I'm sure many of you have wondered, "What in the world does one do at a School of Worship for 3 1/2 weeks???" Well for one, we worship! Each morning we worship for at least an hour and then there's a speaker that usually goes for 1 1/2 hours. Often their is a ministry time following the worship related message. Starting next week, our afternoons will consist of elective classes. Things like instrument workshops, song writing classes, art classes etc... There's even a class on Hip Hop and Crump dancing. I don't think I'll make that one though I've suggested to Natalie that she should take it. Here's a brief video of this morning's worship:





Man, it's fun worshiping with hundreds of other worship leaders. The worship leader today was Jeremy Riddle (writer of "Sweetly Broken"). You probably couldn't get this from the video but the music is sooo loud. There are times I feel like the bass drum is inside my chest! Not that I'm complaining, but it's pretty crazy. I think they crank it to 11 because they know that worship leaders love it loud and no one's gonna complain!

After this morning's session we went to one of the pastors' houses (Kris Valloton) for a BBQ. Sammy made a million friends and stole a million hearts. While there, Natalie and I stumbled upon a seemingly harmless zip line. I decided to give it a ride. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to sit or stand on the wooden plank so I sat. Unfortunately halfway through the ride my butt was 2 inches off the ground and I went through a pile of rocks and then slammed into a tree. Ouch. Convinced that I had done it wrong, Natalie wanted to give it a shot standing up. Unfortunately for both us, standing up was just as dangerous. Here's a little video of Natalie. I suggest watching it full screen. The chaos that ensues at the end is the result of Natalie flying into the trunk of a huge tree at 35 miles an hour and me jumping between the two of them to slow her down. God protected everyone but it was pretty scary.





So that was our day. We think we're going to go look for the Redwoods tomorrow. Love you all!

Clark for the Z3