White-Hot Chocolate

So this morning was one of the mornings that I overslept. Kind of on purpose, but not really. I needed sleep, but I didn't want to work late tonight, so I got out of bed at 7:30, and managed to hitch a ride to get to the station by 8:04. Surprisingly, today, of all days, I make the early train, and get to the studio before 9! Unbelievable.

How's that for irony? I think I shall sleep in every day.

So I went to the Gosh at Box Hill Station, where a cheery woman asked what I would like, 'Sir', and I requested my usual hot chocolate. She asked me if I was interested, instead, in a White Hot Chocolate.

???

I looked at the picture of the beverage she was describing, and it was indeed, White Chocolate in a hot drink. This, I must tell you, is an abomination. It's not only going against nature, but can one even imagine what that would taste like? I asked her if it was any better than normal chocolate, and she told me that if I liked sugar and white chocolate, it was the drink for me.

I'm afraid I was too chicken to try it. Maybe Thursday, when I pass them again, I will buy one, and update you on it.

The view this morning, on the way out to Ringwood, was quite beautiful. Not that the delicious scenery makes up for the winter chill, but I think I will do an illustration based on the pre-winter colour scheme.

The pale blue morning, cut through by a weakened sun, over the mist-covered hills, makes for a really beautiful landscape.

I'll post it up here when I've done it.


Anyways. To work!


Joel
– Reassuring my tastebuds

Dear Diary...

And here I am, a week later. My life refuses to be majorly impacted by my new-found journal.

But I have decided that this may be a useful tool for communicating to everyone while I am overseas. And who knows, it might prove valuable later on.

The exciting news is that my Passport arrived on Tuesday, and so one of my two Worriables is taken care of. The second thing was the phone call announcing my acceptance into the School of Worship in America. Number 2 scratched off the list.

It would have been less than ideal to have been rejected, seeing as the trip was planned, my flight booked, and all monies paid. So that's good news.

What amazes me about this whole thing is how my church decided to pay the School of Worship registration for me. I was really blown away by that. It means a whole lot to me that my fellow churchies would want to sow into what I'm doing, and support me like that. I'm very excited.
It also adds responsibility to this trip, and what I'm doing. What I learn, and what I gain from my experience, affects the people around me, and the team at Living Streams. So it encourages me to make the most of my time there, and learn whatever God has for me to learn.

I heard it quite succinctly from Bill Johnson, the Pastor at Bethel Church, in Redding, California. He said that if you are a leader, you have to 'watch what you eat'. He went on to say that 'What we feed on, feeds them.' If that makes sense to you. What we take in, will flow down to people under us. Or the people around us, if we are not leaders in some way. But it was very applicable to me - I am leading a group of people. I may not be their pastor as such. But I am responsible to make sure that I am picking up things that will be good for them, too. And not the opposite.

So - that wasn't so difficult to write, after all. This Blog may just be the thing to get some of my more abstract thought processes on paper. Who knows, it might even get kind of addictive...

Talk to you later,


Joel
- Two posts and counting...

The Digital Diary

And so I enter the world of Blogging.

Should I be worried that the first thing to come to mind when hearing the word 'Blogger' is the thought of a couch-potating dole-bludger? Maybe.

But then again, there's always been a first for everything. And especially for things that I have previously vowed never to do. Like buy a pair of jeans. (Ok, so I was 13 at the time of the oath.)

Well, we will see what becomes of this digital Diary, as I take my quill and pen each post on this, the medium which takes the meanings of traditional references to stationery, and not only throws them out the window, but changes their outfits several times on the ensuing descent.

Enough.

I may return tomorrow...


Joel
– The Reluctant Scribe