Supafly.com

I am sitting at Candyce’s coffee shop on a Sunday morning. I slept well in the tent last night. It rain was so heavy, it sounded like lollipops falling from the sky. Several times through the night I woke up to the plopping above my head.

Yesterday I spoke at an event in Carmel, Indiana, called “Destination Jesus”. The weekend started ten years ago for one church, and now many churches bring their youth groups. It was a little startling to walk into a room and see 1000 people ready to hear me talk.

I was asked to give a total of four talks, each about 45-minutes long. In between the talks, I hung out with everyone. By the time I finished my last talk, I was ready to pass-out. The guy who drove me to the airport works for the television production company that shoots the Barrett-Jackson car auction every year. So the drive to the airport was a blast because we could reminisce about the hot rods at last month’s auction.

I can never get used to the transition from a hoorah! day to a dreary flight home. Yesterday I spent all morning and afternoon with excited young people. Even though we were essentially strangers, we care for each other and support one another. Then I’m dropped-off at the curb at the airport. For the next six hours, I am packed next to other strangers who do not want to be there. We’re all silent and without emotion. We’re just trying to get to the next chapter of our life.

I’m reading Tom Wolfe’s new book, “I am Charlotte Simmons”. It’s almost 800 pages long, so this book has kept me company on four cross-country flights. I don’t know if I like the book yet, but I’m determined to finish it. With only 100 pages left, I am eager to move on to John Grisham’s new book.

Once my plane landed, I ran through the airport to catch a bus. Ten minutes later, I dragged my suitcase through the puddles of the parking lot, searching through hundreds of cars to find my own. It was dark, and I was tired.

After a quick trip to Candyce’s house to say hello to her family, I came home and crawled into my tent. I was asleep before I knew it. It rained heavily throughout the night, and the drops pounded the roof of my tent. I’d wake up and listen to the storm. It didn’t matter if I got wet, I was just thankful to be home.

I’m at the airport in Phoenix, ready to hop on my flight to Indianapolis. I really don’t want to be here because I am tired. But what am I going to do? Call in sick? No. I have to go to this event because people are depending on me. There’s no use dreading tomorrow or whining anymore.

I’m tired because this week we launched the all new lifeteen.com. I’ve been working on this website for over two years, so it is such a joy to show the world what I’ve been up to.

Although we posted the site late Sunday night, there were still many sections of the site that weren’t totally ready. So I’ve had to split my time this week between adding content to working sections, all the while keeping track of what still is not complete. It’s been exciting and hectic all at the same time.

I now have three interns working with me on lifeteen.com. The first intern is a writer, Ian, who does most of our music reviews. My boss has an intern named Andrea. Since he’s been out so much, she’s started to help out on the site. Even with the help of two people, there was still too much work to do. I called Matt Maher and asked if his intern, Peter, could help out for a week. That was three weeks ago, and Peter just keeps coming in to help.

I’ve been a one-man-show for three years now, and it’s so refreshing to have help. Now I can build better relationships with our writers. I can be more patient with random people on the phone, and I can get back to people when they email me. I can also commit to developing new projects that will keep the site fun and exciting. I love it!

Last night it rained hard. It’s rained more this winter than it did in the three years since I’ve lived in Arizona. It’s so soothing to listen to the raindrops tapping my tent roof as I fall asleep. Because of all the water, my backyard is a jungle of knee-high weeds.

Even with the rain clouds, it gets bright out nice and early. With each day, I get up earlier than the last. I started at nine and now I am up at seven. I’m slowly working my way toward dawn. Because of that, I’m going to be earlier and earlier. Last night I was nearly dead at 11 PM. This evening I am traveling to Indianapolis for a couple days. I honestly am not looking forward to it. It’s been a busy week, and I would rather rest. But I know it’ll be a good one.

I woke up this morning to a chainsaw. At first it was all a part of my dream, with me and my saw making the world free of useless branches. But that all stopped when a huge thud shook me out of my dream. I was still delirious when I opened my eyes, thinking that a Brontosaurus just dropped its foot next to my tent. Then I heard more chainsaw, and I realized it someone cut down a tree across the street.

It’s funny how sounds work their way into your dreams. When I sleep inside, it’s usually the alarm clock or the radio. But never chainsaws.

I was curious, so I crawled out and started walking down the street. My hair was all plastered against my face from the wet floor, and my breath had to be strong enough to kill most air-born insects. The tree people were startled to see me standing over them while they were slicing up the palm tree. After a few quick words, they promised to come and get my branches. Now I’m sitting here, waiting to instruct them on which branches to take away from my life.

I could hardly fall asleep last night because I was so happy. We had a launch party for the new version of lifeteen.com last night after Mass. I’ve been working on this website for over two years, so it was heavenly to see it go up. It’s barely 6:30 AM, and I am too excited to go back to sleep. I am going to drive into work and get going on the new site. Praise God! Thank you Jesus! This is the GREATEST DAY!!!!