Today I spoke to two groups of 6,000 teenagers, just across the street from Disneyland. I was excited that there were so many people there, but it was a difficult atmosphere to speak in. Even ten minutes into my talk, there were hundreds of people mosying their way into the room, disrupting everything. I had no monitors, so all I could hear was my voice bouncing off the distant walls of the warehouse. By the 20 minutes was up, I was ready to be off the stage.

At the same time I was speaking, my good friends Matt Maher and Mark Hart lead 15,000 people from the main stage. Matt is so good at playing music…he can get an arena wrapped around his fingers after one song. Mark is a dynamic, passionate speaker. I felt like we were a team, me on one stage, those two on another, trying to lead 21,000 teens closer to God. It wore us out.

Tonight after all the teenager went home, we gathered in the convention area to se up the Life Teen booth. Most of the booths were aimed at 40 year old religious education leaders, so our modest stall smelled like teen spirit. We were an island of MTV in the ocean of EWTN. Friends from all over the country were there, and they stopped by to say hello. I get so happy when I see all the shirts I designed on display. I love the colorful towers of neatly folded T-shirts.

Tonight several of us joined my friend Dustin at the Standard off Sunset. The Standard is a boutique hotel, nightclub, and diner. The first time I ate there was with Rachel from the Real World San Francisco. She and I were both involved with Life Teen, and we sat in the hipster diner and talked about living out our faith in the spotlight. Now, three years later, there was a motley crew of Hollywood hipsters sat around the table, talking about everything and nothing. It was wild.

Stephen got in from San Francisco at midnight, and called to invite us down to his place on the beach. Manhattan Beach has always been one of my favorite hangouts, so it’s fun to have a friend from my hometown settled there now. Finally my friends could meet each other, and I could meet Stephen’s girlfriend. We all walked out on the beach and laughed. If it weren’t so late, I would’ve called Fr. Steve to come down the hill to hang out with us.

It was almost two in the morning when we began our drive back to Orange County. Dustin slipped in the David Crowder Band’s new CD, and I fell asleep in the back seat. The sound is so prayerful and dreamy…it was perfect.

Now we are all back here in the hotel room. I have a meeting in four hours, so I better go to sleep.