It's a nice day for a, white wedding

Well, I reckon it's time to relax!
Ben and Stacie's wedding was last weekend and it was great! Tiring on my part, but great all the same. I will recount my weekend for you as I saw it.
Friday i had work till 5:30. After that walked up to church for JBS. Halfway through JBS got the signal and went over for the wedding rehearsal. We did our bit (the guys) and then it was time for Ben to teach the girls how to walk down the aisle in time with the music stepping on the right beat etc. It was pretty fun. Totally worth it, because on the day they were all good.
After that we went out for dinner at Latani's and had all sorts of cool mediterranian food I had not previously experienced. To tell the truth it wasn't really my style but interesting and good to try new stuff.
Woke up at 6:00. The guys were coming around at 8:00 to get ready for the wedding but I was too excited etc. to be able to go back to sleep. So, I got a few things ready, go the ties out, ironed my shirt etc. etc. Once I had done those things I treated myself to a little KOTOR II till the guys turned up.
Ben, Nelson and Aaron all turned up together and they has some rather Gucci breakfast with them. It included coffee's, juice, and the largest assorment of bakery goods I had ever seen (outside a bakery itself that is). After the breakfast we got changed and Ben's dad turned up and took a couple of photos of him and so on. He left and we sat around for 15 mins listening to music till the car turned up to pick us up. I havent ever seen Pak nervous, but sitting there waiting for the car, you could tell he was quite nervous. The car picked us up and took us there. The dude with the car had those cool flowers to attach to our coats. Nice touch Stace! The trouble was, he was driving an Astra. 3 guys in the back of one is not a comfortable experience.
Well, you know what happened between then and the end of the reception (which was fantastic). I was a bit worried about the speech I had to give, but it seemed to go fine. Ben particularly enjoyed it which was the main point as well.
Got home at 5pm and blobbed in front of the xbox till 7:30. Went to sleep and woke up at 5am. Freezor must have taken up residence in my room coz it was mighty cold. So I went back to sleep and woke up at 9. Mmmmm, totally good sleep.
Sunday, Tim and Jon came over and we met up. It was cool. Wish it was every week.
We read Chapters 5-7 of 1 Samuel. Pretty good. It's starting to get to the good stuff (or, the even better stuff).
JBS and church at night. Pretty standard stuff.
Upcoming events: TEAM bible study leading tonight, gym and maybe bob. BS on Tuesday with the One-to-One ministry bible study. Should be good. Wednesday is unimovies, but I cant remember it being earth shattering. Friday afternoon, going to the thing in Sydney, should be good. After that, the bible study boys and a ring in or 2 are coming over for an old school Lord's Supper. Should be awesome. Getting some Damper rolls (or maybe unleavened bread), couple of bottles of red and a solid size BBQ. Should be a good night.

Da Vinci Code discussions

Well, how good was last night?!
"What was on last night?" you may ask.
Last night was one of the talks on the credibility of Christianity in the light of the Da Vinci Code. The night as a whole was particularly enjoyable. The talk was great with heaps of good info on the history of the formation of the New Testament 'Canon' (the approved books). How they decided on which books and so on. I thought a particularly good quote was that the Canon was 'not an authorised collection of books, but a collection of authorised books'. There was heaps of other goodness in the talk and I would reccomend that if you missed out to get the CD.
Apart from that, being that it was an ECU event, there were heaps of people to talk to who I hadnt seen in a while. It was nice to catch up.
There were a number of non-Christians there as well. It was good for them to hear the truth spoken and I would encourage you to pray for them in their response to what they heard.
Bible study continues to take shape with things like organising with Josh to pick up Ross on the way to bible study. Just need to get Ross's address to Josh before next week. I think this week we will do an OT timeline type study.
'Don't Speak' by No Doubt is on the radio now. Sniff. Makes me feel sad.
What I do have to do is finish writing my best man speech for Pak's wedding on Saturday. It's looming more and more and I will feel better once it's written.
Got another lightsaber in KOTOR 2 which was pretty sweet. Looking forward to some sweet sweet lightsaber in each hand action.
What's coming up: Suit fitting phase II with Pak on Thursday after work. Role playing stuff after that. Friday lunch with Jon. Maybe I will go the dim sims this week. Mmmm tasty.... Friday night JBS. After JBS there is a wedding rehearsal for Pak's wedding.
Saturday morning Pak and the men (his dad, bro, Nozza, etc) are coming around before the wedding at 8:00. Man that's painful. Might need to sleep Saturday afternoon after the wedding to recover.
Anyone for tennis.....

Is life always like this?

Do you ever sit back for a couple of seconds and think: "Is life always like this?"?
I have been doing a fair bit of that this last little while. I have been thinking about a whole heap of stuff and am convinced that it hasnt always been this way.
I dont want to bore you (or upset anyone) with the details, I will simply say that there are a number of particularly worrying issues which keep occupying my mind (especially when I am trying to sleep!). I dont know whether it is appropriate to mention these things, so I wont. Most of them are out of my hands as well which makes it annoying.
That being said, I think I am dealing with stuff pretty well. But it's not all beer and skittles.
Thinking about those things though, isn't having issues a sign of weakness? I wouldnt want people to think that I am struggling now, would I? Their opinion of me would surely drop, wouldnt it?

Perhaps this could be my first 'feedback' blog.

What do you think about people who are obviously struggling? Do you see them as someome you can care for? Or someone to stay clear of? How do you show you care? Of course there are the appropriateness issues, but how can you look after someone within those constraints?
Feel free if you want, to say how you prefer to be treated when you are having a hard time. People are different and often in this area.

All this being said, there have been quite a few really good things as well. Last Saturday for hospitality weekend was fantastic. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and there was heaps of good conversation and fun. You can tell it is going well when people stay to midnight and we didnt have to break out any board games. I had lots of fun cooking for people and being a host. I havent done it in a little while and it was nice to again.
Other things that have been good: General hanging out with the dudes, TEAM last night on bible study leading, Friday night JBS, going to the gym, bible study, KOTOR 2. Living with Dave is going well too.
Thanks to God there has been lots of good as well as the not-so-good. Need to keep trusting in Him. It's hard though. Feel free to pray for me.
What's coming up: DaVinci Code talk tonight as bible study outing, Pak and Stacy's wedding, unimovies, perhaps a little KOTOR 2....

The first... blog.... ever!!!!

Well here it is, the Stu-blog. I wonder how it will pan out. Maybe i should just start typing and see how we go.
Last night was fun. Third bible study this year and we still havent cracked the 5 people barrier. Not such a problem though coz it means that everyone gets lots of time to talk about what they think and we can focus more effectively on where people are at. Didnt end up doing the One-to-one ministry bible study. Leaving it for week after next. Next week we are going to the Da Vinci Code talk with ECU. The girls BS group is doing the same thing. Should be good. I think we will have 7 or 8 people coming along to BS the week after.
Got my xbox skin last night. Came with 2 controller skins. Looks totally sweet. I'm glad I didnt get one that was darker because over in the corner there it's not really bright. Still looks awesome tho.
I keep having wierd ass dreams. Nothing out of the ordinary in content, just typical life stuff or, been-playing-too-much-xbox stuff. The thing i find wierd is that I seem to be unable to shut my brain down at night. I feel like i am thinking just as much (sometimes more) as when I am awake. Ohh well, after enough time in KOTOR II I will actually be able to make a lightsaber instead of just dreaming about it.
Other stuff coming up: Dinner at Megan and Anne's tonight, should be good. Need to somehow make jelly for JBS on friday night and getting it there in a still gelatinous form. JBS talk this week also. Hospitality weekend on Saturday. Pak's wedding is the week after and i have to write and then, gulp, present, my best man's speech. I will be a happier man when that's done. Also, i need to fix the dumb power steering rack for the car! More cash!