Okay, so I'm quickly learning how hard it is to actually sit down and update a blog. Good grief.

Anyways, here is the second installment. I figured that I need to get around to it eventually to keep my records straight:

Life is going pretty alright. Today was a really nice day in Sydney, Australia. I suppose it was your stereotypical "Sydney" weather, if I could describe it. Warm and sunny.

The past week since I've updated this have been rather eventful. So eventful in fact, that I really haven't gotten that much sleep. At all. To list everything, I've had: School, church, serving, fieldwork, work, assessments, practice, and everything else involved in my typical day including reading the Bible, laundry, etc, etc.

Let's see... First I'll talk about men's conference. It was pretty sweet. We went out one day to the Hills Campus and heard Dr. A.R. Bernard speak a word to all the guys. It was cool to hear a big deep "Amen" when he asked for it. He preached a great message that really hit home with me. The main point of his message was to live by conviction, not by preference. To break it down for you, when you feel called to do something, don't do it because you want to do it, but do it because you know you're suppose to and it would feel wrong if you didn't. That's the way that you're suppose to live your spiritual life. I'm proud to say that this is how I'm going right now, and I never want to sway from it. I feel that I'm firm in what I believe, and if there's something that I think that I should do, I have a solid reason behind it that I can use to justify my motives. I like the way I've trained myself to be dedicated to something. It's a good feeling. It was also really good to hear a guy talk to the MEN about being MEN. Not going to lie, I think it was what a lot of people needed to hear.

Hate to say this, but I've never met more unreliable people then here at bible school. It sounds totally ridiculous, but it's the sad truth. The message also made me proud to have a hairy chest. Just saying.

School had been going alright. Then of course there's serving at church. I serve in the TV room for 2 services on the weekends, and I'm actually really glad that I got allocated there. I feel like I'm learning a lot. It's cool to be in there, and there are definitely some fun times. During the week I do powerhouse (18-25 year old ministry) doing venue set up and tear down. It's frustrating at times, but it's getting better.

Then there's work.... Let me just say that I got totally blessed with a pretty rad job. It totally kicks my butt at times, but my hourly rate, work amount, and the people I work with are all a huge blessing. Basically, I run food at "Summit Restaurant and Orbit Bar". Google it. It's on level 47 of a building right in the middle of the city. The view is pretty incredible. Especially at night. Another cool part is that the restaurant actually spins around, so while you sit and eat, you get a total 360 degree view of the city. It's a really really swanky place so of course a tie is a part of my usual attire, but I actually don't mind. My co-workers and the managers can all be a bit frustrating at times, but usually they're pretty cool to work with. They really seem to like me there too. I get really enthusiastic greetings from all of the other food runners when I walk into the kitchen, and "hey John" from all of the managers. The cooks actually seem to like me a lot too. While they're swearing at all of the other food runners and telling them to shut their mouths, I'm getting "please" and "thank you" said to me. Of course I return the favor. It's not always like this either, but I'm proud to say that I emit a certain presence that just allows me to relax, and that's definitely something I don't take for granted. Of course the late nights are pretty tough, and it's what deprives me of sleep usually, but getting 20 hours or more at work right now is an insane blessing. I work my butt off though. It's tough at times, but no one ever said life would be easy.....

So yea, I wanted to put a little side note about the URL of my blog and all of the nicknames I've adopted here, because wow, I never new that there could be so many plays on my last name. At work, I'm known by all the food runners (who are all from Nepal) as "Americano" or "Johnny Boy". Flat 189 deemed me "Snyderman", hence the URL of my blog. I felt it fit rather well. Also, a big shout out to Josh, Ed, Aksel, and Roy. You guys rock. Back home, I was "Apple Snyder" or to my teachers, "Mr. Snyder".

ANYWAYS, right now, I'm tired.

At least I talked about work and school a bit, as well as men's conference, which was definitely pretty sweet. I just got back from hanging out at Ed's belated birthday, which was a good time. It's always fun to see everybody, and especially refreshing since I work a lot now. I'm not complaining though.

There's SO much more that I want to talk about, but there's SO much sleep that I need to catch up on.

Until next time.

- John