Last night, our church held another 'man vs wild' event which is basically where men from the church are invited over to our former pastor's (Tim Basagno) house to play wiffle ball, have a fish fry and sit around a bonfire smoking cigars. I've gone to a couple of these, but haven't been in a long while. So, I decided to go last night. It turned out to be pretty fun. At first, I thought that would probably leave pretty early. However, as it turns out, I was actually the last one to leave.

It was a little awkward at the beginning. Besides Tim, I didn't really know anyone. Since we've merged with The Journey Fellowship, our congregation has changed quite dramatically. I barely know anyone there anymore. Anyway, I felt like the odd man out for quite a while when I first got there. I don't know what it is, but I always feel that way in large groups. For some reason, people just don't like talking to me or paying attention to me. I'm not sure why that is. I guess I must "put out" that type of "aura" around me. I'm not aware of it though. I don't understand it. Whatever the reason, it can be very lonely no matter how big of a crowd I'm in.

As the night progressed, some more familiar faces showed up and we had a great time together. I was able to talk to some old friends that I haven't seen in a while plus meet some new people that I've been meaning to introduce myself to. I also had my first real conversation with our current pastor (Jamie George). We talked mainly about books, but it was still great being able to "breach" that gap. Hopefully it will open other doors of conversation.

There ended up being about 25-30 guys that showed up. Near the end of the night there were only about 5-6 of us left. Since we were at Tim's house, we definitely couldn't leave without blowing something up in the bonfire. One of the guys was able to make a sparkler bomb and it was a blast (pun intended). I think we probably woke up a few neighbors since we set it off around 11:00pm. Except for a small fire in another area of Tim's yard, no other harm was done. ;-)

I'm still visiting other churches off and on, but I haven't found anything worth pursuing just yet. Not that there was anything wring with the churches, I just don't feel God leading me anywhere just yet. I actually plan on returning to a couple of them again. Who know... He may just keep us where we're at for now. I'd really like to find somewhere that I can get involved in the music program again. I'm just dying inside right now, musically. I need a release.