Now it is 8:35 in the morning and all of the conference volunteers are buzzing around getting last minute things set up. Registration starts now for the parishes and so teens are slowly starting to appear.

At this point of an event or mission I take the time to prayerfully review all of my notes and tasks. I'm the MC for the event, so I need to have everything prepared beforehand in order to make the event appear fluid and oh-so smooth.

I'm here with Judy McDonald, a Catholic comedian and speaker who does a lot of events and such for youth ministries and organizations. She's doing a couple of Keynote addresses along with Sean Dalton, who is a FOCUS regional director based out of Denver, CO. Cool thing about him: he was an evangelical Protestant youth pastor for several years before his conversion to Catholicism. Apparently I also went to Franciscan with his siblings, too.

Next is the Mikey Needleman Band. I first met Mikey at Life Teen's Covecrest summer camp. He was the musician for the week and I was the host. We had a blast. (you need to click this!) Until, that is, he got Kathleen to shoot me with a balloon launcher. I had a bruise for a week! His band is great and kind of a local legend. They play at both religious and secular venues, which shows in their skills. This will be a great conference!

Now is the time that I put myself in God's presence in prayer and place all expectations at His feet.