The first time I went to RYC was in the spring of 2009 when I was in Grade 12. What I had wanted was to be a part of the competition band. I don't know what it is about music but it allows me to move past my social ineptitude and play my soul out; I wanted to do that there. I wasn't officially a member yet--I would join Camp Truth VIII in October--so I had to settle for only being able to compete in banner. In retrospect, I only wanted to play for my own glory and not for God's. As a recovering atheist, the glory of God wasn't something that I had first and foremost in my mind at the time. Oh, how the times have changed.

Since then, I've served a bunch in Music Ministry and, as a result, I've been able to grow in my understanding that we play to glorify God and bring Him to others first, not for ourselves. If you had come up to me that spring before RYC and told me that I could glorify God by playing the guitar if I concentrated on His praises first then I would've told you that you were full of bollocks (in much more offensive language). Now my guitar has become an extension of my heart when I pray. In playing those lead notes, or acoustic chords, or bass lines, I have moved to offer that up to Him first as an unworthy offering. It's been a good change.

That said, I wanted to approach senior band at RYC this year with that mindset firmly in place. Normally, as I've done the last two years, I would've walked around the stage ripping on my electric; I didn't want to do that this year party because it drew away from God to myself. This year, I just wanted to plant myself down and offer both chord and song. If we won the competition (we didn't) then it was just a cherry on top of our offering to God. We practised hard for a couple of weeks for hours at a time getting our band in unison with our vocals together with our prayer. And so what if we didn't win? Sure, it sucks at first but when everything subsides, the feeling that you gave it your all, in prayer and as an offering to God, just takes all that negativity away. 

So I thank the band, the second iteration of The Joyce Street Hipsters, for going out of each of our comfort zones to offer something up to God. Maybe it was a voice, or a guitar, or a bass, or drum; it was all done in prayer. They're right when they say to focus on God first and then everything will fall into place after. I'm at peace, not with the fact that we lost, but at the fact that we gave it all up to Him. Not for ourselves but for His greater glory. 

When I came in as the Chapter Head for CFC-Youth Vancouver 2 in the beginning of 2011 things were very different. I had been moved from my position as Music Ministry Program Volunteer into a chapter I knew very little about. Because my home parish is St. Patrick's, I fall under Vancouver 1; leading the brothers of Vancouver 2 was going to be a challenge based on the relationships I had formed, or had yet to form, at the time. I didn't know most of the members, hardly any of the Household Heads, or the Couple Coordinators. It was a time of uncertainty for me although it was also a time of promise, potential, and happiness in the way I could positively affect these brothers and sisters. 

It's May of 2012 and we've since had two fruitful camps (Awaken and [B]eloved), a relatively new set of Household Heads, a new sister Chapter Head as my counterpart, and two new pairs of Couple Coordinators. We've taken part in two RYCs as a separate delegation and won our very first competition as Vancouver 2 (and not as the Vancouver East of the past). Suffice to say, it has been over a year full of blessings and struggles. We may not have the most members attending our events but I'm thankful to God that our Household Heads have good heads on their shoulders. We may not be able to compete in everything but I'm thankful that we are able to give our best in the few that we partake in. We may not have the ease of seeing each other every day but I'm thankful that we are able to make the most of our time when we do see each other.

The 2012 RYC reminded me that it is the quality of our intentions and not the quantity of our competitions that truly declare our presence. We had twelve delegates who had registered and though three could not attend, those nine who did truly reminded me that my work and, by extension, our work is not in vain. We had twelve delegates who wanted to attend to witness the Lord first. Those twelve who were ready and willing to go, and the few who couldn't despite wanting it badly, are a reminder to be patient. All great trees start out as a seemingly insignificant seed. All great nations were once frail communities of peoples. All great legacies started out as ideas that could have easily been forgotten. Even the Church was founded on the shoulders of those Twelve Apostles.

I don't know where I'm going with this since I'm pretty deprived of sleep but I just want to let it stand as a thank you to the Chapter I have been called to lead, however wavering that leadership might or might not have been. Thank you for being steadfast in the storm. Thank You for bringing us through and allowing us to weather it. 

Every year at CFC-Youth's Regional Youth Conference, each Chapter is asked to design a banner to represent themselves as well as to use in the Praise Parade. With the exception of the 2011 banner, I've worked on the Chapter banner in varying degrees. 

There aren't many people who know but one of the first passions I had growing up was for drawn art. I still remember the days where my dad, who had a good art background himself in architecture, would teach me how to trace pictures. From there, I'd copy things from pictures and, later, I'd come up with pictures from scratch (albeit with the anatomical inaccuracies that come without reference). I put drawing on the back-burner in high school, focussing more on writing and relegating drawing to classroom sketches when I was bored.

Our banner for the 2012 RYC came to me suddenly in a moment of inspiration. I can't really explain it. One moment I was talking to my Household Heads over Skype while reading over the creative competition guidelines and deciding which ones we could participate in. The next moment something just hit me for the banner design. As much as I can try to rationalise it, there aren't many words that can help to completely explain that moment of inspiration. It happened almost instantaneously and I didn't need to think about more specifics. Everything that needed to be on the banner was already there in my mind. 

I took the design down as quickly as I could so I wouldn't lose it. The design in itself is simple: Christ in typographic word art using the Latin vulgate of the Bible verse, the English translation, the passage it comes from, and our Chapter's name. Every piece on its own is distinct with relatively no bearing to the other; together, however, they come to form the Lord. Quite literally, It is the Lord.

We originally wanted to finish the banner a week before RYC but, because we couldn't get our materials in time, we finished it the morning of RYC. I drew out the pencils on the final banner on the Thursday evening prior, we worked on painting most of it after, and then we applied some finishing touches in the morning. It was something that seemed to fall into place rather easily, perhaps Spirit-led, but that last-minute preparation, no matter how decently the final product turned out, is something that should be avoided in the future. 

The other Chapters had phenomenal banners, especially in their artistic execution. I don't know what it is that set ours apart enough to win but I suppose that's an affirmation that our hard work, if it is for the Lord, is never in vain. No matter how they used the theme of RYC in their banner, no matter how they used their God-given talents to glorify Him, no matter how much work they put into their banners, I saw that it was the Lord in each and every banner.

Long live Christ the King!

The original concept, May 2nd 

Second version, May 3rd

Final banner, May 18th