Another Day, Another Year
Posted January 04, 2010
This past fall semester was filled with many ups and downs and for each and every one, I thank God. I had some interesting classes and did well in most of them, but what was most significant to me was the time spent outside of class. I had the privilege to be a part of two more student-led Sunday morning services at Grebel, weekly Praise and Worship nights, and a Bible study with some of the frosh guys. There were many other great times as well: cooking, baking cookies, working out, playing squash, spontaneous jam sessions, pool and fuseball games and the list goes on.
As I look forward into the new year, I am especially thankful for the chance to live another day and-if God wills-another year. I often forget how short and fleeting our lives truly are-I think it is important to not only be aware of that fact, but to be thankful for what we are given and to live each day to the full, knowing that another day is never guaranteed. I have also been learning (and will continue to learn) how to be joyful in all circumstances, whether good or bad, easy or hard, smooth or rough. One key to this is focusing on all the amazing things that God has given to us already-since we deserve nothing but wrath and He has shown us so much mercy, if we focus on that, how can we not rejoice?!
Today I started work again at RIM, this time in Waterloo. I am very grateful for such a great job and the chance to be able to live close to friends (a first for me on co-op). I am also finishing up the planning and songwriting for a new album called A Thousand Leaves which I hope to record and release sometime in the near future (stay tuned for updates!).
May God get all the glory!
Grebel Student Service
Posted October 04, 2009
This morning we held another student-led Sunday Service here at Grebel (my dorm). It went really well and God definitely seemed to be moving and working in people's lives. We were able to record the whole service so if you would like to listen, you can find the mp3s here.
May God get all the glory!
- Chris
It's Fall Again!
Posted September 19, 2009
I spent this past summer taking classes at Waterloo and, once again, it was a great term. It was my third summer term at school in a row, but it was quite different from previous terms, which was a nice change of pace. I got to know a lot of really cool people quite well and made a lot of amazing memories, including fun times at Lake Huron and a cottage up in Muskoka.
After finals ended, I had the privilege of being able to go home for almost three weeks, which was quite a blessing. I got to help my family as we moved my brother out to art school in Vancouver-God has really blessed him with some amazing talents! (To see for yourself, check out some of his work at www.calvinculy.com). After getting back home to Caronport from Vancouver I had one day before my good friend Mike and I started the drive back out to school here in Waterloo. That was a lot of fun and it's great to have him here at school.
This semester I am living with the same guys (Karl and Ben) that I planned and led the services with last fall and we are excited about doing similar things this term and seeing God work here. So far this term has been great and I'm really looking forward to what God has in store for this semester.
Until next time, here's a little video that I made that you can check out (it is a performance of a medley of three songs by The Fray that I put together). May God get all the glory!
Back to School
Posted May 08, 2009
I finished up my internship (co-op term) with NVIDIA on April 24 and headed home for a week before starting school this past Monday. I am thankful to God for my time working at NVIDIA and especially thankful for my bible study group and church that I attended while living in Santa Clara. God continuously showed His amazing providence throughout the term to me and blessed me in many ways. I learned a lot at work, a lot about living on my own, and I was greatly encouraged spiritually. One blessing I had was the chance to visit my dad's family twice while in California-I rarely get to see them so both visits were a treat for me.
During my past two years in university I did not get the opportunity to go home in between the Winter and Spring terms, so I was very excited to be able to go home and visit friends and family this time around. My sister is graduating from high school this year as well, so it was great to be able to spend some good time together as a family in celebration of that momentous occasion.
Now that I'm back in Waterloo and living in the dorm at Grebel, I am excited to see what God has in store for this term. I have some interesting classes, some really good professors and lots of great friends here in the dorm. There will be lots of ultimate frisbee, jam sessions, hot days without air conditioning, pizza, iced tea, running in the rain, and all the other wonderful things that summer term brings. I will have a lot of work this term, so I'm not sure how often I will be posting here, but until next time...
May God get all the glory!
Fighting : An Acoustic EP Released!
Posted March 31, 2009
This is just a super quick update to say that I am officially done the album and you can download it now at the music page. I am so grateful to God that I was able to get this done for April 1st. This day marks 15 years of being a Christian for me, so it seems fitting to release my first album on the same day. Praise God and I hope you enjoy the music!
P.S. Due to my inexperience with mixing/mastering/editing music, the technical quality is not quite that of a professional album, so keep that in mind :).
The Album is Almost Done!
Posted March 29, 2009
I put in 11-12 hours on Saturday and finished up all the virtual/digital instruments for the album (drums, bass and strings are now completely done). I've started the final tweaking (adding effects, mixing the different tracks together, etc.) and it looks like I should be able to be done for my aimed date of April 1st, so stay tuned! Only 3 more days!
Phase 1: Complete
Posted March 22, 2009
Yesterday I finished the main recording for all of the tracks on the album. I may do some touch-ups for a few songs, but overall everything is looking good. I am now moving on to writing the drums, bass, and strings parts (digitally) which I am planning on completing by the end of next weekend. If all goes well, I am hoping to release the album online here at my site on April 1st (and no, that is not a joke!). Also, for those interested, you can find a small "sneak peek" preview of the album here [update: you can preview the entire album here]. Please note that I have not applied any real effects or processing yet, so this preview will not have the studio quality sound that the final version should have. Anyways, hope you enjoy and so long until next time!
A Solid Afternoon of Recording
Posted March 16, 2009
Last week I began the "real" recording for the album, the main chunk of the work being done on Saturday. The entire afternoon was spent recording the guitar and vocals for tracks 2-5, which was much more than I expected to get done, so I am very grateful to God for that. I am still working out some of the digital instruments that I will use for the album-in particular, it has been fairly difficult to find a good virtual bass guitar instrument, but I think I have finally found one. Anyways, I'm making progress and even got a bit of mixing done for track 3 last night, so it looks like I'm still on schedule for early April. I'm not sure about the exact date yet, but that'll be coming soon-that's all for this week!
P.S. There may be a sneak peek on next week's post, so stay tuned!
The Beginning of an Album
Posted March 08, 2009
I have begin work on an acoustic album that will be titled Fighting : An Acoustic EP. Yesterday I finished what I like to call the base tracks for all the songs on the album. These are basically rough recordings that I will use as reference when I record the individual final parts. Here's the track listing for those interested:
1. Nobody Told Them
2. The Sherlock Holmes Project
3. Summertime
4. Colorful
5. Fighting
6. Behind
7. Winter
I will be starting on the recording of the final versions this week and hope to have everything finished by early April.
Halfway There
Posted January 31, 2009
I have officially passed the halfway point for my degree and I am now down in Santa Clara, California doing a co-op term for Nvidia. God has really blessed me with a great job as well as a solid Bible study group and church to go to. I have really been struck with the goodness of God in how He takes care of His children and provides in every way. I am enjoying the experience (and challenges) of having an apartment to myself for the first time as well as the job and the free time that I have, but I am also excited for my third summer term (in a row) at school and I am really looking forward to it.
Until then, I'll be working hard and trying to catch a glimpse of just how amazing God truly is.
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