jonlloyd

I’m a leader on the Presbytery Youth Council of Coastal Carolina, and I usually do graphic design work for the group’s events. Here are the latest two designs for your viewing and commenting pleasure:

This is a logo I created for the council’s 2010-2011 theme, “Larger than Life.” All of the other themes of events will somehow relate back to this theme. With this design, I was looking to do something simple, and after a bit of web inspiration, came up with this. I was able to get a high-res image of the PCUSA’s logo, and after playing around with the opacity, got it looking just right.

The next image is a promo for the first PYC event of the year, the kickoff event. I was going for a festive, bubbly-type of thing with this. I used some “fireworks” brushes I found on deviantart and other than having to angle each letter individually, it wasn’t really that time-consuming.

As always, comments are appreciated. You can click on each image for a larger version.

I’m writing this from the lobby of Assembly Inn in beautiful Montreat, NC. Just had to tell you about what happened last night. About 11pm, I was making rounds to make sure everyone was in bed, and subsequently locked my room key in my room. I called the main office for another, but they told me that I’d have to walk across the Montreat campus to get it.

One of our high school guys accompanied me on the journey. After hiking up and down there and back, I got up to our floor only to realize that the lights in the hall were off. I figured everyone was asleep. Then, the lights came on and our entire group was out in the hallway with tins of balloons, streamers, etc, with gifts and cards for my birthday.

I was extremely surprised! I was a bit bummed that I wouldn’t be able to spend my birthday at home with the family this year, but this was the next best thing. Apparently, my wife was in on it, as there were gifts from here as well.

I’m very blessed to have such an amazing group of people that surround me. Last night was great – and it wasn’t even my birthday yet!

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching the message at both of our services at FPC. The title of the message was “The Best-Laid Plans.” After thinking about how my own plans for my life had changed drastically over the years, I prayerfully considered how my situations might relate to others in our society. The result of my prayer and contemplation was this message. You can listen to it below. A transcript is also available underneath the audio version. I’d certainly love to hear your feedback!

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The Best Laid Plans – Transcript

In case you weren’t aware, I have a somewhat odd history with fast food establishments. I had almost forgotten about the aforementioned experiences until last night, when I had the long-awaited third installment of “Yes, I’d like fries with that.” It happened in a small city on the outskirts of Griffin, GA, at a Burger King. Without further adieu, here you go:

Employee (through the drive-thru speaker): “Burger King.”
Me (pausing for just a second): “Hi – I’d like a chicken sandwich value meal, large size with a Sprite to drink.”
Her: “5.75 drive around.”

I drove to the window. Thus far, nothing during this altercation signified to me that I was about to have my mind blown by the sheer “what the heck is going on” aspect of what was about to happen. I waited about 2 minutes before she finally came to the window.

Her: “We ain’t got no buns for da chicken sannwich. You want a whopper bun?”
Me: “Um, uh, (quick decision time) sure.”

She hands me a medium Sprite.

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry – I wanted it large sized.”
Her: “You didn’t say nothing.”
Me: “Um, well, could you make it large size?”

She then gave me this stare that looked like she wanted to yell at me, but she couldn’t – like when you stump your toe and you’re in a place where you can’t yell. So, she hands me the large Sprite, and the situation progresses.

After about 5 minutes (seriously), she comes back to the window, where I’ve put the car in park.

Her: “We ain’t got no chicken sandwiches. You want something else?”
Me: (sigh) “Um, no, I’ll just go somewhere else.”
Her: “OK den – you can keep da drank.”
Me: “Thanks.”

I never gave her any form of payment, by the way.

So I left, frustrated, eagerly searching for another reputable fast-food chain. I thought, “well, at least I can quench my thirst with this behemoth of a fountain drink.” That’s when I noticed that while the drink was free, she neglected to provide me with a straw. So here I am trying to pop the top on this gargantuan while navigating the back roads of central Georgia. I finally get the top off of the cup, and take a much-needed swig. That’s when I realized the reason she let me keep it. It was nothing but seltzer water.

Luckily, I found a Wendy’s about 20 miles down the road, and it was worth the wait. I hope that Burger King eventually gets some chicken sandwiches again. That, my friends, is a travesty.