The Daily Dairy Game 16/8/2026
Sunday, August 16 – The Early Shift The alarm rings, but the rain hitting the window beat it to the punch. I lie in the dark for five minutes, weighing the urge to pull the duvet over my head against my commitment to the media team. Duty wins. Down a lukewarm cup of instant coffee, iron a white shirt with a stubborn crease down the left sleeve, and grab my umbrella.
7:30 AM Arrive at the church building. It’s quiet, cold, and smells faintly of old carpet and floor polish. Bro. Marcus is already there setting up the soundboard, wrestling with a feedback hum from microphone three. I head to the tech booth, power up the projection PC, and start loading the morning’s slides. The worship lead added two new choruses at midnight, so I spent fifteen minutes typing out lyrics and aligning fonts.
8:45 AM First service begins. The foyer comes alive with noise—wet umbrellas clattering into stands, quiet greetings, children running across the tiled floor before being hushed by their parents. I stand by the sound desk monitoring the slide transitions. Mrs. Gable in row three gives her usual gentle wave; she’s been sitting in that exact seat every Sunday morning for thirty years.
10:15 AM Intermission between services. The fellowship hall is a chaos of paper cups, instant coffee sachets, and rich tea biscuits. I end up in a ten-minute conversation with David, who’s stressed about his final exams, and Deacon James, who wants to know if we can broadcast the annual thanksgiving service live online next month. I write a quick note on my phone to check our upload bandwidth later.
11:00 AM Second service sermon. Pastor Mark preaches on community and carrying each other's burdens. It’s grounded, no grand theatrics, just an honest look at how hard it is to show up for people when life gets busy. Sitting in the back row after finishing my tech duties, the message lands a little heavier than expected.
12:45 PM Service wraps up. Pack up the camera cables, pack away the wireless mics, and lock down the tech booth. A few of us help stack folding chairs in the auxiliary hall for the youth group meeting on Tuesday.
2:00 PM Back home. Wet shoes off, kettle on. Sunday afternoon nap achieved.