Chapter X: Oh Yeah....

Last week was the valley to this past week's summit. Things since my last update have been considerably well. It all started on Wednesday...

I felt a lot better about our Jr. High meeting on Wednesday evening, partially due to the smaller turnout that allowed for a more intimate setting. Then there was our praise band practice....

Simply awesome.

The band sounded great, and we even had a few people hanging out in the sanctuary grooving to the music. With the exception of our bassist (who sadly couldn't make it because of work) we sounded even better on Sunday morning! The people in the sanctuary worshiped and I even saw a few dancing...

This past weekend was spent in the Chicago hanging with my buddies. We did a short hike, some climbing, and of course, just hung out and did stupid stuff. But the highlight of my weekend was recording and finishing my new EP, "Stories," which turned out pretty well.

Our youth group on Sunday night was a lot of fun as we played a new game I designed (not Death Sticks) and talked about our Christian relationships.

All in all, the LORD has just blessed me with this incredible sense of peace and contentment with my current situation. My job. My home. My life....And it's awesome. As per my persona, when things slow down, I like to add something new to the mix...

Thus my newest and latest quest for a band....

I have been in contact with local musicians and friends in regards to finding the next musical adventure for me to embark on. It seems that the LORD has given me the gift of music, and I certainly don't want to waste it. I have a couple of leads with pre-existing bands, and there is talk with a few friends about forming a band. My first audition is tomorrow night as the new lead guitarist for a Christian Rock band called Perfect Shelter.

In the world of prayer, I would love if you could focus all of your prayer effort on the Baron family. Our senior pastor, Josh Baron, has been offered a call to another church. I ask that you pray for him, his family, and our church as we collectively discern God's will for the Barons.

That's all for now....I'm very excited for this week and looking forward to ArtPrize here in Grand Rapids

Loving Life,
-B

Chapter IX: Times of Trouble

Another week (and another win for Da Bears) has come and gone, and the LORD has continued to make Himself known to me.

We had our first Neighbor Night of the school year, which means we had our first Jr. High gathering. I have to admit, I wasn't prepared for the unique group gathered at Olivet this past Wednesday. The group is a pretty rad bunch of students, but they presented me with new challenges. I'll have to admit that it was a little discouraging at first, but now I'm quite grateful for the opportunity to grow as I see the LORD for guidance in this area of my ministry.

We had a youth event planned for Saturday, but it got changed at the last minute on account of the weather. Still we had a fun time with a mall scavenger hunt, movie time, and lots of pool (turns out I am horrible at pool).

I enjoyed four evenings of climbing this weekend, and celebrated my new status as a route setter with a new bouldering route for the gym. I also did some work on my home and put in a few new pieces of furniture. I also finally bought a copy of The Message for teaching and for my personal devotional reading.

I learned two things this week (apart from all the information I gathered during our mall game). The first is that a skillet breakfast at Rainbow Grill is not a good start to the day. The second is that while the movie Bolt might be entertaining for some people, the majority of people will find it absurd....

It wasn't all fun and games however, as Lauren's mom passed away this weekend. Please pray for Lauren and her family as they go through this valley. I would also appreciate prayer for me in regards to my ministry for Jr. High. I also would like your prayers for our praise band as we will be practicing new songs with some new instruments for Sunday.

Found a weakness,
-B

Chapter VIII: Welcome Home

You know that week before exams? You know....study, prepare, research, write...It's actually more work than the finals themselves. That's how it was for me this past week....

And I loved it!

Yesterday was our annual "Kick-Off Sunday" which marks the beginning of our Fall programming. This meant that my week was full of last minute preparations for brunches, small groups, and weekly meetings. I spent a lot of time planning my first lesson, and it felt great to dive into the Word in a theological mindset and discover God's lessons.

Logged a lot of hours at the climbing gym this week, but I also got a chance to rest. One could call my weekend "the calm before the storm." Friday was spent at Grand Haven planning a youth trip and taking pictures. Saturday brought some muddy ultimate frisbee, and Sunday brought the first win for the Chicago Bears.

I learned a very important lesson this weekend during Celebration on the Grand. As I sat with my friend listening to a blues band downtown Grand Rapids, I recognized the level to which I had been serenaded by Western Michigan. I didn't realize how much the LORD had in store for me when He brought me here. I really have fallen in love with this place. Fallen in love with my job. Fallen in love with my church.

Fallen in love with home.

I know I keep saying how much I enjoy living here, but it really hit me hard this weekend. Today I spent some time at the DMV, and I can now say that I am officially a Michigander (which means I will support the Lions, AFTER the Bears)

Our first youth meeting was last night, and it went well. We enjoyed some games some learning, and some snacks. Our brunch yesterday also went really well, and the food was great.

However, today was rough....

I got word from a friend that her mom didn't have much time left. This news literally put a stop to my day. I couldn't focus on a whole lot for the rest of the afternoon. It has forced me to rely on the LORD for strength.

In the praying world, I would appreciate if you could focus your efforts towards our youth group, specifically our Jr. High which meets for the first time ever this Wednesday. I would also like prayer for the Verdon family as they are handling this rough news regarding her mother.

Home at last,
-B

Chapter VII: The Weekend

Again, I apologize for not sticking to my normal schedule of updating on Mondays. So, this entry will simply cover Labor Day Weekend, and then next Monday will cover the week of September 6-12....

So this past weekend was pretty much the best weekend I have had in a long time. My three closest pals came up and spent the entire weekend with me. We did some rock climbing (I finally nailed a route with a difficult dyno that I have been working) and some disc golf, and of course, we played Halo. A few other highlights included a visit to Calvin, a bonfire filled with flour, two new computers donated to the church, and the purchasing of a movie for super cheap.

On a more serious note, this weekend made me realize how incredibly blessed I am in SO many ways. For instance, I have my dream job in a pretty ideal location. The LORD has been extremely good to me in providing such a wonderful opportunity. I have some AMAZING friends. These guys are like brothers to me. Having people like that to share life with is another tremendous blessing, and I don't thank the LORD enough for that. Finally, I realized how awesome my new church family is and I really should recognize that more often.

That's about all for the weekend, and as this isn't the most normal of entries, I will end it at that. Check again on Monday for the regularly schedule updates.

Recovering,
-B

Chatper VI: Up, Up, and Away!

First off, an apology for skipping two weeks of blog updates....So today ya'll get two for the price of one!

Week of August 15-21:
Went pretty well, this week was primarily occupied by two things. First off was the preparations for my climbing trip this past week. Second off was my first time leading a praise band at church. That praise band was mighty fine, and, as our bassist had claimed, "We were the best praise band in church today!"....

Week of August 22-29:
Here's the tale of my journey to Colorado...
Wednesday was our day to hike in and set up our base camp in South Colony Basin. So we parked the truck at 9,500 ft. and hiked up to our base camp at 11,000 ft. It was a fabulous camp site with some nice sittin' spots and Barbara was able to rig up a nice kitchen shelter with some seats and table made out of logs.

Thursday was the big day. Little did I know it would be one of the most challenging days of my life. We were up and on the trail before the sun and headed up to summit the Creston Needle, a class 3 mountain at 14,200 ft. It was an awesome climb, very senic, and very hard. The majority of the climb was scrambling, and the later half of that climb was so steep that it was difficult to find spots for multiple people to sit and rest. We made the summit around 1:00 amidst hail and with the company of some Georgia climbers....took our pictures (of course the monkey hogged all the shots), and started down. 6,000 vertical feet and 15 hours round trip and I had bagged my first 14er...The day had been very rewarding and fun, but also extremely demanding and quickly ranked as the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

We all slept in on Friday, and most of our climbing party was really sore, so I decided to climb the other mountain on our list, Humboldt Peak by myself. It was a really enjoyable climb, and after about 5 hours I had returned with my second 14er under my belt, and I had successfully summited a mountain solo. Being solo had some advantages and disadvantages. I had a great chance to hang with the LORD and I was able to climb at my own pace, take rests (and a nap on the mountain), and take plenty of pictures. The disadvantage was that I couldn't get a second opinions on route finding, and a simple ankle sprain could have stranded me on the mountain for a day or two. Ended Friday with a group meal of Tortilla Soup (Bear Creek makes awesome backpacker food)

Saturday came around and none of us were ready to leave (especially the "Little U") so we took our sweet time. But eventually we said goodbye to our new made friends (some climbers from Georgia and our neighboring camp-mates from Oklahoma), hiked down to the truck, and enjoyed a sweet sweet lunch in Westcliffe (burgers are SO good after a half week of pastas and dehydrated meals).

Overall, the trip was amazing. Trying to desribe it is just like trying to photograph it, there are so many things to take in, but no way to capture it all. We met TONS of cool people, had the best weather the Basin has ever seen (including moons so bright that it lit up the mountains). And next to no injuries. Overall, the LORD kept us safe and provided us with a great trip. He really did give me a chance to get up and away for a bit before the Fall started.

In the world of prayers, I want to thank the LORD forgiving me an awesome opportunity to climb and keeping me safe. It would be great if you could pray for the high school and college students as they go back to school and also keep our discipleship ministry in mind as we begin our Fall programming.

Refreshed and ready,
-B