Chapter XIV: On Our Own

As promised...A punctual blog update....miracles do happen.

The word to describe this week:

Thankful.

Throughout the week, I was constantly reminded of how blessed I am and how the LORD has watched over me. On Friday I got to spend the evening fishing, relaxing, and hanging out with John, and it made me realize that the LORD has given me great peace in every aspect of my life.

Additionally, my parents came up to visit, and they continually reminded me of how proud and impressed with my current situation....I cannot thank the LORD enough for how far He has brought me and all that He has given me...because without Him, I'm nothing.

This week came with two new Grand Rapids discoveries: The B.O.B (a great restaurant downtown) and the backwoods lake out in Allendale where I went fishing.

On a more ecclesiastic note...today marks the first day of our church family being without a senior pastor. Already, our staff (now just myself and the secretary) is discovering all the details that our pastor normally handled. I imagine that our congregation and church leadership will all be stepping up in the coming weeks to "fill the gap" of our pastor.

Which will be awesome.

I imagine our church will become more caring. More united. More involved. I imagine members caring for members. Lay people doing pastoral care. Elders preaching and praying.

Basically, our people are going to be empowered.

They will become the hands and feet of God.

I imagine our interim pastor will help the process, but until that time, we'll be seeking leadership from our own ranks. And that's where I'd ask for prayer. Specifically, I need prayer as I have already taken on a few new responsibilities, and I fear I might take on too much.

Holding down the fort,
-B

Chapter XIII: Looking Ahead

I would apologize for this post being two days late, but you're all probably used to that happening. Last time though...We'll get back on track next week Monday.

This past week was pretty awesome. Met a few cool people both at swing dance and the laundromat (I love doing laundry there). Also started connections with a new lead guitarist for our band.

Saturday was our guys/gals retreat and it was a blast! The guys went disc golfing while the gals hung out at church planning an ambush for the boys (they soaked everyone except me....wise choice ladies). We then gathered for some guy vs. girl games (we let the girls win) and finished off the night with pizza and a bonfire (still have bruises from wrestling students on the beach)

Also had my buddies Andy and Paul come up, and got in some sweet climbing time with them. This included flashing two new 5.11's (the next level of difficulty for me).

Praise band played on Sunday, and it went pretty well (especially "Sweetly Broken"). We also had a town-hall meeting where we discussed the current pastoral situation. And I have one word to describe my feelings towards this:

Excited.

Don't get me wrong. I love our pastor and all that he's done for our church and myself. But his departure presents our church with an amazing opportunity to facilitate some necessary change. Within the next few weeks, a part-time interim pastor will be leading the Olivet family, and hopefully guiding us through the process of discerning God's will for our church.

Additionally, this change is exciting because it is going to offer (force?) everybody in our congregation a chance to step up and make this ministry their own. I am hoping that this lack of pastoral leadership will make our family see that we function as a body...everybody has a part in everything.

Prayer stuff: Focus all of your efforts on our church as we are going through this adventurous time between pastors.

Looking forward to moving forward,
-B

Chapter XII:

My apologies for another delayed blog...I blame my lack of self discipline...

Pretty sweet week. Went swing dancing for the first time since moving to Grand Rapids. Pretty fun. The highlight of my week was Friday. I spent the afternoon biking all the way downtown to check out some Art Prize. It was really great to spend some alone time riding around the city, looking at art, and taking some pictures.

Got offered the position as a lead guitarist for a Christian rock band, but decided to decline the offer. I recognized the need for me to manage my time, and this band wasn't a part of that. Along with this decision, came the inspiration to begin working on a new musical project as I am forming a band and pursuing some new music that I'm not as familiar with.

Injured my finger climbing during the week. But it happens....

Went camping for a night with two of my buddies. Then spent Saturday climbing and disc golfing with Andy....it was good.

Finished reading the book "Who Stole My Church"....really good, and it's amazing at how much it has to say to our congregation.

Our pastor made the decision to accept the call in New York...which means that as of October 25th, we won't have a senior pastor. It's going to be a challenge for all of us, including me....

But I'm up to the challenge.

Continued prayer for the Baron family as they are moving. Also prayer for our church family as we are going through the transition between pastors. That's about all for this week. Again, apologies for the late and not terribly creative post.

Coasting through the week,
-B

Chapter XI: Crazy World, Crazy Smells

The last 7 days have been very interesting, filled with all sorts of new things and quite a few lessons.

To begin with, I turned 23 this past Tuesday, and I've realized that I have gotten to the point in my life where birthdays just aren't as exciting. I don't get any new freedoms with my new age. However, I did receive many a wish and card from friends, and I am always reminded every year of how blessed I am. I can't thank the LORD enough for giving me yet another year of life.

I also went through my first band audition, and I gotta be honest...it was a TON of fun. I played really well and enjoyed the company of other musicians. I also got together with some guy on Thursday and jammed a bit with him downtown. Again, quite a lot of fun.

Our Jr. High night seemed to go really well, and I feel like I'm finally connecting with some of the students. Our Sr. High ministry is also going really well as the Spirit is bringing the students deeper and deeper into the Word. And to top it off, it would appear as though our ministry is growing! A new face here and a new face here! It's amazing to see God bringing people into the church!

All in all, my actual week seemed to be very draining and I was exhausted by the end of it. This lead to the downer of my week; the weekend. I spent some time with Jr. High at the frolf course (awesome), and I put in some time at the climbing gym (also awesome), but for the majority of the weekend, I did three things.

Sleep.
Movies.
Futurama.

Late Sunday night, God sorta took me by the shoulders and said "Hey! Fool! Get off your butt and stop wasting your life!" I pretty much spent a weekend doing nothing, and that's not OK....I need to dial back on the naps a bit. I mean, I had darn near three days to go see ArtPrize, a world renown (free) art fair located 15 minutes away, and didn't. That's just wasteful.

It seemed like a jumbled up week, which makes for a jumbled up blog. So now it's time for a few less organized random thoughts from this past week:

-I still love the Bears
-Climbing shoes: Buy for comfort, not performance
-Molly (my fish) seems to be dying and floats sideways and does flips...but hasn't died yet...pretty strange
-The character "Black Widow" from Iron Man 2 is very pretty
-I cleaned my house! Yay!
-Discovered a new favorite Psalm (its actually found in 2 Chronicles)
-Watched some "LOST"....really miss that show
-Hair cut...not easy to do by yourself, but far more rewarding

The upside to all of this is that life goes on. Crazy stuff happens, and that's what makes it life. While this wasn't the most coherent of weeks, it certainly did come with some unique experiences, and I am grateful for the lessons learned through living.

That's about it. As always, I have a few prayer requests to lay on ya. Continued pray for the Baron family would be great, as they will be making their decision this week as to where Josh is to pastor. Pray also for a friend in Washington as they are going through a tough time right now.

Livin' and learnin'
-B