I don't mean to brag, but I've now gone an entire month without a late post...It's perfectly acceptable to applause.
This punctual update means that it's been 7 days since I last spoke (wrote?) with you, but it's felt a lot longer. Three lunch meetings, two climbing nights, and one crazy lock-in later, I'm still standing.
Met some new people on Tuesday night at swing dance, sent a few new routes at the climbing gym, and nearly finished a new song I've been working on. I broke a capo (thing used for a guitar), but I also got Rose (my acoustic) worked on a bit and now she sounds as pretty as she looks.
Our annual Fall Lock-In took place this weekend, and the turn out was great. With nearly two dozen students in attendance, we had fun with karaoke, games, Nerf guns, pizza, and a midnight Meijer dash.
Wednesday was a challenging day for me personally as I had to make some last minute changes to our Rake'n'run and I had to lay down some strong discipline at youth group. I find that it's much easier to love kids in a way that makes them smile as opposed to a way that makes them angry...But Christ wasn't about making people grin...He was about making them better.
On the flip side of the emotion coin, yesterday's worship service was simply awesome. The recently beefed-up worship band played/sang extremely well, and did so with an awesome amount of enthusiasm. The congregation worshiped with their voices and bodies throughout the service and the best part was the overwhelming sense of joy that filled the sanctuary.
Now ministry is not about numbers, but here are a few to summarize the week.
150 pies made at our annual Pie Baking Days
72 people at our weekly Neighbor Night (almost twice the usual!)
24 hours I went without sleep
22 students at our annual Fall Lock-In
9 pizzas devoured by hungry students on Friday night
6 songs used in worship on Sunday
3 new musicians added to our Worship Band
2 yards that are now leaf-free thanks to our High School students
1 guitar capo that will be sorely missed
Looking ahead, I've got four areas of focus for prayer. The first is our Chilli Cook-off. This fundraiser helps support the youth ministry and is starting to stress me out a little.
We also have our Thanksgiving service in a few days...something different but fun.
I am preaching to this congregation for the first time on Sunday. The sermon is titled "All You Need Is Love" and it isn't really started yet.
Lastly, our congregation has made a selection on an interim pastor, and he met with our staff this morning. He's still unsure whether or not to take the position, so please pray for us and him.
The days and weeks are flying by as we quickly approach December...and lately I've been doing a whole lot of this ministry thing. Approaching the four month mark on my time here in Grand Rapids and I can confidently say that all is well.
Still rockin' out,
-B
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