Chapter XXIII: Dear Michigan

I know...a day late...I'm sure this is hard to handle given my amazing track record of punctual updates. (This was a day late when I wrote it, but apparently it didn't publish right away).

The funny thing about this post is that instead of an update for Illinois from Michigan, it's for my Michigander family from Illinois....Props to those of you who understood that.

SO...for those of you Michiganders...

Christmas vacation for me meant visiting my family and friends from my hometown of Rockford, Illinois. While I hate the city itself, the people I spent my week with are pretty awesome. I got to swing dance, ice fish, rock out, shop, play video games, and eat.

Lots of eating.

And the best part is the cooler full of leftovers I was sent back with.

My favorite part was the visiting with old family and friends...Some of whom I hadn't seen for 2 or 3 years. It's amazing how much more drastic change seems to be when you see it all at once instead of a year long process. Most of my friends and family seem to change so much every time I see them, and I wonder if I change just as much throughout the year.

Not a whole lot of meat or potatoes to this update (I ate most of those over the weekend), so I'll leave the Michiganders in my life with this thought...

Illinois as more snow than you. And a better NFL team....Ouch.

Writing from home to home,
-B

Chapter XXII:Closing Time

The parting of the Red Sea. Healing of Sick. Military victories. Creation. The Resurrection. The LORD has done some miraculous things. His latest?

Getting me through my first semester as a youth pastor.

My new church family accepted me as both a friend and leader. They have made west Michigan feel like home. And they've fed me quite a lot of food. Basically, most of the LORD's support throughout the semester came from their hands, calls, cards, cookies, and kitchens.

As this past week progressed, I wished "Merry Christmas" to many of my students and friends as we all scattered for Winter Break. As we gathered for one last class/meeting/meal/game for the semester, one could feel a heightened sense of energy from everybody. This was most noticeable in the High School students though....especially at last night's Ugly Sweater Party.

This week also saw the Twelve Strings of Christmas. This benefit concert hosted by myself, John, and Amy (she made cookies...lots of cookies) was attended by roughly 30 people and raised over 60 dollars for ACCESS Food Pantry. The music was decent and the show was really fun. John and I had a blast putting it together and look forward to a repeat next year. But our show was definitely upstaged by another group this weekend;

The Olivet Children's Christmas program.

During our service yesterday, the little kids (with some help) told the Christmas story. In addition to being absurdly cute and hilarious, the program served as an awesome reminder to our congregation that we are a family. It was awesome to see different age groups come together to lay our worship at the feet of the King.

Looking ahead, I'll be heading back to Northern Illinois for the holidays. It'll be great to see my family. Especially my little brother and dog since I haven't seen them in 6 months. I am excited for a few days away from work and the opportunity to recharge my batteries. I ask for your prayers for travel as many people are heading home for the holidays.

It's been a great five months in Michigan, and I look forward to more. This semester was a blast and we all learned a lot about our faith as well as each other. But this semester is over. And while it's closing time for this half of the school year, the next half looks even brighter!

Grateful for the past,
-B

PS This week's picture isn't mine. Credit goes to the talented Katie Groeneveld for the photography

Chapter XXI: Iowa

My apologies for a late blog update. In addition to a lack of motivation, I struggled to find a way to describe the past week. It was an average week, not great but not bad, and that's why it was an Iowa Week.

For those of you who have driven from the mid-west out to Colorado or someplace awesome, you know there's one thing you have to do first. Drive through Iowa. The corn-filled state of Iowa isn't horrible, but it's not great. It's just something you have to get through.

And that's how my week was.

It was a decent week who's sole purpose was to be a stepping stone for the week after it. There wasn't much special about this past week. It just had to happen so that we could get to the next one.

The weekend was fun in the sense that it was literally filled with nothing but climbing, Halo Reach, and burgers.

Lots of burgers.

You see, we (Andy and myself) love burgers. We wanted to find the best recipe. So 5 lbs of beef, 16 burgers, and 8 different recipes later, we were full of both meat and knowledge. Over the course of the weekend, we tried out unique burger ideas such as nacho, pizza, and chili. After an intense tasting and rating process, we found a winner. The Teriyaki Burger.

If you want the recipe, I'd be glad to share.

I'd also like to share something I've been struggling with for the past week or two. As mentioned above, I'm feeling a lack of motivation. I'm growing weary of the same schedule. Basically, I'm facing the early warning signs of burn-out. Part of the problem comes from self reliance. I am working to seek my strength from God and not myself. I am working to let God work through me instead of me working for God. I am working on letting God drive through Iowa.

Bored with corn,
-B

Chapter XX: Has It Really Been 20 Weeks?

The last time I wrote you, there was no snow on the ground. Unfortunately, there still isn't much on the ground. Michigan has thus far been a disappointment in the snow department. So much for the intense "lake effect snow"....

I'm really starting to get into the Christmas spirit. The combination of snow, advent liturgies, and Christmas music has really put me into a holiday mood. As a result...I have invested a fair amount of time and money into decorating my house...FALSE. I show my Christmas cheer through music. Our church went caroling on Friday, and believe it or not, it was my first caroling experience...I've also been doing a lot of arranging of Christmas songs. In preparation for our benefit concert in a few weeks, I have been putting together a lot of music.

For some reason, it already feels like December is nearly over. Christmas is quickly approaching, and as usual, I haven't even started my shopping. Looks like another year of heading out a day or two before Christmas to find presents for my family. Why does it always seem that something as joyful as gift giving turns into a stressful habit? Perhaps a year without Christmas presents might do us all good.

In other news, we brought on the final member of our new band, Misfit Plaid and will begin practicing in January. I also took second place in the intermediate division at a climbing competition this weekend. And I also think I'm getting the hang of lindy-hop (type of swing dance).

Even better news: Our church officially has an interim pastor who will begin working part time this week. I'm very thankful for the work that he's going to put in here, but I'm even more thankful for somebody to be here to back me up on some of my decisions.

That's really about all there was to last week...To be honest, I don't really have a whole lot of motivation right now to do much, so I'll just ask for your continued prayers for our church and call it a day...

Time flies,
-B

Chapter XIX: It's Almost Here

Something seems different now. Something has changed in the past week. Things aren't the same as they were the last time we spoke.

I'm not sure what exactly has changed, but the LORD has done something in my life over the past week. It's one of those times when I can look back at the Brian Boucek of last week and thank God for the difference between the two of us.

In addition to a lot more facial hair (Almost done with No-Shave-November), this past week has given me a sense of maturity. The combination of successfully organizing my first fundraiser and preaching a difficult message to a critical congregation has aged me more than just a few days.

While this week was busy, I loved every moment of it. The Chili Cook-off went really well (although a chowder recipe won the contest) as we had a great turn out and raised a lot of money.

Our Thanksgiving service went really well, and I hope to replicate the same intimacy, simplicity, and comfort of that service for our regular Sunday morning meetings. I was blessed enough to spend the actual meal with a few families from our church, and the food was good enough to offset the depression of another loss for the Lions.

My sermon went over better than expected. While I am very appreciative of the congregation's support and encouragement, I have to give credit to the Holy Spirit. From the start of the planning process to the closing prayer of my message, the Spirit's hand was upon me.

The Spirit didn't stop there though. His hand seems to be much heavier the past few days as our church is starting to come to a crucial moment. As discussions continue and people voice their opinions, it is becoming clear that something is going on. Something is going to happen. Something is going to changet.

A few other highlights from this week included some new guitar gear via the Black Friday madness, a first time ever climb of a 5.12 route, a new friend, reunion with some old friends, some great pictures of downtown, and a clean house.

Looking to the future, December is going to be an awesome month filled with Christmas concerts, Christmas caroling, Christmas parties, Christmas music....pretty much just Christmas in general.

As mentioned above, our church is reaching that crucial moment when something big happens. Please continue to pray for our church family, and pray for the interim pastor candidate as he discern's God's will for his involvement with our church. That's really about it for now, so hang loose, pray hard, and keep lovin' life.

Eager with anticipation,
-B

Chapter XVIII: A Whole Lot of Ministry

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

Chapter XVII: Bring It On

For those of you faithful few who keep up with my blogs from week to week, the build up mentioned last week has begun to fully sink in. For those of you who are fair weather readers, I am talking about a build up of things I haven't gotten around to doing yet (or have put off).

Anyways, the combination of special holiday services, fundraiser dinners, and church events have got my calender almost as full as my brain. In addition to these seasonal happenings, our church is beginning to look at some new changes, most of which revolve around our worship services. So things are starting to get somewhat busy (keyword: "somewhat"... I'm not overwhelmed or anything).

Folks, I have to be honest here.

I like it.

I enjoy doing these sorts of things.

Planning, contacting, preparing.
Studying, researching, thinking.

Asking questions, surveying congregation members, listening to people's ideas and concerns. It's all part of what I do here and it's all awesome. My work load has increased, but not uncomfortably. I'm using my God-given gifts to help lead His people, and nothing could be more fulfilling. I like being busy.

Does this mean I'm crazy?....I hope so.

Had a bit of a rough patch on Tuesday night, but the LORD used that to draw me closer. Our Wednesday Neighbor Night went really well this week, with both a good turn out and good food. Spent a lot of time working with music this weekend, and I got to travel up to Big Rapids to visit Cran Hill Ranch (where I will hopefully be working as a chaplain for a week or two in the summer).

Yesterday was really awesome. The service was good, and the cookies rocked my morning (in a good way), but the highlight for me was the discussion in Sunday School. Roughly 30 of the members combined for class this week, and we made some awesome progress in talking through our differences.

We're beginning to embrace our diversity in an effort to unify.

Our church is looking at so many changes, and faces so many challenges, and yet I continue to feel the guiding hand of the LORD daily as we journey through this process.

For the first time ever, I don't have any new prayer requests. Things are good and God is faithful. Of course our church needs prayer as we are in a challenging time, but hopefully you're praying for that already.

Embracing my challenges,
-B