Chaotic but Awesome weekend

Nothing like jumping right in and getting my feet wet. Wed. Night was the first jr. high which was a blast, and Thursday was Third Day which was also very fun. This weekend we had a jr. high retreat. It was the covenant church pacific northwest wide retreat and it was a blast. It was at lake retreat, and it was awesome being able to go and hang out and not worry about program. It was a good chance for me to meet a bunch of the jr. highers. I've got all of the people that went name's down so that's a cool thing!!! Had some great conversations with the guys also. It was cool that I also saw a couple unexpected people. Saw a guy from SPU, and saw Chris (The Armstrong Cousin) He helps out with the jr. high at his church.

Tonight was high school youth group. It went well. I didn't think I'd be nervous but I was. It was the first night that I was the guy in charge. There was no fall back guy, it was me. I don't think I relaxed all night, but it went well. It was neat having Ben there. He didn't do anything up front but it was cool to get the your doing great and relax type commetns. Very encouraging! I think things went well, but it got chaotic for me. Tech stuff didn't work at the beginning, and there was just a lot going on at once, but it was good! My talk went wel also. I'm just excited about the group, they're a great group of teens!

I'm also starting to set up stuff with groups outside of church too, which is awesome! I know I'm going with a group to the mxpx, relient K concert and I think more stuff like that will happen.

Prayer Requests

That I can lead the leaders, and get on the same page with them and that this transition continues to be smooth.

Don't know if the BPPC people have any updates but pray for the ruperts as last I heard they had evacuated from Hurricane Rita.

Thanks all for praying!

Brad

Getting Settled

Greetings from Olympia/Lacey. I've been down here 2 1/2 days and things are going as great as I could've expected. Everyone seems relaly happy that I'm here, which is an awesome thing! Met High Schoolers last Friday at a BBQ then had the first High School Group (Crew) Sunday night. It was awesome just to hang out, and meet a whole bunch of people. There was a Q-A time and it was a lot of fun. Lots of great questions, and I earned major points with liking MxPx and SPU. Monday and Tuesday seem like pretty typical office days. GOt everything settled in. It's a nice big office, lots of room for furniture and that type of stuff. Wednesdays are typically long days. There's normally an early morning Bible Study but this morning was See You at the Pole. It was cool being at North Thurston High and being on campus for a few. Tonight is my first step into Area 51 (jr. high youth group). I'm excited to get to know all of them as well. Tomorrow I'm teaming with another leader and taking a group to Third Day, so that'll be awesome =) So far the transition has been great, just keep praying that it goes well in the next few weeks and continues as Ben leaves as well. We have a jr. high retreat this weekend, so it'll be a great chance to get to know them! Things are great!

Brad

It's Official!!!

I am officially the interim youth director at River Ridge Covenant Church in Olympia! I'm very excited for this great new opportunity. I'll be at Boulevard Sunday Morning, and start in Olympia Sunday evening. Pray for this transition time and all the details, particularly housing! I'm going to keep this page up and running so I still get to keep in contact with all of you. Feel free to comment!

Brad

Info

No real answers to report, but I did hear from the church in Lacey/Olympia, and I'm the only person they're talking too. They have a congregational meeting next Wednesday and there they will decide at what level they are looking to hire someone and I'll hear from them next Thursday and go from there!

My prayer is that I can continue to trust God in this limbo time and not get freaked out with worrying the next week!

Also be praying for Boulevard's Boot Camp this weekend that a lot of kids will bring their friends and it will be a great outreach camp!

Update

Had my lunch meeting today with the church in Olympia. I think it went really well, the process gets tougher as I go along with tougher questions, but I think I presented myself well. I liked the sr. pastor and the council members that I met. it's looking like it's going to be a good fit. They should have some answers next week about what everything will look like, and if I'm the guy. Let's hope and pray it works out!

Brad

Lunch

I'm still in limbo mode, but have another meeting with the church in Lacey tomorrow. I'm meeting with the sr. pastor and 2 council members. I think things are looking good, but still no gaurantees.

Also if people still read this be praying about seminary as well. The class supposedly starts tomorrow but I haven't heard back from the lady that does all the registration so I'm not quite sure what's going on there.

I'll keep this updated if anything changes.

Limbo

I made it home and now I'm in limbo mode. I had my second interview in Olympia yesterday. It went really well. They're still unsure of what things are going to look like, but I think the chances of me being there are pretty high, just not sure when or in what capacity yet.

I've also decided to take a Seminary class this fall. I'm taking an online class as a non-degree student, and will transfer once I get in and am a degree student in spring semester. I'm really excited about doing that, and going down that track.

I'm back home and around, and hope to see everyone if I haven't already!