In case you weren’t there, here’s a copy of the letter I read this morning in both services:

In September of 2006, my beautiful wife, Rachel, and I followed God’s calling on our lives to join the Westside Family, filling the role of Associate Pastor of Youth and Worship. In the almost three years that have followed, I have been given the privilege to serve with some of the kindest and most caring men and women that I have ever met. During this time, I have had the joy to serve under a senior pastor that has not only been a strong leader, an encouraging mentor, and dynamic visionary, but also a great friend and partner in the Lord’s ministry. It is a joy to have seen the collective youth and worship ministries and the individuals that are involved in those ministries grow in ways that we could not have foreseen. Though this growth has not always been easy, it has been incredibly rewarding. As Rachel and I reflect on this time that we have spent being a part of this family, we realize that these last three years will forever be remembered as some of our family’s greatest and most formative.

As a minister you have allowed me the joy to foster growth in your teenagers, but you have also given me the freedom to lead my own family. You cared for my wife and I throughout Rachel’s pregnancy and the birth of our son, Ezekiel, and you have welcomed him into this family without condition. I believe wholeheartedly that my family will be better off for having been a part of this family.

However, just as we believe that God called us to come here, we are now sensing God calling us away. For some time the calling on my heart has been to lead a congregation of God’s people much in the same way that Pastor Biz leads you. Over the years that I have been here, I have shared this desire with our Pastor and Elders, and they have been nothing short of encouraging through out this time of decision-making.

As we have been seeking God’s will for our next step, we have been introduced to a small church out of state that has been asking the Lord to send them a leader to help them move forward (much in the same way that Westside has moved forward in the past few years under Pastor Biz’s leadership). After much prayer and seeking Godly counsel, I have accepted the position of Lead Pastor at a church in Missouri. It is with a mix of both sadness and excitement that I inform you of my resignation as Associate Pastor of Westside Community Church, knowing that God has called us to move on.

I believe that great things are in store for both our family and the family at Westside. We certainly covet your prayers as we are beginning preparations to move our family in an attempt to follow the leadings of our Lord. Please also know that we will still be around for a short while and that we will be doing everything possible to empower leadership to take our place and to serve in our absence. We have already begun working with the youth volunteers to formulate a plan for the remainder of the summer and the coming school year, and I believe wholeheartedly that the volunteers that have been trained over the past few years are capable of continuing to foster spiritual growth not only your children but also the teenagers in the surrounding community. The ministry here at Westside is in capable hands.

Thank you for the opportunity to have served in a place that so very obviously blessed by the Lord. Again, we will still be around for a little while longer, and we certainly are looking forward to spending time with you before we make our transition. You have been such a blessing to our family. Thank you for being excited for us as we take this next step in the journey to which God has called us. We look forward to hearing about your next steps as well.  You will remain in our prayers, and it is our hope that we would remain in yours. Thank you.

I know that is a bit long, but it’s all true. We are looking forward to spending time with as many people as we can before we leave. So, be sure to call (or tweet) and let us know what time you’ve got open. Hey, we’ll even let you pay for dinner (aren’t we sweet?).

Before I sign off, we’ll be sitting down and talking through this at length with our Middle School youth on Wednesday. It may be a rough time for many of them, so your prayers are greatly appreciated. More info to come. Stay tuned.

I’m pretty pumped to get to go see Transformers 2 (I know, I haven’t seen it yet. I’m lame.), but that excitement in no way whatsoever compares with how excited I was to see 101 Dalmatians. At first glance animated puppies hardly compare to CGI alien robots that can turn into cars, right? But then why did I lose sleep over the anticipation of seeing that movie almost 20 years ago? And why is it that Transformers 2 came out last week and I still haven’t seen it?

I think it’s because I no longer have the sense of wonder about movies that I used to. And what’s sad it that the same thing happens with roller coasters, going to the beach, and playing baseball with only 3 people (”ghostman on second!”). The more we do these things, the most familiar with them we become. The more familiar we are, the less interested we become. It’s a vicious downward spiral that’s almost inescapable.

(For those of you who know where this is going, here’s where I go ahead and put the “Jesus Spin” on it)

So then, how often does this downward spiral manage to kill off our excitement for the Divine? Though it’s sometimes hard to remember, every once in a while, I find myself thinking about what it was like to pursue God when I was in middle school. I didn’t know half of what I know now about God or the Bible, but I think it’s safe to say that I was twice as excited (most of the time). Don’t get me wrong, that desire is still there. The excitement is still there. It’s just that now I have to purposefully ignite that fervor where it used to happen spontaneously. I guess that’s why we’ve put so much stock in daily spiritual disciplines such as praying, Bible study, and keeping a journal. Perhaps these things are simply to serve as a reminder that we need to be more excited than we are. God hasn’t changed. We’ve just become more familiar with Him.

It’s at times like these, that I’m really glad I had a video camera on the day that Zeke got his first balloon. He’s just so excited. I’d imagine that when he’s 24 he’ll be quite a bit less excited over silly things like balloons, but it’s my hope that he’ll still find ways to get excited about those things that deserve his time and attention. Enjoy:

Zeke’s First Balloon from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

Again, this may make me the biggest nerd on the planet, but last Thursday, I sat in line for two hours before the opening of Star Trek on IMAX in Orlando. The movie was awesome (but you probably know that already), and the popcorn was over priced (but you certainly know that already). But to be honest, the only thing better than seeing the movie on a screen that’s taller than 8 of myself standing on top of each other (which, on a side note, would take way more balance than any of the 8 of us have) was the overwhelming presence of everyone’s favorite Trekkies.

Sure, I grew up watching my fair share of Star Trek, and I’ve seen most (if not all) of the movies, but I would have never even considered wearing my Star Fleet pajamas (not that I have any) to the premier of a movie. I’d consider myself an enthusiast at best, but these guys were absolutely sold out in every way. It wasn’t if they’d wear these costumes, it was when.

Well, all that got me pondering. What exactly in this world am I that pumped about that I’d be willing to put public opinion to the wayside and let my “true colors” shine? I guess the standard answers really should be my Savior and my wife, and trust me, I’ve had more than one occasion to look like a fool for both, and I certainly plan on doing it again real soon, but if you had asked me 2 years ago if I’d feel the same way about a 2 1/2 foot tall person, I probably would have thought you were crazy… which leads me to my next story.

There we were celebrating Mother’s Day as any good Australian (no, we’re not from the land down under) couple should by sitting down for an elegant meal at Outback, when our little man, Zeke, figured out when he hears music, it’s fun to rock back and forth in his high chair waiving his arms wildly. Now, I know what you’re thinking, right? Any good parent from the 1950s would say that children should be seen and not heard and that we should have used this opportunity to teach our son about table manners and how to act appropriately in public, right? Well, we decided that the opposite would be waaaaay more fun and started waiving our arms wildly in the air to whatever Proclaimers song (is there more than one?) happened to be playing at the time.

And then it hit me. I may not be willing to put on Spock ears and wear my Star Fleet cadet uniform, but I am willing to accept the wierd looks from the table next to us as long as my little goober know that his dad loves him. Well, anyway that’s my rant for the day. Enjoy the rest of what’s left of it (the day, not the rant).

P.S. Don’t worry. The picture is just blurry, not our faces.

First off, for your viewing pleasure, we have a glimpse into the morning of Zeke’s birthday:

Zeke’s First Birthday Morning from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

Then, of course, here’s the ceremonial eating (sort of) of his first birthday cake:

Zeke’s First Birthday Party from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

And last, but not least, here’s a video of our tiny guy learning to walk by holding on to a chair as I pull it across our living room. Enjoy

Zeke Walking-Ish from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

Zeke’s Baby Dedication from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

And, just for kicks, here’s a (really) short video of him using the couch to help him walk…

Zeke Walking on the Couch from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

April 5, 2009 from Josh Boldman on Vimeo.

So I see that it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, so let me just list off a few things that have happened since my last post:

• A good friend and colleague passed away suddenly, leaving all of us at the church in a state of shock. We still miss him terribly, but the peices (and there are many) are actually starting to come back together a little bit at a time.
• My sister got punched in the face (I know, right? I wasn’t expecting to type that either). In return for letting someone punch her in the face (although she put up quite a fight, I hear), she received a broken nose and two black eyes. She’s getting better, but still.
• All three of us (Rachel, Zeke, and myself) have been horribly sick at one point or another. Actually we were all sick at the same time on one day in particular. If given the option, we choose to never, never, never be sick again. Plus, I can’t quite decide what’s worse… a) being able to run to the bathroom when you start to feel sick, or b) not being able to run to the bathroom because you’re 10 months old and haven’t even learned to walk yet.
• American Idol started again. Yeah, this list was starting to sound pretty dismal, so I figured I’d just go with the theme and pick the saddest thing I could think of. Sorry.

So needless to say, things have certainly been a rollercoaster ride recently. As I said, things at the church are getting better, and I’ve got quite a bit more responsibility now, as I’m taking charge of the Disicpleship and Outreach ministries that have been left without leadership in the wake of our dear friend’s passing. To be honest, it’s already been quite a challenge. I’m much more used to dealing with Middle Schoolers, but now I’m leading groups of their parents. Different indeed, but at least the parent’s smell better .

I want to go ahead and apologize for what I just did. I just used a colon “:” and a parenthesis “)” to make a smiley face. I’m not 11 years old, and I’m not texting my bff. I’m truly sorry for having done that.

There is much to say on the state of where Rachel and I (and Zeke) are heading in regards to church planting and whatnot, but if I got into it now, there would be that much less to write about tomorrow (or three months from now, which seems to be the pattern that has emerged).

Until next time, which will hopefully be soon.

Where to start, where to start? Well, I guess I’ll begin with the picture of Zeke that you see about 35 pixels above this sentence. This, of course, was Zeke’s first Christmas, which, by all acounts was fairly memorable. It started, as it should have, with us taking Zeke to the mall for his first encounter with a morbidly obese man in a red suit that hasn’t shaved in about 7 years. I was thinking the same thing that you’re thinking now: What could go wrong with that?

Well, it wasn’t but about two seconds before Zeke realized that the man whose lap he was sitting on was not in fact his father, which led him to a mild nuclear (I would have said nuke-u-lar, but I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I was running for President or Vice President on the Republican ticket in 2012) meltdown. The picture you see above was one of 5 that we took, and it was, by far, the best (so you can just imagine what the other 4 looked like).

Then, we continued our Christmas adventure by celebrating Christmas Eve with my parents and sister on Christmas Eve at our yearly Christmas Eve service at church. It was actually very nice, except Zeke (and about 14 1/2 other infants) decided to show off his vocal skills throughout the entire sermon… from the second row. It was entertaining to say the very least.

Christmas Eve came and went, which means that our favorite red suited overeater (may he just has a glandular problem) visited just in time for Zeke to open his presents on Christmas morning, which more or less consisted of very little paper tearing and quite a bit of drooling, but hey, he’s got the rest of his life to figure that one out, right? Overall, it was an extremely pleasant morning. We figured nothing could ruin it. We even spent the afternoon and early evening with my inlaws, and it honestly went better than we could have expected.

Then we came home.

Perhaps we had counted our chickens too early. Perhaps we got too far ahead of ourselves. Perhaps we put the cart before the ox (or is it a horse?). Which ever sounds best, we did it. Literally seconds after had we gotten home and put Zeke to bed, we started commenting about how great the day had gone, when it happened. Rachel said the words that still send a chill down my spine…

“There’s a rat on my coffee table!”

Yep, that’s right, we had a rat in our apartment. Now, before you get yourselves too far ahead of the cart (or the ox… or the horse), know that the rat in our apartment was not due to our own uncleanliness (which I don’t think is a word). It, we later found out, got in from a giant crack in the foundation of the building that just so happens to be underneath our kitchen.

Well, after two days and $50 zillion in rat traps and bait, we ended up moving to a new apartment. Oh, and if any of you might mistakenly think that those “sticky” rat traps do anything, here’s a quick snapshot to prove the opposite. It’s a picture of a rat climbing on top of a sticky trap in order to boost himself (or herself… I’m so politically correct) back into his (or her) underground lair (I would have said “fortress of solitude,” but I thought that was giving the rat too much credit).

So, anyways, it has been an exceptionally busy and eventful Christmas season, but now that we’re moved into a new apartment, I’m hoping that the new year will be both peaceful and rodent-free.

Also, on Dec 28th, I was priveledged enough to be able to preach at our church. If you’re interested in watching the video, just check out the “Great Videos” section of this site.