Finished third (out of 24 guys)!
This is my best finish in years, if not ever. Good times.
My friend Byron (yes, the Byron you prayed for and his cancer from last summer) took the championship. I am bitter because he gave me the queen twice in the finals. (I’m not really bitter, just playing around).
Congrats Byron. It was really a fun tournament.
Grace,
Brian
A great Saturday agenda.
Enough said.
Grace,
Brian
Please take a moment to praise the Lord with me! Yesterday Youthmark played host to 55 Youth Leaders at The Old Spaghetti Factory at Southcenter! This was a great turnout with high energy. A couple of the highlights in my eyes:
As a result, please pray for these three specific requests:
1. That Youth Leaders would seriously consider partnering with Youthmark (and that I would do a good job of following up with these churches and answering the questions they have).
2. That these Youth Leaders would pray for the Harvest Worker they named (and whom they committed to pray for).
3. That registrations would continue to come in for our last Lunch in Portland on Dec. 3. I’d love to see another large crowd for that lunch!
Thanks for your prayers and for your interest in the Aaby Family and Youthmark!
Grace,
Brian
Two big events are happening today! Though I’m very excited about the first, the Youth Leader lunch for the Puget Sound Youth Leaders (an opportunity for me to preview Youthmark Mission Ventures to nearly 60 folk), the second is a MUCH BIGGER event…
A very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my loverly Bride, Elisabeth! Woo-hoo!
Elisabeth is a blessing to many of you out there in the blogosphere (and beyond), she is a caring friend, a gifted writer, a comedian (seriously, have you read some of her posts?), and much more. However, as much of a blessing she is to you, that pales by comparison to the blessing she is to her family! The Lord is doing amazing things through this gal! She is such a great Mom… she cares for, thinks about, prays for and shepherds our kids in ways that simply astonish me. She is an example to the Mom’s around her! She is so supportive of her husband (hey, that’s me!). I am so blessed by her loving care and encouragement. She is so supportive and frees me up to pursue the things I am good/gifted to do. I know she prays for me, speak Truth to me and builds me up in the eyes of others! She’s the best!
She is wonderful sister, daughter, in-law and Auntie! Did you know that not only does she know all birthdays in the family (and those of her friends… and quite frankly many acquaintances), but for some freak of nature I think she has all of the ages, anniversaries and even telephone numbers memorized. Who does that? I digress. She is simply an amazing family member to both her immediate and extended family.
Don’t hesitate to comment on this post about the blessing you see/experience in Elisabeth, or perhaps even better, go to her Facebook and say something, shoot her an email or give her a quick call! She’ll be blessed!
Happy Birthday Elisabeth! I love you more and more each day.
And… you’re not old!
Grace,
Brian
Grace,
Brian
Thought I’d give you a quick glimpse at my week with this edition of “Top 5 Tuesday.” In the case you didn’t read yesterday’s post, it is far more important than this one, please scroll down, or just click here and do that first. I am in great need of your help with that one!
Besides the disciplining myself over the next few weeks to really go for it on the completion of the writing projects, I thought I’d give you a glimpse at the things that have me pretty excited. The criteria… as I look at my iCal, these are the things that perked some interest! Granted, some of these things are not actually on my iCal, but they showed up in my mind.
Without further ado, this list.
Five: Chillin’ on the Couch with Elisabeth (and time with the family). Because I have had to travel a bit this fall, the time at night catching up with Elisabeth has been precious. We are avid Survivor, The Office and Amazing Race fans. We still have a few episodes to catch up on (at least for AR). I cherish the down time with the family and look forward to at least an evening or two this week where I will get to wrestle with Will, cuddle with Audrey and play some checkers (iPhone) with Halle.
Four: Catch-up with old friends. I have several scheduled coffees/appointments that will have me sitting (or on the phone) with the likes of Barry, Eric, Micah, Miki, and Derek to name a few! I look forward to seeing/hearing what the Lord is doing in these lives.
Three: Hearts tournament! A tradition like none other… okay, a tradition line one other (because we do it twice a year). The Hearts tournament. This, the 18th annual (though I have only been playing for about the last 11) Tourney is with my good friend Frank. We do one tourney up north (Marysville area) and one down south (Renton area). This competition has seen anywhere from 16 to 36 men come together to compete to shoot the moon! If you know how to count cards and want to take some points, don’t hesitate to contact me to get in the tourney on Saturday.
Two (tie): Breakfast with John and Becky. Last year was a pretty interesting year, for the first time since college we actually had to choose a church to attend (rather than being hired by one). Well, we ended falling “in like” with a church w/o a Senior Pastor. Elisabeth and I both felt called to the church for a unique reason, we thought we may be used at that new church to serve as some sort of refuge to whomever the new Senior Pastor (and family may be). Well, here we are about six weeks into the new Senior Pastors calling to our church. We will be going out to breakfast with them this week and we look forward to developing that relationship and to see if what we thought we were called to do at Faith is in fact part of the reason we came?
Two (tie): Lunch with 45-50 Youth Leaders. This Thursday is my “back yard” Youth Leader lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Southcenter (which happens to be “new). I can’t believe that on my first draft I forgot to put this one in, though it was probably the primary thing I thought of when starting this list… it just slipped by. Having done six other lunches and one to com in Portland, I have to tell you, this is the ONE that I am the most excited about, simply because I don’t have to travel for it and because so many of my good friends in ministry will be in attendance!
One: Elisabeth’s Birthday Dinner! Though not confirmed as to the “for sure” time/date, it is a tradition for the Aabys and the Huffmans to go out to dinner. Brandon is the Youth Pastor at First EPC (where I once served as well) and his wife, Amanda, shares the same birthweek as Elisabeth. Brandon and I made this discovery several years ago and have taken that gals out to dinner at one of our favorite steak places every year since. So, off to JaK’s we go once again. This time to the Issaquah location. Happy birthday on the 19th to my wonderful wife!
So, there’s a glimpse at my down time. In order to take advantage of those special moments, I need your prayers for the disciplined times of writing. Again, if you haven’t taken a “shift” will you go to my previous post and sign up for a day (or more) to pray for the writing?
Grace,
Brian
With this post I want to “rally the troops” Are you willing to be one of troops? I hope so, please comment at the end!
I know that God delights in our prayers and I am hoping He will delight in your prayers on behalf of the writings for the training manuals, devotionals and foll0w-thru materials Youthmark will produce for the 2010 YMV’s.
One MAJOR area of emphasis we place on the training side of the mission trip is prayer. We encourage each participant to have 20+ prayer partners. Well, I’m looking for the same as I endeavor to get the majority of the writings completed for the 2010 YMV season in the next three weeks. Will you cover a day (or more) in prayer? There is no expectation as to what “covering” looks like, you make your prayer time what you want it to be for that day/those days.
From November 17-December 8, I plan to really “go for it” to get each of the below listed publications finished (they are all in various stages of completion).
On the Radar: As soon as each of the above are completed we turn our attention to RoadGrip, HomeBase and Merge for 2010.
How Can You Partner?
Will you sign up to be a primary prayer partner for any of the following days? I will update the list as folk commit to praying. In committing to pray for one (or more) of the days, I will do my best to shoot you a specific prayer request for that day (clueing you in on the specific project I am working on that day). I have listed the weekend days as well because at times I will be writing, but primarily I will have the people signed up for these days praying for my time with my family.
You can “sign up” by either commenting on this post, shooting me a FB message or an email (brian{at}youthmark{dot}com). I will update the list of people with first names only. When you comment on the blog I have access to your email address you listed to register a comment (so, no need to list your email in a comment). Don’t hesitate to sign up for a day already taken, I want multiples!
I hope to get as many people covering the writing, as I believe through His Word and by His Spirit there is a mighty work of God in store for the participants! I want you to be a part of that process!
Prayer Coverings For Each Day:
Tuesday, Nov. 17: Aimee, Stephen
Wednesday, Nov. 18: Aimee, Stephen
Thursday, Nov. 19: Aimee, Stephen
Friday, Nov. 20: Micah & Rebecca, Stephen
Saturday, Nov. 21: Christie, Stephen
Sunday, Nov. 22: Michelle, Stephen
Monday, Nov. 23: Michelle, Stephen
Tuesday, Nov. 24: Michelle, Matt
Wednesday, Nov. 25: Brad
Thursday, Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving): Weston
Friday, Nov. 27: Micah & Rebecca
Saturday, Nov. 28: Christie
Sunday, Nov. 29: Wes
Monday, Nov. 30: Wes
Tuesday, Dec. 1: Ricky
Wednesday, Dec. 2: Brad
Thursday, Dec. 3: Ricky
Friday, Dec. 4: Micah & Rebecca
Saturday, Dec. 5: Maureen
Sunday, Dec. 6: Maureen, Rachel
Monday, Dec. 7: Gene, Rachel
Tuesday, Dec. 8: Gene, Rachel
I’ll keep updating as people sign up. Don’t hesitate to sign up for more than one day. I’ll shoot an email to you on the day(s) you signed up, or the evening before your date.
Grace,
Brian
Just so you know… I’m an MVP!
Alaska Airlines told me so!
If I am now the Most Valuable, why is it that they are encouraging me to get MVP “Gold” status? Is there more valuable than “Most?”
Grace,
Brian
WOMM: Word of Mouth Marketing… the best form of marketing! Can you help spread the word?
Over the last 4 weeks I have “toured” to six different cities to do preview meals for Youthmark Mission Ventures.
The Strategy: Invite Youth Pastors to a lunch that Youthmark pays for so that we have the opportunity to share about our YMV’s.
I still have two lunches to come, both in our own backyard. On Thursday, November 19, Youthmark will be hosting a lunch for Youth Pastors/Directors at the Tukwila Old Spaghetti Factory (new one just south of Southcenter mall near Kohls). Then on Thursday, December 3 we will be at the Portland Old Spaghetti Factory (the one on the water).
If you are a Youth Pastor in the greater Western WA or Western OR region, we’d love to have you attend the meals. If you attend a church that has a Youth Pastor/Director, please invite them to visit www.youthmark.com and click on the Free Lunch banner on the bottom of the homepage.
I look forward to sharing our hopes, vision and strategy to see students trained for the 51-weeks outside of the mission trip! Of course we use the mission trip as a catalyst for that change and motivation for the training, but with your prayers and word-of-mouth marketing perhaps we’ll ultimately see teens become the best missionaries we have here in the US!
Speaking of that, did you know that teens need it modeled as well? Let’s model effective missional living by sharing in word and deed!
Thanks for spreading the word to the Youth Pastors you know!
Grace,
Brian
Hope you have good reason to smile too!
Grace,
Brian
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