Category Aaby Family

Sunday Thoughts

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Photo 29I’m sitting on my back deck, Will eating a late lunch because he fell asleep on the way home from church, Halle and Audrey are gleefully jumping into the kiddie-pool yelling “Cannon-Bal-timore” (yeah, I am asking the same question you are) and Elisabeth is out looking at bunk beds for the girls room.

Sunday afternoons are a great time to get grounded, think through the things we have going on in the week ahead and perhaps even prioritize a bit… so along those lines, here’s a glimpse into the mind of Brian and what I am thinking about as the week approaches.

Family:

  • Starting Monday the girls are doing swim lessons for the next couple weeks!  Can’t wait to see their confidence grow as they hit the water.
  • Elisabeth and I celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday, July 20th (and on Tuesday we actually get to celebrate it with a date!)  Quite sure you might guess who I might post about tomorrow…
  • Warm weather will mean I will get up earlier and get work done earlier so I can get into the kiddie pool with the kids in the afternoons!

Ministry:

  • Though Youthmark is “ministry” this little section is the stuff outside of Youthmark… On Wednesday evening I have the opportunity to speak at Family Camp at Lake Retreat; I will be doing an elective on Teen Relationships; get to bust out the chart!
  • I look forward to scheduling a coffee or two to follow-up on the boys from my Young Life cabin who began a relationship with Jesus! Praise the Lord!
  • I’m going to get some time with Alan Andersen as well; he is the Youth Pastor at Mars Hill West Seattle and is quickly becoming a good friend!  I classify this as “ministry” because he asked for the coffee to chat up youth ministry stuff.

Youthmark:

  • Hope to jam out to the airport tonight (Sunday) to see the Burien Free Methodist and Grace Church teams return from the Gulf Coast.
  • Look forward to reading the blogs of all the NorCal teams (as well as the team from Emmanuel Faith serving in New Orleans this week and Pass Christian next week).
  • This week and next are the weeks set aside to write the Mission Prep Workbook for the 2010 training.  Please pray for this as I’m taking a little writing retreat.
  • The Hawaii team gets into Kauai late Friday night; we will do their “launch” on Saturday and then their mission begins on Sunday morning.  I will be spending the evenings helping with the VBS and some of the outreach, but by day I’ll be able to do much of my writing.
  • Some major decisions have to be made in the next 24-48 hours in regard to my “Scrambling” post last week.  God is opening and closing doors for us, so in many ways I am just waiting, and trusting!  Please pray for the right connections with the right people at the right time (I know, I’m vague, but need to be and appreciate your prayers).

Tasks:

  • Have been able to get a few yard work things done the last couple of weeks, and believe it or not (okay, don’t), I plan to get a couple other things done this week.  We have completely abandoned the idea that our front grass is supposed to be green, in fact, gold can’t even describe the color anymore…However, the back yard has been loving the every-other day kiddie pool emptying!

Well, there ya go, my Sunday afternoon thoughts; and I hope you’re blessed with the second-take picture below!

Grace,
Brian

Sometimes thinking makes your head feel weird.

Sometimes thinking makes your head feel weird.

Singing His Praises

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

The Aaby clan had a great night last night.  I received a phone call from my good friend, Byron, in the early afternoon, he had just received what essentially was a 99.9% “all clear” report from the doctor.  He still has one appointment with an oncologist next week to confirm that he is cancer-free and done with treatments (keep praying).

With that news we decided to celebrate with them.  I headed down to Costco and picked up some great steaks and some veggies.  Went home to pick up the family and drive south to Olympia to spend the evening with Byron and Shannon (and their BBQ).

I’m so thankful for your prayers for Byron and Shannon.  I’m so thankful to God for leading them through this amazing season of reliance and I am so hopeful that he can remain cancer-free.

Great food (Shannon added a great salad and water mellon to the mix); great conversations, kids did great and we got introduced to a great new game, Whoonu! (I even won!)

We’re singing God’s praise! Are you?

Grace,
Brian

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise [b]
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 (NIV)

CONTEST: What Am I Thinking?

Brian Aaby 3 Comments

It’s been awhile since I posted a WAIT… so, here’s a classic of Will, I need to know what you think he is thinking… and as an added bonus you can post what you think Elisabeth was thinking when she took this picture!

I’ll post my favorites thoughts from you all in a few days!

Hey, what was I thinking?

Hey, what was I thinking?

Have fun, he certainly did!

Grace,

Brian

Byron Update

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Thanks for your prayers for my friend Byron…

He is doing better, the recovery from such a major surgery will be a long road (he’s got a nice scar to show off!).  I am looking forward to spending some time with him soon, Elisabeth was able to go to the hospital today to visit with him, his wife Shannon and his mom, Michele.

His spirits are high and is encouraged to have the surgery behind him.  Please do pray for his recovery!

I was able to perform their wedding almost a year ago now, and Elisabeth told me that Shannon joked today, “I wish Brian would have left the whole ‘sickness and in health’ part out of our vows.”  Touche, Shannon!

Keep up the prayers for my friends Byron and Shannon!

Grace,
Brian

Blog-o-rific

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

Curiosity caught me the other day when I sat down to post to this blog.  I was trying to remember when I started my blog, so I went back to the archives and discovered that it was exactly one year ago today!

I decided to start the blog so I would have a way to update friends, family and those who asked how they could support as we began Youthmark.  Of course this is still one of the primary purposes of this blog.  I have enjoyed being creative with it from time to time and have very much appreciated those of you who have prayed for us and even commented from time to time.

If you click here you can read the original blog post.

Since that post I have posted another 286 times (including this one), I have received 381 comments and had nearly 20,000 (19,977) hits on this site (the busiest day had 195 views).

In this next year I think I will keep posting prayer requests for the Aaby family and Youthmark but will slowly transition more of the Youthmark related things to my Youthmark blog here.

Maybe some time this next week I’ll look through some of the archives and give you a “top 5” of my favorite blog posts thus far… any stand out to you?

Grace,
Brian

Pray for Byron

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

**** Updated Thursday night, 10:30 PM at bottom****

You may remember me posting about my friend Byron.  If not, click here really quick and then come back and finish this post for the new requests!

The long and the short of it… the chemo treatment was a great success!  He didn’t need to go a full four-rounds of treatment, they cut him off after three intense rounds, and in fact, after two rounds they checked his cancer markers in his blood and it was already indicating zero. So praise the Lord the chemo (though it was very intense) worked!

As I type, Byron is undergoing an estimated 6-hour surgery.  Because of the location of the cancer (abdomen) the scar tissue that has formed is so close to all the vital organs that they need to go in and remove it.  Though the cancer is gone, a re-occurrence would be too probable if the docs don’t go in and get it!

Byron and Shannon have been doing very well.  He was very thankful to go back to work for about a month between the end of the chemo and this surgery.  After today he will have the next 6-7 weeks off for recovery.

Please pray for this surgery, it is a dangerous one to do and carries risk for things in the future; but it was needed and they (and we) are trusting the Lord for a full recovery!

I appreciate your prayers for my friends Byron and Shannon, their families and right now for the doctors!

Grace,
Brian

UPDATE:  Michele, Byron’s mom texted and let me know their have been some new discoveries during the surgery which have made it more complicated.  PLEASE PRAY for wisdom and the guidance of the surgeons hands.  Pray for Shannon and the family, this is very difficult for all of them!

UPDATE (10:30 PM Thursday): Byron is recovering in ICU, we just spent an hour and a half with his parents.  Pray for a full and speedy recovery.  Praising the Lord for the wisdom and guidance they gave the docs in the midst of complications (tumor had wrapped an weaved its way around some major internal stuff).

Thanks for your prayers!  Keep them coming.

Daddy, Daughter and Dude!

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dad’s out there!

Today was a fantastic day:

Church (great worship through song, sermon and prayer)

Church business meeting to call new Lead Pastor (unanimous vote)

Fantastic meatloaf lunch made by Elisabeth (“Mommy, this is the best thing you make, ‘cept maybe your blueberry muffins”)

Watched the M’s on the couch (they sweep the D’backs)

Napped while watching the M’s game (wonderful two-inning, 20-30 minute nap)

Daddy-Daughter date with Audrey to the Starbucks with the toys (Benson)… she got the cinnamon swirl coffee cake.

Return home, pick up Halle for her Daddy-Daughter date to the Fairwood Park… we then proceed to my parents house to borrow (with no intention of returning) some treats (M&M’s and Propel for Halle, Coke Zero for me).

Return home, pick up Will for Dad and Dude Outing.  Kent-Kangley Starbucks where Wescott is hanging out.  The three dudes hang out and Will munches on some Applesauce and Milk.  I refrained, didn’t want to spoil my appetite!

Return home and start a “continuing story” for the girls (another bedtime thrill for the gals, I do a made-up story for up to months on end, always with cliff-hanging moments like tonight:  (keep in mind, they are fully into this story already) “and when Papa arrived at the door with their surprise they couldn’t believe their eyes… you know what it was?” (girls: “what, what was it?”)… you’ll find out tomorrow.”)  The girls act like they hate that moment, but despite the tears, I know they actually love it!

All the kids in bed, I make myself BFD (breakfast for dinner)… yummm.

Posted an update on my Youthmark blog here about the YMV Launch.

Posted this post.

Now, I might watch part of a movie with my lovely Bride!

I am so thankful I get to be a Daddy!  A great day!

Grace,
Brian

To My Prayer List

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First, if you would like to be on our prayer list (via email) shoot me an email and I’ll add you to the list (I send stuff out about every 6 weeks or so).

Just because I am so jazzed about this prayer opportunity I am copying and pasting the entire letter I just sent here:

Youthmark Prayer Partners!

It is with great anticipation I write this email.  In about five hours we’ll begin our “Launch” of our first Youthmark Mission Venture team.

As I type from Starbucks in Ritzville, WA (about an hour from Spokane) I have been praying for the people of Simms, MT and surrounding towns  (the recipient area of this trip).  I have prayed for the students and leaders from First Baptist Church of Chehalis (the first group heading out).  Now, I would like to challenge all of you to become “prayer partners extraordinaire!”

How exciting would it be for every group this summer to have scores of people they don’t even know praying for them, commenting them (on the blog) and waiting with them to see the Lord answer their specific requests?  I challenge each of us to do just that.

It is simple too!

Go to this site: http://youthmark.com/blogs.php

This first week you’ll want to scroll down to First Baptist Church of Chehalis and click on their blog.  At the bottom of each post you can see there is a place to add/view comments.  Feel free to do just that!

Having been on many of these I have NEVER seen the Lord answer specific prayers in quite the same way.  I’m going to try to get the dates listed for each of the churches on the website as well so you know which ones are out on that given week as well.  But for this week, it’s First Baptist Chehalis.

I encourage you to read through all the blogs, but specifically check out the blogs of each of the following as they’ll head out next week:

Avondale Bible

Calvary Chapel South

RiverRidge Cov’t

Lake Sawyer Christian

Snohomish Free Methodist

NW Bible

Last, you’ll see on the blog that we have released the HomeBase Guided Study to others outside of the Mission, don’t hesitate to pick one up for yourself!  You can study the same things the Mission teams are studying and like the parents of these missionaries, you can live out your mission at home! (And you can pick up MERGE at the same time, a 112 page Guided Study of James I just completed).

Now, head to the blogs and start praying specifically for FBC (and all the other teams)!

Grace,

Brian


Bob and Pete Update

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For those who enjoyed my little rant against Bob a few days back, I have an update…

No Pete!

No Pete!

Our bedtime routine got a little more interesting last night as Audrey joined the “my future” game and  the two of them put me to sleep and woke me up every 2-4 years to give me updates on their lives.

As you may remember, Halle married Bob, well, it turns out that Audrey marries a character named Pete (when she was 28).

So here were the highlights from the two of them:

  • Audrey too lives with her in-law, Pete’s parents (like Bob’s) apparently are rich as well (side note: interesting how early our culture ingrains the idea of “rich/poor” into our kids).  Pete is some sort of Pastor as well.  He preaches Sundays, works for Starbucks on Monday, has days off on Tuesday and Thursday, Wednesday Audrey doesn’t remember what Pete does (I’ll have to hire a private eye), Friday he sells cherries too and on Saturday he sells Plastic Paper.
  • Both Halle and Audrey have twins, oh, a few years later Will and his wife do too (side note:  we have never had twins in either of our families, so this was a pretty cool feat to have all three of our kids have sets of twins).
  • Audrey’s new last name is Gibson.
  • Halle’s new last name is Roberts.  So this means that she married Bob Roberts, aka “Robert Roberts” (side note:  What were Bob’s rich parents thinking naming him Robert?).

My newest website: http://www.ihatebobandpete.com

Tonight we go back to reading stories that have already been written rather than making up these nightmares!  Ha!

Grace,
Brian