Category Three-for-Thursday

Three-For-Thursday: Unique Ministry/Business Partners

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

In 16 years as a Youth Pastor and now a couple years as President of Youthmark, I have received scores of calls asking “do you have a _______ connection?”  You fill in the blank: T-shirt, graphics, computer, camp, speaker, band, etc.

The longer you stay in youth ministry the more phone calls like this you will receive.  Now that I’ve been in the field for nearly 20 years, I get these types of calls/texts/emails weekly.

So, I thought I’d give you three of my favorite “connections” that you could think about using if you find you have a need.  Call it a free plug for them, but, I’d rather call it a wise move for you.

It was extremely difficult to narrow the list to just three, so I decided to make my list specific to the unique needs we have at Youthmark (so these could be good for others who have a business, or be a great connection for those ministry).

  1. Graphic Design: We use a couple different graphic designers at Youthmark.  One is more connected through the publishing ventures with Spire; I really like this one too, however, I am especially thrilled whenever I get to work with Peter Beringer and PeterB Designs (peterbdesigns.com).  Peter is based in Colorado Springs and is a gifted designer.  If you’re looking for new logos, icons, a t-shirt design, book or album cover, or something as simple as new business cards, you ought to get in touch with PeterB Designs.  For those familiar with Youthmark’s merch, the very popular “Live and Love Loudly” and “Mission51” designs came from PeterB Designs.  Contact information is on the website (as well as samples of his work).  Peter is a great friend, he served with me in youth ministry for years and will give you very competitive (read: more than fair) rates.
  2. Apparel: The two most common calls I get from Youth Pastors when it comes to referrals are: “Do you know of any churches hiring” and “do you have a t-shirt guy?”  We can deal with the first question in an SMS blog-post later, but I am proud to say that I do have a great t-shirt guy.  For the last couple years I have been contracting with Norwest Graphics (norwestgraphics.com).  They are based in South Seattle (but can ship, so no matter where you are you’ll get a good deal).  Kevin Padon is the owner; I would suggest that if you’re looking to do a shirt, sweatshirt or something else with him that you mention I suggested you contact him… I think it will lead to a good quote!  It is “who you know” in some industries.  They can do a design for you or you can submit your own artwork.  Again, those familiar with Youthmark apparel, the quality hooded sweatshirts and t-shirts have come from our connection with Norwest.
  3. Audio/Visual: This has become a pretty big area of need for me since starting Youthmark and I have NO expertise in this area.  Besides knowing the minimum about a sound board and how to plug a computer into a video projector I walked into the event side of Youthmark pretty blindly.  Fortunately, I have a friend in Impulse Audio (which also does video).  David May is the owner of this business and he works so well with his clients.  Dave has gotten me really great deals on my video projector and several small components needed for our business.  If you have sound or video needs for your small business, non-profit or church, Impulse Audio Inc. should be a place you check out. Contact: David at dave[at]impulseaudiovideo[dot]com; 206.650.0075.

It’s been a pleasure to work with each of these three businesses as they have played a critical role in the success of Youthmark thus far.  I hope they can help you in your business, personal life and/or ministries!

Grace,
Brian

Three-For-Thursday: Bang for the Small Bucks

Brian Aaby 3 Comments

The idea of creating a personal cost saving list came to me a long time ago, but I never got around to creating the post. Now that the Top 5 Tuesday has been reformatted, changed days and lost a couple points to become Three-For-Thursday I believe NOW is the time to go for it on the most bang for the buck idea.   No special reasoning for NOW, just because…

So, today we’ll look at the best ways that I have tried to save some cash in small ways.  These can obviously be adapted for your setting.

Side note to those in ministry: Over the years I have also seen many ministry cost-saving moves that have lacked integrity.  Be sure you are checking copyright laws before borrowing, ripping and using materials owned by others (music, books, video curriculum).  Even intellectual properties or things you heard should be credited to the original author (too often I hear an opening illustration that I KNOW didn’t happen to the person speaking because I heard the same detailed illustration earlier that week in a podcast).

So, here you go, three small cost-saving (and I believe integrity intact) tips for you.

  1. The Coffee Shop (and the free refill)! Many are amazed that I am able to “office” out of my local coffee shops.  Well, part of the reason I do this has to do my desire to build relationship within the community I live/work.  However, part of it also has to do with the “low rent” aspect.  I have a small office at my house, but with three little ones and an endless list of stuff that I can/should be doing for the house, yard, etc. it is often hard to concentrate on work while at home.  So, I head offsite to my caffeine-laden office.  An office-space that costs me less than $100/month.  Think about it this way, my most common drink is a 20 oz (hot or cold) sugar-free hazelnut drip coffee with a half inch of non-fat milk.  My second most common drink is a large iced-tea (unsweetened, no added water, of course).  Both of these drinks cost me less than $3.  The beauty of these drinks, they both typically come with free refills as well (even at the Mothership, as long as you have a registered Starbucks card).  So here’s the strategy for me laid out in an example: I will go to a nearby Starbucks in the morning and order my iced drink, perhaps get a couple hours of work in and as I leave for lunch I will refill (but not drink it).  I arrive at home for lunch, place said drink in the fridge, then eat lunch, workout, shower and then head out for a new Starbucks with the refilled drink in hand (therefore, no need to order another drink).
  2. Sharing Fast Food (especially fries)! I discovered years ago when preparing for a Youth Staff dinner that I was providing that the $.99 menu can be a Youth Pastor’s best friend.  However, I made the mistake of ordering about double the amount that I needed.  Knowing that I eat a couple small burgers, large fries and a large drink, I knew that not everyone would eat like me, so I ordered about 1.5 sandwiches per person, an order of small fries for everyone and then went to a grocery store to get two liter bottles of Coke.  When I arrived at the church I emptied all the fries into a large bowl and the sandwiches onto a tray.  It was hilarious to see how much was left over.  Literally half the fries were left, because when people put fries on a plate on their own they only grab a handful to fill the space left.  Everyone pretty much grabbed just the one sandwich as well.  So… some of the time when we go out for fast food now, we don’t even order anything for Will (my 2 year old son), he eats bits of everybody else’s food, and I won’t order fries for myself, knowing that I can finish off the leftovers from the kids.  A $25 outing for fast food for our family has easily changed to $15-$17.
  3. Date-Night Exchange. Okay, so this one is just a theory that we have not yet practiced, but want to.  We want to serve others in our life-situation (small kids, small budget) by providing free babysitting for the parents who need a date.  And selfishly, we’d love the reciprocal as well.  Some folk have the benefit of free babysitting from family, friends, neighbors (in fact we have this to some extent), but those “regulars” need a break too.  We’d love to serve a couple by providing babysitting just so they can get the much needed one to three hour break.  I know that for Elisabeth and me, sometimes that hour and half to grab a coffee, dessert and/or walk goes a long way for the reset sanctity button, but we have a hard time justifying spending $20 on babysitting just to get away for a couple hours together.  Though we do love blessing young adult babysitters from time to time (and this is a great choice), there are times where it would be more beneficial for all to do the free-route and bless our kids with a play date as well!  Anyone game?

There ya go, three more for this Thursday. Time for me to get my refill so I can go home to eat lunch before heading back to work… You have any cost-savings pointers?

Grace,
Brian

Three-For-Thursday: Islands.

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

In honor of our vacation to the Hawaiian Islands I decided I’d give the new Three-For-Thursday an Aloha try.  Today, I’ll give you my three favorite islands.  I have been to Hawaii six or seven times in my life and been to four different Islands, so a top three isn’t necessary, because poor Oahu is the only one left out, but I did give you my favorites in the order I like them (at this point).

  1. Kauai. The Garden Island is just so very diverse.  The landscapes are gorgeous and there are always options to get away from the more rainy north and east side (though the showers are usually welcome).  I love the different towns on this island; they vary from truly “touristy” places like Poipu to what I would call a Hippie-town (I define Hippie-towns as “deodorant optional” places) of Hanalei.  Hanalei and Kapaa are my two favorite places on the island.
  2. Maui. A little more “touristy” but with some fantastic getaways to totally remote rural areas.  Again, natural beauty reigns.  This island will always be special to me because it is where Elisabeth and I had our honeymoon and is where I was once asked to speak at a camp.  Note to those who do guest speaking: NEVER say no to an invite to speak at a camp in Hawaii.
  3. The Big Island. Kona and Hilo are both great places to visit and are completely different.  This island is by far the most diverse, a lot of that caused by the lava fields, black sand beaches and desert-like west side.  I like Kona the most on the Big Island. everything done here is on “Hawaii time” (don’t worry about it… it’ll get done… sometime).  We also found my favorite food joint thus far in Hawaii, the Kona Brewing Company… the BBQ chicken sandwich and the French Dip sandwich might be the two best of their kind I have ever had.

Any other thoughts on the islands from your view?

Grace,

Brian

(Debut) Three-For-Thursday: Recent Discoveries

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

The change of the blog-format means some changes to some of my “regular” features.  Today marks one of those changes.  For almost a year I had been running a “Top Five Tuesday” posting.

I may move back to that sometime.

I may not.

Replacing it for the time being is a new series, entitled, Three-For-Thursday. A “top” list in some ways, but we’ll see where this one goes.  For instance, today, I am giving you three recent discoveries in my life. I don’t see these as a ranking from least to greatest (or greatest to least), simply I see them as three things I have learned/discovered lately.

In thinking about the last few months there have been a few things that really stood out to me that I would consider “discoveries.”  I hope some of these may become “discoveries” for you as well.

  1. Christianaudio.com. If you are a person who finds it hard to sit down to read a book (or struggle to find time to read the stack of suggested books that have piled up in you mind), your problem may just be solved.  This website allows you to purchase (or get for free) you favorite (or soon-to-be favorite) books.  Quite simply, you get to listen to books through your iPod, MP3 player or through iTunes (and other players). Several years ago while hanging with best-bud, Jeramy, down in San Diego I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of his friends, Todd.  Todd worked with Jeramy on his high school volunteer team.  Todd is an entrepreneur and I quickly was drawn to his creative business savvy.  We flash forward about six years and I have had many interactions with Todd now.  Todd is one of the owners of christianaudio.com (a company he and a couple others started about five years ago). ONE huge benefit to christianaudio is that each month they do a freebie.  In June it was Forgotten God by Francis Chan and July it was an A.W. Tozer classic, The Pursuit of God. That’s right, FREE!  You can still get the Tozer book now!  And stay tuned, a new one is just a few days away!
  2. The Holy Spirit. Please understand that I didn’t “discover” the Holy Spirit recently.  However, I will say that having been “raised” in conservative circles since coming to faith in 1990, I have come to the conclusion that most well-meaning, conservative churches have been (subconsciously) teaching that the trinity consists of Father, Son and Holy Bible. Don’t get me wrong, I am a FIRM believer in the Word of God (and believer that believers need to invest in/draw from the Word).  However, I am keenly aware (and becoming even more aware) that the Holy Spirit is at work in my life.  As I mentioned above, the book Forgotten God did a lot to re-introduce me to the Spirit’s role in my life and the life of all believers.  Instead of being afraid, downplaying or denying the work of the Spirit (or excusing it as “Charismatic”), I am trusting (and seeing) that the Spirit is at work today, just as He was before creation, at the day of Pentecost and through the first 2000 years of the Church.  I would not consider myself a “Charismatic” or “Pentecostal” at all, however, I am tired of the labels, with that said, I would be honored to be called, “Spirit led!”
  3. Via Baci. This summer I had the fantastic opportunity to speak at two camps in Colorado.  Both times I was able to do so with friend, Mike Penberthy.  Mike played professional basketball in the NBA and overseas (Germany and Italy).  On this last trip we met up with a Youthmark client Tom Coffan for a lunch on our way down to Camp.  Tom, knowing the approximate area of where we’d be traveling back from the airport, pulled off the freeway and and stopped at a restaurant.  Little did he know that he actually discovered what Mike said was “the closest quality/taste to Italy that he has experienced in the U.S.”  We loved it so much that we prioritized a visit on our way up to the airport.  I HIGHLY recommend you stop at Via Baci (just south of Denver off Lincoln Ave. off I-25) if you are ever near Denver.  I had the pizza, and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to order anything other than the pizza after I experienced this!

Well, that was fun.  I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my recent discoveries/rediscoveries!  Any thoughts/reactions/similar experiences for you?

Grace,

Brian