Category Travel

Great Trip to SoCal

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

I just returned from a quick trip down south.  Some of the highlights:

 

Concentrated Work Time

Concentrated Work Time

Both Flights: The quiet time on the two hour flights affords me completely uninterrupted times to get work done (and the opportunity for pleasure reading at take-off and landing when, “portable electronic devices must be in the ‘off’ position”).

 

Monday coffee and Wednesday Lunch with an old friend from college; able to catch up, but also talk through some potential ministry projects.images-11

Monday Lunch with one of my old roommates from college… we have walked different paths, but it was excellent to get together and share our stories, I pray I have the opportunity to stay in touch with him.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: great times at the SoCal office making progress on a couple projects.

Tuesday: Project planning/dreaming at the office… I even got to do a “press check” at the printers. Plus I completed my outline for the camp I am speaking at in a couple weeks.

images2I enjoyed times with my in-laws each of these days; great meals together in the evenings (Outback one night and a great stew the second night by my Mom-In-Law).images-21

It is very nice to be back home with my family now as I push to get the Youth Leaders Notebook done and sent out.

For those in Western WA, enjoy the Snow!

Grace,
Brian

CO Consulting

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

It was sunny and 62 on Sunday, by Monday I was braving my way through a couple inches of snow and 16 degrees.  Such is the weather in Colorado.

I flew in late Saturday night.  Getting to Denver was not an easy task; after a wedding in Bellingham I had to get quickly down to Seattle to catch a flight from Seatac to Portland.  Then from Portland I was able to catch the only flight to Denver (from anywhere in the NW) after 3:00 in the afternoon (seeing as how the wedding was at 2:00 there was no way for me to take a 3:00 flight out of Seattle directly into Denver).  I arrived at DIA at 11:45 PM and into Colorado Springs at 1:30 AM.

A church in Colorado Springs is between Youth Pastors and Youthmark has been hired to do “Transitional Consulting.”  In essence (a very short summary) I am assessing the current situation, giving guidance to what could take place and helping the lay team in the interim period.

Sunday started a little early for me, I was at the church by 8:30 AM (after talking with my buddy, Peter, for an extra hour after arriving, so, 2:30 to 7:30 on the ol’ sleep) and got right to my assessment stage.  Sat through a Middle School class and then a Sr. High class.  We had a lunch meeting with the middle school volunteer team and then straight to 3 “interview” sessions with a parent group, high school boys and high school gals.  It was about 5:00 PM by the time my time at the church was complete for Sunday.

Sunday evening I was able to drive up to Palmer Lake (20 minutes north of C.Springs) and have dinner with one of my good friends, Steve.  We ate at a restaurant where you order your dinner and they bring the meat out raw and you get to grill it!  Fun stuff and great to catch up with Steve and later his family (went to his house to hang out with his fam for a few hours).  After that I got to Hot Tub with Peter until way too late (midnight).  Oh, and I also, stupidly, watched Survivor after the hot tub (so another 5 hour night of sleep… wise huh?).

Monday, once again, started early (7:30 AM) with a breakfast meeting with the Senior Pastor, Mark.  I then met with the interim Middle School guy, the interim High School guy, then the four of us together (sr, mid, high, and me).  Lunch with just me and Mark and then a few hours off in the afternoon (in which I rested a little bit, but got to play with Peter and Christa’s kids).  Dinner with Peter and Christa and then back to the church for more interviews with Middle School parents.  When I left the church (8:00 PM) it had been snowing hard and the roads were now covered.  Back at Peter and Christa’s I had my first wii experience (bowled a 145).  Amazingly, I was able to manage 5.5 hours of sleep after watching the Amazing Race with Pete and Christa.

Tuesday morning was spent with Mark (the Sr. Pastor) and then a few hours at Starbucks doing some reports for the church.  Had lunch with Steve on my way out of town and then hit the road to catch my flight.

I see a lot of hope and potential for what can be at this church in Colorado.  I was impressed with the spirit of the people and feel they are several months away from being ready for a new person.  I am praying (and invite you to quickly do the same) they wait patiently and allow the Lord to lead and prepare them for what is ahead.  I believe God is doing a healing work in the church and the students are really doing a great job of taking ownership in that process!  I hope the consulting relationship continues and other opportunities like this open up!

Grace,
Brian

Last Week, This Week

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

 

We just got back from a trip to California, it was a “working vacation,” as I like to call it.  Really, got a lot of rest, time with family and some great stuff done for Youthmark as well. I thought it would be good to post a few of the things we were able to do while in SoCal, so I’ll start with a great picture of what we were able to do last week at this time, and what I did this morning!

Grace,
Brian

 

Last Week...

Last Week...

 

This morning

This morning

Halle, 1-2-3-Jump!

Halle, 1-2-3-Jump!

 

Ditto for Audrey!

Ditto for Audrey!

Mentoring, part 3

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

Last January I was invited to a nine-month mentoring experiment/experience.  A large grant foundation (Murdock Trust) paid for about 70 people in the NW (AK, OR, ID, MT and WA) to go through training/review/etc. in the area of mentoring.  It’s been a good experience so far.  We’ve been given books to read and review and we are to come prepared to Canby Grove Conference center about once every three to four months for our on-site times.  This next week concludes my nine month experience.

It’s been neat to look back at my nine-month journey and see where God has led.  Nine months ago I was not positive that Youthmark would be my full-time ministry by now.  I was thinking about ministry and mentoring only within the context of my local church and network. I was not nearly as close with the likes of Bo Boshers, Jess Champers, Cory Freese and Mark Moder (they are all part of this experience and I’ve gotten to know each one well through this).  A direct result of the experience as been me discovering my own need to be mentored.  And as I have written about recently, I asked Barry St. Clair to mentor me.  

Mentoring is such a large part of what I hope to bring to the Youth Ministry arena through networking.  As I make all these phone calls and emails to set up times with Youth Pastors, my heart yearns for opportunities to influence and encourage our youth workers to be in relationship with youth/staff whom they mentor; but, perhaps even more importantly, that these youth workers be mentored as well!  Pray for the NW youth leaders and those they seek out to help shepherd them.

Thanks Murdock for affording me the opportunity to be blessed in many ways through this process!

Grace,
Brian

Sunday Departure

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

We made it through our “Last Supper” and our Final Lifeboat together last night.  The “over/under” on people crying was 5, I picked “under” and was correct (only one guy shed a tear).  Not that the time together lacked emotion at all, it was quite fun.  We finished Acts 21-28 and then spent time encouraging one another with memories and challenges.  I was pleased to hear the mature statements.

This morning we visited Praxis Church, my friends, Dan and Melissa attend this Phoenix church.  After church we hit an outdoor mall for lunch and are going to gather in just a couple minutes to head to the airport.

Thanks for joining us on this journey.  I look forward to getting home to my family and Youthmark; but am quite thankful for the opportunity to finish this four year journey with these young men I love.

Grace,
Brian

I want my daddy home!

I want my daddy home!

Visits, Frankie and Dylan

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

 

The last couple days have been a hoot.  We have had some down time to just hang out together.  During this time I have had the opportunity to hang out with some old friends as well.  Yesterday, Bobby and Anthony joined me for lunch.  This morning I was able to have breakfast with Dan and Melissa (Dan spoke at the River Rue Bus Caravan). It was exciting to hear their plans to plant a church in North Carolina this time next year.  Then, this afternoon, I was able to drive to the NW area of Phoenix and see Anthony and his family once again.  I also took Micah and a few of the guys to my old stomping grounds (house, church, etc.).

 

Dan and Melissa Stone came by

Dan and Melissa Stone came by

 

Ella, Anthony, Bennett and Stephanie... and some other guy.

Ella, Anthony, Bennett and Stephanie... and some other guy.

 

The old Aaby house on Julie Drive, Glendale, AZ

The old Aaby house on Julie Drive, Glendale, AZ

Ricky, Dylan and John at the M's spring training facility

Ricky, Dylan and John at the M's spring training facility

The guys are currently getting dinner ready.  They were assigned the task of working together at making  meal.  We wanted to live out Acts 2:42-47 and share/break bread together tonight.  It is neat to see them come together for this “Last Supper.”  I will post about that later.

The last two guys I haven’t posted about are Frankie and Dylan… so here goes…

Frankie, Hollywood, Francisco, etc.. He’s been a fun kid (okay, young man) to have around the last four years.  I have really seen him mature in his walk with the Lord.  Frankie has been a ring-leader of sorts for this group and I believe he has gifts in leadership that will be used for the future of the church.  I remember the first several weeks in Lifeboat and the questions Frankie would have; his faith was his, but certainly seemed like a “Sunday School” type faith.  Just today I came back to see he and Alex studying the Word together on the back patio.  He is now answering questions far deeper than the ones he was asking four years ago.  Frankie is a gifted musician and I hope he will use that gift as an encouragement to the greater body.  

My Bold Prediction for Frankie: Frankie will start a Rock Band named “Fighting Foo.”  They will have several hits that receive a lot of radio play, but then, in true Frankie fashion, he will just stop the band.  When asked why, Frankie will reply, “just because.”  He will then fall in love and become the worship leader at a huge church… in Canada, because he doesn’t know Spanish.  He will also compete in the Monster Truck circuit for a few years.

 

Frankie's large Fajita last night

Frankie's large Fajita last night

Dylan Johnson came to our Lifeboat about half-way through his Frosh year in high school.  He had heard about the Alaska mission trip and wanted to be part of it, which meant he needed to attend a Lifeboat.  Though he never did do that mission I am quite pleased it was incentive enough for him to join the boat.  He has been a blessing to have around.  Though he is one of the funniest guys you could ever be around, he is also one of the most sincere Christians I have met… the challenge is for him to allow people to know when he is being funny and when he is being serious.  Very few people know the depth of Dylan, I believe I am privileged to know that the depth and I hope and pray He will gift people with his passion for Jesus and the church.  I believe Dylan could become a pastor or some sort of teacher, but I also believe he could use his humor to glorify the Lord through the entertainment industry.  He is headed to SPU in the fall.

My Bold Prediction for Dylan: After a couple years as a youth pastor and a couple years starring on “Happy Days 21st Century,” Dylan will become a church plant pastor in Hollywood.  Using his humor as the entry point, he will turn stories like “Doubting Thomas” and “Paul and Barnabas’ Break Up” into serious Gospel presentations in which the likes of Tom Cruise and Oprah become interested in taking a deeper look at the Christian faith.  Dylan, unfortunately never does get past his love for Taco Bell and ends up with a serious gut illness from the Crunch Wrap Supreme.  He retires to Florida with his fourth wife* and 7 kids (yes, Ricky has more).

*The other three wives all pass away from food poisoning.

Last Comic Sleeping

Last Comic Sleeping

I love my lifeboat guys!  And I know the boldest, and true prediction is this: They will love the Lord their God with their heart, soul, mind and strength!

Amen?

Grace,
Brian

Youthmark and Brandon

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Keeping my streak alive of blogging about multiple subjects, I’ll post two non similar topics this time…

Youthmark Fellowship Gathering:  Several months ago a friend/mentor of mine challenged me along the lines of “support.”  Since we are going to do our best at making Youthmark a for-profit organization (versus a support based ministry) my friend suggested we still “raise support.”  His challenge–get a consistent prayer base around you.  So, here is where things stand:  I am a little over a month into Youthmark being my full-time endeavor and I feel I am now at a place where I have some legitimate direction and specific prayer requests for my friends/supporters.  It is nice to have an average readership of 65 or so each day (at least that’s what the wordpress stats indicate).  So, hopefully I can parlay some of this readership into solid prayer-ship.

On Monday, August 18, we will be having our first fellowship/prayer gathering.  At this gathering I will have the opportunity to briefly share where the company is headed and how you can pray.  I hope you will be able to come.  I will talk to hosts, Andy and Terri Heider, over the weekend and will give you the full details by Monday (it will be an evening gathering, just don’t know if we’re doing food or anything yet).  Andy and Terri live just off 518 near the airport, so it is very convenient in terms of driving.

Back to the Lifeboat

Brandon Yorker, aka, the tall one, has been a part of the lifeboat all four years as well.  He calls Calvary Chapel South his home church (like Tim), but has been a small part of the BPPC youth group as too (occasionally doing stuff with Harbor/retreats).  One of the traditions in our Lifeboat was to rotate houses about every 5 weeks.  The Yorker house was the last house of the rotation each year.  Their back yard holds a hot tub, trampoline and a fire pit.  It also was a great battlefield for the annual waterballoon/squirt gun battle.  Brandon takes his faith seriously and is a solid (not to mention tall) kid.  He and his family were a blessing to our lifeboat.  Brandon is, by far, the king of useless knowledge in our group.  You name the movie or potential sequel to a movie and he will tell you the most useless knowledge about it.  Did you know their was a, “Back to the Future” cartoon in the 80’s?  Yeah, neither did I, but how did he? Brandon is working toward his AA at Highline CC and should be done by March.

My Bold Prediction for Brandon: He is not a sports fan at all, however, he has some untapped athletic talent he has yet to discover.  While in college will be recruited to play on the intramural Ultimate Frisbee team.  He will play so well that the entire student body will come out to watch this athletic phenomenon.  Brandon will gain fame, and the fortune will follow soon; you see, the Circus happens to be in town at the same time as his championship Ultimate Game.  The circus master attends and recruits Brandon to join as the Giraffe Frisbee trainer–a new act in which the Giraffes play frisbee catch with each other.  Brandon’s height will bless him big time!  And to think, he was in my lifeboat.

Tim (background) at 6'6" is dwarfed by the much taller Brandon Yorker!

Alex (background) at 6'7" is dwarfed by the much taller Brandon Yorker!

Back to the pool!

Grace,
Brian

Cleaning and Alex Randall

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

These guys will make horrible bachelors.  I understand why most of them will be living at home for the couple of years! Ha.  This morning we awoke to about 600 ants on the floor in the kitchen.  The late-night chips, sodas and sandwiches (and the “stuff” that landed on the floor) became the feeding ground for the little insects breakfast.  Of course none of the guys own up to the 3/4 full Mt. Dews, the cheese wrappers on the floor and the jelly explosions… Don’t get me started with their attempt at doing laundry…

Good grief I sound like my parents… ahhhhhh!  

To be honest, I laughed at most of it and I understand we are on vacation.  They did do a great job of cleaning up this morning and the house is looking really good.  Today is a great relaxing “day at home.”  Frankie and Ricky invited their friend Cory over.  Cory went to Highline High (I actually remember meeting him during his Frosh year).  After his freshman year he moved down here.  I have my friends Anthony and Bobby coming over for lunch today as well.  Both are friends from college and I can’t wait to hang out (already had coffee with Anthony on Wednesday). I think we all may go catch a movie this afternoon to beat the heat and then tonight we hit Acts 11-20 after Steak and Chicken Fajitas (can’t wait to grill again).

This morning I’ll blog about my friend Alex Randall.  Alex, as I stated yesterday, was one of the original LB guys.  He was there at Vince’s Pizza and the first 5 weeks of LB was hosted at his house!  Alex has been probably the most hit-n-miss members of the group.  He would be at lifeboat for 3-4 weeks straight and then we wouldn’t see him for a month.  He kept himself busy with Homeschool, work and two sports at Evergreen High School (swimming and Cross Country).  I have enjoyed some great personal moments with Alex and I believe he is a very wise young man.  He has an ability to quickly understand Scripture and explain it.  I think he will be used by God in some sort of teaching capacity in the future, or at least I hope he uses this gift!  He is a gifted guitarist as well and believe he can/should use this gift to bless the body.  

My Bold Prediction for Alex: Alex will end up getting his doctorate in philosophy and religion and teach at some prestigious university.  He will get married a little bit later than some of the other guys, but still end up with six kids (yes, Ricky will have more).

 

Alex at the game!

Alex at the game!

Back on later…

Grace,
Brian

The Grand Canyon and John

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

 

We had a great day today.  We made it to the Grand Canyon by 9:30 AM and spent about four hours there. At one point all the guys were alone for a good 45 minutes each, most of them spending some quite moments alone in the Word and gazing at God’s creation.  Cool stuff.

 

The Boys and the Canyon

The Boys and the Canyon

 

 

Ricky had the most fun... I guess?

Ricky had the most fun... I guess?

 

After the Canyon we made our way back (all the guys sleeping, making me completely jealous) and came down (south) through Oak Creek Canyon toward Sedona.  We stopped off at Slide Rock.  What a hoot.  There were a ton of people at both state parks today!  Slide Rock got the best of us too… a few of us slipping into the water while holding our backpacks and clothes!  Dylan unfortunately was the hardest hit… bye-bye Ipod (water damage).  

Slide Rock... literally, sit down and slide

Slide Rock... literally, sit down and slide

 

Dylan discovers the death of his ipod

Dylan discovers the death of his ipod

 

 

We then hit the town of Sedona for dinner.  Good times there as well.  Check out the beautiful scenery!

Sedona and the rainbow

Sedona and the rainbow

We made it back to the house at about 9:30 and I want to get a post about one more of “the guys” before heading to bed early!  I am beat.

 

The first lifeboat meeting at Vince’s Pizza was attended by Frankie, Alex and one John Dakin.  It is hard to believe it was nearly 4 years ago.  John Dakin was a skinny and slightly socially awkward boy when I met him.  He is now a strong young man whom I would describe as a true gentleman.  His “Christ confidence” is such an encouragement to me, I believe he is in a very good place in his relationship with God. His tender heart will take him a long way in life.  He set the tone for being vulnerable in our lifeboat and I think every guy is thankful for the tone he set.  I believe John is going to make a fantastic father and husband; I envision John being a stable elder in his church, serving in a variety of ministries.  His immediate plan is to study at Highline and then transfer to a four-year school.  Pray for him as he considers helping with the BPPC youth group (trying to balance school, work and ministry life).

My Bold Prediction for John: I think John “The Gentle” will emerge as one of the best WWE wrestlers of all time.  He will be “Jesus in a spandex Jumpsuit” to the many lost souls who attend and work in that industry. Sure he may look awkward, but he’ll body slam his opponent and wrestle them into submission, only to invite the pour soul to submit to the real maker!

John, living on the edge

John, living on the edge

Posting more tomorrow!

Grace,
Brian

Flagstaff and Tim

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Greetings from Flagstaff, AZ.  We left the house at our planned 5:30 AM departure!  Woo-hoo.  Several of us took a dip in the pool to start the day!  Nothing like 90 degree heat at and a 92 degree pool at 5:05 AM!  We are on our way to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Slide Rock State Park today.  Busy tourist day.  

Our first “Lifeboat” meeting was great last night.  Awesome sharing from the guys as we did a great review of the first 10 chapters of Acts.  We had to laugh when we thought about the fact that it took us two years to get through those first two chapters; and in less than two hours we got through those first 10 chapter of Acts!

Our Lifeboat meeting last night

Our Lifeboat meeting last night

It is hard to believe that Tim Esser has only been part of our group for year.  It was about eleven months ago that Tim walked through the doors of Galianos (where we always have our first and last LB of the year).  Tim was friends with Brandon and Josh and has quickly gotten close with each of us.  Though he doesn’t speak often, he brings a quiet wisdom and an awesome wit to our group.  I am very thankful for the opportunity we have had to get to know Tim this year.  He attends Highline Community College and is a “regular” at Calvary Chapel South.  I believe Tim will always be a solid contributor in his church.  It is evident to me that he is a very faithful person.

My Bold Prediction for Tim: Tim seems shy; therefore I believe he is going to be the person to shock us the most and get married first (among the boys).  So my (obviously humorous) prediction is that Tim falls in love this year and by this time next year each of the 10 Lifeboat guys will be upfront in their tuxedos witnessing the marriage of Tim and his beautiful bride.  Tim will one day become President as well (of what? I don’t know, just a president).

Tim (left) with Brandon at the game

Tim (left) with Brandon at the game

Not enough time to do a second guy right now, so I’ll get my Iced coffee and call it a post!  Catch ya soon.

Grace,
Brian