mi amigo nuevo de mexico...aaron

been a while

(me and jon with the pastors from mexico in a taco stand)

wow, sure has been a long time since i made a real post, eh?
way too much has happened during and since mexico...i broke my tennis racket in an IDIOTIC moment of absurd stupidity...actually, in my defense it sure didn't feel like a choice - more like an uncontrollable reaction (which is probably worse) as i missed an easy shot on a big point and then instinctively fired my tennis racket into the ground only to hear a sickening sounding crack...i find myself pondering more and more the reason why i even play sports anymore...it's nothing but a source of constant frustration...i mean, i'm not great at anything (adequate at best at most) but i WANT to be great - there's the conundrum - what i want to be and what i am - not even close....

ah, a nice segway back to my mexico trip....

i guess if i were to sum up what God showed me in mexico it would be that same thing - what i should be and what i really am - not even close...there's any number of things i could write about when it comes to my time in mexico but really it's obvious to me that God brought me all that way, across many miles and a country border line just to bring me face to face with the faith that i claim to practice being lived out by thousands of teenagers...
to say the least it humbling and if i'm being honest, it was devastating...that week God gave me leaky eyes and weak knees...i spent more time on my face and shedding tears that i have since the yankees lost to the red sox last october (just kidding...sorta) seriously though, i wasn't even sure what i was crying about at the time or why i couldn't stay on my feet but i knew it was God; and i'll never doubt that...He did something in me and while i can explain some of it with words the most significant and ETERNAL work He did i probably will never be able to explain...atleast on this side of eternity...
He didn't remove all my struggles, my flesh, my pride, my laziness...but He did pull all of it out into the light, far away from their familiar hiding places and lame excuses...
He spoke clearly to me that even though i was 'doing the right things, saying the right things and even thinking the right things' it didn't mean that He had my heart or that i really knew His...it was a comfortable habit, a nice place to be and i was a decent person but God reminded me that He's not looking for decent, nice people....Jesus didn't die on a cross to make us a better version of who we used to be - He came so that we would DIE and let Him live through us - it's not us even living anymore, eh? sorta puts us in our place when we wanna talk about our rights and priviledges...decent people are good for nothing...be dangerous..

God really renewed in me a passion to write worship music also - i guess i hesitate to because it seems like everything's been written but it's more about me expressing my heart to Him in a real, intimate way...i'm down with that and i've been hoping to write some...

denver was a different sort of trip but a great time also...we had some great services and jeff deyo did a nice job leading worship...had some GREAT group devo times and a couple of our teens really encountered God in a way that they never had which always is so amazing for me to see...there's no groups quite like teens that can one moment knock the breath out of you with their bad choices and then the next moment stun you with a brief moment of spiritual awareness and brilliant insight - i love watching them work out their faith, as hard as it is sometimes...
our drama teams really did amazing and the places to eat in denver were GREAT...of course i found the local pf chang's AND the cheesecake factory!!! - oh my - we NEED one of those here ASAP...so then i can have another reason for being broke - but 40 kinds of cheesecake!?!?! holy moly...my baby would LIVE there (hehe)

well, we're in our new church building which is SWEEEET - new youth room, new college students room, HUGE gym, kitchen...i love it and can't wait to get all the decor in there...gonna be a real asset to the youth ministries...we're also making a huge push to start campus clubs this fall on the local high school campuses - we've targeted 11 campuses as a network and i can't wait to see what God is gonna do through them...

everything else is well, my sister is gonna have a baby girl (abigail grace) no later than 9/8...family is well...josh off to college soon, lisa and derek's house coming along nicely...our sat morning softball team lost in the playoffs but we didnt really have our team there...our monday night team pulled an upset this past monday in the playoffs beating a team that we had lost to twice already AND we killed them...24-8...so yay...

erin is still amazing to me and i like her more everyday - i'm gonna keep her :)

oh and i found out i'm speaking at a faith heritage chapel this year...more on that later....

home sweet home

today i come home for GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!
yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i've had two amazing trips but i'm ready to be home and i can't wait to see erin tonight!!!! :)
see ya all sooooooooooooooon -