New Faces

One of my favorite parts of being involved in YWAM is getting to meet so many new people. One of the main way this happens is through the training schools we run. Just about a month ago we started our Fall Discipleship Training School (DTS). I has been really great getting to know these students and seeing how God is working in their lives. The guys in the pictures with me are James, who I am discipling while he goes through his DTS, and Wilson who is apprenticing under me during this school.






My wife, who talked me into starting this whole blogging bit, was recently featured as a guest blogger on a friends site, which has since been re-posted on numerous other blogs. Check out my super creative wife's blog here

Fantastical

I recently returned from a very enjoyable visit to Waco, Texas. The purpose of the visit was David Crowder's Fantastical Church Music Conference. I attended with a couple of friends. We enjoyed times of teaching from Francis Chan, Rob Bell, Louis Giglio, and others. We also had great times of worship with Crowder, Mike Crawford and his secret siblings, Hillsong London and many more. The overall theme of the conference was the question, "why do we sing?" While that question was answered in many different ways, I came away dwelling on the following thoughts:
1) Finding a way to use creativity within the church as a tool while avoiding it becoming a distraction.
2) As someone who looks for the best ways to share truth cross-culturally I was challenged to do the same through the words of the songs I write for the American church as well.
3) Looking at and evaluating our churches through the light of scripture rather than our own cultural biases.

On the fun side of things, we enjoyed some of the best restaurant food (I must state "restaurant" because nothing beats my wife's home cooking) I've ever eaten. If anyone is ever in Waco, I highly recommend stopping for a meal at Georges, home of the El Nino potato (pictured below), and crazy wings (chicken wing stuffed with jalapeno, then wrapped with Pepper Jack Cheese and Bacon). Absolutely Glorious

yes, that's 1 lb of baked potatoes loaded with chicken-fried steak,
then doused with gravy and Cheddar cheese

Smiley Faces

I love my two little girls. They both bring so much joy into my life. Being able to be these little girl's dad is so rewarding for me. Although at times they can be a handful, I love every minute.

Joys of Fatherhood

I love being a dad! While at times it can be tiring and frustrating, it is so rewarding. Here are a few of my recent highlights.

Father's Day was a really fun time of feeling appreciated by my family. Lyla made a tasty breakfast for me, with Vanessa's help. They then lavished some great gifts on me, including a new travel mug, coffee, and anew shirt. I also got a gift that Lyla hand-picked for me. It was a children's horseshoe game. She apparently told Vanessa that she thought it would be fun to play with daddy. trying to teach a almost three year old to play horseshoes was quite the adventure. She couldn't understand why you would ever throw a horseshoe at a stake far away when it was so much easier to just drop it over the one right next to you. In the end Lyla ended up using the stakes as drum sticks.



As Lyla get older things change. A couple weeks ago, I went into Lyla's room to let her know that "nap" time was finished. This is what I found

I asked her to sit on her bed for a photo & she couldn't

I was playing guitar the other day and Lyla wanted to play with me. So, she went to get her maracas. Below is how she returned to the living room.
We've had lots of thunderstorms recently here in Jacksonville. As a result we've spent a fair amount of time without electricity. Searching for inside, no electricity activities has been quite the challenge. I think I found a winner. Lyla really enjoyed this fort we made, and weathered the storm inside while reading her favorite books.

While Lyla requires the most attention, I'm still able to spend plenty of time with our new little bundle of Joy. This is how she likes to spend her time with me

Sage is the rage

Since my last post, the Herrema family has grown. Sage Jennie was born on May 14 at 4:28 pm. She decided to show up ten days late, but when she decided to come she came quickly. She was born 13 minutes after we arrived at the birth center. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is already growing like a weed. It's hard to believe that this Friday she'll be a month old. Fatherhood the second time around is just as great as the first. Although it has caused a lack of sleep and extra work, I wouldn't trade it for the world.



Lyla has been a really good help as a big sister, but we've also gotten to have some good father/daughter times. We've been able to go to the zoo, out to breakfast, Disney, and to see the Jacksonville Suns, her favorite minor league baseball team. She was quite disappointed yesterday when I informed her we'd no longer be seeing "Big Mike" (Mike Stanton) as he'd been called up to the Marlins. But, we were able to watch a part of his first big league game on TV and she found it almost surreal that someone she'd seen in person was now on the TV.

Every good baseball fan needs their team gear

Orlando

A few weeks back we headed down to Orlando. The primary reason for the trip was the National Association of Photoshop Professionals Conference. Lyla and I didn't really have much interest in advancing our Photoshop skills, so we decided to wander on down to a little place called Disney World. It was an extremely fun time, for Lyla and myself, and very tiring. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

showing off a new bathing suit

Lyla was very shy when meeting some of her favorite characters

To see more pictures from this trip click here

DTS Outreach

While many things helped make the last month so hectic, one of the more enjoyable was helping to prepare the DTS students for the outreach phase of their school. As usual, the last week of the lecture phase the staff host a "love feast," which gives us as staff an opportunity to serve the students in a very visible manner. Everyone wears their finest clothes and we enjoy a great dinner together.

The DTS students left last Friday to spend two months in India, where they will be working with a Indian church planter. They will be doing open air services, orphanage ministry, and trying to find opportunities to minster to the Bhansala, a completely unreached people group. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Father is going to do in and through these students in the next couple of months

March Madness

March was a very intense and busy month, complete with a couple weeks spent out of town. I'll be updating you on these times over the next couple of days. The DTS has been going really well, and the students have really been being challenged by the teachings.
For the past 9 years YWAM Jacksonville has been involved with a ministry called Spring Harvest. Every year we join them in Daytona to minister to students there for Spring Break. They rent out an entire hotel and hold "parties" back on the pool deck, providing free food and coffee. They also offer a graffiti wall, henna tattoos, live music, etc. This year I worked at the quesadilla stand. I would spend half the night making and serving food to the breakers while engaging them in conversation, and the rest of the night I would mingle with the breakers while looking for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with them. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Preparing for a long night of ministry

The quesadilla stand was hoppin

DJ Will bringing the beats

The fun of Parenthood

So, every night before bed there are a couple things Lyla expects to happen. One, is the telling of the classic Princess and Frog story, and the other is me singing Come Lord Jesus Come, which she calls the "Princess Song" because one time I used it with a story about how a princess would sing it when she was scared to remind her that Jesus was with her. The two videos below are Lyla's take on these two things.

Lyla Tells a story from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

Lyla singing "Princess Song" from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

The Big 5-0

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the start of Youth With a Mission. As a family we have now been involved with YWAM for almost nine years. Sometimes it's hard to believe everything God has done in our lives, including meeting each other, through YWAM. I watched this video the other day that YWAM Kona did to celebrate our 50th year. Check it out.

The Flame Goes Forward - Celebrating 50 Years of YWAM from YWAM Kona on Vimeo.

goings on

Life has gotten crazy busy over the past month YWAM Jacksonville once again has a Discipleship Training School (DTS) running. There are 11 young people here seeking to learn more about Father, to grow in their faith, and to see what God has for them. I am leading the guys small group and I feel blessed that Father has brought such an amazing group of students for this DTS. Lyla loves having all these new friends around to play with. We're counting down the days till the newest member of our family arrives. The pictures below are of the dts.

New Year

2010 is less than seven hours old and I'm already tired. Why? Well, apparently Lyla didn't get the memo telling children to wake up at 5 on Christmas morning and to sleep in on New Year's Day. She decided to reverse them. So, here I sit, thinking expectantly on the year ahead, reflecting on the year behind, a thinking about how I've been slacking at writing lately.
Of all the high profile deaths in 2009 I think the one that impacted/spoke to me the most was Chris Henry. Not because he was any more special than anyone else, but rather because of what was said of him after his death. Many said they didn't understand his death because he was in the process of getting his life on the "right path." To me it was a reminder of two things. First, tomorrow isn't promised. Second, getting your life "right" shouldn't be a long process. Getting your life right is simply an act of surrendering to God, accepting that it's only through His gift that we can ever be "right."
As I enter this new year, one of the things I'm trying to do is look at everything from a Kingdom viewpoint. As I've been writing/filming Americanned Dreams, the current series I've been doing for YWAM JAX, I find myself appalled when I look into the statistics. If you haven't seen these short episodes, check them out below.

Americanned Dreams, episode 1 from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

Americanned Dreams, episode 2 from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

Americanned Dreams Thanksgiving from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

Americanned Dreams #4 from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.

Americanned Christmas from Aaron Herrema on Vimeo.