improvement

G'day!

Well my back continues to give me problems. For a solid week it was really bad...couldn't stand up straight, I walked all bent funny, and i had to sleep on the couch for about 8 days because it hurt to much to lay flat on a bed. I went to the doctor and he gave me a a drug cocktail to help with the pain and muscle spasming and they did a bit but not nearly enough to make things ok. So he has referred me to the only neurosurgeon here in town who is really good but who is backed up till September 2008. He is currently looking at my referral and hopefully will deem me important enough to see on an emergency basis. One bright spot though was right after i found out that getting into the neurosurgeon would be a struggle, we had a pretty hardcore prayer session for my back and the whole situation. The next day I was noticeably better. I didn't have to bend over so much when I walked and i was able to sleep in my bed for the first time in over a week. It has been 4 days since then and every day seems a bit better. I still cannot stand up for more than a few minutes without having a fair amount of pain but when i'm laying down or sitting I do not feel any pain at all. I am not even taking my pain medication anymore.

I'll be honest and tell you that prayer is still not an easy thing in my life and i doubt the effectiveness more than my fair share. It is something that does not come easy for me. But on the other hand i am quite certain that this is where God has called me to be and that I am where he wants me . He did so much to get me through the back surgery before and he got me here in an incredible fashion. I knew that he would not do all that just for me to turn around and go back home to deal with more back stuff. So we prayed for physical healing as well as just a breaking off of anything spiritual that was trying to interfere with God's plan in my life. About 5 people prayed for me and it was really good and fairly intense. Afterwards, I did not feel anything suddenly shifting back in place or anything else miraculous but as I was going to bed that night i decided to try laying down on my bed. I ended up sleeping in my bed for the first time in over a week. the next day suddenly i could stand up almost straight. while i am still not pain free i have seen improvement everyday and can point to the day of improvement being wednesday. the day i was prayed for.

While I am convinced that God is good and does not cause anything bad to happen...I am also convinced that God can take the bad (that he does not cause) and use it to find good. for instance, I do not believe that God has caused my back to hurt, in fact i believe it is not his will at all, but is it not possible that he could strengthen my faith through it anyways? could he not use this opportunity to show aspects of his goodness that i might not otherwise be aware of? if we went through our entire life without pain, without struggles, without seemingly hopeless situations, and without confusion....how could we ever tell anyone else of what God has done in our lives? I am learning that God allows us to go through certain things not only so we can learn about the love of God on a personal level but also so that we can use our knowledge of who God is to tell other people. aren't the "best" testimonies of God's provision always found in the testimonies of those who have suffered the most? i read last year of a missionary who had both legs from the knee down pulverized with a sledgehammer so he could not escape the prison he was in....only to hear God tell him a few days later to walk out anyways and so he just got up and walked from the middle of the prison all the way out through the open gates of the prison and got into a taxi! when he tells someone about God do you think he means it when he tells of God's provision, his strength, his faithfulness, and his love? How much stronger is his faith now?

I am learning that God loves us. I am learning that he cares what happens to us. I am also learning that his ways are often so much higher than what i can see. I am learning that the harder things get the more i need to run to God and not away from him. Because with Him i cannot lose. I might have pain and suffering and confusion...but i will not lose.


wow...that just kinda came spilling out. maybe that was for me to get out. maybe someone else needs to hear that too.... I don't know. but there it is.

in other news, even though i am not at a hundred percent somehow the base manages to keep on rollin! haha! a team just left to go back to Thailand to work with the prostitutes and in the slums for a few weeks. we have another two more teams leaving this week...one to travel around queensland (Australia) and the other heads to the island of Vanuatu. each team will be in their locations for 2 months and the Vanuatu team will be taking youthstreet out of Australia for the first time! the goal is get youthstreet set up internationally and this is the first time it's leaving our borders! it's very exciting. so the ministry is rolling along and things are getting done. God continues to do his thing and use us in the process!

Talk to you all soon!

Aaron

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hitch in my git'along

Guess who is back? Yep you guessed it...old mr. back problems.

Most of you are fully aware that I had back surgery two and a half months ago now and have been doing reasonably well since then. Unfortunately over this last weekend something happened and I am not in the best condition now. Something inside has moved or slipped or bulged or something and it has been causing me a decent amount of pain. I currently cannot stand up straight and have a lot of trouble walking. Sleeping through the night is also not happening. I was hoping that it would just go away but it has been getting worse and not better so after 2 days of this i went to the doctor yesterday. he checked me out and could definitely tell my back was spasming for some reason and decided to give me several prescriptions (i lovingly refer to them as my drug cocktail) with hopes that they will calm my back down and hopefully alleviate the problem. If this doesn't work then it gets a little hairier...cat scan's or mri's checking for structural damage or other disc problems and maybe even another surgery. but we can cross that bridge if we get there..and we are not there yet.

if you are wondering how what happened to bring this on...so am i. i was just sitting at my desk on thursday and could feel something happening in my back but couldn't do anything about it. It really hurt that evening but by sunday morning it had become much better so i thought i was out of the woods. but as i sat on the couch sunday night it came back with a vengeance and has just gotten progressively worse since then. i've been much more active in the prior weeks but for two weeks now i have done nothing active in nature which makes this a bit confusing. no real explanation for it. all i know is that this is the worst my back has ever been...even before the surgery.

i just wanted to keep you updated and i will continue to do so as this plays out. i also know i could ask for your prayers but i'm sure that at this point i barely need to ask. you all do it automatically it seems! i really do appreciate all your prayers and am confident that this will turn out ok. God has done so much to get me here and has conquered my back problems in big ways on more than one occasion....this will be no different. so let's fight this together.

on a side note...there is a bit of me that wonders if this is a less of a physical thing and more spiritual in nature. I was supposed to be a part of a team this week that was traveling out and taking part in a ministry opportunity. because of my back though i am not able to attend. I am usually one who tends to play off everything as "just the way things happen" but i really am learning that there is an enemy out there who does not want to see the will of God be done. there is a real battle going on. so the fact that there is absolutely no reason for my back to be hurt and it just happens to be right before a great ministry opportunity...coincidence maybe. but maybe not.

although this whole situation is not the greatest news, I remain in good spirits and am not frustrated at all. it takes more than this to bring me down. and if this is an attack... that would mean that i am suffering for the sake of Christ. i don't feel worthy to be in that position. i would consider that an honor.

I'll keep you all posted on the latest. Thanks for caring!

Aaron

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both the soul and the body".... Matthew 10:28

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a bit of leadership

Let's get this blog think crackin' again huh?! things are in full swing around here and much has happened since the last update. the biggest change in my life is that i have now started my trek of leadership and responsibility by taking over the youthstreet sports team! i have been a part of that team since i have been here (july '07) and the former leader decided to move on from that position and youthstreet leadership asked me if i would be willing to take over. it was an honor to be asked and now that means that I am in charge of the planning, facilitating, staffing, and making sure that a group of about 20 people have an incredible sporting experience every saturday. good times....i'll keep you posted on all of those happenings asit looks to be a fun and challenging time. gotta love responsibility!

another fun youthstreet story is that a couple weeks ago we did a big talent show with all the kids that we modeled after the "american idol." it was a huge production that involved 15-20 different acts (mostly music), live feed cameras, back stage interviews, many stage lights, and otherwise keeping about 100 kids engaged and entertained. they asked me if i would be willing to be one of the 3 judges. we do this show about every 3-4 months and it is usually the same judges but they had a spot to fill this time and for some reason they came to me. i ended up agreeing to do it and soon became "fletcher",,,,,the ultra american/jock/intense/know nothing about music character. it was a real stretch for me....:). after each performance i had to critique the act and simultaneously be funny and witty on the spot so that the audience will entertained. at one point i mentioned something about interpretive dancing and my buddy (who was also involved) called me out and so i had to go up to the front and do a dance for everyone as they chanted "fletch ER fletch ER." i hate dancing but apparently for some reason it was funny. i'm not sure why.....:). the night was a lot of fun and it went really well. they even asked me to come back and be a permanent judge. great. maybe i can dance more next time.

on another note, me and a group of about 20 staff our base went to a high school in town this last friday and did an "auslife" program. auslife is basically a program where we go and do a high intensity, action packed program designed to talk to the kids about a certain issue...this time we talked about self-esteem. we watched video clips, played games, had small groups, and just overall talked about self-esteem, what it is, how it affects us, how we can help others etc. It is also cool to because we are allowed to talk about God and as much as we want....even in public schools here. so up front we pretty much keep it to the topic but in small groups God comes up quite a bit. my group was actually way more into talking about God than anything else. my group of 8 were all in 11th grade and all told me at the beginning when i asked what they liked to do for fun, all mentioned drinking, partying, getting smashed, vodka, or some other form of drinking as their main source of entertainment. but they all ended up being really interested in God and who he was etc. it was a good day. at the end i was on a panel where the kids could write down questions about anything....self-esteem, God, life, or whatever. I was the one who started the answers off and so i was handed the microphone and then read my first question...."if God is there, why doesn't he answer our prayers?".... nothing like starting it off with a bang huh? my other questions ended up being "does God care about me?" "why do bad things happen if God cares" and "why doesn't God just show him/herself if he/she's really there?" so in front of 120 kids or so i did my best to tackle these questions. if you wanna know what i said.....ask me. i don't have enough room here but i would love to chat about it.

other than that life is chuggin away. still working in accounts where i will be for the next few months most likely. haven't lost any money yet! haha! i have a new roommate just move last night as well. he's from tonga. a lot more base news goin on....we just had 5 teams return from all over the region....indonesia, thailand, papua new guinea, torres straight islands, and mt. isa. they have amazing strories of working with prostitutes in thailand, goin to incredibly remote villages to put on healthcare clinics, working with youth programs and so much more. more on that later as well...

i'd love to hear from you guys. talk to ya soon!

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