SHUSTLOG

Past the Due Date!

2012-02-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

Jan 30th was Michael's Due Date. How fun that we got him for an extra 2 1/2 weeks! Michael is incredible. Absolutely, stunningly beautiful. He is peaceful, alert, strong, still draining his bottles dry (getting his daily required intake) and started sleeping through the night at 12 days old! Sarah actually has to wake him for his morning bottle. Dude likes to sleep.

Michael's favorite Expression

We're still quasi-hibernating to do our best to stay healthy so that he doesn't catch anything from us. Again, he'll have to have open heart surgery in the next couple months when his heart begins to fail he'll need to be healthy (Without the proper number of valves and walls, his blood is getting all mixed up, they'll do the procedure as late as possible so that his lungs grow to be as strong as possible.) So anytime I leave the house, I shower when I come home. Like Sunday after church. I led worship in the morning and then at the church's annual report dinner/meeting I had the privilege of presenting my annual Worship report for the first time. Anyhow, a lot of handshakes and hugs meant that I had to be ceremonially cleansed before I touched my little boy.

Speaking of how incredible it is to be a part of a church body, our meals are taken care of from now until the end of March! And seemingly every time one of Sarah's friends is at the grocery store, they call to see if we need anything. My former pastor in Atlanta told us that church membership is like being a citizen of your country or a member of your family, it comes with responsibility and the right to be disciplined, but also comes with incredible benefits. Right now we are reaping the benefit of community. (I'm not saying that if we refused to be members, they'd refuse to take care of us but..."membership has its privileges" right? My Dad has bailed me out of things before, picked me up when my bike had a flat, fixed my broken down car, loaned me money when I needed it...paid for college! He doesn't do that for everyone, I assure you, he loves to care for me, because I'm family. I also received discipline and instruction from him for years, because I'm family. Same with church I think.

Right now, we are receiving care and abundant blessing from our church family.

Anyhow, that was an aside. My back is feeling better. Two adjustments two days in a row from awesome Doctor Large. Let's see, my pelvis was out, my 3rd and 4th vertebrae were heading in two different directions and I had 2 ribs out of place. And my knee's menisci had slid out of place...I was a mess. When a doctor says, "Wow", you're a mess. Time to get to know Dr Large a little better.

Home!

2012-01-24T12:53:00.000-08:00

It's pretty incredible being in the second full day home with 5 in the house! Michael is doing great, on a wonderful schedule and up just one time in the night. He's getting his rest and so is Mommy. The boys are thrilled to have their Mommy and new little brother home and, quite frankly, so am I. Forgive the lack of blogging the past two days. The blog was very therapeutic for me during the past week and I will continue to blog about things in my life that move me, whether it pertains to Michael or any other members of my family, friends or Road experiences. I don't feel led to start a "Down Syndrome Blog", although I'm sure I will reference some of the many resources you all brought to my attention. Michael is now a part of our lives. Down Syndrome is now a part of our lives but I don't think it will define us.

We have an incredible support base through our church, very near and dear friends who help us through life, whether it's being there for Sarah when I'm on the road, helping us with Nicky and his health and allergy issues and I know they will continue to be there for us with Michael. Pittsburgh seems to be a wonderful place to live when you have a child with DS and one of my dear friends in Christian Music is Jeremy Theissen, the drummer from Downhere, who I will be touring with again this Spring, has a 3 year old boy, Liam, with Down Syndrome. We will have much to talk about.

We're not worried. We're not scared. We have no reason to fear. We have nothing but love and joy to experience through the lives of our three children.

Thank you all for your generous offers of practical assistance to our family. One day, and that day may never come, we may call in those favors! In the meanwhile, I pray you've found some encouragement from our recent journey, I know we couldn't have journeyed the way we did without our cyber-community loving us with the love of our Lord!

Thank you again so much!

What's on our hearts: Michael's Complete AV Canal Septal Defect will require the heart surgery that so many of you know about. If you don't know, sometime in the next few months, he'll have to have that surgery. We won't know when until his heart fails. We're praying for peace and wisdom.

Michael Update 5 (O2 and Hearing!)

2012-01-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Daniel, Nicky and Levi: Play Day!

Michael passed his hearing test today with a SMALL Nuk.

I dropped off Daniel and Nicky with their friends Levi and Jade around noon (thanks Joel and Chelsea!) and headed down to see Sarah and Michael. The audiologists got him all patched up for his hearing test, which evidently you can sleep through when you're 8 days old. He passed with flying colors. We learned that people with DS often have Eustachian tubes that are horizontal and not angled and are therefore more prone to ear infections. Daniel had a million and Nicky had zero...so time will tell. His blood-oxygen level was much better too, so his pulse-ox monitor was removed from his foot, enabling Sarah to wrap him up a little better. One less thing that he's plugged into. And he's eating like a champ still. Keep in mind, he's currently at 5lbs 2 oz...1 oz away from where he was at birth, but he was down to 4lb 15oz...so this is an improvement.

Whatever, Dad.

Our long time friends, Howard and Cherie (Papa Howie and Gramma Cherie to our boys) who lead our church's children's program came by to visit and brought a packet of cards that all the kids made Wednesday evening, welcoming Michael to our world. They were adorable to read and pretty entertaining to see the personalities match the cards. We had some good laughs.

Sarah and I shared a quick meal from Panera, then I kissed half of my family goodbye and headed home for the other half. I sat in Pittsburgh traffic, which I enjoy for some reason, and listened to K-LOVE, blessed by the words of friends and singing along with their songs. Well, I listened driving up hills, I lose reception driving downhill when leaving the city because my motorized antenna is broken. :/

Nicky fell asleep on the drive home. Tired and at peace.

Tough times are inevitable. Being surrounded by love in the meanwhile (especially love that is responding to God's love) makes all the difference. I'm truly a blessed man.

A Word From Max

2012-01-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

I received a devotional book as a birthday gift from my parents during my first "official" tour. Well, my first tour ever. A twelve city tour with the amazing Nichole Nordeman in 2005. The book was Mocha with Max, a collection of thoughts from Max Lucado and to this day it is one of the most focusing little books I frequent. This morning I read an entry I'd read a thousand times before, but today it was different:

"One of God's cures for a weak faith? A good, healthy struggle. Several years ago our family visited Colonial Williamsburg, a re-creation of eighteenth-century America in Williamsburg, Virginia. If you ever visit there, pay special attention to the work of the silversmith. The craftsman places a ingot of silver on an anvil and pounds it with a sledgehammer. Once the metal is flat enough for shaping, into the furnace it goes. The worker alternately heats and pounds the metal until it takes the shape of a tool he can use.

Heating, pounding.

Deadlines, traffic.

Arguments, disrespect.

Loud sirens, silent phones.

Heating, pounding.

Did you know that the smith in silversmith comes from the old English word smite? Silversmiths are accomplished smiters. So is God. Once the worker is satisfied with the form of his tool, he begins to planish and pumice it. Using smaller hammers and abrasive pads, he taps, rubs and decorates. And no one stops him. No one yanks the hammer out of his hand and says, "Go easy on that silver. You've pounded enough!" No, the craftsman buffets the metal until he is finished with it. Some silversmiths, I'm told, keep polishing until they can see their face in the tool. When will God stop with you? When He sees His reflection in you. "

Thank God for His timely words. I want God to see His reflection when He looks at me.

ps. Michael ate like a champ again this morning. :)

Michael Aaron Update 4

2012-01-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

Michael Aaron - 6 days old.

Michael ate like a champion today. He was required 35 milliliters per feeding and decided he'd consume 40 to show the hospital staff how it's done.

Sarah continues to Blaze the Light of Jesus in Michael's little NICU room. There is no doubt in my mind that God is using Michael's birth and his mother's journey in his first week of life to call more than one person to Himself. Tears are shed and questions raised that lead to answers about our Sovereign God.

Since Daniel and Nicky have been only slightly on the stuffy nose and coughing side of health, we've kept our distance from Michael the past few days and I've tried to spend as much time with the boys as possible. We had another 'sleep over' in daddy's bed last night, and spent the majority of our snowy day in the basement with a fire going, playing Battleship, Wii and freeze tag in our pajamas. I think it was therapeutic for the boys, I know it was for me.

The past few nights, once the boys are bathed, in their PJs and in bed, we call Mommy, put her on speakerphone and say goodnight. She prays over the boys, tonight each of the boys sang a song to her while I strummed, it's a sweet time. One more thing that gives those boys a sense of security. But I look forward to those moments not being over the phone. I pray it's sooner rather than later. I'm ready for my family to be together. ...but that's just me being selfish. ;)

This just in: last feeding of the day: Michael consumed 45 mls! Sarah said "This is a different kid from two days ago. He's turned into a piggy!" I thank you for your prayers that turned my boy into a piggy.

Michael Aaron Update 3

2012-01-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Such a strange, beautiful but delicate place I find myself right now. I'm utterly overwhelmed and blessed by the encouragement and advice flowing in, and for those of you who mention that their comments may never reach my eyes, be assured, they all do, before I click the word publish. At that point they become public in order to bless others.

I know that Michael's story has become relatively more public than other birth stories, and I find that to be slightly disquieting. He is special, to be sure, but no more special than every other child that I've read about in your comments, any other child on the planet. We're deeply moved beyond words that radio stations are sharing our story and are asking you to pray. Yet I feel inclined to say that I don't believe that because of that attention, our Omnipotent God is necessarily more likely to act. That could mean prayers of people with a greater number of Twitter followers or Facebook likes would be more likely to experience answered prayer. I absolutely believe in the power of prayer, and I believe the mystery of the purpose of prayer may go deeper than we tend to give it credit. But, for those who disagree with that thinking, let me state that I am not asking you for prayer. I will tell you our story. It's up to you whether you pray, not pray...or unsubscribe. :)

We know from Scripture that the prayers of just one man can move the heart of God (Abraham interceding for Lot or Elijah praying it would rain) and I know that when I draw near to God, through prayer, He draws near to me. When I surrender to His will, my will becomes secondary. Prayer is beneficial to me in far more ways than just receiving affirmative answers.

So. Here's our story for the day:

Starting at 3am, my two oldest boys (5 and 3) walked down the hallway and crawled into bed with their daddy. We have always encouraged our children to sleep in their own beds. Exceptions are utterly marvelous. ;) In the morning, I got the boys ready for school, Classical Conversations, where Daniel, my 5 year old, gave his weekly presentation, this one on his family. Daniel took his place in front of the class.

"My name is Daniel, I have a brand new brother. His name is Michael Aaron Shust. He is 5 years old (he meant days) and weighs 5 pounds. He has Down Syndrome which means he will smile a lot, laugh a lot, share his toys very easily and give lots of hugs. It also means his heart is very sick and will need surgery to fix it. He is my brother and I love him and I can't wait for him to come home."

Then he passed around the picture of himself holding Michael, the one I posted yesterday, and asked if there were any questions. I was so proud!

Michael's Bilirubin is down. :) His cultures are good, but his weight is still low and he didn't eat very well today. But tonight at 8pm he ate his entire bottle, no need for the the feeding tube...that he completely yanked out for the 3rd time. Ouch. He's a feisty kid for having low tone. ;)

Sarah is still rocking the NICU. I asked her today how she was doing emotionally in the hospital non-stop. "Oh I'm fine," she dismissed. She was wired to handle this. Thank you, Jesus. I was not. Get this: a nurse cried in Michael's room this evening because of Sarah's "spirit". She said she couldn't imagine what Sarah was going through but she was handling it so well. Sarah said it was a totally open door to share the love and sovereignty of Jesus with her: "Worth more than a little extra sleep," she said. As I type, the nurse had just walked back in to hear more!

My friend Laura Story asks:

What IF the blessings come through raindrops?

What IF the healing comes through tears?

What IF a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know Your near?

What IF trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

You still wanna be blessed? :)

Michael Aaron Update 2

2012-01-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

The Day: What a day. I held the fort at home. Successfully made oatmeal that the boys actually liked this time (just add more brown sugar, dads, you can't go wrong) and ate some amazing Chicken Parm that my neighbors brought over for lunch. I also enjoyed it as a midnight snack last night and plan on repeating that event tonight.

Daniel had some sniffles, so the boys didn't go downtown with me today, too precarious of a situation with Michael, so they played with friends and I headed to the Hospital with the primary purpose of moving Sarah's stuff out of the NICU sleeping room that she got "kicked out" of (I don't know why) and move everything across the street to a hotel that my amazing road manager Greg Anton Lee booked within about 3.5 minutes of my emailing him a plea for help. (No, that's not part of his job description. I owe him a box of Twinkies or something.) After I set up her room, I headed back to my friends' place who were watching my boys and they had dinner for us. Also phenomenal. Now the boys are bathed and tucked into bed after the evening serenade. (To which Nicky head banged and smashed his nose on the etch-a-scetch on his pillow.) Sarah called and informed me that the Hospital found a room for her and she and a dear friend moved everything back from the hotel to the hospital. And the hotel isn't going to charge us! That was a Quality move Inn my opinion.

Michael: His cultures are coming back clear from the sepsis: great news! He's not drinking the prescribed 35 mls per meal, so they're still pushing his feeds through his NG tube. Not as good. They won't send him home with a tube like Nicky did. His vitals seem to be strong, considering. No word yet on how soon he'd be coming home.

Sarah is strong and getting some more rest. She plans to sleep through the nights now and I'm quite happy about that. She plans to stay by her boy for as long as she is able. While I would love to have her here at home right now, and Michael too while we're stating the obvious, I admire and respect her desire to not leave her baby bird with a broken wing. She knows what she's talking about and she's Michael's biggest advocate there. My wife grew up with such an insatiable thirst to be a doctor, and though life led elsewhere...now we think we know why she did. She knows stuff about the medical procedures that the average bear doesn't. And she often comes up with suggestions to consider that people in the room hadn't yet. No offense to them, she's just thinking about one case and one case only. (I'm referring mainly to Nicky last year) But she insists on sitting in on the Doctors morning pow-wow. I admire the mess out of that lady.

Me: I'm good. I'm probably spending too much time online and on the phone, but your comments are still breathing life into my bones. Some make me laugh out loud and shed tears at the same time. I can't wait for that little guy to come home and join the rest of his Shusts.

Despite the turmoil, the evidence of the Spirit is all around.

In the Love of the saints,

The Joy of the Lord,

The Peace that passes understanding,

Through Patience in the face of uncertainty,

Through Kindness from you,

In the Goodness of the food you cooked!

In the Gentleness of my boys as they hold and caress their baby brother.

In the self-control of my wife when the hits just keep on coming.

...or maybe that's Trust.

Resting in the arms of the One who won't let go.

Beautiful Aftershock

2012-01-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

What an incredible past few days. Months of emotions were packed into hours. I wrote the last blog a little over 24 hours after our boy was born and we discovered that he probably had Down Syndrome. My emotions were true to where I was, where we were: raw. That was Saturday morning and now it's Monday night. 227 life-breathing comments on the blog later and a good many more on Twitter, Facebook and my website and Sarah and I are excited about this new adventure that God has plopped us in! :D The tears that we have cried have gone from shock and fear to utter awe at God's magnificent love evidenced through each and every one of you. It's like you conspired to make your stories all the same..."We found ourselves in the same situation, we were afraid, but that passes and your boy will be the biggest blessing you could never have lived without!" I swear half of you adopted more babies with DS after your first. And none of you corrected me for spelling Down Syndrome wrong each time I typed it! (I fixed it, don't check) which tells me that somehow, and I have a hunch how, Christ has rubbed off on you in a big way and you know how to show GRACE to people who are wrong and not as far along as you are. Bless you, Bless you, Bless you! Not for the grammatical oversight, for the general LOVE you showered us with. (See, one should never end a sentence with a preposition...Ms Byrne.)

Aaron and Sarah emotional update: We are good. By the grace of God we are good. Thank you for your prayers and stories and encouragements.

Michael update: Michael has been in the NICU since his birthday. He acquired a staph infection that led to sepsis (Medical people, please offer me the same grace my grammatical friends showed me) they couldn't pinpoint what it was until last night. But were giving him an antibiotic cocktail and eventually his white cell count began to lower and is still coming down: great news.

He was having a bit of trouble eating so they gave him a NG (Nasogastric: nose to stomach) feeding tube. (Nicky had an NG, NJ, GJ and currently has a G tube...they were comparing tubes tonight). His bilirubin is up, so he's under the blue lamp, and his temp is low, so he's in the tanning bed.

He is an absolute doll and I love him to death. Sarah is staying in the NICU around the clock, just like she did last year with Nicky. I picked up my 2 oldest boys last night and brought them home for some 'normalcy', but we'll make daily trips downtown until they come home. I sang and strummed them to sleep tonight. The all request set list was Rest In the Arms by Daddy. Little Nicky and Oh Mommy by Daddy, The Chain Gang by Sam Cooke and Give Me Your Eyes by good ole Brampo Neap.

If I had no Hope. If we had no trust in a Perfectly Loving God's Perfectly Loving Plan...I wonder how nuts I'd be right now. Our very lives rest in the palm of His hand. There is no need to fear.

Michael Aaron, Our Special Angel.

2012-01-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning at 4:19am my third son was born. I've know for years that if God blessed us with a third boy, I wanted his name to be Michael. Michael is my middle name and somewhat of a family name as well. I only recently warmed to the idea of giving him the name Aaron as a middle name. I liked the connection it made to the Shust family (both Daniel and Nicky are named after family members) and thought it would give he and I a strong connection later in life.

Last May, while kayaking off the coast of Maui (how often will I ever get to say that?!) Sarah informed me that we were pregnant and we couldn't have been more excited. After all of Nicky's complications with EE and a near death experience or two, we weren't sure whether we could handle another child with all the care and attention Nicky demanded. But we felt strongly that we wanted more. God blessed us with another who, despite some complications in the pregnancy, grew to be a strong healthy little baby, due January 30th. The anticipation to such an event is palpable. The house starts to look like a baby lives there again as high chairs and cribs come down from the attic, the nursery gets reassembled and parts to the family band have long been assigned: Daniel on keys (or bass?), Nicky on drums (that was easy) so Michael will have to learn electric guitar. (That way when I'm old and cant afford Nate, Duffy and Coker, I'll hire my boys.)

At 37.5 weeks, Sarah had another of many sonograms and for the first time, doctors said that Michael should be much bigger. Within hours we were at the hospital and Sarah quickly delivered our tiny, beautiful Michael. Within five minutes a doctor told us that they were seeing strong signs of Down Syndrome.

The celebration came to a sudden halt.

Our Michael, who will be needing open heart surgery very soon for the often present AV Canal Defect, is in the NICU right now with an infection they can't locate, and Sarah and I have navigated the most bizarre, disorienting balance of being joyful over a new life surrounded by congratulations with grieving the loss of simple dreams we had for our boy and our life together, facing the unknown fear of how in the world to parent a child with Down Syndrome. We keep thinking all this is an absolute dream, because this is always someone else's story and never yours.

This story is ours, not just for today or for this year but the rest of our lives and as I type this I don't know what to do.

Sarah has had Psalm 46:10 on her heart for weeks. "Be still and know that I am God," and has felt the Spirit prompting her for about a month now to start a blog called "Down Came the Rain" and couldn't imagine why that title would make any sense unless our next child would bring more 'rain' into our lives. And she was pretty sure she couldn't handle any more rain.

And we can't. Joyce Meyer just tweeted that old saying that was cheesy to me before today: You don't need to know what the future holds, you just need to know Who holds the future. I've never cried before when I read that. But I did today.

Calloused and bruised, dazed and confused, I am not skilled to understand what God has willed or what God has planned, but my hope is in Him alone! God alone will receive the glory and the praise, He will watch over us in the darkest valleys and when the night seems long and He'll help us to see the way before us. All of my plans and all of my dreams, we lay before His feet. We submit to His design.

I get to remind myself of these truths every night I sing them.

Sarah and I now fearfully look forward to raising a second special-needs child, knowing that God has something up His sleeve! And that something will bring Him positive attention: glory. My resolve to be a good and faithful servant in His sight grows stronger. And I have a feeling we will see a lot of Jesus in Michael, our little angel.

Welcome to the Shust family, Michael. :)

Christmas: Truly Humbling

2011-12-25T05:52:00.001-08:00

Up too late last night wrapping "just a couple" presents with my wife. Up early enough to video record my 2 boys' faces as they waddled out to the living room in their PJs, rubbing their eyes and dropping their toddler jaws upon seeing the presents under the tree for the first time.

That was over an hour ago, my parents are up, stockings have been opened and little toys are being played with. Sarah is working on Christmas Waffles, the train is taking slow laps around the tree and through tunnels made of presents, Pappy is reading the paper by the fire and Michael W. Smith's first Christmas album is filling the air. And the smell of breakfast sausage. After we eat we'll read the Christmas story, thank Jesus and celebrate the Greatest Gift by watching little glimpses of joy on each other's faces as we tear open our gifts that pale in comparison to Jesus Himself.

I posted a tweet December 12th that said:

I'm confused when someone receives a high honor & says that it's humbling. If I'm honored, I must battle pride, my sinfulness humbles me.

One person who responded explained that when we realize that it is truly Christ in us, it is a humbling thing. But I feel like that truth is a few steps away in the thought process. (If someone told you that you looked absolutely beautiful today, I doubt you would react by thinking, "Wow, that was humbling.")

Humble: adjective. having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance

For example, when Steven Curtis Chapman received his 50th Dove award, I'd venture a guess that the Gospel Music Association's intention was to honor him for his contribution, his work, his ministry. Now, Steven knows where his gifts and talents come from and he gives all glory and honor to God. Steven's act of giving all glory and honor to God is the humbling part! He is exalting God above himself, therefore placing himself in a lower position. But it was still an honor he received, make no mistake. It was honoring.

Humble: verb. to lower (someone) in dignity or importance

This may be an issue of semantics, maybe we've become comfortable with receiving honors and saying it was humbling, offering quotes that could show up on @humblebrag. The last thing I want to do when I offer someone a compliment, a gift or an honor is to lower their dignity or importance!

Paul says in Philippians 2 that "Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

This, in my opinion, is the ultimate humiliation, the ultimate lowering of One's Self. Jesus, the Word Who was in the beginning as God, the Creator of all things, lowered Himself in dignity and importance, being born in an animals' feeding trough to a poor couple in a small, marginalized town.

But the angels sang of His worth.

The shepherds knelt in awe.

Kings from the far East brought priceless gifts to the King of Kings.

James 4:10 screams the truth of this Upside down Kingdom: Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.

King Jesus, allow us to see ourselves truly and humbly, so however You would choose to honor us, we would choose to lower ourselves again by lifting high Your greatness: acknowledging Your worth!

Merry Christmas, my friends.

aaron

Our Sunday Break

2011-12-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Sunday, was a big day for our family. I was leading worship at church and needed to be at there around 7:15 in the morning, Sarah was teaching Sunday School on a simple little subject: The Manifestations of God. (That was sarcastic). But given the nature of the Holiday season's busyness, she wasn't able to spend as much time in preparation as she'd have wanted, so she was up quite late Saturday night preparing. She did a fantastic job of course and the worship service was God-honoring, I believe, as the Spirit loves to work through human flesh. Our pastor had been sick all night and again right before the service, and you never would have known it.

We grabbed some Chinese/Sushi after church and brought it home, made a fire and began to unwind. By 3pm we decided it was nap time, the boys had had 3 less hours of sleep than normal the night before and Sarah probably only totaled 3 hours. I set my alarm for a 45 minute cat-nap. And subsequently ignored my alarm. I sprang out of bed over 3 hours later (after dark mind you) feeling a little guilty. I woke the family, tried to explain to my boys why we were waking up when it was dark, re-stoked the fire, Sarah made some Cream of Wheat (Sunday night tradition) and we settled into a family movie night (Toy Story 1). Sarah and I discussed the beauty of the Sunday afternoon much-needed rest, thankful for a lazy day.

Then Nicky fell off the piano bench and fractured his collar bone. We didn't return from Children's Hospital until 2am.

Even though I didn't remotely feel this way when he first fell, what a privilege to take care of my family when they were in need, and how gracious of God to allow us 3 hour naps before our long night began!

Your prayers for Nicky's quick recovery are appreciated! :)

Forgive Yourself

2011-11-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Structure is something that I love but struggle with because I love freedom.

I love the idea of blogging and I love the idea of working it into my schedule but as you can see from the date of my last post, I am not what anyone would call 'consistent' at blogging regularly.

I had all intention of doing a daily blog after each of my shows this fall, and I didn't do one.

Where does that leave me? I have the choice to beat myself up about it. I can choose to accept my imperfection and just throw in the towel: not even try. Or, I can choose to try. (Trying = more than just hoping)

Now that I'm home for a season, I desire to establish a home-routine, waking up at a certain time, incorporating exercise, Bible reading, study, blogging and getting a good chunk of work done before lunch, therefore giving me the rest of the day to be free with my family. I want to do more journaling so that I'll forget less of the millions of things that happen every day that I won't remember this time next year. (Like how my boy says "aminals" instead of "animals.") Things I will fail to do consistently.

Do I have enough grace to forgive myself of my little failings and keep trying?

I don't, frankly, and I often project my lack of grace toward myself on God, assuming that His grace toward me surely has run dry. But His love is an everlasting love. His mercies are new every morning. Those of you who are not parents need to believe that we parents LOVE to forgive our kids when it is obvious they are truly sorry. It breaks our hearts to see them contrite. We forgive, love, hug, cry with and restore. How much more our Heavenly Father? He is Good. He is Love.

Is forgiving yourself important? Remember Jesus' words, "Neither do I condemn you!"

My Hope Is In You Devotional from DELUXE EDITION

2011-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

[My Hope Is In You was brilliantly written by April Geesbreght and resonates with the cry of my heart found throughout my latest album, THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE. My Deluxe Edition CD contains 6 additional songs (4 acoustic remixes and 2 new) and a devotional corresponding with each song. The following is the devotional I wrote for the song, My Hope Is In You.]

--------------

As I'm typing this, the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi are dealing with the repercussions of the most severe tornadic activity in our nation's history. Entire towns were flattened, the death toll was already in the hundreds after 24 hours with hundreds more missing. I read this morning that University of Alabama students are asking for prayer as they pull bodies out from the wreckage on campus.

Earthquakes have recently devastated Japan and Chile, the repercussions of which will last a lifetime for those who have lost loved ones.

Death is a part of every life. And that fact in no way diminishes the gravity, difficulty and emotional pain it can bring to those of us who remain.

When my 2-year-old boy, Nicky, was diagnosed with Eosinaphilic Esophogitis (EE), a rare, painful and, thus far, incurable disease, it rocked my family to our core. It dropped us to our knees, face-planted us in prayer. I wept like I've never wept before. He spent months in Children's hospital and on December 6th, two days after his 2nd birthday, we found out that he had Septic Shock, his organs had dropped, a 104 degree fever hadn't broken for days and he was admitted into what we accidentally discovered was called "the bereavement wing" of the PICU; where children don't normally get discharged.

When the ground on which you are standing begins to shake, you will naturally reach for the closest thing you believe to be the most stable or secure.

David says in Psalm 62, "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will not be shaken."

My wife, Sarah, and I have always believed that God has a plan. More than a plan: a Perfect plan, the end result of which is His increased glory! Its the kind of perfect plan that would make all of mankind spontaneously shout out loud for joy if we understood the half of it! So even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil, He is with us! He's promised He will never leave us or forsake us: even through the droughts and the storms. Before we were even blessed to become parents, Sarah and I spoke of the reality that if God graces us with children one day, we will simply be their caretakers, they will belong to Him and whether they live for 90 years or 9 days, He holds the measure of their days. Who are we to say how long anyone is supposed to live? Can we improve on God's perfect plan?

The foundation on which we stood was rock solid. We were not the solid ones. He is. Our hope is in Him alone. The peace that passes understand was our song. Multiple nurses would spend their downtime in Nicky's room and tell Sarah, "There's such a peace in here!" Then Sarah would tell them why.

And on one glorious day, a befuddled doctor told us that the most severe case of EE they had ever witnessed was no longer remotely present in Nicky's little body.

CCM Posts

2011-09-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard, I've been throwing down my thoughts on worship in CCM magazine recently. Give her a read and feel free to jump in with your own thoughts!

http://www.ccmmagazine.com/contributors/aaron-shust/

PROMO TOUR - August 22-25

2011-08-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

We're driving from Fort Wayne Indiana to Chicago right now. Literally driving into the sunset. It's been one week since we started this promo tour and I am definitely feeling an interesting combination of fatigue and excitement.

Monday morning, Greg and I had a 4:20am lobby call in Seattle and flew to Kansas City where we met with Jen Allen from Centricity to do a show at a local Chick-Fil-A with KLJC 88.5. It was pretty cool to stand outside and lead a parking lot full of people in worship!

The next morning, we had another 4:20 lobby call and flew to Dallas, TX to visit KLTY 94.9, they let me play My Hope and MSMG on the morning show then I chilled with John Hudson on the New Music Cafe program for a while. We zipped off to Vista Ridge Mall for a noon concert in the center of the Mall under the giant glass rotunda. A mall full of Texans praising Jesus in the Mall is a thing to hear!

We liked it so much we did it again the next day in Winston Salem, NC, but not before I lost my luggage. We boarded our Delta flight a couple hours after the Dallas show and as we tried to finally take off, the Captain said that we'd sheared a drive shaft in the starter of engine #1. They wouldn't cancel the flight because it MIGHT get fixed. It ended up being delayed for 5 hours…we were guaranteed to miss our connection in Atlanta to get us to Greensboro, NC in time! So we booked flights on American Airlines to get us to Charlotte ASAP. (But since the Delta flight never cancelled, they couldn't transfer us: had to buy new tickets) We gave descriptions of our 5 bags to change planes and left for Charlotte. But one bag never arrived. My clothes. The Baggage man said they found it and it would arrive in Greensboro on the Delta flight the next morning.

So we spent the night in Charlotte and drove to the Greensboro/Winston area the next morning in time to be on the WBFJ 89.3 morning show with Tami and Jeff (thanks Bonnie for making us pancakes!!) I played Your Majesty and My Hope is In You AND MSMG on that show. We always have a lot of fun on the morning shows to, they're fun people: morning show people. Jen went to pick up my luggage but returned with bad news. It hadn't arrived. Thankfully we were playing at another mall, so I hit Macy's for some essentials and PacSun for some T-shirts. Done. I played the show just outside the Macy's at noon to about 700 people. What an awesome testimony to people to hear that many people sing the words, "Jesus", "Holy Holy Holy", "This Is What We Believe", etc.

Straight to the airport to fly to Fort Wayne, I explained my luggage situation to Delta Debbie and she called American Linda who found my luggage in Charlotte!! I found Lifesaver Linda and asked her to expedite my luggage to Fort Wayne. We arrived in Fort Wayne around 9 and found out that my bag was arriving at 11:30pm after they would deliver. So Greg graciously offered to pick it up for me so I could sleep. Awwwww! Thank you Greg.

We visited WLAB Star 88.3 this morning and I just shared my heart and songs with the staff, they prayed for us, we prayed for them, it was beautiful. Then we went to Sweetwater (amazing!) and worshiped the Lord in a conference room with 130 people who were just fed pizza. It doesn't have to be in church on Sunday people, Jesus can be praised anywhere! We got a tour of the Sweetwater facility and then spent the afternoon with Melissa Montana (from Star 88.3) at DeBrand chocolates home store. Un. Real. Melissa shared stories and captivated us with God's amazing grace despite hardship. What a dear soul.

Hopped in the car, aimed it toward Chicago and put it in drive...

Tour Journal - Philomath OR and Puyallup WA 8.21.11

2011-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

PHILOMATH OR AND PUYALLUP WA,

21 & 22 August, 2011.

We could not have asked for more beautiful weather the past two days. Greg Lee, my friend/road manager and I drove from Seattle down to an hour South of Portland on Saturday to play at a 3 year old festival in the fine town of Philomath. (Fill-OH-muth.) It was a warm one, but we had a great time. A few brave souls, came all the way up to the stage and sat in the shade of the stage-roof. And at the end as I was walking off, a guy yelled, "GLORY TO YOU!" I smiled, nodded, pointed up and said, "Glory to Him!" Waving as I walked off he said, "No, 'Glory To You', play 'Glory To You'!" I haven't played that song since 2007 with MercyMe. I never would have guessed how much I missed playing that song. And I remembered all the words and the chord change from F# to E on the bridge. A miracle.

Third Day and Peter Furler were just up the road playing at FishFest in Portland and since I was doing a Solo show, Nate was available to play guitar for Peter as he was in a pinch (his entire band was playing somewhere else…you see, we all share, although I threatened Peter to not get too attached and that I'd fight him if he tried to take him. The 4 hour drive down and back to Seattle was full of Aussie tributes. We listened to Hillsong United Aftermath on the way down: that album is legend. Then I read aloud to greg tweets from two good friends how are hilarious and Aussie. So I read them all in my best Australian accent. Then we listened to Peter Furler's new album: also legend. Then we read some Rebecca St James tweets aloud for good measure. Or good "meezha."

Puyallup was a wallop of a day. (Pew-OL-up.) We had a soundcheck at 7:45am for church, I played My Hope Is In You and MSMG before the message and Your Majesty afterward. Pastor Ron Sanchez preached on Acts 2 and it was amazing. South Hill Calvary Chapel if you want to look it up and listen to the archive messages. The congregation sang along with Your Majesty with gusto and it was amazing. We had lunch on the water in Tacoma then headed back for a sold out show. People came to see Jesus, they came to worship him. They worshiped Him through singing, by lifting their hearts and minds and by partnering with OneVerse to bring the Word of God to the lughuru people of East Africa.

Twas a good night. 4 hours of sleep and flight to Kansas City later…here I type.

Tour Journal - Lake Stevens, Washington 8.19.11

2011-08-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Friday was a big day in Seattle. We started the day at Spirit 105.3, I played MSMG and My Hope Is In You on the morning show with Matt, had a lunch with the staff and played them some songs, telling them some stories about the journey, we shot a twelve days of Christmas that Spirit 105.3 is going to do this year, should be hilarious. I got the 9 ladies dancing verse and we even coerced the station Music Director, Sarah Taylor to dance. Yep. You heard it hear first.

Friday's concert was the first time we were able to sell This Is What We Believe, just the standard edition, the deluxe editions haven't been shipped yet, although I did receive my copy and it is beautiful. I'm pretty excited. We're selling 2 Standard Edition CD's for $10 for the whole Promo Tour (until the Release Show in Atlanta on 8.28) which is a pretty sweet deal…another reason to come to the shows. :)

The HOUSE worship center was a cool, quaint little living room feel and I was glad to meet and be reacquainted with quite a few Twitter and Facebook followers. It was a small room and it felt very…"family" A family drove all the way from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to come to the show and requested during the set that I play Create Again…which I haven't played since 2007. Thankfully she had the words memorized and helped me through it. I haven't sung those words in so long, that they moved me to sing them again. Someone else brought a kleenex up to me after I told the story of Nicky and sang My Hope Is In You. It was a special night, a unique night. Less of a worship experience and more of a Storytellers hour (and a half) about songs written for a worship experience.

A good way to kick off a promo tour. :)

SET LIST

Sing of My Redeemer

Matchless (with Blessed Be Your Name)

To God Alone

Forevermore

Risen Today

Take Over (with Give It All Away)

Give Me Words To Speak

Create Again

My Hope Is In You

My Savior My God

Your Majesty (with Holy Holy Holy)

Devotional Sneak Peak!

2011-08-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

The Deluxe Edition of This Is What We Believe comes with a Hardback book including a short devotional that corresponds with each song on the record. Here is a sneak peak of the devotional for the title track.

THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE

What do you believe? What you believe defines you. It defines who you are.

How you think.

How you act.

How you feel.

What you fear.

What you value.

What you love.

How you spend your time.

How you spend your money.

When a traffic light turns green you believe it safe to proceed.

When you step onto an airplane you believe the captain capable of operating it properly.

When you order food at a restaurant you trust the food is not poisoned.

None of these are givens, they require a substantial amount of faith.

You may or may not believe that there is Intelligent Design behind the forming of our intricate world.

If so, do you believe that Designer is aware of you?

You may or may not believe whether that Designer is what some refer to as "God".

If so, is God gracious and loving or angry at His creation?

You may or may not believe that people will be responsible for the actions committed during their lifetimes.

If so, believing in karma will cause you to live differently than if you believe your sin has a consequence.

If you are like me, you believe Jesus of Nazareth was more than a carpenter, more than a good teacher, more than a prophet. You believe that he was the Son of the One True God, Creator of the entire universe and the lover of your soul. You believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and came to be the Lamb without blemish, God's Lamb, who would literally take away your sins and the sins of the world. You would believe that after he successfully accomplished His mission, He died but came back to life, never to die again. He sits at the right hand of God the Father and some day is coming back to reign forever. You would believe that He is the definition of pure love.

If you believe that, it will effect the way you approach life. IF you believe it. And if you do, you are not the first and you are not alone. We are a part of a great company as we look back two thousand years to the confessions of the apostle Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God", the apostle John: "In the beginning was the Word", John the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world", the Roman Centurion at the foot of the cross: "Truly this man was the Son of God", and so many more.

Where is your foundation? Are you on sure footing when the storms of life scream? Where is your hope? Is it secure?

What you believe either binds you or frees you.

NEW BLOGS

2011-08-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Many people have asked me why I haven't blogged since March. The truth is I have, not only in my 140 character mini blogs that show up often (maybe too often) on Twitter and Facebook, but I've also begun sending out a monthly newsletter and have been a guest blogger for CCM magazine.

So my life, thoughts, inspirations and glimpses of what I see have been well documented.

We plan to create a blog on aaronshust.com that will be a sort of Tour Blog. You will be able to read about adventures on the road, see photos from the shows and hopefully add your own photos to that page. This blogger account, to the best of my knowledge will be no longer updated.

From what I hear, this Google+ deal, is like just like Facebook, and people ask "why are you not on it yet?" Because I just figured out Facebook. sorta. Once they start Googwitter, I'll probably ignore that too. :) Too much technology takes me away from what is truly important. I'm trying to streamline as much as possible. It's a challenge.

So, I'd love to keep you posted! Feel free to follow along! :)

I appreciate you all!

Tanzania

2011-03-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

It's been 50 days roughly since I returned from my trip to Tanzania with OneVerse to hand deliver the first words of Scripture to the Ndamba people they had ever read or even heard in their own language.

I haven't blogged about it yet because I think deep down the massiveness of the experience could never fully be explained in a blog short enough for people to want to actually read the entire thing. After a dramatic occurrence such as this trip, it usually takes time for the more 'important' memories to remain as the less influential ones fall to the brain's cutting room floor.

As my friend Mark says, "The long and short of it is," my guitar player Nate and I met in Atlanta and flew with Kyle the videographer and Jill the OneVerse rep to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Africa and drove via Range Rover (or Land Cruiser, I can never keep them straight) 500 kilometers through Morogoro to Ndamba country. In essence the middle of nowhere, where on Sunday Morning we attended their church service, being asked to sit on the platform the entire time, worshiped with them, were fed by them then worked our way back to the coast, soaking in a week's worth of all things Africa along the way.

The stand out moment for me was during the 3.5 hour long church service, which didn't seem that long. At one point in the beautifully unorganized service, the pastor approached me with a stack of orange paperback Gospel of Johns. He wanted me to hand them out! I only had about 40, there were more coming, but I handed out about 20 to the men's side and 20 more to the women "audience right" to a sea of outstretched hands, eager eyes and grateful smiles. Then I dazedly returned to my seat on the platform while the pastor spoke in Ndamba. I saw an older lady in a beautiful, dark yellow headdress motion toward one of the many children sitting on the floor in front of the women. I had just handed her my last Bible. A child stood and walked toward who I assume was his grandmother. She handed him her Gospel of John and I unsuccessfully choked back tears of joy as I witnessed GOD'S WORD having already been passed on to the next generation of Ndamba believers.

Lord God, infuse Your Truth into their hearts.

The King's Speech

2011-03-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

I was never on the debate team in High School. I see myself as easily swayed by people's arguments and must pray for wisdom and discernment to see the truth. I first prayed "give me words to speak, because I can't think of anything worth saying" because I truly had no eloquent words or stories or clever turn of phrase in mind to make people think, "Wow, that's true!"

So, I am incredibly comforted when I read I Corinthians 1:17. Paul says that Christ sent him "to preach the gospel, not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." This coming from the guy who wowed the Athenian philosophers, arguing that their "unknown god" was the very Lord of Heaven and Earth! (Acts 17:16-34). Christ did not send Paul to speak about the Good News with wisdom or eloquence, because the power of the cross could be emptied! The next verse says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."

Do not fear an inability to speak persuasively or eloquently. Do not fear an inability to be a clever wordsmith. But as Paul pleads, "Pray also with me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel. (Eph 6:19)

Finally, consider these quotes from this generation's most well known communicator of God's love:

"I am not a great preacher, and I don't claim to be a great preacher. I've heard great preaching many times and wished I was one of those great preachers. I'm an ordinary preacher, just communicating the Gospel in the best way I know how."

"I have found that when I present the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with authority, quoting from the very Word of God - He takes that message and drives in supernaturally into the human heart."

"People do not come to hear what I have to say - they want to know what God has to say."

-Billy Graham

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee

SAME TEAM! SAME TEAM!

2011-01-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

I watched Bill Belichick give his press conference after the Patriot's loss to the Jets on Sunday night and felt a heavy sadness for him. Even though I was hoping the Jets would win so Pittsburgh would have home field advantage and Aliquippa's Darrelle Revis could have another homecoming (only to lose to the team he grew up cheering for), I still felt bad for Belichick. Not because the Pats lost, but because in the NFL, it seems the only thing that makes you or your team worth anything is winning a Championship: the Superbowl. Anything short of that, being a division leader, winning a division championship or a conference championship is practically considered failure compared to winning the Big Game. Teams that fall short dejectedly go home, confounded by thoughts that they should have won, they were robbed of their right to advance, that winning was their destiny but now they going to have to try-try-again next year, or so it seems at least.

I tried to imagine that Bill should have been happy that his Patriots had such a strong season and they got to play their favorite game and make money doing it. But he would probably get fired for that kind of thinking because franchise owners don't just want their players and coaches to have fun. They want to win it all! They need to employ coaches and players who want nothing less.

I'll speak for myself; there is a danger of adopting that attitude with the CCM business. "The Industry". And it is a danger. While I have a drive to succeed, to excel and be excellent with the talents that God has given me, I cannot place my value in whether or not I "win the championship." Maybe that means a Dove nomination, Dove Award, Grammy nod or Grammy Award. Are you kidding me? For a short amount of time, I get to provide for my family by writing, recording and performing songs that exalt the name of Jesus as the Lord of all! Don't for a second think that MercyMe are CCM's Dallas Cowboys that I have to defeat. Nor is Third Day our Atlanta Falcons. Brandon Heath is not Tennessee's Titan. I am not the Steelers. For better or for worse, we are ONE TEAM. Maybe some of us are the QB and some of us are the left guard, maybe we're sitting on the bench. But we all have a role and for some reason (and for a short season) God has seen fit to draft us on his "English Music on the Radio" team, so to speak. But He does not need us. We may get cut, we may go the way of Brett Farve and play for a very long time in the spotlight.

But we are on the same team!

...Except for Hunter Smith from Connersvine. He actually plays for the Redskins. I never thought this analogy could break down so badly.

New Food. New Record. New Drummer. New Year.

2011-01-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

January is half way over already! I haven't had a show since November 16th? Two months ago! But I've led worship at my home church every week but once since then, when my Grandma was threatening to meet Jesus any minute, she's still waiting for the bus to pick her up so to speak. :) (What an incredible Hope we have! Death has no sting!) I've spent time with my family as Nicky has been home from the hospital since Dec 15th. He's been off the tube since 12/30, the night before we moved him out of the nursery and gave him his own bed in the room with his big brother! He loves sleeping in the same room as his "Bubby" Nicky actually started eating mashed bananas last week! It's amazing to see him sit behind a bowl with a spoon in his hand again! Glory to God! We're so thankful God's plan involved Nicky being with us for a while longer! What a joy!

I've been working with Ed Cash since Thanksgiving on the new record. Mainly over Skype (iChat really) working on the songs, how they should go, how high, how low, how fast, how slow, which chords are the best, which melody is the strongest, production ideas like strings here or strings there or no strings at all? Big drums, no drums. A girl from Texas named April, whom I'm dying to connect with, wrote a song called My Hope Is In You, which has blessed my family so much, I'm planning to record it and hopefully it will bring blessing to your lives as well, phenomenal song, April. I'm usually quite 'protective' of my ability to write or co-write all the songs on my albums, to make sure I can get behind them 100% (believe what I'm singing): no problems on this song. I resonate. I'm actually hoping I can shoot a video for it when I go to Africa next week! We'll see.

Anyhow, I'm excited. I'm getting ready for a show this Saturday at Billy Graham's Cove in North Carolina with my band, including my new drummer Brandon Coker. I've played with him before and he's a beast on the kit. He's also a great fella. You'll love him if you don't already know him.

I'll leave you with this: I was reading in Acts 10 this morning. I love the story of Cornelius, the captain of the Italian guard, but I especially love his bio found in verse 2. "He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer." If that were said of me in 2011, even if I were not a success by the world's standards, I would be okay with that. ;)

And according to his picture here, he was apparently devilishly handsome too.

May our priorities be well focused this year.

Long live the King,

aaron

No More Than I Can Handle...

2010-12-07T13:48:00.001-08:00

...With the grace of God that sustains and a peace that passes understanding of course. But I wonder how close I'm getting. I decided to blog this cause I didn't know how I'd fit this update in 140 characters: the last couple days have been a whirlwind.

Wednesday 12/1: Sarah takes Nicky back to Children's Hospital after reported discomfort.

Thursday 12/2: Nicky receives his 8th feeding tube, his 3rd GJ (a replacement) and my mom calls and tells me that my 90 year old Grandma has until Monday to live, if that.

Friday 12/3: Nicky is discharged first thing in the morning and cleared to travel with us to Georgia to say our goodbyes to Grandma. We leave home at 1:40pm and arrive at 12:40 in the morning on...

Saturday 12/4: Nicky turns 2. Grandma hangs on and bounces between lucidity and living in the past. She's bedridden, can hardly see, hear or move but is still the same, sweet, little lady we all love. Many hymns sung and "Jesus, There's Just Something About That Name" sung countless times. Her obvious favorite.

Sunday 12/5: More time with Grandma. Nicky gets a fever. Steelers win.

Monday 12/6: Nicky's fever won't diminish with Tylenol, hovers around 102. We say our tearful goodbyes to a lady about to move into a pimp mansion and have dinner with her Savior and her God, then we hop into the car suddenly at 9:41PM and begin to drive back to Pittsburgh, checking Nicky's temp ever hour. If he hits 103.5 and Tylenol doesn't lower it, we have to stop at nearest ER.

Tuesday 12/7: at 2am maybe, Nicky hits 103.5. Tylenol works and we keep driving. My angel wife, Sarah, stays awake to help me stay awake (along with the prayers of friends and 5 hour energy drinks. blah) I drop off Sarah and Nicky at Children's hospital at 10am, drop of Daniel at friends at 11 and go home to go to sleep. Wake up 4:30pm. Call Sarah for update:

Nicky has severe Pneumonia, they can't stabilize him enough to move him out of the ER and into his room. Heart rate is too high, BP is too low. Fever is still at 104.

My day has been much better than Job's worst, but I'll still say it. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

Dear Lord,

Give Rest to my Grandmother.

Give Your Healing to my boy.

Dona nobis pacem.

In Jesus' Name.

How could a loving god...

2010-11-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

I'm a Steelers fan. That's no surprise to those who know me. I live in Pittsburgh. Why people are shocked is beyond me. So, I watched the game with anticipation this past Sunday afternoon as the Buffalo Bills about took it to us; as a perfectly thrown ball fell through the hands of talented Buffalo player Stevie Johnson, wide open into the end zone during Overtime that should have ended the game and sent us home despondent had he caught it. I leapt for joy, and did the Steelers dance with my boys (we won't go into that). But then the humanity began to settle in as I watched Stevie sit on the sidelines dejected and defeated. We all have the ability to let our comrades down, don't we? It's a sick feeling.

Stevie has a twitter account and was very honest about his feelings after the game:

"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

I think it's safe to assume he's not talking to his Receivers Coach...

Stevie has simply posted, for the world to see, a thought that is often too common in the human psyche: "If I speak highly of God often enough, He has the responsibility to make my life run smoothly." Or maybe, "If I honor God, He must honor me" I'm not saying these are the thoughts in Stevie's mind, just that it is an easy emotion to possess: entitlement.

I was reminded last Sunday in church that we read in Isaiah 53:10, "The Lord was pleased to crush" His son, and we think of the suffering Jesus endured. God, having the foresight to know what freedom and glory and victory would come from His Son being crushed, was pleased to do it!!! Now I don't believe this means the Father sat down with popcorn and watched as you and I are pleased with a good movie. But in times of great sadness, one can shed tears with a smile because of the HOPE that we have! God knew the outcome of this apparent tragedy. I've heard it said that "God allows what he hates to accomplish what He loves." (If I could remember who said that, I'd give a reference. When I can't recall, I just say it was John Piper.)

When you feel like crying out to God in frustration, remember two things:

1.) God can handle your anger.

2.) Jesus' suffering that God willed. Then compare that to a dropped football.

Oh Yeah, I'm still on Tour

2010-11-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

I began in August with intention to blog about every stop on this 48 day tour called the Hope Restored Tour with Big Daddy Weave and Andy Kirk. I got a little sidetracked when my son couldn't keep food down for almost 2 weeks straight. I imagine you understand my attention being shifted.

Through the peace (that passes understanding) that God has given both Sarah and I about the situation with Nicky, and our belief that while we are his caretakers, he belongs to God, I have stayed out on the road, sharing the Good News and encouraging others to take action in sharing that Good News through the ministry of OneVerse. Sarah has been more than capable of caring for Nicky at the hospital 24-7 when he was there and our many dear friends at Crestmont Alliance Church have cared for Daniel and fed our whole family too well! The family of God is precious. Though I heard my share of criticism about my not going home to be with my family, the decision we came to (my staying on the road) is not one we have any regrets about. I have the privilege each evening of sharing about the tour's goal of completing a translation of God's Word into the Ndamba, a language spoken by 96,000 people in East Africa who have NEVER HEARD THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL!

We have seven more shows in this tour (3 in MO, 2 in GA, 2 in FL) and if we can average 22 partners each, the translation will be complete!!! You have made such an impact on the Kingdom and are changing lives and cultures for the better!

So far the tour has taken us from all over the Midwest, up and dow the West Coast, Idaho (below), Utah and Colorado, back through Nebraska, NY, NJ, PA, the Carolinas and quite a few places in between. The beginning of the tour feels like a couple tours ago. And yet it's seem to have flown by!

I've been working like crazy on the new album and hope to be in the studio right after Thanksgiving! Writing songs for the church to use that fall under the catagory of "THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE!" I'm excited: stay tuned!

I believe in Miracles

2010-11-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

What an intense month...and a half this has been, since I last blogged. I will try to be brief yet thorough. Nicky, who has been eating through a tube (nose to intestine) since Sept 17th, coughed it up last Saturday after 6 weeks and Sarah rushed him to the hospital for what was the start of 10 days of continuing to try to fix him. I won't go into great detail, as I know it, because I'm sure I'll say something not medically accurate and don't want to debate those details, so here are the basic essentials.

People, yourselves included, have been praying for Nicky's complete healing from EE and EG (refer to earlier posts and tweets for more details) and his other issues which include Silent Aspiration (breathing food, drink, even vomit into the lungs without a physical response like chocking or gagging), Delayed/Empty Gut Syndrome (a very slow digestive process where new food was being mixed with old food that hadn't left the stomach yet) and severe allergies to Soy, Wheat, Barley, Dairy, Eggs, Nuts and something else major I can't remember right now.

MIRACLE #1

The first couple days there, Nicky was biopsied again in his throat and stomach. His EO count before was +100 per biopsy sample (+25 is considered extreme). One thing I know about EOs is that once the body creates them, they don't go away. They are painful and damaging and steroids help stifle the pain. It's considered an incurable disease. He EO count as of now is ZERO! "You give and take away" has an entirely new meaning to me now. Thank You, Author of Life, for healing my son of EE and EG! One doctor said, "I guess...you can say...Nicky no longer has EE." and then just walked out. :)

MIRACLE #2

Next, the doctors said he either had a perforation between his esophagus and airway that was shielded by some sort of skin flap (a cleft that kept them from seeing it the other 3 times they scoped him) OR if not, then he must have a mass at the base of the brain called Arnold Chiari Malformation that affects his swallowing. This would have to be removed surgically and it's not an easy operation. Needless to say, we were praying for a perforation. Who prays for a hole in their kid's esophagus!? us.

So they put him under Friday (5 days ago) to scope him to find a perforation, if not, they'd do an MRI while he was out to check for Arnold Chiari. They found a perforation!!! And the doctor performing the procedure had recently engineered a medical gel to temporarily seal it. He applied it immediately. No MRI needed.

Yesterday was the Swallowing Test to see if the gel worked. He passed! Swallowed everything, aspirated nothing! Not only that, he didn't even Silently Aspirate, which evidently was not something the gel could have fixed, that was a neurologically issue (the brain telling the throat how to swallow) Sarah said, "It is so much fun watching these brilliant doctors scratch their heads!" God finished what that amazing gel couldn't. Sarah's witness to the hospital staff is one of grace, trust, wisdom, faith and peace. And otherworldly stamina. Your prayers and God's strong arm and loving kindness have sustained her! Thank you!

Once Nicky gets over the cold I gave him, he'll get stitched up permanently. The delayed gut syndrome is something the doctors believe he could grow out of. We have another allergy panel test scheduled for the 19th of November I think, and I would not be surprised if God restores his ability to eat whatever he wants! That's what we pray for. Then he needs to learn, with the help of a therapist, how to eat again. Starting over with a bottle. He's on a GJ tube in the meanwhile.

BE ENCOURAGED: GOD IS ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS AND PERFORMING UNDENIABLE MIRACLES!

Yesterday at noon, Nicky came home. :)

The New Normal...for a while

2010-09-21T16:18:00.001-07:00

Nicky and Sarah came home from the hospital Saturday afternoon. The Home Health Team met them at home to help Sarah understand how to best care for Nicky. He has a little back pack that holds the pump and the special formula that runs through his nose directly to his small intestine. Again, bypassing his stomach. Which is why he is always hungry. I was video chatting with them last night before bed and saw Nicky in the background trying to open the fridge (see pictures below.) Very sad. The good news is that his body is receiving nourishment, even if he doesn't feel it.

His tube started to slip out yesterday, Sarah had made a mark on the tube by his nose, and found it behind his ear. So they are scheduling to go in and fix it. If the tube is too high, it could drain formula to his stomach...which he may expel. He is on a steroid and a reflux medicine. Evidently EE is quite painful and the doctor said he probably has been in pain since birth. Which would explain his incredibly high pain tolerance. He busted his finger yesterday and didn't even flinch.

Some of you have encouraged me to go home. I wish I were just on a personal retreat and could leave to go be with my family, but Sarah and I have talked about this together and what she has told me is, "When I need you to come home, I will tell you to get home, but I am able to care for our family."

She is an amazing woman of God. We also are blessed to have many GREAT friends who have cared for Daniel and Sarah as she cares for Nick. Sarah told me, "Satan would love nothing more than for you to leave the road and the ministry that God has called you to." And yes, my first ministry is to my family, and right now, I'm doing my best to earn a living for them. I have an opportunity to live a life of faith in God's sovereignty and trust in His perfect plan before my audience every night as I praise Him for who He is, regardless of my circumstances. This is a trial for us, and while my being home would provide emotional support for us all, my wife relies on God for her stability and He sustains her. Bottom line, we have prayed through tears, including my staying out or coming home and we believe that right now, God would have me remain on the road.

But I'm counting down the days ;)

Who will save him from this body of death?

2010-09-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So sorry that I have not blogged an update since Monday. Many of you follow me on twitter and you have been keeping up with my plethora of updates there, and your responses have brought encouragement to Sarah and I. I cannot thank you enough.

The nutshell, if I can do that, is this. Nicky has what is called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. There is a strong chance the eosinophil cells are also in his stomach and potentially his small intestine. He has been unable to keep most foods down for close to 3 months and unable to keep anything (anything) down since last Friday. He has been on an IV since Sunday evening (5 nights ago) and has been in the hospital since then with Sarah and some the best doctors we could hope for.

Yesterday, a feeding tube was inserted through his nose all the way to his small intestine because all 8 special formulas had been rejected orally. Which means thrown up. He rejected his first 0.5 ounce of formula #8 (which he had kept down the longest) through the feeding tube after about 20 minutes I believe. But the few ounces they gave him last night (directly to the intestine) has remained down.

Problem number 2: He aspirates nearly every time he swallows food or liquid, which means it goes into his lungs. He also aspirated some of the bile that he was expelling from his intestines.

Problem 3. Allergies. He has a level 3 allergy to gluten. A level 4 allergy to soy, wheat and barley and a level 5 allergy to eggs, milk and all nuts. Sarah had a salad last night with nuts on it, kiss Nicky's head an hour later and he had a reaction. A level 5 allergy involves discoloration and anaphylactic shock.

That's where we are. We can pray specifically for his healing now. Thank you for joining us in praying for our little baby boy. Sarah and I feel strongly that God wants me to stay on the road for now and continue to sing His praises with you. So I find myself in Bakersfield, California, but my heart is with my family and I pray for Nicky's healing, my wife's strength and Daniel's peace and patience as he stays with dear friends.

Community, praying for us and caring for us, is essential, we can't do this alone. And when we feel alone, we remember Emmanuel. God with us.

Formula 1...through 8

2010-09-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the day the Doctor's tested for allergies with a blood sample to determine what Nicky is allergic too. Results haven't come in yet. They also tested 8 different formulas for Nicky to attempt to ingest orally. We only needed one to work, but none of them did. The second formula he kept down 2 ounces then minutes later 2 more ounces. Then he lost it. Three through seven also rejected (this is taking place over a period of hours, to pace the poor kid, who wants to vomit that much in a short period of time, you need a break) Number 8 he kept for 15 minutes then lost it. The doctors were hopeful that he may have kept it down and wanted to try again. Mommy stepped in and said, "Enough for the day." I'm so proud of her. He was very tired and needed sleep. Tomorrow we try again. Still an empty belly. Sarah is being visited and has been brought food. Daniel is having a blast with friends. Our family is not alone. We are so thankful to our friends and family for their love and support. And thankful to you for your prayers.

Michigan's Mixed Emotions (Nicky)

2010-09-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

As I sat down in the back lounge of the bus yesterday in Berrien Springs, Michigan with my Troy Polamalu Jersey on, ready for the first NFL game of the regular season to start, the phone rang as soon as the big NFL song started. It was my wife, Sarah, calling to inform me that she was taking my youngest, Nicky, back to the hospital. He was diagnosed with EE (Eoniophilic Esophogitis) last month after being unable to keep most foods down for the month prior. He has been on a steady diet of yogurt, goldfish and dry cereal. Until a couple days ago...he can't keep anything down, not even water. Sarah said she was crying out to God during church, "I have food and can't feed my child!" Daniel went home with friends and Sarah took Nicky downtown Pittsburgh and after finally reaching Nicky's specialist at home, he was admitted.

They are doing blood tests to discover what allergens are in his esophagus, hopefully we find one, then we can address the issue. They were going to do a feeding tube last night, but he needed to be hydrated first. So fluids all night long, then they are going to attempt to feed him a special allergen-free formula orally, if he does not keep it down, they will insert the feeding tube nasally. But as of now, nothing has been in his little belly for a couple days. And my son is hungry. Sarah said she'd never been so excited about a feeding tube, "He'll have food in his belly!"

He is being well taken care of. His mother loves him dearly. His doctors are the best and he's on the top of the list. His God has always had Nicky firmly in His hand and loves him more than anyone could. The community of friends that we love so dearly are taking care of Daniel, cutting our grass, etc.

If you've come to my concerts you hear me talk about Trust vs Clarity. I'm trusting. When the time comes for me to fly home I will in a heart beat. But I ask for your prayers for us as Sarah and I have decided that I remain on the road for the time being, sharing the love of God through Jesus with you.

The Steelers won yesterday. My boy is in a hospital bed. As Mac Powell said, "Some things are more important than football." I'll keep you posted.

Much love.

MARION ILLINOIS

2010-09-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

We have been playing the most ugly venues, just hideous, like this one. The Marion Cultural and Civic Center. See what I did there: sarcasm. This is my second time playing in Marion, Illinois; the first being last year with Glory Revealed. The show was fantastic, the place was packed and the people sang with gusto. Beautiful.

The day was kinda funky though, an example of when you don't have an actual plan for the day, it can just drag on until the show. None of us guys did any exercise since it was kinda gloomy: I blame it on the barometric pressure as opposed to laziness. I was gonna get picked up at the hotel to go back to the venue, so I was sitting by the pool under heavy cloud reading a Clive Cussler novel when the sun came out and everything changed. I called B (Tour Manager and fellow Pittsburgher) and cancelled the runner picking me up, bought a Snickers, read another chapter and stared to doze, then I did. I conked out for 45 minutes, I'm sure my mouth was hanging wide open, the skin on my face tight when I woke up from the sun, but I felt rested and glad to catch up on the lack of sleep that you invariably get when trying to sleep on a moving bus.

After the show, we mingled with the people of Marion, wished Christian and Ashton Happy Birthdays and were privileged to have our friend Isaac pray for us again. Joe Shirk's (BDW Keyboardist/Bus Driver) parents visited and his mom brought two breakfast casseroles. Nothing like b'fast at 11pm. Incredible. Then the Shust boys had movie night in the back lounge until 3:00am. Some movie about New York in the 1940's and Cannolis. We watch it every fall.

CHICAGOLAND

2010-09-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Big day yesterday in Suburban Chicago. I jumped of the bus first thing and without even checking out the venue I hopped in a car and went to the hotel. My daily plan is to exercise in the morning and either catch up on sleep in the afternoon or write. Yesterday was a writing day. I got a beautiful 45 minute run and then did 4 phone interviews ('phoners' we like to call them) while I walked through Goose Lake Park in Medinah. Then I ran back, ordered an Italian Beef sandwich and a cannoli, thus nullifying my run, showered and began my first online writing session with Carl Cartee. We wrote a killer song based off of verse from Psalm 46 and 47, Nehemiah 1:10 and John 1:5. "Clap Your Hands" I think we're gonna call it. Skipped dinner because my friends the Freemire's were bringing us 2 deep dish pizza's from Lou Malnati's after the show, which is turning into one of my favorite traditions. Obviously. ...and that of my bus-mates.

The show went incredibly well, people were engaged and worshipped, I love it when people get lost in the worship of their Savior and unabashedly demonstrate their love for Him in song. It's beautiful. The biggest news: 28 people partnered with oneVerse.org last night!!! The 96,000 people in East Africa who speak Ndamba are coming closer and closer to hearing the Word of God for the first time ever! Thank you, Chicago!

"Face North and real subtle like, turn left"

2010-09-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel's answer to the question "How is it that you are going to Kentucky when there's a War going on?" Last of the Mohicans. Great movie.

We played our 4th show of the Hope Restored Tour last night in Somerset, Kan-tuck-KEY outdoors on a beautiful overcast evening at the end of a beautiful sunny day. The threat of a tropical storm putting a damper on the evening was never realized and the parking lot was full of close to a thousand Kentuckians. Wow. Spellcheck actually recognized the word Kentuckians. The stage was small but the crowd was full of energy and thankfully I love the guys in my band, so I don't mind close quarters.

My manager, Moose, drove up and wore purple in support of his beloved Minnesota Vikings and watched them lose on the bus. I ran in at one point near the end of Big Daddy Weave's set to check the score and was ready to go back on stage and sing the final worship songs with them, and right before I knew Mike was gonna call me back up, I started to leave the bus, but in the darkness of the mood lighting for the big game, I couldn't find the handle to open the door. I heard him call me and lo, I was still on said bus. I made a fashionably late entrance to the stage, while Jeremy continued to vamp on the opening riff of...well, I won't tell you what the song is, you'll have to come to a show.

Hope Restored in Sheboygan

2010-08-28T09:02:00.001-07:00

The first show of the tour is often the most difficult, but while last night had it's share of challenges, it proved to be the best first show our little band ever had. We fell out of the bus, bleary eyed, and walked into the theatre to see the above view. Breathtaking.

We stayed at Blue Harbor Resort for the afternoon which is right on the water, the weather was perfect, the waves crashed into the jetty with the lighthouse, cooling me on my little run. (Got some new running shoes: about time) I skipped lunch and practiced my 'appeal', as they call it in the business, for oneverse.org. I'm the guy who goes out after an incredible video and tells people how they can be a part of bringing the Word of God to people who have NEVER HEARD it. So I strolled the beach and spoke to the seagulls. That's not me in the picture. I took the picture. That guy's 70.

We're using video that plays along with our songs, and therefore use a metronome in our in-ear monitor mixes (a click) to keep us synced up with the video...beside the fact that the click disappeared for about 5 seconds then came back on (if you were there, that's the moment when all four of us started turning around...to see if we were still in sync with the lyrics) and my guitar didn't get tuned for the last song, everything went without a hitch. God was glorified and His Word was spread, not only in Sheboygan, but also to the Ndamba people of East Africa.

Tour Rehearsal Day 1

2010-08-25T17:39:00.001-07:00

Pretty excited about this tour. Had a great day of rehearsal, albeit a little bit trying with the video. Technical stuff is way over my head for one reason...it drains me emotionally. So when I spend time trying to troubleshoot why the computer isn't doing what I want it to do...I get frustrated and need a nap. So, I'm very thankful for the people that God has put around me to figure out those things, so I can focus on other things.

The band sounds great as always: Duffy, Josh and Nate. I got to hang out with the boys from Big Daddy Weave and Andy Kirk and kinda get to know the guys we're going to spend the next 3 months of our lives with. Close to 50 shows! OneVerse is sponsoring the tour and they are doing magnificent work around the world providing the Word of God to people who have never heard it! I'll get to talk about them every night and give people an opportunity to be a part.

Oh yeah, and we'll play some big daddy music lifting up our King! So come on out!

Swirly Lines

2010-08-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

I was cutting the grass last week at my home in beautiful Western Pennsylvania where I try very hard to keep beautifully parallel lines in the grass, alternating direction so that the grass is pushed North then South, creating the light-dark-light-dark pattern. While it may not look as magnificent as PNC park, I'm proud of my work.

Then I bought my boys a toy lawn mower. I had one when I was a kid and loved helping my Dad cut our grass. I told Daniel about the plan. "Straight lines. Up and back. Follow my lead." Of course, he's all over the place. Having. A. Blast. Helping his Daddy!

And I let him. I look behind me and my perfect plan for my yard has swirly lines all over it. But I let my kids help. I don't need their help, their lawnmower doesn't even have a blade. But I love that they love to help me. It warms my heart in a way that sitting down at the end of the day and marveling at the job I did all by myself Never will.

And it made me think about how God has called us to do His work. To be His hands and feet. Something He could do a lot better by Himself. It made me wonder if He smiles when he sees us try, despite our shortcomings, because He loves us with our shortcomings.

Remember When I Used To Blog?

2010-02-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

Twitter-0 killed the blogger-o star.

I've been a bit preoccupied with a little thing called "Relocation" Our town home in Atlanta has been on the market for 3 years and although we did not get a buyer, we have a committed renter. So we decided that "It's time to move on. It's time to get going. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. Under my feet, the grass is growing. It's time to move on. Time to get going." (Tom Petty) After years of thinking we'd move to Hawaii (2002) then Florida (2007) then Nashville (2008) we realized that all of the those scenarios ended with, "Then after a while we'll move to Pennsylvania." (The land of my youth) Deciding to skip more transition, Sarah and I agreed after much prayer, that we would just go straight to Pennsylvania. 18 months later, we were finally able to pack up the house! Very quickly: we had 5 days to move out!

We found a place in PA and Lord willing, we'll close on it soon. In the meanwhile we're staying in Northeastern Georgia with my parents. Which is a ton of fun believe it or not! What a blessing it is to have a healthy family dynamic!

I've been spending the last week and a half going to Toccoa Falls College's practice rooms to work on my songs for a new album. I'm being quite proactive, so there is a lot of time for more songs to come but I'm excited about what I have already. Actually, Josh, Duffy, Scotty and I spent 5 days in a lake house near Clayton, GA to write music (no lyrics yet: intentionally) for the new album, and had a great and productive time!

My apologies to everyone who follows me on twitter, who already knew all of this...but here is new news: a new website is currently in the works and my blog will move to aaronshust.com It will be more of a one stop shop (like a real live website!) instead of a splash page connecting you to all my social networking sites. You'll have shows/tickets/pics/video/blog/etc. I'm rather excited. I'll probably blog more.

Until then. Twitter on!

aaron

What My Twitter/FB Peeps want from CCM

2010-01-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

when asked...

-Honesty. i want to hear the "wrong" solution. and a song with no resolution. (rhyme not intended)

-Lyrically? lot's of metaphor. Musically? Whatever God leads you sweet awesome people of Christian music ministry (aw thx)

-About God overcoming our hardships and not letting our circumstances define us.

-Musically...united meets brewster...united type songs, brewster solos. That would be friggin awesome!

-I would like to hear songs that actually make sense in everyday life, use everyday language, and are interesting ro common peeps (...or...)

-I want to hear some creativity in the music instead of the same ol' same ol'. I also want to see more depth in the lyric writing

-Originality, more artists taking risks and not chasing other artist's hits. Deeper lyrics across the board with few exceptions

-I'd like more beatles in your music with a little U2 in the guitars and maybe some myriah in the vocals. go. (lol)

-Lot's of metaphor,different sounds or mixes?is that the word? different sounds,lot's of melodies

-I've noticed that more & more CCM artists are becoming worship-centered in their songs & songwriting....nothing wrong with that!

-I really luvd ur Version of Silent Night. Guess I'd love 2 hear some of the old songz interpreted in a more modern way=) (thx, chucks)

something different and doesn't sound like everything else. I don't know what that sounds like. Ive been listening & listening & still can't figure out what it is I'm looking for.

-Pick up where u left off with Take Over, clean simple melodic not over-produced, solid message. My favorite AS record (so far) (cool thanks)

-I'd like more quiet songs where the singing takes center stage. Like "Carry Me Home." But the songs could be slow or fast.

-A version of with everything by hillsong by and a collaberatio of u and Phil wickham

-less talk, more rock. ( :) )

-I'm tired of seeing Christian versions of secular stuff, I want people to make music they want to make, Not just music that will be popular and get a lot of attention, more messages like the unedited "My Jesus" from Todd Agnew. (good song!)

-Something new and inventive. New chord structures. Something that takes me beyond myself. Chart some new styles.

-"More love oh Christ, to Thee" and unapologetic truth logically thought out (i.e. nix the vague, go deep) there is something different between talking about someone we don't know, anyone can do that- &telling of a Christ you've met

-Love to hear more edgy original stuff. something that sounds different from what's out there and not a copy of a secular trend

-There are some mainstream artists I would love to see collab with CCM artists! some positive artists that would be compatible

And from Facebook...

-i'd like to hear more melodic rock stuff. Less of the 3/4 ballady kind of rock that everyone seems to be doing. With the Lord's blessing, we'll have our album done this year, too. See you on the charts! (tell me if I'm there)

-Electronic nuances with your trademark acoustic pop and worshipful lyrics. I am currently digging Jars of Clay and Paper Route, and Switchfoot's latest. Stay true to your roots.

-Lyrics inspired from the book of Romans, please! :) (awesome)

-I like that idea -- Word of God put to music.

-More scripture set to music. That is what I love so much about the Glory Revealed cds!

-I think it needs more cowbell! (thanks Uhly)

-How about a song about going to Krispy Kreme and doing a flip on a beam (do the bear, Matt)

-If it isn't broke, don't fix it, I say!

-I pretty much like everything anyway, but to answer your request: How about some local bands - The Wrecking (Maine) Lyrically - I'm partial to songs about God's incredible love for us (such as "More" - Matthew West, "My Savior My God") or applying to everyday life/how we can live for Him - anything Leeland, several of Third Day, Todd Agnew, Addison...

-I think that the lyrics should totally be inspired by Scripture. And have them set to music in the likes of Skillet, Kutless, etc. would be awesome.

-Any music you do will be a blessing to us all...I love the booklet that comes in your cd's...getting an Ipod soon first music on it will be all your albums...my fav of yours come to me... (see, when Jesus writes the lyrics, they're really good, eh?)

-I like songs of praise & worship I can sing to God. My taste in music is eclectic, so I like many styles.

Thanks all!

Holding On To A Moment

2009-12-23T23:10:00.001-08:00

I don't really have a point to this blog except to stamp a moment in time and share it with you.

It's officially Christmas Eve in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States, 2:11am to be more precise. My wife and I finished wrapping all the presents we lavished on our boys (too many...just little things mainly, but a lot of things to open...the joy of watching them receive is more a gift to us I'm sure...but that's another blog) and for the rest of my family. We watched the tail end of the 1999 A Christmas Carol and the Nativity Story twice before we finished wrapping. We wrap slowly. And now I should be in bed. I need to shower first and we plan to get up at 6 to make sure we are all prepped when Daniel wakes up and walks downstairs. I'm looking at 3 hours of sleep...but the only lights on in the house are the tree and the mantle above the fireplace. All is quiet except for the clock on the wall and I just can't bring myself to sleep yet. I love how we mark this season. It's truly beautiful to me. The Music, the food, the movies, the decorations, the candles...and we do it all (except for the lights on the outside, never got around to that) but I certainly don't think we allow it to take our focus away from The Real Reason like pop-Christian-culture seems to be trying to tell us we do.

All these things mark the season. Just like pumpkins in October, Turkey and Pilgrims in November, Blueberry pie and fireworks in July and Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds in March! December is just my favorite and I'm a little sad when it has to end, the tree comes down and I don't replace it with anything. But the absence of the things that mark only make them sweeter come next December 1st. The beautiful truth is that our God is with us Jan 1-Dec 31, our God made flesh, our God come to live among us, our God who bought us back to Himself!

Redemption. What an incredible and beautiful concept.

And what a beautiful night. :) Thanks for listening.

Merry Christmas!

Aaron

Last Minute Angels

2009-12-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying a December at home, unlike some of my hard working colleagues out and about on tours this Christmas, and while I love to perform Christmas music and get the itch for the tour bus (vans and airports aren't itchy) life, I am absolutely Loving being home and finding a rhythm with my wife and kids. I did play with Glory Revealed December 6th here in the Atlanta area which is always a blast, and had a concert outside of Wichita, Kansas last week (a special little intimate concert with just me a guitar and a piano...that I ended with Silent Night!) but beside that, I've been home, trying to keep margin, make cookies, finish the end-of-year family home video, catch up on photo albums, brainstorm Christmas presents for loved ones, plan for next year, reading influentially worthwhile books, write good songs and make sure that I enjoy it all without missing out on the beauty of the season.

Sidenote...if we make an effort to keep Jesus the focal point of our lives all year round, we may not need to feel the pressure to 'make sure we focus on Jesus this month.' It's kinda nice to look forward to simple things, like the fact that the Christmas lights can make your house look really pretty, egg nog tastes awesome and making dozens of cookies is finally socially acceptable, all the while never forgetting that the reason WE celebrate this time of year is GOD became one of us in order to save us. Pretty outstanding: even in June.

So yesterday, enjoying our margin, I began chatting with a good friend of mine about how he looks just like a TV show host who inspired us to make a Sicilian Pizza for dinner. He jokingly invited himself over to join us, and I said, "sweet, come over!" (I still say sweet) His wife was at Bible study so he brought over the kids: we ate some homemade pizza, decorated some cookies with a LOT of sprinkles, sang, danced and just talked like good friends do.

There's a certain energy in a spontaneous evening that is so much more fun to me than something that has been on the calendar for weeks. I highly recommend the last minute invite.

You're Blessed?

2009-11-20T04:23:00.000-08:00

Morning, faithful blog followers. Sorry so absent. I'm up early enough to see the sun rise...well, I have a massive row of town-homes blocking my sunrise, but the sky is no longer black...and thought I'd share my morning reading with you.

I love the sermon on the mount, it's rather incredible in my opinion. I simply read through the beatitudes this morning, or as Eugene Petersen calls the section: You're Blessed. Most of the them, while incredibly insightful (insights from God Himself) seem to make obvious sense, such as, "You're blessed when you care...you find yourselves cared for." But the last one always gives me pause. Check it out:

"Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens--give a cheer, even! -- for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

Wow. Whether you're ridiculed by someone who doesn't believe what you believe, whether a fellow Christian makes you feel like a spiritual goodie-two-shoes because of how you believe, or you just get blindsided and don't know how in the world to classify it or why it even happened...take comfort in Matthew 5:11-12. Heaven may be applauding!

Early In The Morning

2009-10-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! Well it's early for me. I woke up and turned my alarm off and came downstairs before the house got active. I fixed some Cafe Du Monde coffee in my french press, sat in my man chair, and read a little bit with Yo-Yo Ma in the background and the rain falling outside. Nice.

This tour has been a bit physically draining, what with the travel taking place after the show's ending in vans, grabbing a hotel around sunrise oftentimes and catching a few hours sleep before checkout. My aging body doesn't like that. I turn the big 3-4 this month, which I never thought would be a benchmark, but for the first time I won't be able to ask myself, "What was Jesus doing at my age?"

Anyhow, speaking of Early and Jesus, I read a bit in Mark 1 today. I had planned to read more, but recalled something that Charles Shepson referred to as "Walking through the Bible" I believe. Instead of reading the Bible all the way through once per year, he'd read until something tugged at his heart, stop, meditate on that, and that was his reading for the day. Sometimes 3 chapters, sometimes one verse. Sometimes it took him 2-3 years to read through.

Mark 1:32ff (MSG) "THAT EVENING, AFTER THE SUN WENT DOWN, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to him, THE WHOLE CITY LINED UP at his door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word. WHILE IT WAS STILL NIGHT, WAY BEFORE DAWN, HE GOT UP and went out to a secluded spot and prayed." (emphasis mine)

I never realized the timeline that preceded the story of Jesus' early morning. He was up late. I've never healed anyone, but if I had a show one night where a whole city lined up to meet me afterward, I might plan on sleeping in the next day.

Not Jesus. He placed a high value on waking up WAY early to talk to his heavenly Father.

The NFC North Tour

2009-09-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

So we were in Green Bay last night and finally got most all the kinks out out of the show. Our apologies to the first 3 shows in PA, MD and NC. We played Green Bay last night, Madison tonight, Duluth and Brainerd, Minnesota the next two days.

The Auditions have been fun! We had Caroline Deason from North Carolina come to the Raleigh show, she played acoustic guitar during Matchless (that's the contest song) and twas a lot of fun. We don't provide a comfy soundcheck for the contest winners, it adds to the excitement. Tonight, we'll have Andy Boettcher play and sing...he doesn't know that he'll be singing yet...but he will. We've had a guy audition for drums, which would be a lot of fun too. So keep those auditions coming and tell your friends about it too!

I had a nice morning this morning, we arrived in Madison around 3am and I slept til 10:15, had a leisurely morning sitting by the window, letting the warm sun stream in, had some coffee, read the Sports page of the USA Today, Romans 2 and another great chapter from David Nasser's Glory Revealed. Went for a run, grabbed a bite to eat with Nate at Yola's, turns out that the owner is a pastor and the girl working there was coming to the show tonight, so we got her tickets and she got us free dessert. The barter system is alive and well in Wisconsin.

First two nights

2009-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

So I'm blogging on my iPhone. So it'll be short. The first two nights in Washington PA and Laurel MD were challenging to say the least but God was glorified none the less and a total of 55 children were sponsored through compassion international which means their lives will be forever changed and the cycle of emotional, economical and spiritual poverty has been broken for them! 125,000 children made commitment to Christ last year through Compassion: indescribable!

We had a technical nightmare or two this evening occur on stage: my favorite of which was when the live version video for To God Alone that was playing for our last song reset right in the middle of the song and started over!! While we kept playing! So instead of seeing how God can take our struggles and our broken lives and turn it into something beautiful... The concert members in Maryland only saw the struggles depicted...twice. If you wanna see the whole thing click here.

Now we're driving to Raliegh. We should get in around 5am. That's rough man. Pray for Nathan: he's driving.

Back To School

2009-09-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Remember how before when I was leaving for the Glory Revealed Tour I said I would blog a lot? Yeah. that was awesome. Sorry about that. I twittered a lot! and now I have one of those new fangled iPhones, so I should be even better.

The Back To School Tour with Chris Sligh starts today. We actually had rehearsals yesterday here in Nashville. They went well, a little longer and more complicated than anticipated, but we survived. Duffy, my bass player from antiquity, and my new guitar player for this tour, Nate Betingfield just spent the night here in Nashville and we have bus...van call at noon and we'll hit the road for the first show tomorrow night south of Pittsburgh (Little Warshington for yunz Burghers)

So that brings me to my fear. I have been BLESSED to have traveled the past few years with some of my heros in Christian music, (enter name dropping section here) and even when I've gone out on my own, we've traveled on a bus, which places our lives in the hands of a well rested, professional driver while we sleep. I actually woke up this morning and thought I was in Pittsburgh (which would be awesome, cause I'd try to weasel into the big game!)

But in light of the present economy, we decided to keep our costs down for this tour by driving vans so that ya'll could enjoy the concert experience for as inexpensive as possible! And I'm thrilled about that: I think it's gonna be a great evening (here are the list of dates to see if we're coming near you) But I DO appreciate your prayers for us as we travel and drive ourselves to each next show right after the previous show is over (we're driving at night mostly and hauling trailers...scary). My mom reminded me today that Paul spent many sleepless nights in his travels (II Cor 6:5) and I read this morning in Psalm 56:8 "You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights...each ache written in your book"

So we may look a little haggard up there on stage, but we're looking forward to coming, so come on out and join us! I'll try to keep you posted.

This week:

9/11 Washington, Pa (Alliance Church)

9/12 Laurel, MD (1st Baptist)

9/13 Raleigh, NC (Christian Comm Church)

General Admission at the door or VIP Tickets available (VIP includes ticket, CD, t-shirt, early venue admission for seat selection, preshow acoustic concert plus meet and greet)

GLORY REVEALED STARTS TODAY!

2009-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to pack for the first leg of the Glory Revealed II Tour! The bus leaves tonight and we'll be hitting a few cities around the Southeast! I understand it's mostly sold out already, so hurry up if you want to come! I'll be on the road with Mac Powell, Laura Story, David Nasser and a bunch of other good people!

I'll try to keep the twitter updates as well as this blog coming! Stay tuned!

Name the Twos

2009-07-28T10:03:00.001-07:00

Had to scold Daniel this morning. Again. I would not call this the terrible twos although he is definitely testing his boundaries. Every time he crosses a line and disobeys us, we have the opportunity to demonstrate the Good News. What a privilege!

Disobedience is usually followed by a warning and then a spank on the bum/2 minute time out if he repeats the offense. But what a beautiful thing it is afterward to be able to sit and talk him through what just happened.

Our neighbor has a support beam under their deck that is about a centimeter too short. It swings free. (thank the builders for that one) It just got discovered (during the episode of the great burning bush) and is getting taken care of...but Daniel was pushing on it this morning. Sarah told him to stop and not to do that again. Well he did. Spank. Time Out. Tears. Dejection.

When I spoke to him about what happened he told me that he wanted to push the beam. I heard words of Truth for my own life come out of my mouth as I said, "Sometimes we have to obey even when we don't understand why." How often has God led me down a path I didn't like, and I grumbled about it? Or fought in the opposite direction like Jonah? Too often.

I asked Daniel once today (different infraction) if he knew why he got spanked.

"Is a con-se-kense," he whimpered.

"Yes, buddy, it's a consequence for not obeying."

"Daniel need tell Mommy sorry."

"That would be very nice to do."

He's two. But it's not terrible, it's wonderful. Lessons of sin and grace and consequence and unconditional forgiveness are happening every day all around him...and TO him! He's already told me, "Jesus have ow-ee on hands and toes" and "Jesus died on cross so I can go Heaven" and two nights ago he had a dream that Jesus was in his room and called him over and Daniel gave him a big hug. :D I don't know what God is doing in my little boy's life, but I'm grateful that He is.

Take the time to see the Gospel at work in your everyday lives, whether it's your kids or your own.

Below and Above the Clouds

2009-07-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

We played at Lifest up in Packer Country last night. Osh Kosh, Wisconsin! We flew in to Midway in Chicago and drove up for the festival. Had a quick soundcheck...actually we never got to play anything at all, so it was more of a line-check where you just make sure that everything's working and you can hear each instrument in your ears. So, come time for the actual performance, we really couldn't hear clearly. This is not a slight on the monitor engineer at all, as he only gives us what we ask for...we just didn't have enough time to find out what we wanted. So I heard a befuddled muddle of sound in my in-ear monitors and couldn't tell what key I was even playing in. Which doesn't matter...unless you have to SING! (Which is what I do if you didn't know.) So yeah, I think I was singing a half step higher...or lower...than the actual key for most of the songs. Beside sounding horrible, it was awesome!

We drove to a Giordano's back in Illinois and enjoyed deep dish pizza goodness then headed to the hotel. Right as I was about to crawl into bed for 4.5 hours of precious sleep, I saw it. My phone had a message.

"Nathan Lampone (12:40 am): He's in Jesus' arms. He made it to his birthday"

July 11th, my friend Tom Lampone turned 52 years old and 15 minutes later began a face to face conversation with Jesus. I took off in the middle of a downpour this morning in Chicago and as we burst through the puffy summer clouds and saw a glorious sunrise and blue skies I thought of Tom and his transition to Life, angels escorting him to meet his Savior. His God. What a mind job.

If you would, pray for his wife, Patty, his kids Nathan and Tia and all those who love him, we will miss him.

Mountains Are Just Wrinkles!

2009-07-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

This may sound a little cheesy, but I just had two 'ah-ha' moments in about twenty seconds. Thought I'd share.

Maybe about 4 times a year I get up early when I don't have to. Today's one of those days, I won't mention what time it was, but I will say it was before sunrise. So I made some coffee, sat out on my back porch, which is my favorite place to sit, chased away the geese a few times because they eat Sarah's plants and their honking will wake up Daniel. (Their "Retreat!" honk is even louder though) Anyhow, it's a good place for a time of relative quiet. I read Oswald Chambers for June 10th, cause I was tired...but that was really good. Then I read July 10th, cause that's what day it is, and that was even better. Challenging. Then I started reading some Mocha with Max. It's a nice collection of snippets from all of Max Lucado's books and its pages are all wrinkled because someone fell asleep in the bathtub whilst reading. It makes it look old...it's pretty cool actually.

So finally the sun rises to my left (that means I'm facing South so you can stop trying to figure that out) and I can't help but notice that the page looks exactly like a topographical map of a mountain range.

"Hm. Funny", I think to myself, "What are the chances?"

Then it hits me, "Mountains are just wrinkles!" Something every Tectonic Geologist knew since the first day of class, I'm sure, but my mind was just kinda blown that the tectonic plates could have smashed together with such force, that the ground wrinkled up like wet paper!

Then came "ah-ha" number two: These "mountains" that we face in our lives, the little ones and the insurmountable ones: in the eyes of the One Who slammed those plates together with His word and formed the Himalayas; they're simply wrinkles! If we could somehow get into our minds that He wants to helps us navigate (or carry us) through life's difficult mountainous terrain, it may not seem like mountains we need to traverse...but only wrinkles.

My Strong Friend Tom

2009-07-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

One of my family's closest friends from Pittsburgh is the Lampone family. Tom was in gymnastics as a kid & when he joined the football team in High School, he out-lifted everyone on the team, having never lifted a weight before in his life. Legend has it that as a running back, he LOOKED for people to hit! I worked for Tom and his construction company for two summers, so did my brother a few years later. The practical feats of strength he performed on the job were jaw droppingly record breaking. He's a man who loves life, his family and his God like few I've ever seen.

Six years ago he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and the doctors say that they have never seen anyone fight the disease like he has and by all counts, he should no longer be living. But he's a fighter physically, emotionally and spiritually like none other.

I visited him at home yesterday with my Parents, brother, wife and boys and his physical strength has all but failed him...but amidst the tears and laughter was The Hope (assurance and knowledge!) that we will see him again! What a Hope we have in Christ! Tom said he'd be waiting for us at the gate and Nick (my brother) and I told him that the next time we see him, we want is 70's afro back, with a full 80's beard! It felt like the end of Lord of the Rings when Frodo leaves for distant shores, and his companions are sad because they will miss him...but they KNOW the reunion will come!

We can tend to lump Heaven in with fairy tales. But fairy tales are only a shadow of Heaven. "This is not where it ends...it's just where it begins."

Tom is holding on to his family for a little bit longer, and if God chooses not to heal him in this world, you can best believe he's gonna be stronger than any ox in the next...and if that's the case, he'll be talking face to face with Jesus very soon. And I'm just a little jealous.

From the Mind of Max

2009-07-03T06:51:00.001-07:00

I was going to just direct people to Max Lucado's website to read today's Journal entry from his book Grace for the Moment II...but it only went to his homepage and by tomorrow, it would be a different entry...so I'm just going to copy it in here. I love this guy. The way he sees God's grace is good for my brain. Here's what he said today:

A List of Our Sins
Friday, July 03, 2009
“He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He…destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.”
Colossians 2:14 NLT

Come with me to the hill of Calvary…Watch as the soldiers shove the Carpenter to the ground and stretch his arms against the beams. One presses a knee against a forearm and a spike against a hand. Jesus turns his face toward the nail just as the soldier lifts the hammer to strike it.

The crowd at the cross concluded that the purpose of the pounding was to skewer the hands of Christ to a beam. But they were only half-right. We can’t fault them for missing the other half. They couldn’t see it…

Between his hand and the wood there was a list. A long list. A list of our mistakes: our lusts and lies, greedy moments and prodigal years. A list of our sins.

The list, however, cannot be read. The words can’t be deciphered. The mistakes are covered. The sins are hidden. Those at the top are hidden by his hand; those down the list are covered by his blood.

Twice in As Many Days....

2009-06-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

...I felt the fragility of life. (fra-JIL-ih-tee) no?

A few days back, my twitter followers know this, I about burned my house down. I had barbecued chicken, eaten the meal outside with my family and then put everything away. I came inside to read a book that I needed to finish while Sarah put the kids to bed and I heard rain outside. I glanced out the window, and...no rain. I thought, "There must be a goose rummaging around in the bushes!" (they eat Sarah's plants) So I ran out to shoe it away...but instead, I looked to my left and two bushes were completely engulfed in flames. I was hearing the crackling of a roaring fire. Not awesome. I have rarely, if ever, been more frightened and pessimistic about the salvation of my house. I ran back inside and yelled, "Sarah! FIRE!" Called 911, hit the Fire button on the security system and started to fill the trash can up with water when Sarah ran past me and said, "Hose!" (One word sentences are the best you can do when panicked) I remembered that the garden hose is right next to the burning bushes...ha, never put that together...and after 5 frustrating seconds of a gentle "shower" wash, I turned the hose to "Jet" and doused that sucker and saved my family. I'm the hero but also the dunce that started the fire and never thought of using the hose. The Fire Department came in two trucks and 5 Firemen walked through my house, much to Daniel's delight. It was all a bit embarrassing. Thank God He let me hear the sound of the crackling, if I had been in another room, or had music playing...

The very next day, we're over at some friends with their two boys and three other boys that were over (7 little boys under the age of 7) We're casually talking at the table when we notice a lady outside sprinting to the front door. Dan Hannon (my friend and producer of 1st two albums) answers the door and she says, "Does anybody have a little boy named Daniel?" Sarah joins the sprint having no clue why she asked that question. It turns out that Daniel and Eli (5 years old) went out to play on the trampoline. Eli was done and wanted to go inside, Daniel didn't want to, so Eli (as any 5 year old would) said "okay, see ya." Daniel, completely independent as he is for a 2 year old, began walking around the neighborhood, talked to a lady 3 doors down, told her his name and said that he was playing in the yard. He had no clue where he was...he got turned around.

Can you imagine if we randomly discovered that we didn't know where Daniel was? We got the good news first: he was found.

God, thank you for letting me keep my family around one more day.

Memorial...Video...Festival...

2009-06-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Wanted to tell you about the...powerful week I had last week.

Omaha: Last year, Sam Thomsen went on a Boy Scott retreat when Tornados ripped through the area killing 4 scouts on the trip. Sam was 13 when he died. His devestated family chose My Savior My God to be one of the songs played at Sam's funeral, the words brought comfort and they recalled Sam 'rocking out' to the chorus when it would come on the radio. Six months later, during the Christmas season, the four families of the boys decided to meet at the camp grounds in remembrance of their lost loved ones. Sharon, Sam's mom, told me she was praying for God to speak peace to her heart when, in the midst of the non-stop Christmas music, My Savior My God was played. Then again the next day on the way home! They invited me to come and perform for Sam's one year memorial and I of course agreed. Meeting the family, the friends and the town was humbling and stirring. I doubt I'll ever cease to marvel at seeing the Lord work peace into the hearts of people in obvious pain. The tears flowed freely that evening as I watched Larry and Sharon in the front row and it seemed that every word I'd ever written was for them to hear.

Sharon told me they'd just bought a Japanese Lilac, which blooms every June, to honor Sam. The worker who helped them buy it not only looked like Sam but shared his name! Store policy demanded the worker's first name and the customer's last name be on the tree, so on yellow tape around the trunk was the name "Sam...Thomsen." As Larry pulled the car around, he rolled down the window and guess what was on the radio...

The next day, I shot a video in Nashville for To God Alone...my first video shoot ever...we'll see :)

Then off to Michigan for my 4th visit to the Big Ticket Festival. We flew into Detroit and drove 4 hours north to arrive 10 minutes after we were supposed to actually begin! So I plugged in my acoustic and told the crowd, "Sorry we're late...if you're interested in stage set up, check out behind me, but if you feel like joining me in worshiping our God, just close your eyes and sing with me!" (or something like that) So by the time we sang Open the Eyes, We Fall Down and Here I Am To Worship (with an acoustic and 1,000+ loud voices!) the band was ready! We rocked out half of our intended set before the shepherd's crooked yanked us off stage, Josh was actually playing for Natalie Grant's set 10 minutes later, then we drove back to Detroit! 3 hours of sleep (2.5) then we flew home. And I've been sleeping ever since.

It's crazy, but I love my job. Thanks for letting me keep it!

Kenya Coldplay California KLOVE KSBJ Crazy.

2009-06-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

I really need to blog more than twice a month, because then there's just too much to process and you don't want to read a 5 page blog.

I told you about my first day in Africa. We spend 3 days total visiting Compassion Projects from slums similar to the one in Slumdog Millionaire (just a different continent) to one 2 hours away in a Masai Village to a pre-sponsorship facility in the Rift Valley for toddlers and young mothers. Seeing the difference in the faces of those who were a part of these projects as opposed to those not involved was astounding. Hope vs. Hopelessness. We ended the trip seeing the beauty and grandeur of Africa by going on Safari! Young Warthogs, Herds of Elephant, Crashes of Rhino, Hungry Hippos, Gazelles of all kinds, Cape Buffalo, Lion Prides, Giraffe Towers...unbelievable. The country and the people are equally exquisite. I'm still trying to process the whole trip in my mind. I experienced so much it's hard to verbalize.

After my return, I took a trip with my family to Pittsburgh to reunite with old and dear friends, we saw a Coldplay concert, attended my home church and ate classic Aliquippa food like Mac's Donuts and Breezy's Pizza. We spent the last night hanging out at Mark and Rachel's eating amazing Ceasar's Pasta and taking turns riding a Quad ('4-wheeler' as they say in the South) and staying up way past bedtimes (for kids and adults) Great times though.

I'm now sitting in the Houston Hobby Airport after a quick visit to K-LOVE and AIR-1 in Sacremento; they let me be a part of their morning shows and played To God Alone: thanks guys. And the same this morning on KSBJ here in Houston. Mayra called into the station and even stopped by to hang out while I was there. She got some airtime! After breakfast with Chris Hauser and Jim Beeler at the Humble Cafe, I came nice & early to the airport and discovered there's a flight leaving for Atlanta right now! I tried to jump on since I have no baggage and want to get home. (7.5 hours of sleep in the last 54)

The gate agent told me, "I can get you on the flight for $50."

I said, "Hmm...But there Are empty seats, right?"

"Yes"

"And I'd be making a seat available on the next flight, right?"

"Yes"

"So someone else could have my seat then..."

"for $50."

What if you picked out something from my table at a concert, then changed your mind before you opened it/wore it and wanted an even trade. I wouldn't charge you a Change Fee. I don't get it.

But...perhaps I don't know the whole story. Anyhow, now I have time to blog.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Was this 5 pages long?

Kenya

2009-05-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first trip to Africa. I'm here with Compassion International on a tour that Big Stuf Ministries out of Atlanta, Georgia is taking for their Summer Intern leaders to experience the work of Compassion first hand in the country of Kenya. They were kind enough to let me tag along.

We flew from Atlanta to Amsterdam in 8 hours, then to Nairobi in another 8. I bought a smoothie 30 minutes before the flight when Keith Bordeaux with Compassion, a seasoned international traveler, offered me an Ambien to help me sleep. I said thanks and popped it in my mouth. With a mouthful of smoothie to help me swallow, everyone at the table yelled, "You're taking it now!?" Gulp.

By the time I was boarding the plane, I was speaking nonsense, shot a video of Keith from my seat, took two close-up pictures of my face and sent a twitter message for all 2,800 followers to see saying "Mocing. 8 hours. I love you. We're going to watch a wideo now. Luv u. I have hiccyps!!!" I not only have no clue what that means, but I don't remember doing any of it.

I'm think I'm done with the Ambien.

We all checked into our hotel here in Nairobi, grabbed a quick bite and headed for bed. This morning we visited the slums of Kibera, an area of 1 million people in the size of Central Park. We visited the Emmanuel Church Child Development Center and saw how God is rescuing the lives of children (like Ruth, above) through donations from people all over the world, giving them hope and joy and dreams! We sang, worshiped, laughed, played soccer, raced, ate, held hands, gave huge hugs, visited one little girl's home (about the size of my hotel room...which is small) and fell in love with the People of Kenya.

Lessons from the BBQ

2009-04-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Incredibly gorgeous day here in Atlanta, GA. I don't know what the temp is, but feels like the high may have been around 80 degrees. Mostly sunny, so every once in a while you get the big cloud exposing a cooler breeze. Sarah asked if I wanted to perform the first barbeque of the year. I enthusiastically obliged and figured I'd teach Daniel how to prepare a charcoal grill. Something every 2 year old should know.

After stacking the perfect pyramid of Kingston briquettes and igniting them with an over abundance of Kingston lighter fluid (no, I'm not sponsored by Kingston) we lit the powpow (2-year old for "fire") and let the charcoals burn! The pyramid, for those of you who don't know, creates a shape where the charcoal briquettes become their own little oven, trapping a lot of the heat inside. By the time the flame extinguishes, the briquettes continue to heat each other and after about 15 minutes, even without a flame, all of the briquettes are white hot! My Dad taught me all this.

About 5 minutes after the flame died, I placed the top rack in its place, I guess just to see if it still fit...it did...and when I removed it, I knocked over my pyramid, scattering the charcoal in all directions...I ran inside to grab some tongs so I could re-stack them. If they stayed spread out, they'd cool and never get white hot. I'd have to re-ignite them then. I'm explaining all this to Daniel while he watched from a safe distance of 2 feet. "If the charcoals don't stay close together, they won't stay hot anymore, they need to stay close together and then they'll stay warm."

Sometimes it takes listening to yourself making things very simple for a child to grasp to understand why Jesus explained theology through simple stories. In reassembling the pyramid, I was struck by the need for community. By the danger of being alone. Iron sharpening Iron. It is not good that man be alone. There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. I am an introvert: I recharge when I'm alone...or even when I'm just with my family, but I can't ignore the fact that I greatly benefit from spending time with brothers and sisters in Christ who can not only encourage me, walk beside me and lead me, but maybe there's someone out there who needs me to help keep their fire burning. By keeping myself on the outskirts, I'm not only helping their fire die out...but I myself will soon become too cold to be of any use.

...time to flip the chicken.

Warren Ohio Concert

2009-04-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last night's show in Warren, Ohio was crazy fun. Well, maybe not crazy...but a lot of fun. This is only the 2nd time I'd done a solo show (with no one else on stage playing along), and while the whole thing lasted just over 2 hours, time seemed to fly. The place was packed (thanks Paul Armitage for incredible promotion!) and we worshiped together, whether we sang familiar songs or listened to new ones. Thank you, Ohio, for an incredible evening. I was blessed to be able to worship with you and hang out in a giant living room, per se.

Let's do it again sometime.

Passion Week

2009-04-08T12:48:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to read through the Book of John this week. I like to read books (of the Bible) in one sitting when possible, although with a couple kids, that's tough. But I've read through 13 chapters so far today, and while many, Many things seem to jump out at you, when you read straight through, one in particular caught my attention. Jesus makes no bones about Who He Is. Which I found undeniably fascinating, because I hear it said so much (like on the History Channel) how Jesus simply wanted to be seen as a very good man and nothing else.

These people clearly never read the book of John.

Jesus, at least from John's prospective, seems to weave it into every conversation He has with anybody. Multiple times, people try to stone Jesus, but He slips away, because it wasn't God's time. Amazing book, truly.

I plan to finish reading it now, if I can, and since I'm home taking care of Sarah and the boys, I may watch The Passion of the Christ tomorrow night instead of Maundy Thursday services...not as entertainment: it's just not that kind of movie. (I remember seeing it in the theatre and finding the purchase of popcorn...bothersome?)

God bless this weekend, and however you commemorate this weekend, make sure you do it in remembrance of Him.

Eddie's Got An Attic

2009-04-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

The show last night in Atlanta was quite different than what I'm used to doing. It was held at Eddie's Attic, a local hot spot that I am ashamed to say I've never been to. Rock For Justice was the name of the event and the plan was to sell tickets and tables in order to raise money to help stop sex trafficking within the city of Atlanta. Over $10,000 was raised!

My longtime friends Ryan Van Kirk and Brian Duffy (my current bass player) have formed a band, written a few great songs and recorded them with Dan Hannon. They'd just started their set when I walked in the back of the vibey, trendy room, packed with people on a sold out evening, a bar in the middle, tables all around, people standing, sitting, eating, drinking and shushing themselves silent while the lineup of singer songwriters played their 15 minutes each. In between each set, Garrett Moore, one of the artists and a staple there at Eddie's, MC'd the event and gave the crowd snippets of info on the reason we were there and updates on the amount of money raised in addition to ticket sales.

I was honored to play last and was given a little flexibility because of that. So I squeezed 5 songs into about 17 minutes. It felt like 10. I played 2 new songs then went backward in time:

Take Over

Ever After (a song a parent would sing to their child about the truth behind fairy tales)

Give Me Words To Speak (with the crowd supplying the Na-Na's so beautifully)

Watch Over Me

My Savior My God

Thanks to Pamela for helping me with my hair and makeup (she showed up after it was sold out, but helped me actually find the place, so I got her and her friend Betsy in, as long as they agreed to do my "hair and makeup" ...then we decided that I wouldn't use any.)

Check out some of the line up!

Garrett Moore, Meghan Coffee, Trey Rosenkampff, Evan McHugh, Eryn McHugh

Tragedy from California

2009-03-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday a plane went down, South of Butte, Montana, killing all fourteen people aboard. Seven of them where children. They were flying from Oroville, CA, which happens to be where I have a concert scheduled for this Saturday.

Please pray for the families who have lost loved ones. I cannot imagine the condition I would be in if I lost my little boys. This is real; as real as every tragic story that we get barraged with in the media. But people are grieving. Pray also for myself and Sterling and Eric as we travel to California and attempt to bring some healing that can only be found in the Love of God.

Click Here to read the whole story.

Sometimes We Do...

2009-03-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

...listen to our own music.

I went for a run today and while I try not to write music that I don't enjoy (it's okay to like your own artwork) I have a hard time hearing my own voice. But I have a tour with Chris Sligh coming up this Fall that I'm preparing for with new songs from the new album and I was mainly thinking of 'researching' the recording from last year.

Anyhow, surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it. Shane Hamill was my soundman and did a phenomenal job mixing it, Duffy, Josh and Scotty are all just incredible musicians and I not only love those guys, but I love playing live with them. Worthy was the first song in the concert and as I was starting my run (it's a great tempo for running) I actually started to get a little emotional, just a big fat worship tune that's hard to sing...but I thought it sounded great...granted it's raw...straight from the speakers, no post production polishing, so you can hear our share of mistakes, but i guess that's what makes it real.

If you've never been to one of my shows, or you have and you'd like to relive it over and over and over, it's available for purchase and immediate download, thanks to the amazing people at discrevolt. I think this last show in Pittsburgh was one of the more enjoyable nights of the tour, and I was reminded today how special of an evening this was every night for us!

My new single will be available soon off the new album, which is due 8/4, so enjoy this in the meanwhile! I've even posted Come To Me on my myspace page to give you a feel for one of the more 'chill' moments of the night. Here's the set list:

Aaron Shust

Whispered & Shouted Tour

Pittsburgh, PA

04.18.08

Worthy/Let All I Do

Matchless/Blessed Be Your Name

Long Live The King

Give Me Words To Speak

Can't Hide From Your Love

Stillness (Speak To Me)

Come To Me

Watch Over Me

My Savior My God

Give It All Away

----------

More Wonderful

'Burgh Boy (for the locals)

One Day

An Intercessor

2009-03-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

I read a pretty moving thing yesterday. I'm reading U2 By U2. It's a book about U2, written by U2...if you couldn't figure that out.

Back during the Joshua Tree Tour, I think, they were doing a large outdoor concert in LA and Bono was receiving more than a few death threats because of his political stances. One seemed to be pretty authentic and stated that if U2 performed Pride (In The Name of Love) at the LA show, Bono would be killed. Security was obviously uber-tight, but the show went on.

Bono says that when it came time to sing the last verse, about Martin Luther King Jr, he just closed his eyes and sang it with all he had, more than a little nervous. When he opened his eyes, Adam, his bass player, was standing right in front of him.

That's where the story ended, and while I got choked up at the story of a brother's love and actual willingness to take a bullet for a friend, I couldn't help but think, "What a perfect picture of Christ taking the bullet for us. What a perfect picture of Christ standing in front of us on judgement day, as we stand before The Perfect, Holy God of the Universe, who looks upon us in our imperfect, far from holy state...but He sees His Son, standing in front of us.

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, The Man Christ Jesus"

I Timothy 2:5

Don't Jump

2009-02-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

I got home from a somewhat local show last night around 11:30pm. I led worship and did 'special music' for a Revival at a Baptist Church down the road in little Monroe, GA. Great town, great people, great food. They took really good care of me. For those of you who don't know what a Revival is, this is not the unplanned revival that happens when the Spirit of God points out areas of your life that need work and you actually listen to Him, this is a time where the church gets together every night for a few days and a speaker speaks and singers sing, and hopefully, the Spirit does what I just mentioned He's prone to do, and hopefully we respond. :)

Anyway, I came home and Sarah was still awake, so we talked about the evening, and as we were getting ready to go to bed and started turning off the lights downstairs, she told me, "I think you need to make more money." I paused and thought about all that she could possibly mean. I'm thinking, "well, I could try to play more often, I'd hate to raise my price for no good reason, ...I feel I'm doing the best I can." So without saying anything, I just kinda stopped and looked at her, like, "I...don't know what to do with that."

Then she realized what I thought she meant. See, a couple days ago, Daniel found some money in Sarah's Bible that was given to us by a relative for both boys. He was having a blast with it, using it as a flying carpet for some of his toy men. I thought that wasn't the best idea, and he got very sad when I took it from him...so I decided to draw him one. I placed my Great Grandfather on the bill instead of Ulysses S. Grant & explained to Daniel that this was Pappy's Pappy. (All 3 of them named Daniel Nicholas Shust) ...and Sarah simply thought that I should make (draw) some more money...for Daniel to play with. ...ah Ha!

Proverbs 25:8 says, "Don't jump to conclusions-there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw" ...or in my case 'heard'. My story was a harmless thing we laughed about immediately...but how often do we find ourselves believing what we want to believe about something or someone that may not be true at all? God, help us take a baby-step toward holiness today and heed the advice in Proverbs 25:8.

Rest

2009-02-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

Sitting outside in the freezing cold

But the sun is bright

and my coffee's bold

No, that's not a lyric from the new album. ...kinda sounds like Vanilla Ice. We actually share a birthday.

Anyhow, I must admit, I've struggled for a few weeks with having just a few gigs, while other artists were touring the country, as if I were doing something wrong, or that 'my time' was up. But, I don't think that's true, I think I'm just in an in-between-albums-season that has me home. I'm still working on stuff for the future, the new album, a title, artwork, photo shoot ideas, I need to write all 12 song journals for you guys to read (which i love to do). So it's been great to be home and eat Sarah's cooking and sleep in my own bed and play with my two boys. It's a blessing. Thank you, God. Speaking of which, Daniel just walked outside in his navy PJs and Elmo snow boots. It's not snowing, but uncle Nick bought them for $2 at a Salvation Army when we were in PA. Daniel loves them. a little too much.

So, instead of fun stories from the road, you're going to keep getting fun stories from home. Or in this case, deep thoughts by Aaron Shust. Shallow-deep. This morning, I was taking Daniel downstairs to fix him some "e-mail" (oatmeal) and it was chilly in the house (66). We have hardwoods downstairs, so I was putting socks on his little feet. I sat him on my lap at the top of the stairs and he got a little wobbly and scared, "Anyo paul down?" (Daniel fall down?) "You hold on tight, buddy," I told him, then realizing that he's sitting on my lap, facing out, he really can't hold on at all. So I told him, "Don't worry, bud, Daddy's going to hold on to you, I'm not going to let you fall down the stairs" And he relaxed; he trusted me.

Maybe you see where I'm going, 'cause it hit me like a ton of bricks. How often to I TRY to hold to God for dear life AS IF THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO DO THE SAVING. Nothing against Mr.Powell, whom I highly esteem, when he sings "Hold On To Jesus" cause I sing along to that song with gusto, and I need to remind myself to hold on, just like any chance Daniel gets to hold on to my neck when we're on the slippery stairs, he does! But sometimes you just can't.

It's in those moments that we need to trust that He Holds On To Us. Jude 24 calls God "the One who is able to keep us from falling!"

One of my favorite songs on the new album sings this chorus:

Rest in the arms of the One who holds you

Rest in the arms of the One who knows you

Rest in the arms of the One who won't let go

San Valentino

2009-02-13T11:57:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day plans: Spill em! Are you planning to do anything?

Before Sarah decided she wanted to hang out with me forever, I once went to a greasy spoon and ordered one hamburger and one hot dog. All my friends were on dates. So sad stories are okay too.

We...aren't really big on holidays (besides T-day, Christmas and birthdays sorta), so we're not dressing up in red and going to a nice restaurant. (but if you're doing that, it's cool) we're dropping one of my favorite meals to my friends Julia and Hayden, cause Julia just had a baby! (I'm not telling you what we're bringing, Julia, you'll have to wait to find out!) then we're all driving up to hang out with my parents and brother's family for the day...and even spend the night. It really has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, it's just the weekend. Dad is BBQ'ing ribs which will be amazing and take up 2 bottles of BBQ sauce probably. Probably not, but they're good. So it feels more like Memorial Day, but hey, there's a lot of love bouncing around in our family. So here's to San Valentino.

So back to my question: what's your plan? Don't worry, I doubt your spouses/better halves will read this. You won't spoil anything.

Watch Over Me: Part III

2009-02-10T06:41:00.002-08:00

My voice is almost completely back. Which is good, I'm recording today. Last Thursday I was in Corinth, MS when many of you were praying that my voice would return in time for the evening show (thank you. it did, Praise God!) and Sarah, my wife, called me that afternoon to see how I was feeling and told me she had a God Story to tell me. She's not the kind of person that just throws around 'God stories', so I took notice. She started by saying, "Just so you know up front, everyone's fine: no one is hurt." While that was supposed to comfort me, it strangely made me a little tense.

She had just laid Nicky down for a nap and determined to not pick him up in the event he cried. Too much of that and your kid will never learn to fall asleep on his/her own. She crossed the hall to play with Daniel and build some towers with blocks. Nicko started to cry and even as she was thinking "let him go", she stood up to check on him. When she walked into the room, she felt an urgency to remove him from the room immediately, even though he was sound asleep again (within seconds!) The same urgency, she said, as if the room were on fire. She scooped him up and laid him on Daniel's bed, and now he's crying. "What Mom wakes up a finally sleeping infant?", she asked me. Then she walked back into the nursery to see what in the world her problem was...and the shelf fell out of the wall and into the crib! She said she just stood there with her jaw to the floor.

I'm still at a loss for words. How Cool that God would choose to spare us the potential trauma that little Nicky could have experienced, by impressing on Sarah to act contrary to logic. Granted we still have accidents and bruises and spilt blood, and tragic things happen to God's children every day. But every once in a while, God reminds us that He IS involved in our daily lives...and that He's watching over us!

Any "God Stories" out there? Where it was obvious that God stepped in?

Speechless

2009-02-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

I traveled to Pittsburgh for the Superbowl to watch with many of my Pittsburgh friends, and contracted a nice little sore throat the first night up there. My friends made sure we had a humidifier on in the room and my family is fine, but I woke up with a painful throat. It progressed over the weekend and by the time we crammed 48 people into the Witterman house for the Superbowl, I think I killed my voice trying to talk over the excited din of fellow Pittsburgh fans.

Usually my voice returns the morning after I use it too much. But 3 full days later, I'm still whispering. I've had to cancel a gig tonight (happening right now without me) 2 meetings, a recording and a radio interview so I can stay home and get my voice back for the concert tomorrow in Corinth, MS with Mr Crowder and his band.

But I'm also listening and reviewing my new songs for the new album. It's strange to think that's me singing. Hearing myself do what I, at the moment, can no longer do. It's scary actually, will my voice ever come back? What if it doesn't? What will I do and who will I be if my voice doesn't come back? Am I a singer? Or am I simply a child of God that can be loved by Him, and love others and be used by Him, even if I'm hoarse for the rest of my life.

Job lost his family and his livelihood. What could you not possibly imagine God taking from you? Would you be able to say in the words of Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised"

Chilling on the Laptop

2009-01-24T06:43:00.001-08:00

I took this photo from my laptop. Or notebook, whatever you prefer to call it. It's a Mac. That's what's important. So you can picture me sitting on the couch with the laptop on the coffee table, and Daniel grabbed his little Fisher-Price Laptop, (which by the way enabled him to identify the names, shapes and sounds of all 26 letters before he was 2) Fun little bonding moment.

But it serves as a reminder how much kids mimic adults, especially their parents, but my boy spent one day hanging out with a kid who says "yea" instead of "yes" and now 2 years worth of good manners is out the window. We are ALL influencers! People, children especially, watch how we act around the house, in public, family, friend or stranger, and often adopt that behavior to make it their own. Frankly, I don't want my boys to think of a laptop when they think of Daddy. :)

So I'm going to log off, and read some of the Word. Because I need to be influenced by those thoughts, truths and actions, and let my boys see me doing so.

Have a great weekend!

Where In the World...?

2009-01-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. I'm trying to find out WHERE I found this photo. We MAY use it for a Tour Poster if I can get permission from the photographer and he/she can send us a higher resolution! I found it on someone's myspace last year. It's from a show I did at California Baptist University, Sept 13, 2007 in Riverside, California. If anyone knows anything, send some info to mitch@bhccmgt.com if you would.

Here's to hoping. :)

Sad News in the CCM World

2009-01-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

I got news this morning from my friend and Radio Promoter, Chris Hauser, that a friend in Christian music tragically passed away:

"Ron McClelland of Gotee act Storyside:B collapsed today during a basketball game on a Christian cruise, and could not be revived. Since December Ron had been co-hosting WCRJ/Jacksonville's morning show with Theresa Ross as well. Please keep Ron's wife Rebekah (also on the cruise), the band, and WCRJ's staff in your prayers in the difficult days ahead"

I cannot fathom the sadness that must be in the hearts of those who lived close to Ron day in and day out. Ron always had a big smile and a big heart. His words were never anything but kind and complimentary. I believe that we will see him again. In the meanwhile, he will be missed. Let's lift up his family in prayer as we think of them.

Sterling Bloomfield, Ladies and Gentlemen

2009-01-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

I told Sterling he's getting a blog dedicated to himself. This is it.

Got a gig offer last summer for a United Methodist Regional Youth Conference in Ocean City, MD for Jan 11th, 2009. I accepted and one of the next steps is letting my band know about the date. Some of you may have figured out that I'm a solo artist which means if I want a band, I hire the players. I believe in strength in community and consistency, so I've worked on finding the right sound and chemistry and have found it in Duffy, Josh and Scotty. However, sometimes they're not available because of prior commitments with other bands or a wedding: whatever. So I have to have great back-ups.

Duffy would miss his own wedding to play for me: so I've never had to even think about that. If Josh is out with Dave Barnes, Ashley Appling is a Killer drummer (check out his site: all you aspiring drummers) but I haven't had a back-up for Scotty.

Scotty tells me in September, "dude I'm out on a month long tour in January with Jessie Baylin, but there's this kid at my church who plays just like me and even kinda looks like me: I could teach him your songs, and you won't even know I'm not there." Bingo. I flew Sterling Bloomfield, who just turned 17, out to Ocean City from Yuma, Arizona (via Phoenix, Philly and Salisbury) to play a 45 minute set on Sunday morning and fly him home in time for school on Monday. He learned all the songs over Christmas break, playing every single nuance that Scotty plays, and when he arrived at the tiny Salisbury airport, his pedal board (the custom collection of pedals that creates the sounds we all enjoy from electric guitars) didn't show up! Lost in transit somewhere between Yuma and Salisbury!

After much debate on what to do (just trio? acoustic set?) Duffy gave Sterling his tuner pedal and I gave him my Delay Pedal I use on my Piano (which he'd never used before) Duffy gave him a 2 minute tutorial, and after striking one of the two amps he planned to use, we rocked the show. And he sounded amazing.

Basically he created a HD signal with rabbit ears.

He painted a colorful Monet with black and white crayons.

He ran a marathon with a peg leg. And won.

I have a back up. Sterling Bloomfield ladies and gentlemen.

On The Road Again

2009-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hey all, Aaron Shust here, live from the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Aeroport. I like to call it ATL. Duffy (above) and I are heading out for my first gig of the year in Ocean City Maryland. I want you to know that I'm missing the Steeler game (and every other game this weekend for that matter) in the name of love. One more in the name of love. Zito (road manager and sound guy for this gig) called last night and said that Philadelphia is expecting serious delays today and thought maybe we should change our flights to route through Charlotte instead where we'd meet Josh and Zito. We'd have to be at the airport at 9am instead of noon though. :( But it's better than getting stuck in Philly and missing the show. So instead of playing with my kid this morning, I left without even saying good morning. Bummer. He's getting old enough to cry when I leave and plead, "Daddeee, Tay Peas!" (Stay please.) So it's good to be loved, but it's sad leaving.

So you've had some questions, I'll try to answer:

When does the new album release? No clue. Could be as late as September, with the first single coming out a few months prior. Could be late Spring. TBD (I'd prefer earlier)

Have you ever googled yourself? Only when I need to find an image or graphic to use on this blog or myspace, etc. I don't like looking for news or reviews: invariably, bad news will pop up, and the criticism is rarely constructive, only damaging.

What is a yog? A Jog. A Ron Burgundy-ism

That about covers it. Pray Sterling makes it on time today: He's Scotty's sub from Yuma and still has to fly through Philly! I'll keep you posted on Twitter.

Peace!

Way to Go, J.Lo

2009-01-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

So we hopped into Jason's car yesterday to go grab some Thai food for lunch before we finished recording, and noticed that he had the new Song Discovery CD. (Free CD with a Worship magazine subscription highlighting new songs) I browsed the titles and names, and my own name caught my eye! "What?" I thought. "What song did I write on?" On closer inspection, I realized that the song was Mi Salvador Mi Dios. Now I took French in High School, but I was clever enough to figure out what that meant. Someone recorded MSMG in Spanish!!! (MSMD)

So props to Josh Lopez (who shares my wife's maiden name) for recording that song and making it accessible to a brand new demographic. I bet when Dora Greenwell wrote that hymn over 100 years ago, she never thought it would be sung in Espanol!

Check out Josh's myspace page and grab the song for your worship leader to add some flavor at your church or even as background music the next time you make tacos at home. Just kidding...but really.

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Or the Studio actually. I drove up yesterday from Atlanta to Nashville. It was mid 70's in Atlanta, and I hadn't checked the weather in Nash. I thought I'd better bring a jacket last minute just in case. When I drove over the mountain in Chattanooga, I was driving through a veritable cloud and the other side was freezing. I made it to the studio, got out of the car, took my sandals off and had my sambas all ready. Anyhow.

We recorded 3 songs yesterday, Rest In The Arms, potentially my favorite; Still You Love Me, perhaps my favorite message and Breathe In Me, perhaps the most gorgeous song on the album. We broke for burritos (well, 4 of us got fish tacos which were fabulous) and at the end of the day, Jason and I went over to Ian Eskelin's to finish polishing a song called Nothing We Can Do. A combination of themes found in Romans 3:23 and 8:38. Once we perfected that as well as we could, Jason started plucking a pretty little riff on the acoustic and singing a line, Ian got all excited and the two of them started spewing genius lyrics. I went to the piano and tried to add pretty sounds. Needless to say, we landed on a pretty killer song, that is so killer, we'll probably cut one of the ones we wanted to do for a better one!

It's amazing what can happen in one day in Nashville. Sleep not being one of those things.

Day 2 begins with the recording of Forevermore, a song I led in church this past weekend to positive acceptance, I believe. Rusty's wife made coffee and brought down muffins. House studios rock.

James Gregory (bass) and I chillin on the couch whilst Adam finishes guitars on Forevermore.

"You Don't eat no MEaT?!?!"

2009-01-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Eva Longoria Parker has resolved to not eat meat this year. Maybe Aunt Voula can make her some lamb.

I would like to know the Bible better by reading it more often. And I'd like to take better care of myself: exercise more and maybe eat less chocolate. (just a little less)

Have you made your resolution?

Goodbye 08, What's on your plate?

2009-01-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hey, welcome to 09. I just got home from 9 days away visiting family. I love my family to death and I had a GREAT time in both Toccoa, Georgia and Sarasota, Flordia, but regardless being away from your own bed is always a little tiring. So, it's good to be home. The tree will come down tomorrow though, and while my brain will explode if I hear one more beautiful Christmas song, it is a little sad.

I drove down to Sarasota to see Sarah's folks and brought my Mom along to drop her off in Clermont to visit her mom. Well my Mom is incredibly insightful, and if I can ever convince her to start a blog, you should quit mine and follow hers. She likes to watch license plates on long trips. Every once in a while she'll just say random things like, "Dixie Girl!" and after the confusion settles, I'll notice the car in front of us has DXY GRL on the plate. One car we saw said "BOSSY 1" No imagination necessary. We found it humorous that she'd place that description on her plate. Mom said, "What if everyone had the description of who they really were on their plate?"

Ouch.

What would be on Your plate?

...looking forward to a potentially insightful year.

All I Need Is A Sunrise

2008-12-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of "Da-DEEEEeEEeeEEeee!" Daniel was awake and ready to go at 7:15. Unfortunately for me I was wide awake until after 2am last night. I watched Discovery Channel for a while because I'm 33 and find it interesting. Plus, I'm obviously still on "road time." And since Sarah's on Infant Duty, I'm on Toddler Duty.

So I came downstairs with Daniel this morning, made a quick cup of coffee for myself (or 2), took my morning meds with a swig of OJ, got Daniel some oatmeal and OJ, and sat down in the living once he was done. The Christmas lights were on, it was still dark outside since it was raining, and I played a couple episodes of Sunrise Earth that I have saved on the TV while I read a little. One hour of HD footage of some of the most magnificent landscapes during sunrise. No music, no narration, just the sound of the wind, water, morning birds and any other wildlife that may be near. It's quite the peaceful way to wake up.

It actually made me miss the road. Usually we only see loading docks and dressing rooms, but if we plan well, we actually get to see some of this incredible world we live in.

So I'm getting ready to go out on a little Spring Tour. We're still looking for dates to fill, and many of you ask me if I'd visit your area. The answer is "Yes, I'd love to!" But we kinda need to be officially brought in by a promoter. So, if you're interested, have your church or school (or a collaborative effort of a few churches/schools!) give my booking agents a call! It will just be myself and my guitar player, Scotty, we'll have a little Storyteller/Worshipful evening, and I'll bring my camera and take a few pictures of your town! ;)

Hope to see you!

Baby Jesus Is In The Car

2008-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

My absolute favorite Christmas "Special" to watch on TV is called "The Very First Noel". It hasn't reached the same level of popularity as the Charlie Brown Christmas Special...which was my favorite until I had kids and realized that they called each other "stupid" the whole time. Kids pick up on that. Too bad. I still watch it.

Anyhow, I bought The Very First Noel, which is a 25 minute, computer animated "Instant Classic" about the 3 wise men's journey to find the Christ child. The music is superb, the animation is by the same team who did the Curious George Movie. Good stuff, Biblical storytelling.

It's my little boy's favorite Movie. In General. Christmas or not. Except he calls it, "Baby Jesus" or "BeeBee Teasis?" I include the question mark because he's always asking for it to be played. We limit his TV time, but when it's time, it's Baby Jesus. It just lends itself to some pretty funny things said around the house, like this morning. I needed to run some errands.

"Daniel, let's go for a ride!" I offer.

"Beebee Teasis?" he asks expectantly.

"Yes, you can watch Baby Jesus. Sarah? Is Baby Jesus in the car?" I call out.

"Inside I think!", she shouts from upstairs.

"Daniel, I think Baby Jesus is in the house. Let's look." The search begins.

"ah Beebee Teasis go?!?" Daniel asks, about to give up.

"I don't know, buddy, let's check the car, come on buddy, I think Baby Jesus is in the car."

Baby Jesus was in the car.

"GOD HAS COME TO EARTH" The Back Story

2008-12-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

The following is taken from Tyndale's "One Year Book of Hymns" where I discovered the old Christmas Carol "All Praise To Thee, Eternal Lord" whose lyrics I used for the verses (minus the old English vernacular) and where i also found "I Am Not Skilled To Understand"

"When God clothed Himself in human flesh that first Christmas, He revealed Himself to us in a new way, bridging the infinite chasm between creature and Creator. Over the centuries following Christ's ascension, however, the church created a new chasm between God and man. It shrouded God in mystery, relegating Bible study to the monastery, theology to the memorization of Latin phrases, and hymn singing to the choir loft. Martin Luther sought to change this, translating the Bible, the catechism, and hymns into German-the language of his people. This allowed everyone to hear God's Word directly and to express praise in their own tongue.

This Christmas hymn appeared originally in Latin and has been attributed to Gregory the Great of the sixth century. Despite Luther's disagreements with the Roman church, he realized that its hymns and traditions contained much of value. Luther's translation of this Latin hymn illustrates his mission to make seeking and worshiping God an activity of the common person."

FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN...

2008-12-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, Tis the season where we commemorate the birth of God In the Flesh, but every year for the rest of my life, when December comes around I will also be celebrating the birth of another child. Last night, 8 pound 20 inch Nicholas Michael was born into the Shust Family.

Long story short, we left the house at 2:33AM, arrived in the room at 2:55 and Nicholas was crying by 3:18! His uncle Nick (pictured above), after whom he's named (who also shares the name of my Grandfather killed in WWII) came by at 5am, and we were able to introduce the Nicks to each other. I sent my Parents a picture they had to unscramble to figure out the name.

My Dad got it first. Maybe because it's now the name of his dad, a son and a grandson. He knows those letters!

Here are some photos from the day: hope you enjoy them and Thank you for ALL of the Congrats and the well wishes! They are MOST appreciated! We feel loved!

The latest Shust Family of Four (all three boasting 2 boys each)

Daniel Nicholas (Patriarch), Daniel Nicholas, Nicholas Michael and Carole Ann (Matriarch)

Sarah introducing my two sons.

Daniel holding his little brother for the first time. Nicko looks scared.

What Philly's known for...besides Cheesesteaks.

GOD HAS COME TO EARTH

2008-11-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

In 2006 I thanked my listeners with a free download of O Come O Come Emmanuel.

In 2007 I did the same with a quiet version of Silent Night.

And for 2008, I with the help of Mr Martin Luther himself wrote a song that I call "God Has Come To Earth" which is yours for free, we're not even going to ask for your email and zip code this time. (my favorite submission was from jjj@rrrrr.kk with zip code "qwert". We won't be contacting them to let them know when we're in the area)

I started writing this chorus years ago and thought it just screamed of Christmas. I wanted a chimey melody like bells that would be reminiscent of an angelic proclamation. I loved the chorus, but as always, every time I tried to write verses, I just laughed at their silliness. That's why I'm learning to like the art of co-writing. Especially with people who have already died. They never argue with my ideas. Martin Luther wrote a Christmas Carol around 1500 called "All Praise To Thee Eternal Lord" that compares and contrasts the Powerful King that Christ was, in charge of The Universe, to the tiny baby He became in the next moment. The words are powerful. So I snagged them. :)

I'll write more about the background of the song soon: but for now, Enjoy it! and Ask Your Local Radio Station to give it a Spin! Go ahead, don't be shy, give them a call! ;)

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ON ITUNES (free offer only available in 2008)

More About Stars

2008-11-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Every night before my little boy crawls into bed and after all the bedtime routine is done, we take him to the bathroom one more time and I run into his room with my flashlight and go around to every one of the sticky glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and make sure each gets a good long beam of light, so that when we tuck him in and the lights go off, he gets the most amazing 'night sky' I can give him. I take so much pleasure preparing it night after night after night, knowing that he'll love it.

Tonight as I balanced precariously on the edge of his mattress, reaching for that one far off star for the hundredth time, I thought, "I wonder if God didn't take similar pleasure when He created the stars so long ago, knowing that one day, I would stare at them"

I believe that every shimmering star, every sunset, every Spring blossom, every Autumn leaf and each quiet snowfall was designed for the delight of His children which, in turn, leads to His Glory.

Stars Will Fall...(even if we're not looking)

2008-11-21T12:34:00.001-08:00

One of the new songs I've written (this one with Jason Ingram) is called Stars Will Fall. The theme is, in a nutshell, that when we are at the end of our rope, there is power in calling Jesus' name. "Stars will fall like rain, all the heavens and the earth will start to shake, every mountain will be moved and cast away at the mention of Your name". Now that I have preliminary copies of the recording, I played it for my parents when they were over last week, and this morning my Mom called me to tell me she was in bed last night, looking out her picture window which gives her an incredible view of the night sky and the stars were especially bright. She told me that my song was traveling through her head at the moment she saw a bright shooting star race across the sky from one end to the other. She was still relishing that moment and hoping for another when, lo and behold (I've never actually ever typed those words before) there shot another star!

She wondered how many shooting stars actually take place on average, but we are just too busy with what's down here to notice.

It's not to hard to glean some lesson out of that. God performs miracles, large and small, all around us, everyday, maybe right in front of our faces. But unless we 'lift our eyes', chances are we'll miss them.

Paul Baloche said it: "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you"

Bebo Norman said it:

"I will lift my eyes to the Maker of the mountains I can't climb.

I will lift my eyes to the Calmer of the oceans raging wild.

I will lift my eyes to the Healer hurt I hold inside.

I will lift my eyes...to You."

A Mr. Shust Pet Peeve: Bad Driving.

2008-11-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Warning: No Spiritual Application Found Within This Blog!

I just drove across the street to pick up a case from storage. As I was driving in my turning lane, protected by a solid white line, a driver, who obviously wanted to be in front of me, laid heavily on the horn because I didn't let her in. I wasn't expecting anyone to even try since no turn signals were on and...it was a solid white line. Anyhow, we both turned right and I waited for my dotted white line so I could make the immediate Left I needed to make, and she crossed Another solid white line and was trying to pass me! Again, no signal, although mine had been on. She wasn't happy.

On the way home (this is a 50 yard drive, people) i saw people blocking intersections, trying to pass other cars in a line of stopped traffic with only One lane (double parking basically), holding up traffic in a left turning lane because they decided to cross 3 lanes of traffic and turn Right instead of left & AT the green light.

I'm a little amazed. And if my family had been in the car with me, I'd probably be pretty upset. Cause I was almost just in 5 accidents in as many minutes, and I only drove across the street.

Maybe everyone should have to take the written Driver's Test every 4-5 years or something.

The Birth of a Song

2008-11-14T22:07:00.001-08:00

Writing a song is a lot like having a kid I think.

Sometimes when you don't plan it, a song is conceived. Maybe you hear a phrase someone says in a movie, or at church, or soaped on the back of a car, and you think, "Wow, that would make a great song!" You scribble it down on the nearest piece of paper, or sing it into your phone's recording device, or leave yourself a message on your answering machine: you can't forget how this little melodic and lyrical idea goes!

The pregnancy is the development of the song; what it will look like, how the verses will support the chorus, is the chorus universal enough that it can be sung over and over? Does the singer progress throughout the course of the song? Is the listener taken on a journey somewhere? How with this be conveyed musically? Fast? Slow? High? Low? Rocker? Ballad? Steak? Salad? (what?)

The labor starts when you get in the studio and have to make a final decision on how this song will be forever remembered! Pick the instruments and the people playing them. Choose a tempo and a key, decide when to come in and when to drop out, when to 'get big' and when to quiet down.

The Delivery is when a song has been completed and those closely involved in the entire process can listen to it and proudly announce, "It's a Song!" We marvel at what took so long to develop, and hold it high, sometimes a little too high, but most people are a little biased when it comes to being proud of their own! ;)

Then you leave the hospital and take the baby home, and there's a period of time where you have your new baby all to yourself. I've heard 4 of my new songs tonight completed for the first time, and I've probably listened to them a hundred times already (not really, but close) but they haven't been released to 'the world' yet.

Then the Presentation of the baby, whether it's that first Sunday back at church, or when everyone comes over to the house (because you let them). That's kinda like the Album Release. Now the world can look, and listen, and tell you what they think about whether or not they like your baby!

But those of you who are parents (of babies or songs) know that you can't help but love your own kids.

Self Control as an Art

2008-11-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the John Adams series with Sarah the past few nights. One scene jumped out at me and frankly made me rethink most every other scene in the mini-series so far. Adams was just appointed the U.S. Ambassador to England shortly after helping spearhead America's independence from England. (He was highly respected but on 'thin ice' in Great Britain) He was meeting with the King for the first time. One on One, mano a mano, and John had been coached on how he must approach the king. Enter the room and bow, a very low bow, hat off, hands extended majestically, legs crossed as if you just launched a bowling ball. Then halfway into the room he'd have to do it again, then once more as he would approach His Grace. All three were performed awkwardly, John was a Massachusetts man, who didn't have time for such frivolity. He hated it and saw it as silly. But he did it anyway, and won the respect of the King.

Even though his character is depicted as speaking his mind more freely than other people (often to his detriment) he still showed restraint more times than he felt was necessary. Then he'd go home and vent his frustrations to his wife and "best of friends" Abigail.

We as Christians (and mankind in general) are called to self-control (Gal 5:23) and the guarding of our own tongues (James 3). While it's good to speak our minds about what we believe, I simply found it fascinating to see portrayed a culture that esteemed self control as a high virtue.

Missouri Again

2008-11-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

We had two good shows this weekend. Kansas City and Forsyth, Missouri. Actually the Kansas City show was IN Kansas. not Missouri. For those of you who think I just stated the obvious, check your map.

The show last night in Forsyth was free to the public because a church member footed the bill for the entire event, which just brings the people out! The place was packed! Standing room only, they even opened up the back doors and set up chairs in the Foyer. Obviously the fire marshall did not come, but the rest of the town did! Anyhow, it was a really fun night. I didn't lose my voice, no strings broke, (well, Rico broke a string in Franny's set, but fixed it by mine, sorry Fran)

It was a long drive home this morning. I actually didn't make it home until 2pm, had dinner with Sarah, Daniel and my parents in the back yard; crab legs and sunset. We have a Korean supermarket across the street: cheap seafood. You just have to be able to either speak Korean or point well. Guess which one I do.

Anyway, good to be home. Only one more show, then I'm home waiting for a baby to be born!

This Is As Political As I Get

2008-11-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd better post this before the results of tonight are announced. No matter who you voted for. No matter who you believe is the better option. I pray you find rest in these words found in the Bible:

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."

Romans 13:1

God Bless

Something New Under The Sun?

2008-11-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

As a professional artist, something that I've struggled a lot with in the last few years is creating art that is deemed "artistic". Go figure. The world is full of nay-sayers who are quick to speak their minds about how a song is a "sad excuse for music" and frankly, people can be downright ugly and hurtful about what some artists have created. (some toward me, some toward my colleagues) I'm not sure when that becomes acceptable: ugly critiquing that is. I would never tell an 8th grader that the clay pot she just fired in the kiln was a sad excuse for pottery... "if you could even call it that!" That would just be mean. I guess the day I put my products on shelves for sale, I subjected myself to public opinion and scrutiny. I just wish it weren't ugly.

So I started thinking about the reviews that seem to flood the industry on the subject of "nothing new". They go something like, "This artist needs to reinvent him/herself" or "is resting on the successes of their past" or simply "not original songwriting".

Here's what I thought: I kind of liken songwriting and the entire CD creation process to painting. The Renaissance developed a style of realistic painting that is still mimicked today. Or take Bob Ross for example. People LOVE his stuff. What if he completely changed his style before he passed away to something completely...'original'. What if his "happy trees" became "angry trees" in the name of reinvention?

I think people who review and critique professionally getting tired to listening to 5,000 albums per week in the same genre. I'd get tired of hearing the same thing too. So while they may want to hear something different, radio stations play exactly what their listeners want to hear. If you're not hearing what you want to on the radio, and want to listen to things that are unique and original and quirky and cool...there are tons of great Indy artists out there making some pretty unique music. Soak up some "Abstract Art".

I can promise you that everyone I know, who's making music, is trying to write the best songs they can, and create the best music we know how. So don't believe it when anyone says that we gave up, or that our songwriting is struggling, like I read someone say about some friends of mine this morning. We are giving our all for the pleasure of the King of Kings! And when He becomes the priority, man's opinion, while it can still hurt, becomes unimportant.

In The Studio

2008-10-27T21:02:00.001-07:00

It's Midnight in the East, but it's only 11pm here in Nashville. I woke up at 5am and drove up to Franklin, TN actually to meet up with Jason Ingram & Rusty Varenkamp to finally begin recording my third album! The plan today was to meet up with three homies here in Nashville and record drums, bass and electric for 4 songs. Jason Gregory played the bass, Ken Lewis played the drums and Adam Lester is currently playing guitar. Adam came late because he had to fly in from Florida this morning. Little Australian Rock Star. He just finished a tour with Peter Frampton. Adam and I met on the Bebo Norman Dreaming True Tour back in the Fall of 2006.

Anyhow, these guys have recorded with Jason and Rusty before and so communication is second nature for them, and we jammed on these songs for a little before throwing down some tracks. I think it's going to be a vibey little album...in places. and pretty big in others. :) I can tell you this much, the songs are going to keep in line with the songs you've already heard: they elevate God's Perfection and confess our need for him.

So now it's very late (12:52am). We're going to start up again tomorrow at 9, so it's time for some sleep. The songs sound incredible, can't wait for you to hear them.

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

2008-10-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what Kurt Cobain meant when he penned those words, but they were on my mind this morning. You see, (who ever starts a sentence with "You See" unless it's in a school play?) I'm in Bonneau, SC right now, to perform tonight with Francesca 'I'm Letting Go' Battistelli and NewSong. Bonneau is small. My friend Eric Gilbert (who just recorded an incredible Kids CD) is from Alabama and always joked how in movies that took place in the South, people always speak like it's the Civil War. "No one Towks lahk that, daggum," he'd say. (okay, he's not that bad) But he's wrong. They talk like that in Bonneau. Lahk digni-fahd ladies & gennelmen.

I woke up starving for Breakfast, but there are only Granola and Breakfast bars on the bus, so I caught a ride to the local Handy Mart II. Tasty Breakfast Sandwiches. I even wrote a review on Google Maps. All that to say, this place is small.

I was talking to Gary while I ate my sandwich back at the church, and he started getting teary eyed talking about bringing the concert in, and the lives it could touch and some of the people who are coming that need to see and feel Christ's love. He was amazed that we would come!

I told him, "Gary, I've played shows in big cities and I often feel like the audience just crosses their arms and says, 'How are you going to entertain me more than I was at last week's concert?' Big cities get concerts all the time. But you don't & I know that we are going to have a BLAST tonight!"

I'm a city boy. First Pittsburgh, now Atlanta. I often find myself wanting to be impressed. Not my 2 year old. Last night he gasped in delight when he realized he could pull the straw out of his cup. Where did we lose the wonder? Desensitization? Over-saturation? I don't gasp like I used to. It's kinda sad.

How do we get that back?

From Twitter to Touch

2008-10-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

I love Twitter. It's fun, it's easy, and my friend Casey made a comment about it last week, that I thought was incredibly insightful. It went something like this: "Twitter is great, it's a way to keep in touch with your friends, without even having to talk to them!"

In a sense, he's right. Then next time Brandon Heath and I chat, I'll know what he's been up to, because I keep up with him on Twitter. I know my friend Harrison stubbed his toe a couple days ago. My Mom knew that I had a Doctor's appointment today, because she follows me on Twitter. It IS a form of communication. And a lesser one.

Consider someone about to lose their job. Or maybe they're about to receive the unpleasant end of a break-up. There are some conversations that must be done face to face. We've seen it in movies, "You're breaking Up with me?!? Over the PHONE??!?" Can you imagine how irate you would be if you were informed that you were fired in an EMAIL? With a TEXT?? What if you found out by following your bosses Twitter account? "I fired Aaron today...felt good." When something important has to be communicated, you do it face to face.

I have a cold. I can't hug or kiss my family lest they get sick. Try explaining to a 2 year old why "Daddy can't hold you" or "Daddy can't play right now", when that's all you want to do.

Think about how when God wanted to communicate Salvation to His children, he wanted us to do more than just read about it by following His account. He came in the flesh!

A Very Happy Birthday

2008-10-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Daniel's 2nd Birthday. We had an incredible day from Pillsbury Orange rolls for B'fast to lunch at a Park with Sarah's sister's fam and cupcakes. From a little nap (and a natural gas leak scare!) to my Parents and my brother's fam coming over for dinner. (which was fantastic but gave me heartburn) (Dinner, not my family)

We got Daniel a Radio Flyer Big Wheel which he loved and between that and a little stuffed Elmo we gave him right before bed, I was reminded why it's better to give than to receive.

When I receive something, I'm often honored, thrilled, grateful, etc. But when I see how someone else feels those emotions because of a gift Given...I can rarely hold back the tears! Daniel GASPED when he saw Elmo, gave it a gentle hug, patted its back and whispered 'Emmo'.

He fell asleep happy...and 3 hours past his bedtime! Happy Birthday, son.

Thank You, Jesus, for this touchdown, Amen.

2008-10-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight 8:15pm. It's ON. Too bad the Steelers aren't playing Jacksonville next week, when I have a show in...Jacksonville.

Here's something to talk about: I'm not sure where I land on this. People who accept awards, no matter what the award is for, always "thank God, first and foremost" Sometimes, it's common knowledge that the person doesn't even acknowledge God by the way they live. Sometimes I wonder if people feel like they need to thank God because it's the right thing to do. Then I feel weird about the people who didn't win the award: nominated or not even nominated: as if God didn't want them to "win" (Which is ridiculous to assume). This is especially weird to me in two areas. Ministry Awards and Sports.

The Dove Awards have a category for Best Worship Leader. I just think that's strange. While it's an honor to receive any award or nomination, I feel like it takes away from the other hard working, God pursuing people whose work is just as pleasing to God (quite possibly: only He knows)

Then sports. I'm a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. I know it's just a game: but man, when we're playing against the Bengals for example, and they score a touchdown, I throw things at the television (pillows, soft things) and when I see a Bengal player point up to Heaven or kneel in the endzone, I always think, "God's not a Bengals fan!" (I know he's not a Steeler fan or any other fan either) But I just wonder if we give credit to God for some wrong things. Sure He gives us life and breath and a mind that can learn how to throw and catch a football...maybe it's innocent. I always point to the sky at the end of a show if people cheer for me. I direct them to God. He deserves the praise.

anyhow: discuss ;)