Aaron Bryant, Director of Training and Development

Aaron's 2005 summer journal

May 10
Stages. I am ending a 3 week period of being home every weekend. It's been great. I've connected with Ami and Aldyn. We have painted, worked on the house, gone for many walks, searched for sea glass, eaten out, played games, sat and talked. I've gotten to see Aldyn's ups and downs, and love her, love them both. And now the next stage.
I am at Youth Dynamics, and the summer season is upon us. In 20 minutes this office will be full of people. Well make phone calls, plan logistics, prepare gear, food, and staff. We'll talk to church leaders and other types of leaders. Then we'll go. Leavenworth will become familiar again.
I will ache for my family. I will thrive in the beauty of countless life snapshots. I will miss our church body.
God, in you I trust. I want to run in your freedom - giving my fullest to you and the moments that come. Be my strength. Increase my faith. I want to trust more.
These things you have made me a steward of, may I grow them and be trustworthy.
May I live life in the Spirit, apart from my selfish desire. It's easier in the quiet place, and then there's being around people, which is today.

May 15, midnight
1st summer trip is into the last day. I broke my camera. It was a highlight sharing with the kids at campfire on the ridge. The youth leader for these students is incredible. Ironically, of the 4 adults here who have experience with marriage, I am the only one still married. 3 divorces. Satan's attacking marriage.

May 20, 7:21am
Perched on a perfect granite contoured seat at Mountaineers Dome in Icicle Canyon. Soon 10 Baptist leaders will discard their comfort and take on a new challenge.
Lord God, what a site that extends beyond my sky pointed crossed feet. Soft blue crisply accents the loose granite peaks. Green lines the gullies and clothes the rock in bursting firs, carpets of grass. 10 geese just flew by at eye level. The clouds have been lifting all morning and now 95% of the sky is full of blue. The occasional God scrawl of clouds perks up. This is rich. What will I be today, and to whom?

May 29
I'm on a cusp. I thought I was on it a while ago. Apparently I was not. Am I to the edge? Can I now start climbing? Or is it jumping down. Diving. Letting go.
Seeing an individual get to their breaking point, then they will act. Would you rather be intentional, planned, or provoked?

June 2
Rip open the lid. I'm dropping innocence everywhere. Tragedy, and I don't think I've heard the worst of it.
Circumstances are colliding. I'm scared for my heart. I'm afraid for marriages. My greatest goal - to fight the fight, to cross the finish line, to keep the faith. A fight for true life.
Lord, I am so fragile. I need you everyday. I'm struggling to be passionate about each moment, knowing a lifetime still awaits - for the teens we work with, my friends, my family, me. The week blew up. I love my wife, Ami Nicole Bryant. Lord it is an honor to be married to her. Seal us.

June 14
If I didn't journal, I'd never remember that today was June 14.

June 25
The places you find yourself - I'm currently sitting at some state park 18 miles beyond Wenatchee, WA with 173 teens. It's tent city, and there are cars zooming by on a highway 50 feet from my tent. And kids are being challenged. It's a circle. Adults challenge teens. Teens grow into adults. Soon they speak to the teens. Jr. Highers all around, listening.

June 26, 7:19am
Sitting on the bank of the Columbia River. Perfect morning. Blue skies are pushing back the shaded clouds. The rolling Eastern Washington hills are bathed in son. The western slopes dance with hidden shadow pockets. The water laps at the shore. I am amazed by you Lord. As the world wakes up, you can be pushed to the edges. This must not happen. Be thou my vision, and thou my true word.

June 27, 11:33 pm
I'm hurting. Times in the season, the body starts wearing down. This is that time. But my heart is soaring.

June 30, 11:47 pm
SERVE 2005 (a team building week we do with 3 different Baptist churches to prep their teens for mission's trips they're going on) is almost over. I'm on my sixth bed of the six day trip.
Today I guided on the Inflatable Kayaks. One kid, never had control of his boat. He spun in circles the entire way down this technical river, and he never fell out. What an empowering moment to hand to teens.

July 3
Threw up last night. Feeling weak. It's been a string of physical challenges. More exhausting than anything. I'm trying to learn. It's not ultimately about my body, it's about my heart.

July 9
Beautiful rock day yesterday. I woke to rain, and it was around all day. The wind dominated the morning. If you tried to stand still, it tossed you around. Best idea is to move and go with it. Snot was flying out of my nose. No need to wipe.
The group was preparing for a cross cultural mission's opportunity in a remote Native American village on Vancouver Island. They were asking us to challenge them past the realm of normal.
2 snapshots of the day: Jeff - terrified of heights, was up 10 feet on a climb, stemming between the rock and a tree. I was looking at his eyes when he slipped. In that moment, he went from hearing about trust, to fully realizing it. The rope held him solid, and his eyes were wide open.
2nd snapshot - When we introduced rappelling in the afternoon, Laura had already made up her mind. She wasn't going. She avoided the rappel stations until our paths crossed with 20 minutes left in the day. I asked her if she wanted to rappel. She than replied, "I don't want to. It doesn't mean anything to me."
I've heard that too much to believe it, so I called her on it, told her I didn't buy it. Pause. And she responded. Her eyes did this transition. It was odd and beautiful - they dropped this front, went straight, and then softened. Then she was honest. She told me she was terrified. 20 minutes later she was rappelling down the rock, and she was in a new place.
Climbing and rappelling seems to be about unlocking hearts. The fear of heights or whatever looms so large, and yet its foundation being moved is only a step away. The heart is easily fooled.