TJ update

The past 36 hours have been great for TJ. She started off yesterday being able to take some steps without any assistance. Since she has been walking around the house a lot. She still is recovering but this is huge. Were excited and it looks like she is getting stronger and stronger. Thanks for your prayers, keep em coming.

Some random thoughts...

• Update of TJ: she walked today without the walker. It wasn't far but it is progress. She is doing great and I continue to be proud of her as she battles through this injury.



• Fellowship Orlando: Due to TJ's injury I missed a weekend from church. I was back this past weekend and it felt so good to be back. I know it was only one week but it felt like much longer. I loved seeing the families that worship with us.



• Kids Choice Awards: Our current 1st-5th grade series is going great. We've been slimming people every week and are working on a series long slime video. We'll post it next week.



• Overwhelmed by love: It was raining all morning long on Sunday. As I pulled into the drive way after church I see some friends of our completely drenched and filthy. The spent the entire morning in the rain cleaning my gutters, clearing my roof, and raking 1,000,000,000 leaves from my driveway and front yard. I was blown away. Not just by them but so many people just like that that have blessed us. There are so many stories just like that of so many people loving, encouraging, and serving us through this whole ordeal. I just really want to say wow and thank you church for blowing me away with your love.

• New Bible Study: Today I started a new Bible study by Beth Moore on David. I'm really excited about it. When I study David my mind immediately thinks of Tom Wycuff, Youth Pastor at Pine Ridge Fellowship. Tom's passion for God is the closest thing I've seen up close that resembles the heart of David. Tom thanks for chasing after Him and encouraging us all to do the same.

Salvation is Here!

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord." These were the words of David as He wrote them in Psalm 40:1-3. But today they are my words. With all that is happening to my amazing and godly wife we cling to these words. We will wait patiently for the Lord. He will life us out of the pit once again (like He's done many times before). He will set our feet on solid ground. He is walking along this situation with us. He will give us a new song to sing. He will be glorified. Christ be glorified. This is our prayer. Amen.

Nothing New

This pic has nothing to do with this post but I just had to post it anyways, this our 9 lbs newborn Darby Grace. Well when we were told of TJ's condition we were prepared for a long road of recovery. Then TJ began making huge strides the first 4 days which got our hopes up for a quick recovery. However the past 3 days have been dull with no visible signs of progress. Monday she did feel pain but her overall ability to move has not improved the past 3 days. I think TJ and I were thinking we'd beat this a lot quicker than it appears it is going to be. I wouldn't say we are discouraged as much it seems that reality of this recovery time is beginning to set in. Please pray for TJ...1) that progress would continue to take place 2) that God's grace would continue to cover and guide us. Thanx again for all your prayers.

No Pain No Gain

Because of your prayers TJ now feels pain. That's right for all of you out there that have been praying for TJ, she is now in pain because of you. Part of her problem has been the struggle of having feeling in her legs. As of this morning TJ began to experience pain in one of her legs, ironically the pain was caused by her other daughter Callie Joy. Pain in this case is good because pain equals feeling which equals healing. Go figure. Thanks for your prayers, keep em comin!

TJ has left the building

Due to TJ's phenomenal progress she was released from the hospital today. The doctors know she still has a long road ahead but they thought she could improve just the same at home. Everyday she has made big strides. As of today she is able to walk short distances with a the help of a walker. No one really knows her timeline but my guess is she'll be walking in 7-10 days and fully functioning in 2-3 weeks, that's Dr. Aagaard's prognosis. Pic #1 TJ's hospital bed the way its supposed to be, empty. Pic #2 Darby, TJ, and I leaving the hospital Pic #3 Me showing Darby the world from our hospital room on the 7th floor. Thank you for all your prayers. There is still more work to be done, please continue to keep TJ in your prayers, thanx.

Saturday Update:

Today was another good day. TJ continues to progress. Darby slept better last night which allowed both TJ and I a very much needed good night sleep. Her progress seems to be consistent as she continues to make huge steps toward a full recovery. Again she still has a long way to go but every 24 hours seems to get better and better. This pic of Darby is a goodie, she is awesome. Can't wait to bring home my girls, hopefully soon. Keep praying. Thanks guys.

Friday Update:

Today was a busy day for the Aagaards. Darby is doing good and TJ continues to improve. Her improvement over the past 36 hours has been huge. Although she has a long ways to go just seeing her improve has given us a lot hope and excitement. TJ continues to be in good spirits and I continue to amazed at how well she is dealing with it all. Although she is improving we don't expect to be getting out anytime soon. The doctors are just taking this day by day and so are we. We continue to be grateful for your thoughts and prayers. Please continue praying, it's working!!! The picture is of Riley praying for Darby. Out of no where Riley looks at me and says, "Daddy, Darby isn't a Christian like us." I then looked at my son with pride and told him, "then lets pray that she'd become one" that's when he simply began praying. What a great pic. The Aagaards are blessed. Thank you again everyone. PS: you can pray for TJ to get rest. The medical staff is great but they don't give her time to sleep.

Thursday Update

Hey gang. First let me say thank you to everyone. We have received so much love, support, and prayers. Each prayer and encouraging word has meant so much to TJ and I. So here are some updates from today.

• The doctors have assured us they wouldn't boot us out of the hospital until TJ is ready. This could be a day, a week, several weeks. Although no one knows the timetable it is very assuring to know we will be in good hands throughout the ordeal.



• They will allow Darby to stay with us during that time.



• TJ had a great day. Physical therapy this morning went good.



• The Neurological Physicians all assessed TJ and see signs of improvement. They said to see signs of improvement this early (even if they are small improvements) is a big deal.



• Riley & Callie Joy have smothered Darby with lots of kisses and love. They are sooooo excited to have a baby sister.

Today was a very busy day. TJ had many doctors making their rounds and performing their test. Many of you have blessed us with an encouraging phone call, text message, or blog comment. Although I haven't had time to reply back to everyone please know that each prayer and thought have blessed TJ and I more than you know. We love the community God has blessed us to be in. As time permits I will continue to give you updates via this blog. Grace & Peace, the Aagaards (all 5 of us).

Prayer for TJ

Here is an update on TJ. Her Femoral Nerve has been damaged. She has weakness in both legs to the point of them being unusable. Her legs move but she can't move them a lot or put much pressure on them. The doctors told us that 80% of patients receive total healing within 1 week to 6 months. The doctors do feel confident that TJ will recover completely, they just don't know how long it will take. Today she started physical therapy and she will do so daily. Please pray that God continues to give TJ the strength, courage, and faith to face this head on. Pray that God would bring complete healing. And pray that God would allow TJ to overcome this issue quickly. TJ is awesome. She is in good spirits and I am proud of her. Thank you everyone for all you've already done and for all your prayers.

Pray for TJ

Darby is doing great. She is beautiful and healthy. TJ could use some prayers. After the delivery she realized she had no strength in her legs. She tried standing and collapsed. Since then she still has no ability to use either leg. The doctors think she may have messed with some nerves during the delivery. They ran test all night and all day so she is exhausted. They are confident that she will be able to use her legs again they just don't know when. It could be tomorrow or it could be next month. TJ is in good spirits and her overall health is great. Please pray for a speedy recovery for TJ. I'll continue to keep updates via this site. Thanks for all your prayers and help.

Welcome to the Planet

Move over world Darby Grace Aagaard has arrived. Darby was born @ 6:41 today, St. Patricks Day. She arrived 21 inches long and 9 pounds, yeah I said 9 pounds. TJ was great and did an awesome job. The whole delivery process went great. The baby is healthy and doing good however TJ could continue to use your prayers throughout the recovery process.

Great pics to check out

Right now I'm at the hospital preparing to meet my new daughter Darby Grace Aagaard. I'll keep the blog up to date on that. In the mean time I just got these pics back that TJ and the kids took, they are great. Check em out @ http://darbygrace.wordpress.com/ A friend, Tandy Grandstaff did a phenomenal job taking the pics. Thank Tandy. You can see her stuff @ http://sugarsnapphotography.wordpress.com/

Kids Choice Awards

This week we are kicking off a new series entitled "Kids Choice Awards". We got this idea from our friends over at Pine Ridge Church up in North Carolina, thanks Ben! http://prcbackyard.blogspot.com/ I'm excited about this series. The idea comes from Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards where they always slime people, kids love slime & so do I. The past 2 weeks the kids have filled out voting forms and we'll run the service according to the results of the votes. They voted on topics, music selection, service flow, games, etc. They also voted on random questions regarding their culture. Everything during this series is up to the kids. Interesting enough the top 4 topics they submitted were 1) Worship 2) Friends 3) Helping others 4) Reading the Bible. Although the kids voted on everything we do have some surprises were going to role out, think green.

More than punX

This weekend we are wrapping up a series called, "More than PunX". My boy and youth pastor over at Pine Ridge Fellowship, Tom Wycuff gave me this series idea as we unfolded I Timothy 4:12 for 5 weeks. This content in this series is some of the best stuff for kids we've done in a long time. The thesis is were all punx some times but Christ called us to be more than punx, to be more than trouble makers, bullies, gossipers. Christ called us to be leaders in what we say, how we live, how we love, in our faith, and in our purity. The message that Christ loves us even though we are often punx hit home with a lot of our kids. This has been a very successful series, thanks Tom. Reason #3428 on why we as pastors should build bridges with each other and not walls.