Meet Our New Voice- Shelby Abbott

Will welcome on Bob's beam and shall be ever. This could be stepping in to be the voice for family life to the person with notes of information to help support in the right direction shall be is here and I thought it would be good for you guys to get to know him and so shall be welcome. Thank you so much for having me and thank you for being willing to trust me for something that has been happening for decades now and I I really am am humbled and honored to be a part of such a great legacy here family life today. Well I don't know if I've ever told you this but you were a guest on family life today back a couple years ago and at the end of that guest session with you. I stepped out and and was talking with David Robbins, the present family life and I said you know when it's time for me to to step away. Shelby might be the guy really just from from the conversations that we have been and the way that you work.

I love the fact that you were able to respond spontaneously to what we were talking about. You were quick on your feet you what what you were saying was substantive and biblical, which is not can always count on that being the case, and so I thought I just stepped out and said this may be odd.

I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet but this would be what God has for family like to do going forward thinking very trusting and saying that to David Robbins that you did email me after that time, and you said a great job. It was really great to meet you that I had no idea that you had had a conversation with with that. I love you and had a wonderful plan for your life. You have the Holy Spirit was working in and through you in the sows is speaking of God love you and having wonderful plan for your life is wonderful plan for your life has has revolved around the ministry of crew for a while now. Did you come to faith through the ministry of crew did actually January of my freshman year I just turned 19 and I'd been involved with crew at Virginia Tech, where I went to school was in a Bible sitting going to like the large group meetings and even being met with with a staff disciple air but I just came to a point during the first large group meeting after the winter break that when the gospel was shared upfront. I realize that I never actually made a decision to put my faith in Christ to trust him. I was not born again at that moment was terrified me, but also it it it God's grace poured out over Mina and fresh new way and I became a Christian then through that ministry got super involved with crew. After that, and when I came to the point where I was about to graduate. Actually, in the year at my senior year I was like, I think I'm I'm supposed to come on staff with crus. It was a pretty easy decision for me so I came right on staff. After I graduated and I've been on staff for 22 1/2 years now and working most of that time with college students write the correct yeah I was at James Madison University for my first seven years in Virginia working directly with college students have done a number of things since then bounced around, but I've always been involved in student conferences. I've emceed the, the winter conference we had in Baltimore for the last 20 years. I am seated spring break conference call big break for 18 years and so I was rubbed shoulders with college students and my favorite thing that we my wife and I have done over the last 10 years is actually running a summer mission with crew in Ocean City Maryland where students will come for the entire summer we get to pour into them, and invest in them that way so it made the switch to family life.

About two years ago and I've been training under the best in order to translate what I know that the stage onto radio well and to translate what you know about the Scriptures again.

One of the things that that I'm most encouraged by you is that you're not stepping into this role simply to be another pretty voice you're stepping it here with some background, some substance, some love before what we stand for.

Here at family life. This is this is something that you have strong convictions and you. It's not deftly not a pretty voice. I I wondered why they were trading that the sultry silky voice of Bob the pain for what sounded like 1/9 grader with a bad head cold in my opinion, but yes, I've I've I have a deep love for theology. I have a deep love for practical out workings of theology, not just saying and knowing stuff but actually putting it into action. I love to share my faith. I love to train students.

I love to talk with people about issues of the Scriptures and I have grown a ton in particular in the last 10 years. In my love for certainly God, but what it means to live a life that's directed by the power of the Holy Spirit through knowledge of the Scriptures and put it into practice in a way that I don't just say stuff that I believe but I but I live it out as well. You have Bob because you been on staff with crew you been aware of family life throughout your time on crew staff.

As you have looked at what we've been doing kind of from a distance. What has been what what what have been your impressions of the ministry of family life over the last two decades. Yeah, I think when you're working with young people, you can have tunnel vision and they are, your only world that exists now I I'd known about you and Dennis Rainey. Of course I'd written read some stuff by both of you.

I was, not a super aware of the ministry of family life until I got a little bit into my years on staff and I always remembered thinking with when it came to family life. The word excellence was such a forefront word that popped into my mind because you would you would do things with such greatness for the glory of Jesus, not excellence.

For the sake of excellence but excellence for the glory of God. My wife and I went to weekend to remember very early on in our in our marriage and I just thought this is really good really really good stuff read a few things obvious AI item C to conference one time where Dennis Rainey actually was one of the speakers and so I got to interact with him just a smidge there. I would doubt that he would remember who I am, but I was like this is just really quality content and so a it's was held like a warm spot in my heart I just was unaware of the larger out workings of what it actually impacted and so when I came on staff within life. I didn't realize that family life today was as big as it was. I didn't realize that there was a love like you Mina Cruz. I didn't realize how influential family life today is in so many families and homes and lives all across the nation and I'm just deeply grateful to be a part of it. You are all it in addition to taking over these responsibilities with family life today your launching a new podcast to listers about that now. One of the the major things I'll be doing with family life is launching a new podcast for 18 to 28-year-olds can be called real life loading.

The subtitle of it is somewhat anxious, always authentic, and so I found that one of the things that young people will respond well to is quality content that actually is a balm for them and helps them in and is caring for them but also raises the bar in their life.

At the same time Serena be talking about everything from sex and sexuality to anxiety and fear and worry to progressive Christianity deconstruction doubt dating where you talk about all the stuff that young people are interested in talking about, but perhaps are not getting the kind of biblical content that they need and so I'm thrilled to be doing a new podcast with family life aimed at the next generation. And that's gotta be available forever.

People get the podcasts correct. Yes, it will be everywhere and including on the family life app got it.

Well I hope folks will enjoy getting to know you.

Glad to have you in the chair as a family like today wraps up every day, you can help point listers to where they can learn more and how they can grow in their and the relationships that matter most is not always a and you have paved the way for me brother and I am deeply grateful for the roads are not able to do without you I am not placing you because you are irreplaceable and I'm just very honored to be able to take the next step, knowing that such a great path has been cleared for me