Riley and I have been dancing for the last 20 minutes to the beautiful music of Celtic Woman. It was absolutely wonderful. Their beautiful voices filled the room while Riley nuzzled into my chest. We danced and danced as I prayed for her and whispered sweet nothings into her little ear. Now the music is over and she is crawling around on the floor entertaining herself with one of her many toys.
Thank You so much for her :-)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
A Testimony Of God's Grace Displayed In My Life
God has been doing so much in my life, it is hard to narrow it down into words. Last night I tried to talk to my parents about it, but it just ended up getting all mixed up in my brain. So now as I sit here in bed I am going to do my best to articulate the wondrous work God has been doing in my life.
To begin, I must go back to high school. Things were not perfect for me, I had my struggles, but life seemed to move in a clear direction. I was a Christian who went to church, was homeschooled some but also went to Christian school, I was involved in ministries and loved life. Unlike many I knew, drinking, smoking and partying were never desirable to me. And even when there became the slightest appearance of me heading in the wrong direction, my parents, specifically my dad, would firmly but graciously guide me from it. From there the obvious next step for me was to go to Bible college and get my Bible degree and begin a life of "ministry." So that is what I did. After a short stop in Hawaii, I was off to the #1 Bible college in the country.
That year ended up being very different than I expected and left me reeling in confusion, but God did something mid-year which was far more significant than all that. He told me, "Ryan, I want you to marry Hannah." It was as clear as day, the words being spoken in my head. It was God Himself making in the most undeniable way possible my direction clear. Within a week, Hannah and I were together and planning to get married. So would I continue back to school next fall? That was the major question. Practicality more than anything made that decision for me. There was no possible way we could afford for me to continue there.
Then God threw us a curveball and we thought, He must want us to go to the New Tribes Bible School. Yeah! That must be it! It makes perfect sense for us! So thus we began planning. Did God ever specifically tell me that was what He wanted? No. But when it got close to us going, did He make it clear that we should hold off? No. But once again practicality caused us to wait. We were not emotionally or financially ready for that. Then a year went by and we were asked the entire time by people from church, "So when are you going to Bible school!" The excitement in their voices was clear as day, to them just like to us, it was exactly where we should go! But as time drew near for us to go, God decided to make His will known. "Forsake all, and follow me," He said, and though I did not hear those exact words, I knew that was exactly what God was saying to me. So I checked my pride at the door and after a wonderful talk with my dad I was able to let myself go.
So what did it mean to "let myself go" you might ask? Well up until that point I had always felt like I had control and had a set direction and had everyone cheering me on. The thought of stepping out of the path I had been pursuing and which everyone expected us to follow left me... humble. So letting myself go was really letting my pride go. And thus God humbled me.
Following that, we settled in (to an extent) but still did not feel settled. Next came the obstacle of debt, which we still are fighting today. It came like a thief in the night and left me feeling helpless. But though God did not like the debt, he used it to teach me to trust Him for everything we have. So what next? Well, there came a time where I thought it was my calling to get involved in inner-city ministry, but when Riley Joy came along that was dashed. Though now it is clear that God never wanted me there.
Then came other ministries, I wanted inside to be in all of them. Until our marriage I had been into everything at church, but now was limited to little or no church "ministries." Was that because I was not being a good Christian or that my marriage was "holding me back" from serving? No, it was just God's will that we should be together and grow together. So much happened during those first two years that we had nothing we could do but cling to God and to each other. Though to those around us I am sure we looked like some sort of "lesser" Christian and kept reinforcing it through trying to bully us into church programs. Is that really all that ministry is? Just a program off a checklist from church? But though all this, God kept saying, "It is not about them, it is about Me."
And the year 2oo8 arrived and once again I thought it was time to go back to school. So I did everything I was supposed to and got everything set up only to have God say to me, "I want you." Soon after that I felt clear as day one night that Jesus Himself came to us and stood by our bed, filling me with the most wonderful comfort that only He can give. God wants me, and this time in my life is not about looking good to other people or even fulfilling my desire to continue schooling. God want my heart and mind to be all His and rather than delving into books and worrying about grades, God want me to delve into Him and get to know Him more while at the same time ministering to those around me. The number of ministry opportunities God has presented to Hannah and I blows me away. Most of the time we did not know that we were ministering and yet He was using us to minister to those around us. Now THAT is the kind of ministry that I want! It is ministering in exactly the way He want us to!
It is incredible that what seems foolish to other can be God working in mighty ways. Our fallen senses can never pick up on all that He is doing. I feel like His cloud has settled for us, like it did for the Israelites. Will we be here forty days or forty years? We will see. But whatever happens, God will be the one guiding. People can think what they like of us, but God's opinion is the one that counts. Every small step we have taken has been a small step forward in His will. He has used every bit of our life to further us in His path, not necessarily the path we chose for ourselves.
In the midst of trouble, stress, and great joy, God has been here, guiding all along. When we felt like we were farthest from Him, He was just preparing our hearts for something new. And now He feels near and I feel so much peace and comfort from it. He has been so gracious to us and we have no way to thank Him but to give our lives to Him. Where will we be in ten years? I don't know. But I do know that I want to humbly seek His face in everything we do. God has been so faithful to us though I can hardly say we were the same back. But we serve a gracious, wonderful God that has saved us and looks past our failing to the righteousness we have inherited by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though I do not know exactly what I am doing all the time, I know one thing for certain, I am all in. I humbly present myself to my Lord as His servant to be led wherever He should desire and give my life to Him.
To begin, I must go back to high school. Things were not perfect for me, I had my struggles, but life seemed to move in a clear direction. I was a Christian who went to church, was homeschooled some but also went to Christian school, I was involved in ministries and loved life. Unlike many I knew, drinking, smoking and partying were never desirable to me. And even when there became the slightest appearance of me heading in the wrong direction, my parents, specifically my dad, would firmly but graciously guide me from it. From there the obvious next step for me was to go to Bible college and get my Bible degree and begin a life of "ministry." So that is what I did. After a short stop in Hawaii, I was off to the #1 Bible college in the country.
That year ended up being very different than I expected and left me reeling in confusion, but God did something mid-year which was far more significant than all that. He told me, "Ryan, I want you to marry Hannah." It was as clear as day, the words being spoken in my head. It was God Himself making in the most undeniable way possible my direction clear. Within a week, Hannah and I were together and planning to get married. So would I continue back to school next fall? That was the major question. Practicality more than anything made that decision for me. There was no possible way we could afford for me to continue there.
Then God threw us a curveball and we thought, He must want us to go to the New Tribes Bible School. Yeah! That must be it! It makes perfect sense for us! So thus we began planning. Did God ever specifically tell me that was what He wanted? No. But when it got close to us going, did He make it clear that we should hold off? No. But once again practicality caused us to wait. We were not emotionally or financially ready for that. Then a year went by and we were asked the entire time by people from church, "So when are you going to Bible school!" The excitement in their voices was clear as day, to them just like to us, it was exactly where we should go! But as time drew near for us to go, God decided to make His will known. "Forsake all, and follow me," He said, and though I did not hear those exact words, I knew that was exactly what God was saying to me. So I checked my pride at the door and after a wonderful talk with my dad I was able to let myself go.
So what did it mean to "let myself go" you might ask? Well up until that point I had always felt like I had control and had a set direction and had everyone cheering me on. The thought of stepping out of the path I had been pursuing and which everyone expected us to follow left me... humble. So letting myself go was really letting my pride go. And thus God humbled me.
Following that, we settled in (to an extent) but still did not feel settled. Next came the obstacle of debt, which we still are fighting today. It came like a thief in the night and left me feeling helpless. But though God did not like the debt, he used it to teach me to trust Him for everything we have. So what next? Well, there came a time where I thought it was my calling to get involved in inner-city ministry, but when Riley Joy came along that was dashed. Though now it is clear that God never wanted me there.
Then came other ministries, I wanted inside to be in all of them. Until our marriage I had been into everything at church, but now was limited to little or no church "ministries." Was that because I was not being a good Christian or that my marriage was "holding me back" from serving? No, it was just God's will that we should be together and grow together. So much happened during those first two years that we had nothing we could do but cling to God and to each other. Though to those around us I am sure we looked like some sort of "lesser" Christian and kept reinforcing it through trying to bully us into church programs. Is that really all that ministry is? Just a program off a checklist from church? But though all this, God kept saying, "It is not about them, it is about Me."
And the year 2oo8 arrived and once again I thought it was time to go back to school. So I did everything I was supposed to and got everything set up only to have God say to me, "I want you." Soon after that I felt clear as day one night that Jesus Himself came to us and stood by our bed, filling me with the most wonderful comfort that only He can give. God wants me, and this time in my life is not about looking good to other people or even fulfilling my desire to continue schooling. God want my heart and mind to be all His and rather than delving into books and worrying about grades, God want me to delve into Him and get to know Him more while at the same time ministering to those around me. The number of ministry opportunities God has presented to Hannah and I blows me away. Most of the time we did not know that we were ministering and yet He was using us to minister to those around us. Now THAT is the kind of ministry that I want! It is ministering in exactly the way He want us to!
It is incredible that what seems foolish to other can be God working in mighty ways. Our fallen senses can never pick up on all that He is doing. I feel like His cloud has settled for us, like it did for the Israelites. Will we be here forty days or forty years? We will see. But whatever happens, God will be the one guiding. People can think what they like of us, but God's opinion is the one that counts. Every small step we have taken has been a small step forward in His will. He has used every bit of our life to further us in His path, not necessarily the path we chose for ourselves.
In the midst of trouble, stress, and great joy, God has been here, guiding all along. When we felt like we were farthest from Him, He was just preparing our hearts for something new. And now He feels near and I feel so much peace and comfort from it. He has been so gracious to us and we have no way to thank Him but to give our lives to Him. Where will we be in ten years? I don't know. But I do know that I want to humbly seek His face in everything we do. God has been so faithful to us though I can hardly say we were the same back. But we serve a gracious, wonderful God that has saved us and looks past our failing to the righteousness we have inherited by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though I do not know exactly what I am doing all the time, I know one thing for certain, I am all in. I humbly present myself to my Lord as His servant to be led wherever He should desire and give my life to Him.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Obama 'would drag US into depression'
Excerpt from "Obama 'would drag US into depression'"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,24094330-401,00.html?from=public_rss
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,24094330-401,00.html?from=public_rss
Carly Fiorina, a key lieutenant to Senator McCain and former boss of computing giant Hewlett-Packard, said a recession triggered by the 1929 Wall Street crash became a depression through the imposition of higher taxes and trade barriers.
"The reality is when an economy is slowing, if you raise taxes and you curtail free trade through isolationist policies, bad economic times become worse," she said.
"We know this from history... and that is precisely the proposal that Barack Obama is making," Ms Fiorina said.
"And that is why I say as a businesswoman, I hope Barack Obama continues to consult with experts because I think his understanding of the economy leaves a great deal to be desired."
GREAT Chili!
I love how so much food tastes even better the next day. We had chili last night which was pretty good, but now today having it for lunch, it is GREAT chili!
Life is good. My wife rocks :-)
Life is good. My wife rocks :-)
Philippians 3:7-8
"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ"
I opened my Bible (ok, not really opening because I was on the internet), and this is where I ended up. It was such a comfort to me. We really "have" nothing in this world, it is all just rubbish. Jesus told His disciples they needed nothing but their shirts and shoes (if even that), and I don't see why we should need much more than that. God has been working a lot in me recently, teaching me to "count all things as loss." Jesus is all we need.
All praise be to Him :-)
I opened my Bible (ok, not really opening because I was on the internet), and this is where I ended up. It was such a comfort to me. We really "have" nothing in this world, it is all just rubbish. Jesus told His disciples they needed nothing but their shirts and shoes (if even that), and I don't see why we should need much more than that. God has been working a lot in me recently, teaching me to "count all things as loss." Jesus is all we need.
All praise be to Him :-)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
"No Doubt" by Bob Hartman
There are times when you feel like you can't go on
There are times when you feel like giving in
And there are times when you feel like you can't try anymore
There are times of trouble in believing
This test of your faith will last
As long as it takes to pass
Till you have no more doubt you'll endure
And your faith will emerge true and pure
(Chorus)
No doubt it'll be alright
With God it'll work together for good
No doubt in the end it will be understood
No doubt it'll all work out
With faith He can move any mountain for us
No doubt in the power of Jesus
And after all is done we find out
All we really need to have is no doubt
There's a time to take a reckless leap of faith
There's a time to be cautious and to wait
And there's a way of learning from the past
That this time of trouble won't last
And sometimes we want to think we know
The ways He will choose to make us grow
But it's never the way of our choosing
And we can't always see what He's using
(Chorus)
There will be winters in the seasons of our soul
With a cold and bitter wind that chills our lives
But our faith can be building a fire
That will warm us till springtime arrives
Ugh Again
Woke up today to find the cd/mp3 player and up to 50 cds stolen from our Accord... ugh. We know for certain it was locked, and nothing looks funny, but somehow they got in without breaking anything. But this person took the whole center console, so now we just have a big hole there. Also, there were some very special cds of ours in there (Hannah's valentines day mix for me from our first Valentines Day, etc.). Many of the cds are on the computer, but many are not and I do not want to have to buy them all again. Ugh.
And now for the profile. Call me racist if you like. But based on our surroundings, I can build what should be a pretty accurate profile of our thief. Based of what I know of our area, it was probably a young guy from a minority who thinks that Barack Obama is the greatest thing since weed. I have about a 95% chance of that being totally accurate, but we will never know.
Ugh. We are not going to have a working cd/mp3 player for a long time.
And now for the profile. Call me racist if you like. But based on our surroundings, I can build what should be a pretty accurate profile of our thief. Based of what I know of our area, it was probably a young guy from a minority who thinks that Barack Obama is the greatest thing since weed. I have about a 95% chance of that being totally accurate, but we will never know.
Ugh. We are not going to have a working cd/mp3 player for a long time.
Philippians 3:7-8
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ
Monday, July 28, 2008
Somewhat Tired
I am somewhat tired right now. It has been a pretty average day, nothing very special. I spent the day almost until now straightening out paperwork in a very convoluted job. Actually, every job we do is pretty convoluted (the result of a company that does everything 100% custom) but I reserve the term for only the worst. Though luckily I am just about done. Then I have some easy receiving and shipping to do. Well, now that I think about it, I have a lot of shipping and am now after break going to have to work really fast just to get that done... oh well. I get paid.
So my reading is going well. I have finished Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader so far. I am now reading through The Silver Chair. It is shaping up to be quite an exciting book. Then I only have one more Narnia book and then I dive into Randy Alcorn.
Also, I got Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach in the mail today. The subtitle is "How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays, and Life into Literature." I read the introduction. I am definitely going to enjoy it. But I am not really starting in it until I finish at least Randy Alcorn's book.
On another note, I made my first homemade from scratch cookies on Saturday. I used my mother's famous chocolate chip cookies and they turned out great! I could not fit them all on one pan, so I had to put some on another on a lower rack. The top cookies came out absolutely perfect and moist, but the few on the shelf below were a little over-done. We went out with Ed and Pat on Saturday morning and I gave them some cookies and they really enjoyed them. And the rest were all eaten by the end of the weekend. Well, there is actually one left, but it somehow missed the chocolate chips. Either way, it will probably be eaten by the time I get home.
So life is good, though I am tired.
So my reading is going well. I have finished Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader so far. I am now reading through The Silver Chair. It is shaping up to be quite an exciting book. Then I only have one more Narnia book and then I dive into Randy Alcorn.
Also, I got Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach in the mail today. The subtitle is "How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays, and Life into Literature." I read the introduction. I am definitely going to enjoy it. But I am not really starting in it until I finish at least Randy Alcorn's book.
On another note, I made my first homemade from scratch cookies on Saturday. I used my mother's famous chocolate chip cookies and they turned out great! I could not fit them all on one pan, so I had to put some on another on a lower rack. The top cookies came out absolutely perfect and moist, but the few on the shelf below were a little over-done. We went out with Ed and Pat on Saturday morning and I gave them some cookies and they really enjoyed them. And the rest were all eaten by the end of the weekend. Well, there is actually one left, but it somehow missed the chocolate chips. Either way, it will probably be eaten by the time I get home.
So life is good, though I am tired.
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