A Shout Out for Hope!

This is a shout out to my sister Hope. Today was her 21st birthday. I know, the big 21. This is a bit different in that my sister has down-syndrome. This means that she was born with an extra chromosome and lives with mental retardation. So needless to say it was not a take out and have a drink sort of 21st birthday. I wanted to take the time out to write about the sister that I love, respect, adore, and am inspired by everyday of my life.

Hope is so innocent and does not know a stranger. She really will talk to anybody!!! Her life has been rich with blessings from our Heavenly Father. From day one she was a miracle. She was born with a whole in her heart. She had to have open heart surgery and was in the hospital for quite some time. She made it. She has had to endure ridicule and the downright worst that human nature in others can offer. She made it. Hope has a way of being able to bring a smile to your face, no matter the circumstance. Hope is a constant reminder to me that God is good.

In response to a blog that my friend Bobby wrote on favorite music, I will throw Disney movie songs out there as one of mine. That's right Disney movie songs!!! I still feel totally comfortable with my manhood after that statement too. You see Hope loves Disney movies. She has her whole life. She can quote and sing through all the animated Disney movies. When we were growing up I would sing her all the Disney songs from the movies she loved. For those of you who are reading this and are thinking, "Man I gotta here this", Rachael will validate that all you have to do is ask!!! Ask and I will sing them. Hope loves when I sing her the songs. I still to this day sing them to her. In fact a sang a few today. Hope cannot count money or write you a letter, but something about the Disney movies triggers her brain and she is able to memorize and fully know the movies. Thank you Walt Disney!

Hope is a daily reminder of God's goodness and love. Hope is an amazing inspiration and a wonderfully beautiful sister. I would not be the person I am today without her. I often get asked how I am a nice guy through pretty much anything. The answer besides the wonderful love of God is Hope. She has taught me so much and my spirit is gentle in large part because of her. Hope is amazing and her name suites her so well. I thank you Lord for my sister Hope. She is one of the most incredibly amazing people I know.

Hope, I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Land of the cell phone...

Today I returned back to the land of the living and got a cell phone! Yes, I did it. I gave in and got one more thing to suck time and thought away from all my other daily activities. How extraordinary!!! I have not had one for so long, but I like having it. My wife is watching the bachelor at the moment and I wish I could text my physical self somewhere/anywhere else right now!!!!!! Please help me!!!!!!! Anyway, I can now be tracked down wherever I am at. No hiding. No excuses. No nothing. I see this as a good and bad thing, depending on who is trying to track me down. Oh yes Mr. Marty Moseley, you can now find me anywhere...hahahaha!!! It's okay Marty, I welcome it. So I will call or text you all later.

Peace.

Sustained

God's love sustains
God's love sustains when work is awful
God's love sustains when we are hurt
God's love sustains when we are weary
God's love sustains those who do not deserve
God's love sustains all who call on Him
God's love sustains in the darkness
God's love sustains when time is not enough
God's love sustains when we have all but given up
God's love sustains when we fall short
God's love sustains no matter what
God's love sustains

A greater relationship!?!?!???

"So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." John 19:30-31

In the recent months God has been giving me what I like to describe as word or sentence revelations. I will be going about my everyday life and all the sudden, I am hit with what Dane Cook would describe as a "tic-tac" size comment. It may be one word or a sentence that is uttered on the radio. That "tic-tac" sized comment then sits in my brain and will not dislodge itself. These experiences and thoughts I have been having have been great, and yet a major struggle in my life. Sitting around and wrestling with these thoughts has brought about some realizations of the person that I am. Again I say some good and some bad! Here is "tic-tac" that has really consumed me and been a great wrestling match for the person I am now and the person I long to become.

In the posted scripture verse, Christ had finally fulfilled what he had come to accomplish. He was the perfect sacrifice for all of mankind. He had a very real and literal experience in dying. The bible calls us to die to our self. This is no easy matter for most if not all people. What I have been wrestling with is the thought of myself being a Christian who is not fully proud to be just that, a Christian! Does my life reflect what those around me in the world believe I should be, or am I wholeheartedly seeking after my God? Christ was brutally killed for me!!! When He died, my sins were forgiven. Am I really so self-centered. Can I not try to at least display 1/1,000,000 of what Christ did for me?

I feel as though I have been unable, only because of my own sinful nature, to say "Hi, my name is Ryan, and my God is great and I want you to know Him!!!" I feel that this is due to many things. I believe that we as a nation we have been brought up to be self-absorbed, self-centered, hypocritical, and material individuals. Even as a Christian, I have fallen hook line and sinker for these ideals in my own life. I also feel as if I have not up to this point really, really had the aspiration to be something more for Christ! I have always wanted a relationship with God, but it has been on my terms and not His. I want my life to reflect my God and not the world. I want to be in a deep, personal, ever-loving relationship with my God. Here is where the good news comes in. My God has always wanted that relationship with me, even when I have turned away or been to busy to seek after Him.

I am at a point in my life that I desperately want to have this relationship with my Father. I want to seek him wholeheartedly and without hindrance. I want God to use me as a vessel for His works. I want my life to pour out what he is pouring into me. I want people to ask me what makes me who I am and for me to respond by sharing my beliefs and what God is to me!!! The crazy-scary part of this is that it is completely up to me to do this. God is eager and ready, I just have to take the steps to meet Him. He will not let me down, why should I not do the same for Him?

Blah...

So as most of you know, I am a huge sports fan. Football possibly being my favorite sport, I always really look forward to the Superbowl. I was excited this year, until I watched the game. The first three quarters were horrible. I was not interested in what little action their was and neither team looked like a league winning powerhouse. The fourth quarter is the only redeeming factor for the game. It was entertaining, especially the last five minutes, but this does not make up for the lackluster performance provided for the first three quarters. Is it just me or do the commercials seem to be getting worse to. There were a few that made me laugh, but on the whole I thought this year was weak(and could somebody get Go Daddy to quit putting that trash on television?). The halftime show was another area that I thought was awful. Thank you Janet Jackson for making it so we have to sit through 20 minutes of boring old acts trying to revive themselves. Wow, I sure have complained about a lot!!! Last years Superbowl was amazing and next years won't have to do much to top this years!!! OK, I am done complaining will try to write something more positive and uplifting in my next blog. Peace!!!