Who Needs to know?

~

"The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. "My head! My head! he said to his father. His father told a servant, 'Carry him to his mother.' After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

She called her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return."

"Why go to him today?" he asked. "It's not the New Moon or the Sabbath."

What are you wearing?

~

There once was a young man that became a Christian several years ago. He went to church and attended the youth groups, he went to the outreaches and he helped out in the youth ministry.
But at home when he wasn't at church and when he went in to work he was a very different man. He would cuss and swear with his coworkers, he would go the local bars and drink to the point where he got sick and more often than not would sometimes bring a women or two home for the night. When he was home his life was anything but healthy and clean, he would take a light dose of a drug or two on occasion. Thinking to himself that no one needed to know about the secret sins he would commit.

Thankful Enough?

Hey Everyone!
      Gosh it's almost been a full blown couple of months!! Sorry for the delay, things have been busy and it's been a little difficult trying to come up with a new topic to write on. But don't worry! I just might have a new series coming up soon ;) I might wait till the new year to post it though, so in the meantime don't worry I got a couple other posts in the making. Just got to put the finishing touches on them.
I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago, and I was telling him about struggling with Blogging and keeping the content coming. I had said, "The problem I have isn't coming up with topics, the problem is often times I'll have something that I suddenly realize. A lesson from God to apply in my own life, but the problem I have is trying to retell that lesson so that it applies to everyone and not just myself."
So if it takes a little while just know that the content is coming, I'm just trying to make the lesson legible and understandable to other people ;) haha

Now, considering the time of year that it is and with Thanksgiving just a few days away I thought it would be appropriate to do a post on being Thankful.

~

 In the Old Testament there isn't a better example of a less thankful people than the Israelites when they were first brought out of Egypt.

The Math Book

~

There once was a young boy that had just started High-school, he was super excited and ready to start the new year. 

First day of school and he walked into his math class, took his seat and listened as the teacher began the introduction. 

"Welcome class, this year we're going to be covering Geometry and advanced Calculus,"

The boy slightly confused, was wondering what this was. He had heard some of the Seniors talk about that stuff, but he thought there was something before all that. Something called algebra and Algebra 2.

But he sat silent and listened for a bit, but as the class went on he was thoroughly confused.

Cleaning Off the Windshield

~

I was on my way to church after shift this past Sunday, it started raining. Not hard full blown raining just yet, but by the look of the clouds I could see it would be coming down soon. But at the moment it was just sprinkling lightly.
As I was driving along I left the wipers off as the rain wasn't so bad that I couldn't see out the window, but as the sprinkling continued I finally decided to hit the wipers. After the wipers had gone through I suddenly just how unclear my view had been from all the debris and water. My view had been skewed the whole time when I thought it had been clear as day.

Growing past the Milk

~

There once was a woman that had a child. She fed the child it's milk and through the months the child began to grow. When the child got a little older and it could start taking baby food, the mother went to the store and tried to feed the child some baby food. But the child refused, it would only take milk. The woman conceded to her child not wanting the child to starve, but as the child got older, all he would eat was milk.

The Rope and the Elephant

~

There once was a small baby elephant that was captured by a a pair of men. The men then sold the elephant to a traveling circus, where they tied the baby elephant with a small rope to a small stake. At first the little elephant would pull at the rope and try to get away, but as the weeks went on the little elephant realized the rope was stronger then it and eventually stopped struggling against it.

Just an Update

Hey Everyone!
     I know it's been about a month now or so that I've been missing a week and coming out every two weeks with a post. Well quite frankly truth is I'm running out of topics and stories to write... So, to fix this if you guys would post a comment at the bottom, give me a topic or a story idea for me to write on that you would like to see me do. Maybe something I see down there will jog the juices and get me going on this again ;) lol

I'm working on a couple different ideas.. but nothing solid has popped up yet for the blog. I want to make sure if I'm posting it it's gonna be well put together and solid. So please forgive the lack of a story and a lesson today.

God Bless,
     Ryan

The Lion Cub

*Word of caution: This post is going to be a little more mature than other posts I have done in the past, a little heavier topic. Also, the ending to the story may seem a little graphic to some, please skip over it if you are naturally weak in the stomach or have a vivid imagination.*

~

There once was a young man not too long ago that had recently come into a large sum of money due to a grandparent passing away. The young man who had a fancy for exotic pets and things of the like, went out and bought himself a baby lion.

 He absolutely loved the new addition to his home, it was soft and small and he played with it and fed it every day. He took care of it as many people take care of the family dog, gave it walks and so forth.

As time went on the cub began to grow and the man decided it was time to move it to an outdoor pen. It was about the size of a golden retriever now. He loved his baby lion, and despite his friends constant warnings of being careful and to remember it was still a wild animal, he continued to let it out and play with it.

Hanging On

~

There were two hikers that were taking a hiking trip one time, not together, but they were within the same area as the other. One was a strong young man that was just getting interested in the outdoors and hiking and the other was an old man that had lived in the mountains his whole life. Neither of them knew this though. They were deep in the mountains and had to cross several large gaps and climb several different steep inclines.

One day as the one young man was hiking he heard a yell for help, he ran to the point where he thought he heard it and found the older man hanging for dear life onto a rope over the edge of a cliff. The man had fallen but one of his ropes was loose around his pack and had snagged onto a rock.

Forgiveness Part 3

Hey Everyone!
   I hope you're all doing well! I finally got a letter in the mail the other day from the Batesville Fire Dept. letting me know that my application has been accepted and they want me to come in and interview and test me for the position of EMT-B, all your prayer would be much appreciated for that :)

Well it's finally here.. the post you've all been waiting for. The conclusion to what became a 3 part series on Forgiveness. Today we'll be covering how this all applies to your relationships with one another in the physical.

~

Now then, all this has been said how this applies to us and God and so forth, how does it apply to me and my friends, or the jerk at work that I can't stand?

First of all: Forgiveness is one of the fruit by which people will know you by. It is also one of the Chief evidences showing a truly repentant spirit, a forgiving one.

There is a saying I heard not too long ago that I actually quite like. "A forgiven person is to be a forgiving person."

When God has forgiven us, do we really have any right to hold back forgiveness from someone else?

Forgiveness (part 2)

Hey Everyone!
     Well, it's finally officially here! Most of all of you are finally done with Finals and all the testing! Time to enjoy the summer!! Time for the endless amounts of Grad parties and ceremonies and cleaning to prep for all that, and then the cleaning afterwords... yeah I guess you guys still have another month or so before you truly get your break ;) lol. But Congrats to all you guys that made it!!

Now, on to business.
Last week was the first post I did on Forgiveness, specifically dealing with why we need to continually ask forgiveness. I want to just quickly apologize for any confusion about that, I did not mean to indicate that Christ's sacrifice was not sufficient once and for all. By no means whatsoever!!! I was simply saying that as Christians when we realize we have sinned there should be a conviction from the holy spirit, and then going to God in repentance and turning away from that sin.

Forgiveness

Alrighty guys, so finally here I am with the long awaited special request Blog... I was asked to do a post on Forgiveness, and to get a little more specific I was asked whether or not one should try to rebuild the relationship after something happens. I'm going to try and answer that as best as I can, so please bear with me. And this is one topic where I really would love you guys to comment and give me your thoughts :)

This is quite an extensive topic, and truthfully I'm not sure I even scratch the surface of it, nor do I think that I got all this down pat. But I hope that this will make sense.
One last thing, this is more than likely going to be at least two posts... maybe even three long.

Now, first I feel like I have to explain some other things first before I answer that specific question up there.

A quick update

Hey Everyone! I hope you're all doing well :) Well it's almost here, summer is just around the corner and school is finishing up it's last days for most of you. I can't wait to hear about all your summer plans and all the trips I know many of you will be making!
I haven't heard back yet from the Captain of the Nina and Pinta, so my whole month of sailing is still hanging in the air.

Fire class is going well, we're doing an average of two or three chapters a night! So we currently only have about 2wks or so of class left, and only that long because we have to schedule to use the burn tower to do our practical skills. Keep me in prayer that I'll do well on all the upcoming testing.

Sadly to say I'm afraid I don't have a story for you this week, but fear not! I have a topic in mind and am currently working on it... this particular topic is taking a lot of research and more studying then my normal "off the top of my head" subject. So please stay patient, and wait for the good things to come ;)

I hope you all have an amazing weekend!

God Bless,
      Ryan

The Broken Tools

~

   There once was a young man that lived in a small home... the man was not the best housekeeper, and as a result there often was some sort of small repair that needed to get done, but he usually never bothered with it. "I'll get to it eventually," he would think. "It's just a small repair, and I need to look up how to fix it properly anyway."

   

   Well this went on for quite a while. Eventually repair, upon repair built up and around his home.. and eventually those little things became big things. But he continued to ignore them.

One day one of his friends came over and to chat for a bit, as they chatted the friend mentioned some small repairs that needed to get done around his house. "Oh! Let me help you with that friend," said the man.

The Junk Collector

~

There was a man that had traveled for most his life. He had traveled from town to town, state to state, sometimes even a new country on occasion, but nothing had quite caught his interest long enough to stay. Finally came the day when he decided he would settle down.

  He stopped in the country side and found a house that was for rent, he called the number, met the owner and they discussed conditions and prices.

"I'll let you rent it, but you have to keep the place clean." 

The man agreed and shortly after moved in. 

One day the Owner of the house came by to chat for a bit. "I'll be heading out of town tomorrow," he said, "I have business to take care of a few states over. I expect you to keep the place clean even though I'm gone."

The Water Pitcher

~

Not too long ago there was a man that lived in the downtown of a busy city. He lived in a small apartment right off one of the busiest streets. When he got home he enjoyed sitting down and having a nice cold glass of water and reading a book.

  One particularly hot summer day, he happened to glance out the window and saw that there were many people walking the streets who appeared to be quite thirsty, some not so much. But he could see the heat working on them all. As he sat there for a moment watching the crowds moving and walking around, he decided he would go out and do something to refresh them.

The Best Medicine

"Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous: sing, all you who are upright in heart!"~ Psalms 32:11

"Hey Ryan! Go look for the hose puller!!" 

"What's it look like?"

"It's real big, you can't miss it. It should be near the hoses"

Took me awhile to figure out that the snickering wasn't them laughing at a joke that was told, but that I was the joke.

"Hey Ryan, you know what a henweight is?"

"What's a henweight?"

"About 2 1/2 lbs" 

Working in the Fire Dept. You learn a lot, there's a ton of information that the average person just does not think about.

The Lazy Soldier

~

There was a king, back in the days of the Knights, and armor, and battles on a tremendous scale. Back when your sword was your life. He went to war against his enemy on the borders and immediately had all his troops begin extra training and conditioning to prepare them for the brutal battles that would be upon them soon. He also laid down one rule, each man was to keep and sharpen his own blade, he didn't see why others should keep care of something when it was in fact the very life of each man.
 One day the king went down to inspect his men as they practiced and sharpened not just their swords but also their skills and minds. He went from training ground to training ground, watching the men work and giving out the occasional praise here and there where it was worthy. He took note of the ones not only that had great skill, but the ones who fought with passion and tried their hardest to become better.

A Fallen Brother

I just got word last night that a good friend and fellow Firefighter passed away yesterday morning in his sleep..
 Tom Stevens Sr. was the assistant Fire Chief for Bright Fire Dept. He was a really great guy...even though he jokingly picked on me for being a sheltered home school-er, lol. He always had a quick one liner to zing you with or a joke to brighten a mood. He was always right there to explain why we did something a certain way, or to show me how to do it right during class..
 He was always willing to get into the new technology and pressed for new and safer techniques of doing things.
 Rest in Peace Senior. We're all gonna miss your personality around the Fire station...

An Introduction

I don't want this to end being just another blog of random and pointless posts... Oh, there will be a few funny stories here and there to give you a laugh! But I want this to be more than just that. The main purpose of making this blog is I plan on traveling quite a bit this summer, and I want to be able to share what I do and where I go with all my family and friends.
 After the summer is over (and in the time preceding it) I'll try to keep it going as much as I can. Give an uplifting word, and my thoughts and analogies I make on different topics. I hope you all enjoy it!

God Bless and stay safe.

~Ryan