Apr 2009
Retrospect
04/25/09 11:48 PM Filed in: Personal
Sorry for my unexpected silence over the past couple weeks. But, if you will listen, I will briefly delineate why: For one, school has been extremely busy. I'm afraid with finals 11 days away it's crunch time, and I've been spending every spare minute working on reducing my mountain of last minute assignments. Also, IHC was the 14-16 of this month, which required a lot of my time, which took away from homework time, which added to my crunch time. It all equates. But, I wouldn't trade IHC for anything! IHC was followed immediately by VIP Day, which meant that I ran from the time I got up till about midnight Friday night. Saturday was spent doing homework. Lots of busyness, but God is good. I did have a fun time doing an impromptu photo-shoot a week ago. You can see the results here.
I had a phrase from a song running through my mind today, "Jesus has overcome; the grave is overwhelmed." What a powerful thought! I am so thankful to be serving a risen Savior Who loves me, calls me His own, walks with me through the tough stuff of life.
- Ryan
P.S. If you think of it, pray for me that I'll get everything accomplished that I need to during this extremely hectic time of the semester.
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IHC 2009
04/19/09 03:26 PM Filed in: Personal
IHC 2009 has come and gone. I love IHC! I've been every year I can remember. It's definitely a very busy time these last couple years, but lots of fun. For some more pictures go here. Sorry, I would post more, but I simply don't have time. With finals 11 days away I'm afraid I have some serious amounts of homework to get caught up on.
- Ryan
P.S. Thanks to my awesome cousin Amanda for taking this picture, and the picture of the GBS choir. It's kind of hard to be in the choir and take pictures at the same time
God has a Sense of Humor - The Saga Continues...
04/05/09 04:01 PM Filed in: Personal
Ladies
and gentleman, I have another story to tell
(see this
blog
for the first). It was confirmed to me last
Wednesday evening that God does, indeed, have a
sense of humor. As you all know, we (my cousin
Austin and I) ran into a little snag on our way
home for Spring Break when we broke down in the
middle of Dayton and turned a 4-hour trip into 14
hours. We both had a good laugh, and a pretty
funny story out of the ordeal. We hypothesized
that it was the combination of two Watters’ in the
same vehicle that caused such an unexpected
mechanical malfunction.
Break was soon enough over, the car fixed, and Austin showed up at my house around 7:15pm Wednesday evening to pick me up and begin the disgustingly unwelcome journey back to our doom (school). So, after a quick stop by the gas station to pick up a 5-hour energy drink, we began the trek back to the great city of Cincinnati. We made excellent time, crossing the Ohio border around 8:00pm and ebbed our way ever closer to our sealed fate.
Around 10pm we hit Dayton, that infamous city of previous ill repute. We quickly approached the site of our unplanned stay on I-75 a mere 5 days earlier. We both reminisced about that fateful day. The angry traffickers, the helpful cops, Joel, Jethro and the gang from Summit Towing, it was all so fresh in both of our minds. As we passed that legendary locale of tribulations I shouted out, "Yes! We have conquered! We have overcome!" To this Austin wholeheartedly affirmed, and then stated ominously, "But we’re not there yet." How true... 60 – 120 seconds later we heard a most horrific "POP!" and felt the whole car sag. We began to veer uncontrollably for a few moments until Austin regained control of the unwieldy behemoth. "We blew a tire!" He stated emphatically, "Can we get over?" I quickly checked the lane and shouted, "Clear! Go!" He maneuvered us safely to the side of the road, and upon shifting to park, I literally doubled over in a fit of hysteria laughing. How ironic is that we would break down, not once, but twice within the 5 days of each other, and further still, that both occurrence were within 1-2 miles of each other. As an added bonus, the date was April 1st, April Fools Day. God certainly has a sense of humor. Imagine with me trying to
convince someone that you had just broken down
twice in the same spot on April Fools Day. We
were nearly left stranded for lack of belief.
We quickly emerged from the derelict car and upon examining the rear passenger tire discovered that it had completely caved in and had eaten through the fender. This was no ordinary blown tire. We jacked up the car, used our cell phones as flashlights, and two mechanically illiterate college students tried to discern the matter. Have you ever laid on your back, under a jacked up car, on a bridge, with semis whizzing a few feet past your head and shaking the concrete beneath you? It’s slightly disconcerting. We called the usual mechanical paramedics (Austin’s dad, brother-in-law, my brother), and it was decided that David and Joy would drive up from Covington, KY with a car trailer to pick up us and the car and head down to Cinci.
So, what were we to do but, sit. And we sat. And we sat. We cracked jokes, laughed, wished for food, decided that we would never again ride home together again, agreed to circumvent the city of Dayton at all costs until the day we die, and a host of other absurdities. I remembered that I had a travel chess set in my backpack, and we both realized that trying to play chess at 2am is rather demoralizing because we both were, shall I say dull-witted? Vapid? Asinine? We did laugh profusely, however, as we made each move with twisted accents from a number of different countries.
David and Joy arrived soon after our final ridiculous game of chess, and we had the joyous pleasure of trying to get the car up on the trailer. Because it was sagging so intensely it bottomed out trying to cross the fulcrum point. We actually had to jack the car back up, set it back down (which allowed the tire to roll straight for 1'-2'), and Austin and I lifted up on either side of the car while David drove it up the ramp. I’m sure we looked rather ludicrous to any passersby. After strapping it down, we proceeded uninhibited the remainder of the journey on to Cincinnati, arriving shortly before 3am. Then came the wondrous pleasure of carrying our luggage up 6 flights of stairs.
What a day. But, the Lord protected us, once again, and I learned something about holding the things of this life lightly. Vehicles may come or go. Possessions and money are so easily lost. I am going to put my trust in something Higher. Something that will not break down or fail. I will put my trust in Christ, the Lover of my soul, the Guider of my life, and the King of all I am.
-Ryan
P.S. I knew people wouldn't believe us, so I took a few pictures
Break was soon enough over, the car fixed, and Austin showed up at my house around 7:15pm Wednesday evening to pick me up and begin the disgustingly unwelcome journey back to our doom (school). So, after a quick stop by the gas station to pick up a 5-hour energy drink, we began the trek back to the great city of Cincinnati. We made excellent time, crossing the Ohio border around 8:00pm and ebbed our way ever closer to our sealed fate.
Around 10pm we hit Dayton, that infamous city of previous ill repute. We quickly approached the site of our unplanned stay on I-75 a mere 5 days earlier. We both reminisced about that fateful day. The angry traffickers, the helpful cops, Joel, Jethro and the gang from Summit Towing, it was all so fresh in both of our minds. As we passed that legendary locale of tribulations I shouted out, "Yes! We have conquered! We have overcome!" To this Austin wholeheartedly affirmed, and then stated ominously, "But we’re not there yet." How true... 60 – 120 seconds later we heard a most horrific "POP!" and felt the whole car sag. We began to veer uncontrollably for a few moments until Austin regained control of the unwieldy behemoth. "We blew a tire!" He stated emphatically, "Can we get over?" I quickly checked the lane and shouted, "Clear! Go!" He maneuvered us safely to the side of the road, and upon shifting to park, I literally doubled over in a fit of hysteria laughing. How ironic is that we would break down, not once, but twice within the 5 days of each other, and further still, that both occurrence were within 1-2 miles of each other. As an added bonus, the date was April 1st, April Fools Day. God certainly has a sense of humor
. Imagine with me trying to
convince someone that you had just broken down
twice in the same spot on April Fools Day. We
were nearly left stranded for lack of belief.
We quickly emerged from the derelict car and upon examining the rear passenger tire discovered that it had completely caved in and had eaten through the fender. This was no ordinary blown tire. We jacked up the car, used our cell phones as flashlights, and two mechanically illiterate college students tried to discern the matter. Have you ever laid on your back, under a jacked up car, on a bridge, with semis whizzing a few feet past your head and shaking the concrete beneath you? It’s slightly disconcerting. We called the usual mechanical paramedics (Austin’s dad, brother-in-law, my brother), and it was decided that David and Joy would drive up from Covington, KY with a car trailer to pick up us and the car and head down to Cinci.
So, what were we to do but, sit. And we sat. And we sat. We cracked jokes, laughed, wished for food, decided that we would never again ride home together again, agreed to circumvent the city of Dayton at all costs until the day we die, and a host of other absurdities. I remembered that I had a travel chess set in my backpack, and we both realized that trying to play chess at 2am is rather demoralizing because we both were, shall I say dull-witted? Vapid? Asinine? We did laugh profusely, however, as we made each move with twisted accents from a number of different countries.
David and Joy arrived soon after our final ridiculous game of chess, and we had the joyous pleasure of trying to get the car up on the trailer. Because it was sagging so intensely it bottomed out trying to cross the fulcrum point. We actually had to jack the car back up, set it back down (which allowed the tire to roll straight for 1'-2'), and Austin and I lifted up on either side of the car while David drove it up the ramp. I’m sure we looked rather ludicrous to any passersby. After strapping it down, we proceeded uninhibited the remainder of the journey on to Cincinnati, arriving shortly before 3am. Then came the wondrous pleasure of carrying our luggage up 6 flights of stairs.
What a day. But, the Lord protected us, once again, and I learned something about holding the things of this life lightly. Vehicles may come or go. Possessions and money are so easily lost. I am going to put my trust in something Higher. Something that will not break down or fail. I will put my trust in Christ, the Lover of my soul, the Guider of my life, and the King of all I am.
-Ryan
P.S. I knew people wouldn't believe us, so I took a few pictures