I've made it back safe and sound. The trip to Ireland was...indescribable. One of the most rewarding and life-changing events I have ever experienced. It has given me a new understanding of just how large the family of God is. It's one of those things that you hear about through sermons and missionary talks, but until you see and interact with the people yourself, you just don't get the full effect. There are thousands of Christians in Northern and Southern Ireland that love God and are pleading for ministry. The choir has rarely sang to a more receptive and hungry people. They had been praying for months preceeding our visit, and they came with a spirit of expectation, ready for God to pour out his blessing, conviction, and presence; and God was faithful. His presence was so tangibly evident not only on the faces of my fellow choir members, but by the congregation as they enterd into worship with us. The people of Northern Ireland are often very stoic, they are the first to tell you that, but you often never would have known it. You could see by the joy they expressed that Jesus was not merely an ideal, not just a religion, but a vivavcious and living relationship with their personal Savior.

It is often called the Emerald Isle, and it definitely lived up to its name. Everything was lush green. I have never seen so much beauty in so short a time. Just when you thought you had seen the most beautiful place possible, they take you somewhere new, and you are once again amazed at just how creative God is. I took thousands of pictures, but they all fall short of capturing just how magnificent it was. I have put quite a few pictures on the New Photos page.

I will never forget the many friends and memories that I made on that trip. I continue to be in contact with some of the people that I met over there. Perhaps in the future I will create a day-by-day account of our experiences, but, for now, enjoy the pictures

- Ryan

Tags: fun, Photography, Ireland, Friends

We arrived safely in Dublin this afternoon, and spent a very fun afternoon downtown shopping/touring. So much fun! We fly out tomorrow at 2:00pm. Kinda sad... I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here! Well, it's nearly 3am here, and I better get some sleep. I will update more soon.

- Ryan

Tags: Ireland, fun, Friends

I write this as I sit in a train station in Northern Ireland. It's our last day it this beautiful country. We are now headed down to Dublin, and one more service before flying out tomorrow morning. We're all a little sad. It was hard to leave all of our friends here. I can't remember a time when I've had more fun than these past eight days. I certainly took a lot of pictures, but you really can't capture the beauty here. It's something you have to experience yourself. But it's not only the sights, it's the people. They are some of the friendliest that I've ever met.

Tags: fun, Photography, Friends, Ireland

I can't believe I'm leaving for Ireland tomorrow! It's really crept up on me. In fact, it crept up so fast that I'm just now starting to pack Oh well, it'll get done. I'm trying to stay up late tonight so I will sleep on the plane tomorrow, and thus reduce some jet lag. The flight leaves at 4:00pm tomorrow, and it will be 8:00am when we arrive. Fun stuff! I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to take a ton of pictures, that's for sure. I will try and update when I'm over there. We'll see how it goes. Well, back to packing.

- Ryan

Tags: Ireland, fun, Friends

That, was fun!

Tags: Friends, fun

I was just getting into bed yesterday morning (12:30am) when my friend Shane called me and asked if I wanted to go on a trip to IHOP. It seems that he and my other friend, Brandon, had tons of homework to do for the next day, and thought IHOP would be a conducive place to do it. It sounded good to me, so off we go, traipsing through the night at 1 in the morning to IHOP. You know, you see some interesting sights at IHOP at 1am...most of which you wish you hadn't...'nuff said. What better way to spend the very early hours of a Friday morning than eating pancakes and laughing with friends? You would be amazed at what you find amusing at 1:30-2:00am So, after the food, we got down to homework, and hacked away till about 3:00 when our adrenaline began to wane. We looked a sight. We finally headed back to GBS a little after 3, and made the unduly laborious trek up to the colossal height of the 5th floor. I crashed around 3:30, and got back up at 6am for my 7am class. It was a most unique feeling. I went through the class in something akin to a stupor. Perhaps, "languid" or "lethargic" would be a better adjective (well, technically, a better object of a preposition, right? No. Any English majors?). It was a strange experience. Thankfully, I was able to power nap right after that, because I didn't have a class for another 50min.. But, all things considered, it was worth it. It's like my Mom said, "Enjoy it while your young, because if you do that when you get old, it'll mess you up for three days."








No wonder everybody was looking at us funny

Ryan

p.s. In case you can't tell, I haven't yet recovered from my depravation of sleep, hence my scatty prose. Mr. Profitt would not be impressed...

Tags: Homework, fun, Friends, IHOP

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Choir Tour '08. It would take too much time out of a busy college student's life (with a huge Life of Christ test Monday, I might add) to narrate each of these pictures. So I simply post them for your viewing enjoyment. However, if you wish, you might try narrating them yourself, I'm sure that could be quite amusing

Ryan

Tags: Photography, fun, Choir, Friends, Concert, Crazy

Student Council had a special event today where you could go to one of four events, and they would reimburse you up to $20 for any expenses that you incurred. You can't pass up an opportunity like that! So, Megan and I went with a group of about eighteen GBS students to the Cincinnati Zoo. We had a wonderful time! The weather couldn't have been any better, and we got a parking spot about 20' from the entrance. It was a nice zoo, with lot's of exhibits. I think one of our favorite exhibits was of some small penguins. We had a blast just watching them, and trying to analyze/commentate what they were doing. "Mutiny!" "Retreat! Retreat!" "World domination!" were just a few of the expressions that were clearly evidenced by these 'cute' little penguins... After leaving the zoo most of the group then went to Outback Steakhouse and enjoyed a delicious meal. Everyone had an awesome time. To see some pictures from the zoo, go here, and scroll to the bottom of the page. I hope this tradition is continued!

Ryan

Tags: Zoo, Friends, Photography, fun

I did something yesterday that I have never done before, I went skiing! Yesterday was the group ski where a bunch of people from GBS get together and go skiing. So, with some coaxing from a friend (thanks Zack) I consented to go. I admit to being slightly trepidatious about injury to my person, but I pushed past my fears and had a wonderful time! The ski lodge was extremely crowded, in fact I had to borrow a friends ski polls at first because they did not have any left. After a couple times down the Bunny Hill (what a derogatory name!) my teacher felt I was adequately prepared for a more challenging hill, one requiring a ski lift. After reaching the top (and nearly falling on my departing of the lift) I stood at the top of what seemed to me to be a precariously steep hill. However, with a little coaxing and coaching I soon began my descent. I was actually not doing too bad when all of a sudden, it happend. My skis went out from under me and down I went! Thankfully it was an easy fall and I was soon back on my feet and laughing at the sight I must have been. After a while she took my poles away from me, which turned out to be a good thing since it is easier to keep your balance. All in all I only fell four times, which I felt wasn't too bad for a first timer. By the end of the day I was taking a moderately sized hill without any problems. So, what did I learn from today? I learned that I absolutely love skiing! This is definitely something I will continue!

Ryan

Tags: Ski, Relax, fun, Friends

We ventured out into the blistering cold this fine evening to go, where else, but ice skating! It's been a while since I have been ice skating and I couldn't wait! There were eight of us in the group, and we had an absolute blast! It was very crowded tonight, but it provided a fun obstacle course We skated for around 1 1/2 hours before heading out to the always acceptable Starbucks. I tried to take a lot of pictures which you can see here. Hope your night was as enjoyable as mine!

Ryan

Tags: Iceskate, fun, Friends

Some friends and I ventured out into the blistering cold (ha ha) weather tonight to the Newport area. They have a bookstore there with a balcony where I was able to take some cool shots. We then walked across the Purple People Bridge and circled back on a parallel bridge. It was a blast and alot of fun was had by all.

Ryan

Tags: fun, Friends, Relax, Cincinnati

A lot has happened since my last post. To start with I am really enjoying helping out with set construction, and I am learning many new things. Friday afternoon was spent helping with set construction, and then I went with about 20 other GBS students ice skating at a local ice skating rink. I really enjoyed this and can't wait to go back (I didn't even fall!). We got back from there around 11:00 P.M. and we continued working on set construction till about 3:30 A.M.! I slept in very late Saturday morning, and then went out to eat with a couple friends. We then went to Starbucks and met up with a few other GBS'ers and played games until it was time to return to campus. It was a really fun time. If you want to see a few pictures of the ice skating escapade just go to the Photography page. Have a good day!

Tags: Weekend, GBS, fun, Friends

We got back from choir tour at 11:30 Sunday (11/5) night. What a blast! We traveled down to Pennsylvania and went to three God’s Missionary churches, Lebanon, Beavertown, and New Columbia. It is always interesting when you get over 50 college students on a bus for 20+ hours! There are a lot of interesting little stories that came out of it. One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Hershey’s Chocolate World. While the theme park was closed for the season, we were able to ride through an artificial tour of the chocolate making process. A good time was had by all. I put a new batch of photos from the trip in the Photography main page . Well, I guess that’s it for now. Will post more soon.

Ryan

Tags: Choir, Music, fun, Friends, Relax