I love volleyball. In fact, I just played it for three hours straight at Late Nights. I must admit, however, that concrete is not as soft as sand (my favorite turf on which to play). Let's just say, my knees will be the size of a watermelon tomorrow. Just in time for us to go out on a choir trip this weekend. Great... In other news, RuthAnn Glasier was up this weekend! I know her from way back. She actually taught at the school when I went to Holiness Christian. We all went out to LaRosa's for Jenny Fikes' birthday. My sides ached from laughter by the end of the night! Good times. Well, I have a little under 2,000 pictures to sort, and edit tonight, so I think I'll get started on it. Sleep? Who needs it?!

Ryan

Tags: Volleyball, Relax

Today was the annual Fall Picnic here at GBS, and it was a gorgeous day for it! It was nice and sunny, but not too warm. I started off with my camera permanently enmeshed with my hand, but eventually broke away from that for some fun of a differnt nature. Frisbee was a highlight of the day, as well as sand volleyball (we dominated ). The food was good, as always. However, I am now being plagued with angst due to my lack of completd homework. It's really beginning to pile up. So, I stand at the scales so many college students face. Was the social enrichment worth the shortfall of completed homework? Do you create good memories, or get an A? I guess it all comes down to a balance between the two (how did you like that cop out ). Oh well, I guess I will stop philosophizing about it, and just do it. If you would like to see some photos from the day, I have posted some here under "Fall '08 Semester".

Ryan

Tags: Relax, fun, Picnic

We just ended the annual Fall Revival here at GBS. But in reality, should we really say that it's ended? Shouldn't revival be something that continues long after the special speaker as said his final word, and the lights have been turned off? I like what this years speaker, Travis Johnson, said at the last service Friday morning, "The success of this revival will not be the tears that were shed...but the lives that will be lived out" (paraphrase). I have been overwhelmed lately with just how much trust I can put in God. I find myself reaffirming to God nearly every time I talk to Him just how much I trust Him "because You are good."

I love Sundays! They are definitely the pinnacle of the week, or as Dr. Brown calls it, "the Queen of the week." I love being able to go to church and worship my God while serving those around me. I love the freedom that we have to be vocal about our faith, and to try and lead others into the same relationship we have with Him. I also love the fact that we are actually Biblically mandated to rest! Rest! A word that's nearly foreign in our overly ambitious and production oriented country today. It's a wonderful feeling just to let your guard down for a while, spend some time reading a good book, take a nap, listen to some funny old time radio shows, and, most importantly, spend some time alone with God and be refreshed in His presence. I did a brief study of the Biblical idea of the Sabbath (here), and I believe that the Christian Sabbath is another great example of the fact that God cares for the needs of His people.


One of the "good books" that I'm reading is John Eldridge's Waking the Dead. The title comes from a quote by St. Irenaeus, "The glory of God is a man fully alive." I'm only up to chapter three, but it's fascinating so far. I recommend it.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Ryan

Tags: Revival, Reading, Relax

My summer break is already three weeks over!! That's...depressing. I cherish every day of it! I haven't had convenient access to the internet lately, hence my lack of blog updates, I will, however, attempt to keep this site more updated. I have found the problem as to why I can't upload pictures to my website, but I still don't know how to fix it. I have a little under 8,000 pictures on my computer, and one of them has a small problem (e.g. an extra space in the keyword, etc.) and my website building program can't get past it. However, I don't know which file it is! Grrrr.... Oh well. Worse things have happened.

I'm going to post a few pictures just to give you a quick idea of how my summer has gone so far:


My brother Andy and his wife came up for the weekend with their kids, JeNa and Jaxon.


We had a church picnic with a softball game. My brother Andy (pictured above) and I were both on the winning team.


Andy was playing around and came up spitting when he realized that the pepper shaker was actually open


I've had a couple of cookouts


I accidentally got a really short haircut (short for me).


Mom & I went to Hidden Lake Gardens on Memorial Day and I took a few pictures.


I performed the great Coke experiment (see blog below).


I've done lots of yard work (both on ours and my grandparents).


My brother Jason and I re-roofed the shed.


Then Jason & I tore out the carpet in the basement...after working on the shed for many hours. We were tired


We've had lot's of campfires!



I've spent lot's of time with family.

I have returned to Lenawee Christian School to work for the summer. I believe this makes my 5th year to work there.

And thus my summer has gone. All in all, pretty busy! But it has felt good to catch up on some sleep! Trust your summer is going well.

Ryan

Tags: Life, Summer, Relax, Photography

It has been an action packed beginning for the '08 GBS Choir Tour. We left at 7:40 am Thursday morning under very cold conditions. I eventually fell asleep and woke up a few hours later to see the front window of the bus covered in a solid sheet of ice. So, the bus crept along at a the rate of a sloth before all traffic eventually came to a dead halt. The entire road was a solid sheet of ice! Ahead was a hill that under normal conditions was small, but, covered in ice, proved insurmountable. There was a semi in the ditch, a car in the other ditch, and traffic as far as the eye could see. A group of us actually got out and "ice-skated" down the I65 freeway in Kentucky.




We were stuck there for about 3-4 hours before we eventually turned around and headed back to a truck stop to eat. It was packed! There were all kinds of people. In fact, there was a group of people from Campus Crusades for Christ there. We got to talking to the representative, and he told me that he was traveling with Andre Cole, the Christian illusiionist, and that he was sitting in the back booth. I found this so ironic as I had went to one of his shows about 10 years ago at the Christian Family Center. He is the one circled in the picture below.



We barely got to the service in time. We actually didn't even have time to change or set up risers or PA equipment. And so we sang, just as we were. But, the Lord came, and we had a tremendous service. After getting all packed up after the service we got on the bus and headed out. Unfortunately, we never made it out of the parking lot. After cutting a corner too sharp the back passenger tire ended up in a ravine, suspended off the ground. So, out go all the students and the guys get on the back of the bus and tried (in vain) to push it out. Alas, we returned to the church, hopelessly defeated. It was fun though just sitting around playing games, and talking.


A wrecker was called in and eventually the bus was loosed and we were on the road again. We got into Pell City, AL about 2 am Friday morning. The good thing was we got to sleep in the next day. What a blessing! We left at 7 am this morning from Pell City, and we are headed to Ocala, Florida. We have very nice weather so far, and you certainly don't need a coat! In the words of Mr. Davison, "We're suffering for Jesus!" Well, we stop in 11 miles to eat at (what else...) McDonalds. It seems that's all we ever do on tour, eat, eat, eat. I will try and post more later. See yah.

Ryan

Tags: GBS, Personal, Photography, Relax, Choir, fun

Last weekend Megan, Joy, and I traveled back to MI with Mr. Cravens (who had to preach a revival in northern MI). It was SO much fun! Andy & Jenn traveled up to stay the weekend with us. We went ice skating Friday night where I was finally able to defend myself from Andy's years of spraying me with ice. I got up a lot of speed and with a sudden stop I had successfully covered him with ice up to his knees. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt...sweet revenge He then proceeded to make me fall in a ice spraying contest, 'sigh' So, he did come out the winner after all We then went out to Cracker Barrel for supper and enjoyed a delicious meal. With that we called it a night and Megan went back to spend the night with Joy, and I traversed back to my house. Saturday we met up with Jason, Kara, & Katie at Applebees for lunch, and had a lot of fun spending time with them. Saturday night Jordana Arnold and baby Emma came over and we played ImagineIf. It was a good time and helped my family learn more about Megan & vice versa. I went and picked Megan up from Joy's house Sunday morning and brought her back to my church. Much to the chagrin of everyone, the furnace on our church stopped working and it was approximately 30 degrees in the church. So, we went to the parsonage for service. However, it turned out to be a really good service, and the Lord helped. For supper we had a personal favorite of mine, my Mom's tacos! It's something of a family tradition. Jason & Kara then came over Sunday afternoon and we played Taboo. It was also a lot of fun, and a good time was had by all. We attended Bird Lake Church Sunday night and Megan & Joy sang a special, doing a phenomenal job. We then left to meet Mr. Cravens for the return trip to Cincinnati. It was a long trip and we arrived on campus around 3:15 A.M. Monday morning. Needless to say, I used one of my skips for my 7:00 A.M. class. And that brings you up to date on my weekend. Have a great day!

Ryan

Tags: Family, Break, Relax, Iceskate

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

Credit for this blog goes to Jon Bart at www.jonbart.com. He has a blog on his site today that brought much laughter to my afternoon. It is a link to a compilation of Calvin & Hobbs comic stips concerning snowmen. Remember, I am not affiliated with this external link and you should always use discression when surfing the internet. Here is the link. Enjoy!

Ryan

Tags: Relax, fun

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

We arrived at the cabin in WV around 9:00 P.M. Monday night. After unpacking and choosing bunks we played a few games of Amish Dice. We then retired and waited for the action to start tomorrow. I should pause here and give you a few significant details. First, one of our main purposes of this trip was to bring as many guns as we could and just have fun shooting them. Growing up, my brother and I used to set up army men in the back flower garden and shoot them with bb guns. So, my brother, Andy, had the brilliant idea to recreate this fun memory. I brought my bb gun and he brought his and we went at it. As much as I hate to admit it, I was soundly defeated in this endeavor. But to this day I'll blame it on faulty sites! Also, during that first night it rained profusely! It really pounded down in torrents on the roof of that cabin. This is significant considering another one of our objectives for this weekend was to go ATV'ing. Can you say mudholes OK, now we can move on to Tuesday, the 26. After putzin around the cabin for a while Andy and I decided to go on our ATV trip. Andy's vehicle of choice was a Honda 3-wheeler, and mine was a Suzuki 4-wheeler. So, we set off. After some light riding around the cabin we decided to head off, planning to be back in 20 min.... 2-3 hours later we returned. But man what a trip! The recent rain left the trails and roads with deep mudholes. We both came close to getting stuck, but with a little effort we managed to escape. There were many beautiful sites, including a number of deer. I will spare you the tale of every stream crossed, and mudhole conquered and simply tell you we had a blast and arrived back at the cabin where Andy made chili and venison steak. The rest of the day consisted of Uno, a quick trip to town, Amish Dice, and more eating. We then retired, sad that tomorrow would end it all. We awoke the next morning to the beginnings of a beautiful day! Andy and I set off again for the trails, this time with my camera in tow. We were disappointed to find that the water had significantly subsided in the night and we were not able to capture the full ATV experience of the day before. Still, we had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures. You can see them here. We then returned to the cabin, packed up and headed out. We arrived at Andy's house around 4:30 that night and I arrived back at my house around 8:00. All in all it was an amazing weekend with many good memories made.

Ryan

Tags: Break, fun, Family, Relax, Photography, ATV

Things are going along very well in the first few days of my vacation. I have succeeded in my objective of becoming a bump on a log. Alas, returning to my beloved 76 step trek to my dorm room will be a very rude awakening! But, I digress. I will be leaving Christmas day to go to my brothers house in Marion, OH where we will leave to go down to West Virginia and stay out in a cabin for a few days. It should be a lot of fun! Our time will pretty much consist of 4-Wheeling and target practice. Oh, do you think it may be a good idea for me to start my Christmas shopping? hmm. A disconcerting revelation...

Ryan

Tags: Break, Relax

We traveled to Marion, OH today to see the Christmas play at my brothers church. They did a phenomenal job! Ironically they did the same program that GBS did, and so I could not help but sing along with many of the songs from my seat I also took a lot of photos of Andy& Jenn & the kids. You can see these posted in the New Photos page. Have a good day!

Ryan

Tags: Family, Photography, Relax

It's over! Finals are done, and I survived...barely. I finished my last exam Friday morning, turned in my last reflection paper by noon, and left by 1:00. I am now home and thoroughly enjoying my sleep! Thanks for all your prayers!

Ryan

Tags: Exams, Test, End, Last day, Relax, Break, GBS

Well, I was headed north on Interstate 71 Saturday afternoon when the thought suddenly occurred to me, "Why don't I just pop up to Andy and Jenn's for the day?" Well, It was only a 2 1/2 hour drive, and I was already headed in that direction anyway...so I did it. Unbeknownst to me Seth and Jordanna were there visiting for the weekend so I was able to see a lot of friends and family! I took a lot of pictures of the kids and posted the pictures on the Photography Page. I had originally planned on coming back that night, but was convinced to spend the night and attend church with them in the morning. It was a very relaxing weekend, and I arrived back on campus around 7:30 tonight. Well, I have met my spontaneity quota for the month Enjoy the pictures.

Tags: fun, Family, Relax

Hey Everybody, It is currently 1:38 AM and I am sitting in the lounge with Seth and Darren wasting time on our computers. Fun, Fun. I did however have an enjoyable evening at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. They are simply amazing! The concert went for about 2 1/2 hours, but the time flew! If your ever in Cincinnati try and take time to see them. Well, I guess that's it for now.

Ryan

Tags: Relax, GBS

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