God breathed

So one of my friends is going through a tough time in her life right now and the first thing I thought is, I got to send her some Bible verses. So I started flipping through the Bible pulling out verses and man is the Bible good. I mean, obviously the Bible is good and obviously the Bible "is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" but man it's just amazing. I mean, as I was pulling out verses it was just so awesome to see how the Word is "living and active" even after 1000's of years. I just had to write a quick blog about this because it just has me all fired up and I figure the best thing to do when you are fired up about something is to get it down on paper.

You can pretty much turn to the Bible for any type of wisdom, encouragement, instruction, anything that you may need in this life. Unfortunately, most of us try to "rely on our own understanding" and do not "acknowledge Him" and go to His Word as often as we should. We like to rely on our own strength as if we are Superman or Superwoman (depending on your gender). We like to think that we can go it alone and only really turn to God when we really need Him, like if something major is going on in our life. But man God wants us to turn to Him and rely on Him all of the days of our lives. The Bible is so rich and so powerful that if we would rely on His Word and His strength as opposed to our futile attempts to be God, we would be so much better off. This is not to say that we won't go through trials and bad things in our lives, but it does mean that God will be there for us during those times so that we can "count it all joy" knowing that ultimately we will be made "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

So I guess to sum it all up in 3 words...read the Bible

it is a girl/it was a girl

It was almost 2 years ago. I remember those words as if it was yesterday, "It is a girl". With those four words, my whole life changed. I was now a dad and I had a beautiful daughter. The elation that I felt at that moment cannot even be described with words. It's amazing how when you change one simple word to make that phrase past instead of present, the emotion it evokes changes everything. "It was a girl." Those are the words that are now resounding through my mind like an echo on a mountaintop. You were going to be my second daughter, Olivia was going to be a big sister but you never had the chance to live. We still have your picture up on our fridge and I look at it every single day. I remember first seeing you in that hospital, you were so tiny but you were our little baby growing every day. We could see your arms and your legs. You were our little baby. The doctors confidently informed us that you were healthy and everything was going as it should be but then in a moment, God decided to take you home to be with Him. I wonder what you would have looked like. Would you look just like your sister? I wonder what your personality would have been like. I'm sure you and Olivia would have been the best of friends. Playing with dolls together, wearing matching dresses at Easter. She would have showed you the ropes in this life and been the best big sister you could have hoped for.

I still recall the day that the doctor told us that we lost you as if it was yesterday. He told us "Your baby didn't make it." Those words play over and over in my mind every day. I just stared at that ultrasound, waiting in vain for you to move, waiting in vain for your little heart to start beating again. It seemed like hours but it was only a few minutes as I just stared at you. My mind refusing to believe what my ears were telling it, almost as if my mind had put a brick wall around itself for protection as it often does when faced with pain. Those words "Your baby didn't make it" took a long time to chip it's way through the barrier my mind had created but once it did the tears proceeded to roll down my face like raindrops down a window. How could you be gone? I didn't have a chance to show you this world. I didn't have a chance to hold you or to tell you that I love you or to watch you go off to your first day of school or to walk you down the aisle as you married the man of your dreams.

We miss you so much but we know that you are in a better place. It doesn't make sense to us at times but we put our trust in God. We trust that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We trust that in our weakness, His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). We trust that He is sufficient and that He is our strength and our rock. We don't mourn like those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) for just like David we can with confidence say that we can go to you but you will not return to us (2 Samuel 12:23). We will see you one day in Heaven and we look forward to meeting you but until then, we will continue to be lights in this world of darkness in hopes that through your death, God will be glorified and that others will come to know this God that we have placed our faith in and the God that you are seeing face to face at this moment. We love and miss you more than you could ever imagine Gabrielle. We'll see you again someday.

Special K and Fiji

It's the simple things in life that really make me happy. For instance, today at the grocery store I bought Old Spice: Fiji. I needed some new body wash and it smelled good so I bought it and now I can't wait to use it. I still have some of my old body wash left so the Fiji bottle sits in the shower unused and lonely. I think I am going to use double or perhaps I am daring enough, triple the normal dosage of body wash for my showers until the old body wash is all gone and finally I can put on the body wash that is Old Spice: Fiji. They also have a deodorant but unfortunately I just purchased deodorant recently so that'll have to wait.

Oh and Fiji wasn't my only purchase that has me excited. Tomorrow morning I will experience Special K Chocolatety Delight for breakfast. I must admit, I was more than half tempted to eat it for lunch and/or dinner but I think the anticipation of waiting until tomorrow for breakfast was too much to give up so the box is still sitting there in the pantry un-opened...at least for the next 8 hours or so. Then, it will be mine! I'll make sure to let you all know my reviews of the cereal. I personally haven't eaten a bowl of cereal in who knows how long. I usually stick with the same 2 or 3 breakfasts every morning so tomorrow, I add another to the exclusive list of Bryan's breakfasts.

But it's funny how the simple things in life are almost always the best. Just thinking about my life I think of going to Disney with Grandma, Steph and Olivia this past year. All the rides were awesome but honestly, the best part of the whole trip was just watching our little girl's reaction when she got to meet Mickey, Minnie and the gang in real life. Man that smile and excitement that she had as she ran up to all of them with pen in one hand and autograph book in the other...priceless.

Or I think of Steph and my favorite date night hangout, Cafe Ah Roma. We have gone to fancy dinners or to the Art Museum and such but my favorite place to hangout with my wife is at Cafe Ah Roma where we can just sit, enjoy some caffeinated beverages, listen to Sirius Coffee Shop radio and play a game of Battleship or Yahtzee or Risk. Just the simplicity of the night makes it always the highlight of my week.

I could list a half a million "simple things" in life that honestly give me more joy than the big things in life sometimes (listening to good tunes around a campfire, making my little girl laugh or listening to her sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" or "Happy Birthday" to everything from momma or dadda to ball or blanket or Frosty the Snowman, reading a good book in bed, etc). It's always the simple things that make life fun and interesting. Make sure that you take time to enjoy them and don't get too caught up in the big worries of life.

oh summer how I have missed thee

There is just something about the month of April that I love. Perhaps it's because it's that month where you know that Summer is almost here and Winter is finally over (or almost over in the case of Ohio). It's like, you make it through December and January and you're all right but you get to February and the beating that you have taken from the winter finally starts taking it's toll. You set your desktop background to some sort of exotic island landscape and stare blankly at it in hopes that perhaps with your mind powers you can transport yourself to that island. You start looking into moving to places such as Florida, California, Arizona or anywhere really that you can feel your extremities if you are outside for more than five minutes. You hibernate under blankets upon blankets. 

Then March gets here and it is sort of a tease. You'll get a warm day here or there (relatively speaking). Or maybe the sun will finally peak out from behind the clouds and even though it is only 45 degrees out, you treat it like it is 90. You crack the windows in the car while, you go outside sans a coat for the first time since Halloween. You'd probably hop in the pool if you could find one that is open but ultimately, 28 out of the 31 days in March there is no sun and it either rains or it snows.

But then April comes and all seems to be on the right path again. The birds begin their melodious tunes again. Squirrels no longer have to use an ice pick to dig up the nuts they buried what seems to be years ago. And O.A.R. or Jack Johnson can now be played without a deep depression overcoming me when thinking about how far away summer is. Nope, summer is coming. Oh it is coming all right. Nights of bonfires, s'mores and acoustic guitar ringing through the summer air. Nights of having the windows open and the warm breeze just cut through the house and embracing me like a long lost friend that I haven't seen in years. Nights of going to the drive-in, playing cards or just relaxing on the porch enjoying some good conversation.

Oh summer how I have missed thee. Come soon so we can both see what we have missed these past months that I have had to put up with your evil brother Winter.