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July 2007

No Car Seat Needed

No Car Seat Needed 150 150 admin

Many of you might have heard by now that our son Caden transferred his residence from his mother’s belly to the beauty of heaven. We got news right after our morning church service on Sunday, July 22 that Caden had no heartbeat and that God had chosen to take him before he breathed a breath in this life. They began to induce labor so that Amy could deliver him. We were so blessed with nurses that cared so much for us and our situation. Thank you God for the blessings during trying times. On Monday at about 7:11 PM, Caden was delivered. His little body was a joy to hold even though he had no life in him. It was unique in the fact that Caden was in heaven watching his own birth. Not too many people can say that!

The Lord has been so good to us during this trial! Let me give an example – we were at the hospital on Sunday and the nurse was asking a bunch of questions. I was watching as she typed the answers into the computer. It got to one point where the screen had asked this question – “Car Seat for Discharge”? The available answers were “Yes”, “No”, or “N/A”. When the nurse checked the box “N/A”, the truth that we were not taking a boy home really sunk in. It was probably one of the lowest points of this entire journey. However, God filled my heart and mind with an even more amazing thought. Caden didn’t need a car seat for where he was going. He got there, not by an approved car seat, but by the hand of Almighty God. He is in heaven and I miss him greatly, but I KNOW that I will see him again because I have asked Christ into my life to forgive all of my sins and wrongs that I have done. Christ died for me to have life in heaven forever and for me to have an intimate relationship with Him. I know the end of the story for my life – HEAVEN!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying! You do not know what it means to have the body of Christ praying for us. It means so much! We would continue to covet your prayers for us! However, let me challenge you with something else – there are more hurting people in our world. Some of you might have been so burdened for our request that it drew you closer to God in prayer and intimacy. Keep growing in that relationship. Find someone else now who needs you to pray and seek God’s face and ask God for their miracle. God said no to this one, but God is still a GREAT God! I could not imagine going through this without a God who cares infinitely for us.

Thank you again for your prayers!

 Until next time…

Northline, Fear, and This Sucks!

Northline, Fear, and This Sucks! 150 150 admin

It has again been a long time since I wrote last. I apologize. I am not going to offer up some excuse that would allow you to forgive me until I do it again. Instead, I am just going to ask you to forgive me.

Things have been going well here at Northline. We have had some very unique and powerful services that I pray God is using to leverage Himself into the lives of people who will be changed forever. We have been busy in the remodeling of some of the church areas. We are trying to have much of it done by our 45th Anniversary Celebration in October. This place has had an impact in the lives of many people and we want to rejoice in that and celebrate that. We are indebted to the pastors and people of our past that have enabled us to operate effectively here in hte present as well as reach forward into the future. Things are changing in our church because we want to be the most effective that we can be to reach the people of this culture. Pray with us that God would continue to work in our church and through our church.

Many of you might be wondering how in the world Amy and I are doing in relation to Caden (our unborn baby who has anencephaly). We are doing okay. Amy is strong. She amazes me. Many have been touched by our story and we are thankful that God is using this trial in our life to draw people to Him. I have surrendered myself to the fact that this sucks! But God is good. I have also surrendered myself to the fact that I am scared. But that God is real and making His presence felt in my life. The doctors have basically said that Amy could go at any time between now and her due date. With us knowing this for a few months now, we still aren’t ready for what could happen. We are praying and believing for a miracle if that is how God wants to be God. We are also struggling to be at peace with God taking Caden to be with Him if that is how God wants to be God.

Please feel free to talk with us about our situation and do not be afraid that you will offend us. Talking about Caden and our situation actually helps us to cope. Understand, however, that I will be real. If my day has been lousy, I will tell you. If it is a good day, I will tell you that too. In any case, we appreciate your prayers.

Something else that has helped is spending time focusing on people who have it worse off than we do (and there are many). It helps me to understand that we are not the only ones in need. It is hard to put myself in a situation to receive support and love from people. That is my job – I am the pastor! However, I need to do this in order to let others help to bear my burdens. At Junior High Camp last week, I realized that I was not doing a very good job of this, so I want to improve. They had me come up in front of the camp and told our story and then had pastors and youth pastors come up and pray for us. I felt very uncomfortable, but was very blessed! As a pastor, we are used to being on the “other side of the desk” and this time it was my turn to receive encouraging words and support. Thank you Lord for putting me at camp last week.

Thank you for putting up with me and listening!

Until next time…

Ryan

22140 Champaign Street, Taylor, MI 48180

734-287-3544