Send me to North Africa!

I will be doing work in North Africa this summer and am asking you to donate so that I may be able to work with the people of Morocco.

Morocco is predominantly a Muslim country.

If you have the desire to donate please do so at this link.

www.apualumni.com/scg09

I’ll keep you updated on the entire process if you email me and would like more information!

Grace and Peace!
Ryan

Living Legends: An Anthem of Human Epic

I recently was able to watch the Super Bowl with my grandparents.  The rest of the family had their own reasons for watching it at other places but none of that is of concern to me.

The greatest thing I heard during my time with them was, “Well Ryan, thank you for keeping us company.”  Though I didn’t spend a Sunday with them in order to receive thanks it was very refreshing and affirmative to the love that can be passed with spending time together.

Now, for the breadth of this blog.

I love love love my grandparents.

My adorable grandparents have everything to do with who I am and what I am becoming.  I know of no other people that are as sweet, loving, and caring as these two.  If ever people existed that can truly impact a person in order to shape  their entire identity, ability to love, cherish, and honor others, then, my grandparents are those people.

They have EVERYTHING to do with making a man out of a boy, a baby, a grandson, a trouble maker, a brat, the first born male.

To be in their presence is like standing in awe of holiness itself.  To embrace their delicately STRONG bodies and take in the musk of the natural scent of the most beautiful wrinkled skin.  Oh, to be held by over 80 years of history. Their hands and arms bridge the gap of current time to the creation of man in the Garden.  The inexplicable comfort of having old tired eyes that have witnessed great depression, a dust bowl, t00 many wars, assassinations, the progression of thought and culture, and the 21st century with their eyes which now are fixed upon me as if I were the greatest thing they have ever seen.  Eyes that were once beautiful and vibrant are now grey/blue and require nightly eye drop medicine as if to say, “We were more vibrant once and could see with more clarity but everything we take in we will take to Heaven Eternal.”

My grandmother is a saint among saints.  Her grace and elegance far exceeds any woman that is brave enough to call herself a lady.  If love could ever be perfected and mastered in a lifetime it would be her love.  My capacity to love and be loved is a testament to the unconditional love that she gives me. Her concern for the well-being of others far exceeds the concern of all the people I have met in all of my 21 years.  Her devotion to prayer and her petitioning to God has made her a mighty intercessor. A prayer from the sincere and genuine heart of my grandma is heard by Jesus as if they were long time friends.  My grandma is an angel.

My grandfather is the epitome of man.  He is strong and scarred, respected and adored.  A man of mystery yet with so much transparency makes him a man that demands silence when he speaks so that you can sponge up divine wisdom and morality that he excretes.  His bare hands have carried weapons, taken lives, saved lives, built railroads, farmed fields, built his own home, held all of his naked children and grand children, held all of his adult children and promising young adult grand children. Today, those wrinkly leathered brown hands are stronger than ever.  Though, at times, popping open soda cans can be a few minute struggle; to the touch his hands are supernatural. Though growing up was hectic and life’s hang ups were cruel to me and my famlily it was my grandpa’s very smile and squinty eyes that gave strength and confirmation that LIFE IS GRAND!!  My grandpa is a mighty man of God and a lifetime that testifies Gospel of the Jesus Christ.  It is the story of bondage, hard work, guilt, doubt and redemption and salvation from it all.  Many men have explained the Gospel in hundreds of languages, my grandpa lives it.  My grandpa is Superman.  He is a super man.  He has loved and cared for my grandmother for well over 50 years.  Men like my grandpa are running out in this world.  Lord help us!

I have said all this to provide my history as I have come to learn it.  Oh the specifics and even the amount of information I don’t know about them! Every step they take is a walking anthology of history, glory, pain. hurt, and redemption.  I hope they bestow upon me their anthology.  My grandparents are alive and well and I love every single opportunity I get to either talk to them on the phone or visit them when I steal away from school.

I am Florentino and Felecita Chavez circa 1987.

Here is my most recent photo with my grandpa and I. (I will include one with my grandma as soon as I can take one with her)

Taken 1 February 2009

A Father’s Love…

In light of Father’s Day, I have decided to write about something in regards to Father’s Day that hopefully encourages you as it has encouraged me.

What is an amazing father? Who would be a father truly worth such a day as Father’s Day? Sure it may be just as any other day but somehow it has been selected as a day to recognize fathers. Many of us would jump up and down and scream that it is our dad that is the world’s greatest. Our father the hero! Others would say nothing more about their father than the fact that all they did was help create you. Some never grew up with a father. Still, others have been raised by a man not their father. In any case, if you had the chance to write your dad an email, give him a phone call, spend time with him in person, went out to eat, gave him a gift, or if you even remembered his existence; I would like to ask you to consider our heavenly Father as well!

But first! I would like you to watch this video as I hope it paints for you a portrait of the love, adoration, and commitment that God has for you and for me.

Due to the inability to post a GodTube video I have posted the link to the video. http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5268c403589c52e30080