A Greater Hope

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Photo by Ryan, View from back deck, 1:29 P.M. MT, 2-27-2020

We have seen a lot of snow in February this year.  So far, it’s been something like 13 or 14 days of snow.  We have also seen some bitter cold days, but thankfully it stopped snowing and it is starting to warm up.  It is 45 and sunny today and we are looking forward to the 50s tomorrow and Saturday.  The warmer weather is nice and we are definitely ready for spring!  I have not been doing well with Celiac and I’m finding it difficult to write.  Wanted to share some photos of the beautiful day we are having and give you a Bible verse.

I love the feeling of new hope that spring brings!  We can feel it right around the corner and anticipation builds as we look forward to the warm sunny days.  Our hope in Jesus is the same, but even greater.  We have to keep our hope alive no matter how much hope we have lost due to hardships and setbacks in our lives.  You may only have one small speck of hope left, but don’t give it up.  We can trust in Jesus and He is our true hope.

He is with us and He will never leave us, even when we feel like all hope is lost and we are forgotten.  Even when we feel battered by years of fighting disease and we can feel our life being cut short.  At 41 years old after losing 8 years of my life to this disease, I don’t have much hope of a future full of fulfilled dreams, health, or financial success anymore, but I know Jesus is with me and that is a hope that never fades.  I know God can do all things and I know He can bless me and heal me at any time.  The righteous will live by faith.

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Pikes Peak, photo taken from our kitchen window

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“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Romans 8:18

Grace and peace

Author: Ryan Callahan

Hello, and welcome to my site! I am an independent Christian author (One Man's Very Strange Supernatural Life), blogger, and evangelist for Jesus. My main goal with this blog is to help people come to know Jesus, help people understand the Bible, and to minister to a lost and hurting world. This site is about hope, new beginnings, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love! I'm glad you are here, God bless you! Copyright © 2023 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved.

72 thoughts on “A Greater Hope”

  3. Such beautiful pics Ryan! Warming up a bit here too, but not like it is there. I certainly understand your problems with Celiac and all that it brings with it. We should never give up hope, that’s for sure. Keep pressing on bro, praying for you and your family. God bless!

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  4. Dear brother Ryan I always look forward to reading your blogs because they are filled with Gods love and power. I will make it my duty to pray for you every single day. May the Lord continue to be with you and know that you are already healed. its already done when Jesus died on the cross. God bless you my brother in Christ. ps. beautiful pics.

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  5. Beautiful day. I”m sorry you must endure such suffering, but I’m thankful for your faith and that you can see such beautiful mountains. The mountains always lift my spirits. As we continue to study Revelation, I find myself longing more and more for God’s Kingdom to come soon!

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  8. Good evening Ryan, yes to clinging to Him, our living hope, in every circumstance. Our younger son has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. It is a challenge to stay focused and believe God has plans in spite of the disease. I keep practicing, “Yes, Lord.” Been on that for awhile, also when praying about my husband’s job. Keep the faith, brother. Thank you for sharing the pictures. We in PA have had zero snow in 2020, except maybe a flurry. We have snow tubing passes that will expire soon 😦

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    1. Thanks Julie. I will pray for your son and husband. Doctors might not have told you, but going gluten free (no wheat, barley, oats, or rye) helps people with Crohn’s greatly. Also going soy and dairy free. I can’t eat eggs either. Crohn’s is similar to Celiac. Doctors talk about the inflammation, but they won’t talk about the cause being food we eat. They treat the symptoms, but totally ignore our diet and digestion. Hope that helps. God bless you all!

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      1. This does help, Ryan. We have been slowly making gluten free changes in Jackson’s diet. It has been hard because of his age as he could be known as the carb kid before this. Havent considered the dairy yet. I want to see a nutritionist. Have you done that at any point?

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      4. P.S. Try the King Arthur Gluten Free Pancake Mix. Makes delicious pancakes and waffles. It’s what I eat and it is the best gluten free flour out there. You can also measure it cup for cup in a recipe as if it were wheat flour, so no guessing with amounts. Jackson can still have carbs and it can be really good and healthy too. They are at: KingArthurFlour.com. Also, I use the dairy and soy free Earth Balance as my butter substitute. Orgran No Egg is my egg substitute. After 8 years of experience with Celiac, those are definitely the best products for gluten free, dairy free, and egg free baking. When I was first diagnosed, I just went gluten free, but I was still getting sick. We finally realized I couldn’t have dairy, soy, or eggs either. All those things are hard to digest when the intestines and digestive tract are damaged or inflamed. They can also cause more inflammation. I also only eat organic and Non-GMO. Doing that helped me heal to where I am today. God bless!

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      6. You’re welcome! Glad to hear it! Yeah, you can make all kinds of great things with it. They have other flour mixes too like the All Purpose Gluten Free Flour for making biscuits and bread. We use the pancake mix for waffles with our Belgian waffle maker. Has such a nice sweet flavor. So good! 🙂

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      7. Yayyyy! It was overwhelming at first to try and change how I shop and of course for poor Jackson to say no to almost every snack he has eaten for the past 10 years. I read online about Non GMO and am actively seeking those items as well. Praise God!

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      9. P.S. For bread for sandwiches, we use Rudi’s or Udi’s brand bread. Definitely the best out there. It is gluten free, but they are made with eggs, so I can’t eat it, but my wife and kids do. They love it. We get it in the frozen section at Walmart. Gluten free bread has to be frozen, then we thaw it in the fridge and keep it in the fridge to store it. Doesn’t have the nasty chemical preservatives that mainstream wheat bread does. Also, Canyon Bakehouse has good gluten free bagels.

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      12. Here is the Glutino website.
        https://www.glutino.com/

        Our kids love their cookies that are like Oreos, but better and healthier. There are so many great gluten free foods and snacks now. It took us a long time of trial and error to figure out what was the best. Be encouraged, gluten free is much easier than it used to be!

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      4. Cool. I also recently (while visiting my grandmother & aunt) saw “The Maze Runner”, “Spies in Disguise” and the 2017 version of “Murder on the Orient Express” – all of which are quite good (especially Murder on the Orient Express).

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      5. I’ve seen The Maze Runner movies, but I haven’t seen those other 2. I like all the dystopian type movies like Maze Runner, Divergent, and Hunger Games. I still love the original Red Dawn from the 80s.

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      7. I am a bit of a prepper. We have food storage, water purification, medical kits, guns, ammo, solar oven, a rocket stove, a portable solar generator, camping/fishing gear, and other survival goodies. We are ready if we have to go off grid for awhile. Those dystopian movies might just come true someday. No, I don’t think I’ve seen that one.

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