My Lazarus Moment

John 11 v 40 if you believe

Okay, I have been wanting to focus on this specific part of my life since I started the blog.  I have touched on it a few times, but I need to fully explain it.  If you have been reading my blog or you read my book, then you know that I stopped breathing on April 28, 2012 due to anaphylactic shock.  What happened after I stopped breathing is what I want to talk about!

Many of you are familiar with the true historical account of Lazarus in the Bible.  He is a man who died and was in a tomb for four days before Jesus brought him back to life!  It is an awesome section of Scripture and I highly recommend reading it.  You can find it in John 11:1-44.

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26

“When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.  Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

John 11:43-44

I am telling you that Jesus is still the resurrection and the life and He still pulls off Lazarus miracles in our time!  Yes, I am proof of that, and no, I’m not crazy!  It happened to me a little over six years ago.  My wife was there and she witnessed the whole thing!  Let me explain.

After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease on January 6, 2012 my whole world fell apart.  I was dying from starvation due to severe damage to my small intestine and I only weighed 128 pounds.  I am just an inch over six feet tall, so that is deathly thin folks, deathly.  I immediately went gluten free (no wheat, barley, or rye) and also found out through painful trial and error that I could no longer have dairy, soy, eggs, coconut, or NSAIDS either.  The doctor forgot to mention that oats can kill some people with Celiac.  I found that out the hard way!

On 4-28-2012 I ate an oat bread sandwich that was supposedly “gluten free.”  Well, oats are not gluten free because the protein in oats causes the same or even more severe reaction than the protein found in wheat.  Celiacs should never eat oats!

About an hour or so after I ate that sandwich, I went into anaphylaxis.  The pain was unbearably torturous over my entire body!  Like hot knives stabbing me!  I did not have an epi-pen because the doctor who diagnosed me never told me I needed one.  I suffered in agony from around 11:30 a.m. that day until around 11:30 that night.  At the end of that fight, I died.  Wait, let it sink in.  Yes, I died.  Only for a short time, but I was gone, done, end of the road.

Is it starting to make sense why I am so passionate about Jesus and I will never ever stop talking about Him and giving Him glory?!  Yes, my friends!  I have had a very strange supernatural life and that is why I am out here doing this telling it to the world!

What happened that night in 2012 you ask?  As midnight approached, my chest started becoming very tight.  I could not fight the extreme pain of my body attacking me in a full blown auto-immune nightmare anymore.  It started feeling like something heavy was pressing on my chest.  I was army crawling on the floor laid out on my stomach trying to get away from the pain, but I couldn’t.  I started to feel my breath leaving and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take another breath.  You can feel the elasticity of your lungs going away.  It’s very weird.

Right at that moment with my last breath I yelled out loudly, “Help me Jesus!”  After that, I left my body and I was in a peaceful place just floating there and I wasn’t in any pain anymore!  I was still me, but I wasn’t in my body and I was fully aware of that!  Once I realized what had just happened, I felt the Lord walk over to me from my right and He simply said, “It’s okay.”  I could not see Him, but I knew it was Him!  I know His voice and I could feel His comfort and love all around me and through me!  He did not let me see Him or Heaven.  It was like lying down in a peaceful place with your eyes closed.  It didn’t matter.  He was with me and He protected and comforted me in my greatest time of need!  The peace and painlessness was so beautiful I can’t explain it.  There is no pain, none at all!  I was in perfect peace!  I am not scared to die!  I am quite looking forward to it.

I wanted to go with Him, but as I turned towards Jesus I saw an image of my kids like in a picture off to the upper left.  That is the only thing I could see and as I turned towards my kids, I was immediately caught up in a rushing wind.  It was all around me and it felt as though it was blowing straight up from my feet to my head in a swirl all around me.  The wind put me back in my body and I heard it come to a stop, then I opened my eyes and I was back in my bedroom again full of searing pain.  Do you know what the wind was?  The Holy Spirit just like in Acts!

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”

Acts 2:1-2

My wife was kneeling over my body praying for me.  She told me later that as she prayed, the sound of a rushing wind came into the room, she saw my mouth open, the wind went into my mouth and I took a huge deep breath and came back to life!  My wife said she watched me die and I was dead.  She said there was no breath in me.  She prayed over my lifeless body and I came back!  I know, it still blows my mind too, and I’m the one that lived it!

Please understand what I am telling you!  This is not a joke and I don’t get paid for this.  I give away my book for free to anyone who wants one (contact me through my blog and ask for one and I will do it).  Amazon is just a means to deliver my testimony to the world.  I write about my faith for free every day on this blog.  Freely I received from the Lord, so freely I will give.  I want you to go to Heaven and that is a free gift from God!

Okay, deep breath.  So, I shouldn’t be here right now.  I am only here because Jesus put me back.  It was not my time to go yet.  He still had work for me to do and I am doing that right now.  He is still the resurrection and the life and He says when it’s time for me to go.  Death thought it had a hold on me, but it did not and it does not.  When it is my final time to go, I will pass from this life to eternal glory in the power of the Holy Spirit and I will live forever in His glorious peace!  So will all of His children!

I am so thankful to be alive!  I am so glad my kids still have their Daddy and my wife has her husband!  I give you glory Lord Jesus!!!  It is still very hard for my wife to talk about that night.  She has a memory of my dead body laying there on our bedroom floor as she cried out to God to bring me back.  She thought she was going to be a widow and a single Mom.  I try to help her focus on the part where I came back to life though!

I stopped asking God why my life has been so strange a long time ago.  Look, I got saved because I lived in a real haunted house all through my high school years.  My walk with Christ has been supernatural ever since.  Angels, demons, and Holy Spirit wind!  Is it weird and kind of hard to hear somebody talk about these things?  Yeah, I’m sure it is, but I have to tell everyone.  God told me to share it, so people can come to Christ.  I am not worried about people judging me or mocking me.  I trust that the Spirit will confirm these things to everyone.  I am accountable to God and He is sovereign over my life.

Don’t waste your time on this earth.  You only have today and the breath you have in your lungs is very precious.  You will find that out when it’s your time to go.  You cannot earn salvation on your own.  If you could, then Jesus would not have had to die.  Everything in the Bible is true!  I cannot stress that enough.  This is not a game.  There is a battle for souls going on all around us, and you need Jesus to be victorious and go to Heaven!  No other faith offers forgiveness of sins.  Only Jesus can offer you that.

Jesus still raises people from death and the Holy Spirit still sounds like a mighty wind!  May the Lord reveal Himself to you in new and mighty ways and may He open your minds and hearts to His truth!  In the Name of Jesus, Amen!

Grace, mercy, peace, and forgiveness to you all!

Jesus Christ is Lord

Romans 10 v 9

 

 

Jesus Work!

1 John 3 v 8 Jesus destroys devils work

I love that verse!  What was the work of Jesus?  To destroy the devil’s work, that’s what!  You know, that evil work of sin and death the devil started way back in the Garden of Eden!

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.  We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.  And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 5:19-20

Yes, this whole world is under the control of the evil one, which is satan or lucifer (I refuse to capitalize his name).  But Jesus destroyed the devil’s work and He overcame the world!  Jesus is the true God and eternal life!  That is the best news ever in the whole world!

“He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

1 John 3:8

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

Jesus speaking in John 16:33

Broken chain freedom

Guess what?  When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you overcome the world too!  The evil one has no hold on you anymore and you are no longer under his control!  Jesus destroys the work of the devil in your life and gives you His new life in return!  I know what it is like to live under the control of the evil one, and all he ever tried to do was make me his slave and kill me!  I rebuke him in the Name of Jesus!  Hallelujah!!!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Jesus speaking in John 10:10

So, what is the devil’s work?  To steal, kill, and destroy!  That is his mission 24/7 365 days per year, including weekends and holidays!  You can’t tell me you don’t feel it, right?  We can all sense and see his evil work wherever we live.  Terrorism, depression, suicide, murder, war, disease, suffering–pick one.  I have been on this earth for four decades, and I had enough of seeing the devil’s trail of destruction a long time ago!  I think in the times we are living in it is pretty obvious the evil one is real–he has his work running rampant in our streets and he is not hiding much anymore!  Yes, he is real!  We have an enemy and he is violent.  The devil wants our lives ruined, and he wants to destroy us all!  That is why he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  That is his number one job!

Do not despair, I have great news!  The evil one has already been defeated by the Blood Jesus shed for the whole world when He died on that cross!  The evil one knows he is defeated.  That is why he is angry and he wants to take as many people as possible down with him.  Don’t let him!  Get the victory in Christ and be victorious in your life!  That freedom is right here at your finger tips every single day!  Grab it while you still have breath in your lungs!

Luke 23 v 42 43

Have you had enough of the devil’s work?!  Do you want to tell depression to go away?  Would you like to rebuke his dirty work away from your life and be free from it?!  Would you like some of that Jesus work in your life for having life and having it to the full?!  You can have all of that and more!  He can do that for you just like He did for me!

Jesus finished His work when He died for the forgiveness of the whole world.  When you know Him, the work of the devil in this world and the devil himself has no hold on you!  Jesus starts doing a new work in your life, so you can have life to the full!

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John 19:30

It is finished folks!  He paid for our sins in full and defeated the evil one at the cross.  Anyone who believes in Jesus has overcome the world and is no longer under the control of the evil one!  Before I accepted Christ, I thought the Bible was a joke.  Then in January of 1992 when I was in 8th grade my family moved into a house possessed by a demon, and I wasn’t laughing anymore.  We had to confront and live with real evil for four years and it was no joke!  Yes, the evil one is real!  So is Jesus and Jesus Christ rebuked that darkness out of our lives and I will forever praise Him for releasing me and my family from the grip of the evil one!  Jesus is Lord!  He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He has set us free!

He is waiting for you with open arms!

Grace and peace to you!

Romans 116

P.S.

If you would like to learn more about the supernatural events I have lived through and how I came to know Jesus, I would love to send you a free copy of my eBook “One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life.”  Just contact me through my blog, and I will email you a free copy directly from Amazon!  God bless you all!

Do you want to know what happens to the evil one at the end of the Bible in Revelation.  Well, here is the short version:

White horse verse

 

 

Forgiveness for All

Ephesians 4 v 32 heart

I have great news for you today!  Jesus offers everyone in the whole world forgiveness for any and all sins we have committed!  That is a freedom you can truly rest in!  If you have not received His forgiveness yet, I pray you do that today!  Today is the day of salvation!  I also have a great TobyMac song for you on this fine Friday!  God bless you all!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

We all need forgiveness folks.  None of us are without sin, and if you are honest with yourself, then you know that is true.  Give those sins to Jesus in exchange for the free gift of eternal forgiveness today!  You do not need to carry those burdens any longer!

Romans 3 v 23 & 24

I hope you all receive that precious free gift from God!

Please enjoy one of my all time favorite TobyMac songs on this fine day the Lord has made!  He even features Lecrae on this song, which I love!  Enjoy!

Forgiveness

Grace, peace, and forgiveness to you all in the Name of Jesus!

TobyMac forgiveness quote

Acts 4 verse 12

Trash Day

No record of wrong

Today is Thursday, and that means trash day in our neighborhood.  I took out the trash this morning and I am glad it is gone!  I figured since today is trash day, it would be a good day to throw out all of our past regrets, mistakes, and sins too!  Many of us beat ourselves up over things we have done wrong in the past.  Myself included!  The Bible is clear that love keeps no record of wrongs in 1 Corinthians 13, so we should not be keeping a record of wrongs on ourselves either!  Repentance=forgiveness=freedom!

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails…”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Jesus cleans our past, so our sins are as white as snow.  Since we know God is love (1 John 4:16) and love keeps no record of wrongs, then God keeps no record of wrongs on those who have trusted in Jesus for their salvation!  We are clean in His eyes through Jesus, and that promise is for every person on earth!

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Not counting men’s sins against them!  That is fantastic news!  I pray everyone in the whole world receives that precious gift from God!

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 8:12

Remember them no more!  Take that record of wrongs and throw it in the trash today!  Thank you Jesus for the freedom you give us!  Hallelujah!

Grace and peace to you all!

Romans 5 v 8

 

 

Brothers Reconciled Quickly!

Proverbs 27 v 17 iron sharpens iron

I want to share some very good news!  The Lord has squashed the disagreement I had with my good brother in Christ, and we are reconciled in the love and forgiveness of Jesus!  Folks, that is how true brothers in Christ love each other.  I respect this brother very much and I am very happy and encouraged that we are okay now!  I love you brother, thank you for your kind words of encouragement!

It is okay to disagree with each other.  The Bible says we only become sharper through the friction of what I call “strong fellowship.”  I already feel sharper and better for it.  I am just really pumped that the evil one never has a hold on us and he can’t keep good brothers down!  We are victorious in the Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Hallelujah!!!

Hey, listen, we are real brothers and we had a pretty good brother fight!  It’s all good!  I have a younger sister, but my friends and I sure would go at it when we were kids!  I remember plenty times rolling around on the ground wrestling it out or hitting each other with sticks!  It got nuts sometimes!  Don’t worry, I won’t wrestle or hit any of you with sticks.  My point is that real trusted brothers disagree sometimes and sometimes we have to engage in strong fellowship to work it out, and that is okay…as long as we do what my brother and I did–forgive and move forward in love.  Boom!  Jesus is Lord and He reigns up in here!  That’s how real brothers in Christ do it!

I hope you read this tonight brother!  Grace and peace to you!  You will always be my brother!

Forgive and love each other folks!  Grace and peace to you all!

Ryan

Proverbs 27 v 5 & 6

I am not a prophet, & I don’t have any fancy titles or phrases

IMGP1429

I just want to make it very clear to everyone in the whole world that I have never in my life claimed to be a prophet and I don’t have any fancy titles and I don’t use fancy phrases.  I never went to seminary, and I am not a pastor.  I have served Jesus since October of 1996 and I’m just me.  I did receive four years of training in the Bible, discipleship, and evangelism through Campus Crusade for Christ when I was in college (’96-2000), and that solid foundation of training has been a blessing in preaching the Gospel and ministering to people in need.  I am currently medically unemployed due to Celiac Disease and I don’t pretend to be anybody.  I am nothing.  Just dust and breath.  A sinner saved by grace, and nothing more.  I don’t pretend to be anything.  I received salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Freely I have received, freely I give.  If you would like to read my testimony, please click the link below.

Heart Poured Out

I have been open and honest about who I am and who I was before I knew Jesus.  I have never hidden my “true nature” from anyone.  I have been honest about my sinful nature and how God saved me.  From the day I started this blog, I have been straightforward about my life and my faith.  I have shared stories and pictures of my family.  I have shared my struggles.  I have preached the truth in love.  I don’t have to hide from anyone.  I am a redeemed child of God!  Be careful who you judge and the kind of judgments that come out of your mouth.  Calling someone a “false prophet” is very serious!  I don’t know any prophets and I’m sure not one!  I am just a man who God has called to preach the Gospel like He has with many Christians around the world.  That’s it.  I rebuke anyone in the Name of Jesus who calls me a prophet or false prophet!  I am neither of those titles and I never will be!

I have never given myself a fancy title and I never received one from God or man.  I don’t use fancy phrases.  I just write how I write.  If you feel that is fancy, well okay, I’m not trying to be.  This is just how the Spirit writes through me.  All the glory goes to God for everything that is written on this blog.

It is sad when Christians try to justify their sins and mistakes instead of repenting.  It is hurtful when brothers in Christ lash out in sinful anger.  For instance, cussing is cussing.  The D word, The S word, The F word–yes, all of those are cussing and considered “unwholesome talk” (Ephesians 4:29), and if you don’t know that or if you use those words and try to justify using them, then you have a lot more to learn.  As I said in my post titled Tongue of Fire, I struggled with bad language for a long time.  I do not judge anyone.  I leave that to the Lord and His Word.  His Word is convicting enough!  If you want to fight God over His Word, okay, enjoy that.  You are going to lose that fight.

I am just a sinner saved by grace striving to live out His Word, and I pray for the strength to do it victoriously.  Am I perfect?  No, but I keep moving forward in His grace, forgiveness, and love every day, and so should you.

Grace and peace to you all!

Galatians 6 v 14 boast in Christ

 

Jesus Doesn’t Change

Boulder weather change
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

There is an old saying here in Colorado, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.”  The weather can change rapidly and viciously here.  Blizzards, lighting, and the notorious Colorado hail are among the worst.  I love my state, but we have to be prepared for the ever changing weather that comes down from the Rocky Mountains.

Do you know who doesn’t change though?  Jesus!  He doesn’t change like the finicky weather.  He is the same today as He was almost 2,000 years ago!

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Hebrews 13:8

That is great news folks!  That means His love for you remains the same.  He does not change like we do!  I love that stability from Jesus.  I can trust Him completely!

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

Jesus speaking in John 10:27-30

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

Hebrews 13:15

That is what I am going to do today.  I am going to focus on Jesus and praise Him for His love for me that never changes!  I love our ever changing weather here in Colorado, but I am very glad that is not how Jesus is.  He stays true to us forever, and no one can snatch us out of His hand!

You can trust in Jesus!  Salvation and Life are in His hands!

Grace and peace to you all!

James 1 v 17 perfect gift from above

 

Christian Brothers Disagree Sometimes

Love deeply verse

Good evening brothers and sisters.  I wanted to take a minute to explain a few things.  I had a good Christian brother that I met here on WordPress disagree with how I honored the victims of 9/11 today.  He blocked me on his twitter and stopped following my blog.  That is unfortunate, but it happens.  Sometimes Christian brothers disagree on things.  Peace to you brother.

I want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog!  I appreciate you all even though we sometimes have different views on things.  This site is a place where you are going to hear the truth.  Some of it might be hard to hear, but I won’t apologize for speaking the truth.  We are to preach the Truth of the Gospel and speak truth to power regarding issues in our society.  Jesus and the Apostles did the same thing.

I honored my mother in law who passed away six years ago today.  I also honored our fallen brothers and sisters today by encouraging people to seek the truth, sharing Bible verses, and saying prayers.  My posts regarding 9/11 were not meant to be offensive in any way and I was not talking about politics.  I was speaking truth regarding something I care deeply about because I love my country deeply, and I want justice for those who died.  It had nothing to do with politics!  I want to make that very clear.  I was told what I was talking about was the same thing as talking about politics at a funeral.  That is not at all what I was doing!  I rebuke that sinful assessment of my writing in the Name of Jesus!

I have made it very clear many times on my blog that I will always be real, open, and honest about what I believe.  I am not going to back down from that.  If I offended you in any way, it is always your prerogative to leave my site.  Just don’t tweet angry emojis or cuss in your blog posts about it.  You are wasting your breath, you will just need to repent later, and it’s not going to phase me in the least anyway.

Nobody is going to step on my ministry, and I will just keep marching for Christ.  I have been serving Jesus and preaching the Gospel for almost 22 years and I am not stopping now!  The better way to confront me would be to speak to me directly in an intelligent conversation.  I am always up for a good conversation and I don’t mind hearing how someone might disagree with me as long as it is respectful.  As Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  We have freedom of speech and I am going to speak freely on my blog without fear of persecution or judgment, even from other Christians.  I hope you do the same!

I know who I am in Jesus, and I am confident in Him.  I know the Word of God and I am confident in that too.  I will pick the truth up when it falls in the street, I will dust it off, and I will send it on its way.  That applies to the Bible and to issues in society.  I strive to speak the truth in love, and it was in love that I wrote all of my posts today.

I didn’t expect such harsh judgment from another brother in Christ.  I love and forgive him.  May God’s love wash over our hearts and may His will be done.

Grace and peace to you all!

In Christ Forever,

Ryan

Alaska northern lights with dogs
This picture is in memory of my Mother in law Bev.  I spent the day remembering her and those we lost on 9/11, and I did it with great respect and love in my heart!

 

Remembering My Wife’s Mother Today

Alaska best

Six years ago, on 9-11-2012, my wife’s mother Bev passed away due to Alzheimer’s Disease.  She was only in her 60s.  Bev loved the Lord and she was an awesome lady!  I am forever grateful that I met her and grew to know and love her as my mother in law and friend.

My wife is from Alaska, and she is Alaska tough just like her Mom was!  Her mother was an outdoor girl growing up.  She absolutely loved the outdoors and she was not afraid to venture into wolf and grizzly country.  Bev went hunting in the dangerous wilds of Alaska with her father as a young girl, and she could shoot a rabbit in the eye at 100 yards with iron sights!  They hunted and planted great organic gardens, and ate what God provided from the land and sea.  My wife’s Grandparents were pioneers to Alaska before it became the 49th state (on January 3, 1959) of these United States, and her Grandpa and Dad built many of the houses in their neighborhood, including the one my wife grew up in.

My wife grew up living off the land in much the same way.  Bev kept a lush garden and green house in the backyard, and they harvested what they needed from both.  No need for the store for those things.  Her Dad hunted deer and moose, and they harvested kings and halibut from the sea.  My father in law even built a little smoke shack in their backyard to smoke the salmon–so good!  My wife grew up in such a cool way!

Alaska northern lights pink
Alaska Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). My wife has seen this happen. She said the lights make a swooshing sound in the sky!
Deshka River
Deshka River, Alaska

I loved fishing with Bev!  We went on an awesome king salmon fishing trip on the Deshka River many years ago with my wife’s parents.  By the way, my father in law is a great guy, and he is the most generous man I have ever known!  I have learned a lot of very useful skills from him too.  It was amazing fishing the Deshka with 24 hours of sunlight!  I think we fished for over 10-12 hours straight!  I will never forget the giant grizzly bear paw prints along the river’s edge where we fished.  I am sure they were there watching us the whole time…we just couldn’t see them!  I caught the biggest river fish of my life there too.  Those king salmon are huge!  I highly recommend visiting Alaska at some point in your life!

Homer boat dock
Homer, Alaska, Boat Marina

On a different trip, we had a great time at their family cabin in Homer.  We did some amazing halibut fishing on the open ocean and filled the giant cans with them!  My father in law’s boat is great, and it was the first time I had ever fished like that.  You have to club those halibut real good or they won’t stop flopping around!  I was so sore after that trip!  Back at the cabin, Bev and I fished for little dolly varden fish right off the beach and we were catching them one after another!  It was hilarious and Bev and I were laughing as we kept reeling them in!  We had a great fish fry that night!  That time fishing with Bev is one of the best memories of my life!

Bev was a real joker too and she got me real good one time.  This was back when I first met my wife’s family after college.  We were having dinner and I asked her Dad what the scar was on his shoulder.  Bev said, “he got bit by a shark in Hawaii.”  I knew they did a lot of snorkeling there on family vacations, so I believed her and I was amazed as I asked about the event.  Bev started laughing because I fell for the joke so hard.  The scar was only from rotator cuff surgery.  I always laugh thinking about that.  Bev had a great sense of humor!

Bev was a fun lady to be around and she cooked the best grilled king salmon and fried halibut that I have ever had in my life!  We miss her and we love her, and we find great peace knowing she is at home with her Savior.  We love you Bev!

I pray this post is a blessing to all who knew and loved Bev.  Grace and peace to my wife and all of our family as we remember her today!  Grace and peace to you all!

“Be still, and know that I am God..”

Pslam 46:10

Alaska picture beautiful