23 years ago today I married my best friend.  What a privilege and joy it is for me to journey through the seasons of life with Dina.

I love her and I thank God for her.  --Ryan

I was not born

Informed and fearless from the first, but shrank

From aught which marked me out from men;

I would have lived their life and died their death,

Lost in their ranks, eluding destiny.

                                        --Robert Browning

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.  James 1:2-4 (MSG)

Dear Lord, do your work in me and keep me. I trust in you. Except for you, I would elude my destiny and in volition reside in regret.