Ryan's Ramblings

Friends,

Hard to believe Nudgings has been out for a month now. What a joy it’s been to hear how God has used it to bless people — and one moment from those early days has stayed with me.

A few days after release, I went to visit a family whose dear wife and mother was very near heaven. When I walked into their living room to sit with her husband and two adult daughters, I noticed my book on the coffee table.

Her husband said, “My daughter has been reading your book to me. We finished the introduction and looked at each other and said, ‘That sounds just like Ryan.’ But the real blessing was the poem at the beginning… that was for us.”

Then he handed me the book and asked if I would read the poem aloud.

So I did.

When I finished, all of us had tears in our eyes. Not because of anything I wrote, but because God met us there — in their grief, in their waiting, in His nearness.

Here is the poem they asked me to read:

Like grass, we rise with the
morning—yet wither so soon;
long days of summer, too few.

As wildflowers—unexpected,
resplendent, yet fading — we bloom,
beautify, blaze, and then—poof!
So good, so brief, so gone.

Nothing lasts. But wait . . .
the love of the Lord churns in the wake
of those who fear Him—
salvation reaching and rippling
to children’s children and more.

Your life matters.
Don’t toil or spin. Be faithful. Obey.
Love wholly. Live wisely.
Stand forever in Him.

(Psalm 103:15–18; Isaiah 40:8; Luke 12:27)

I walked away thinking: If that moment was the only reason this book was written, it was enough.

Their precious wife, mother, and grandmother is now with Jesus — standing forever in Him. And He is with the family as they grieve and remember… but not as those who have no hope.

I am praying for them.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. And He is near.

Ryan