Rye Bread`s Random Rambles (plus an announcement...)

     Hi everyone! Long time no read. Or something. I tried not to start out this post by saying "Hey" at the beginning. Success. I`m really starting to branch out with my "Hi`s" and all that. Cool. So, I should totally be working on my essay right now, but guess what? I`d really rather not. I guess nobody really wants to work on an essay. But I`m just especially not in the mood right now. So, I decided, "Hey I`m gonna take a break from this and just blog." Here I am, doing just that. I`m probably just gonna ramble. Not that that`s really abnormal. Such a strange word, "abnormal". I love it. Also, an announcement will be at the end of this post.

     Anyway, guys it`s sad because the show Peter Pan is over. Sunday was our last show. I met some pretty great people, learned a lot about theatre stuff, and just had an overall pretty great time. So, it was actually surprisingly sad when I left the theatre, saying bye to everyone, and remembering all the fun times we had together. I was surprised that I felt this way because I just felt so ready to be done with the show. It had involved a lot of sacrifice and hard work and I was ready to breathe that sigh of relief. And I did breathe it. And it made me both happy and sad. It was the definition of "bittersweet." So yeah, I`m officially a part of the theatre now and the theatre is a part of me. After all, I signed the wall. That`s about as official as it gets.

     Look at me, indenting and starting new paragraphs. Things are getting pretty hardcore! Anyway, that`s pretty much all that I have to say. Oh also, this fall weather is bomb!!

Oh yeah, about that announcement that I mentioned...it`s not even really a big deal, it`s simply this:
I will be sharing with you a song, album, or musician/band each time I post. And because I don`t post very often in the first place, I will not run out of resources. ;D There`s just so much good music that I don`t want you guys to miss out on! So yeah, that`s a new thing that I literally decided to do 5 minutes ago. Just to give you guys some consistency. Plus, that`s pretty much all I do on this blog in the first place. So yay. Round 1. ;)

Go check out Pompton Lakes people! Not the place, the band.

Here`s a link to some of their sweet musical/lyrical goodness: CLICK HERE FOR GOOD MUSIC

Alright, everyone. Have an excellent rest of this beautiful, rainy Tuesday! Or whatever day you`re reading this on.

--Rye Bread

The Freshest Groove You Will Ever Hear

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simplify

     Hey people! I can`t believe I`m posting again so soon! But this time I am actually doing a post for a specific reason and that is to officially tell you guys my "album" has been "released"!! I sort of eluded to it in my previous post, but just to give you a refresher.

     Okay, so, the photo credit for the cover goes to the awesome Zhenya! She`s a fantastic photographer!! And, I will have physical copies sometime, but for now I just put the whole thing on a playlist on SoundCloud which I will put at the bottom of this post. Also, I will hopefully put it on Noisetrade or Bandcamp or something sometime. Yeah, so, physical CDs coming if you really truly want one, but for now, check it out on SoundCloud! You can download it for free on there, and then you can just burn your own CD if you want. Or wait until I can burn one for you haha. ANYWAY, I`ll post the link now. https://soundcloud.com/ryan-nordstrom-1/sets/simplify

So, check it out if you want, and be in awe of our great God. Worship Him.


--Rye Bread

Be Still

     Whad up, blogland. There is a lot going on round here, schedule-wise, and also in my brain. So, let me tell you about it. I think that's what this blog is for...idk haha. I'm not sure what the specific purpose of this blog is (I can't even say "my blog" cuz it's not even mine technically). Alright, so now that I've gotten distracted a few times, let's move on.

Life. Coming at me way faster than I would prefer. Wait, I'm sorry, did somebody say I'm a senior this year?! And I'm taking college classes? Whoa now...

Yep that's right. I'm officially a college student this year. And it's weird. Making daily commutes to colleges in this here city. So anyway. That's happening. Did I mention that I feel old? I know people say that all the time...but here, right-now-in-this-moment, I legitimately "feel old". 

Yeah, so on top of doing old man things like college and stuff, I am also going to be crazy busy with a whole bunch of other things that I won't even list in order to spare you from being bored. Which, you probably already were five words into this post, but whatever. If you're still reading this, props to you. Oh and now my super rad sister lives 4 1/2 hours away. *tear* So that's gonna be a new thing this year. Attending Northern State University (go Wolves, by the way) in Aberdeen, SD. Got her all moved in this past weekend. But the really cool thing is that her boyfriend lives there (what a coincidence) and so now they get to hang out all the time!! So that's exciting for her. 

Anyway, lots of change this year. But nothing God didn't see coming. In fact, nothing God didn't plan before the foundation of the world. It's good to chew on that fact. Downright tasty actually. And all the things that will come this year that we don't even know about, God knows. It's already happened in His plan. Because He is not bound by time. We get to live it out, knowing that God's plans are good. If only we could step back for a moment and see that. 

Psalm 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God."

--Rye Bread

P.S: On a completely different note, I finished my little album! The title of it is Simplify, it has 12 tracks, and I'm excited for people to hear it! Yay! I'll probably have more details later. Til next time...

It`s Okay To Not Be Okay

                               "Why do we fake it? Probably, so they`ll think we`re godly."

     Check out this video that actually kinda goes with my last post. The dude`s name is Dillon Chase and God`s really given him a gift for writing. You should check it out, along with another video that I`ll post of him talking about worship and what it truly is. Enjoy, and I hope the words point you to Jesus, that you might worship Him while listening to/watching these videos.


It's OK Not to Be OK from People's Church on Vimeo.


Love To Worship from arandvideo on Vimeo.


Fix your eyes on Jesus today, by His grace and by His strength. He is the prize. Man`s praise is empty. The King`s glory and honor is what matters. Find ways to point back to Him when people praise you. It should`t be hard, after all He is the one who gave you everything you have. We have nothing to boast in but Christ. So, I encourage you, don`t get distracted. But press on. Press on in His strength.

Later,

--Rye Bread

Momentary

                 Psalm 103:14 "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are but dust."

There are times in my faith when I feel so strong. There are times when I feel invincible. Times when I have such a bring-it-on mentality. These times are some of the sweetest times. But they can also be the most dangerous. For though God always remembers that we are dust, we are quite capable of forgetting. I know I forget. And it`s almost always in those strong times that I do so. I begin thinking things that suggest that I am self-sufficient. That I have the strength I need.

                                       "I`ve gotten this far, why not a little more?"

When all along, I have done absolutely nothing, and my Father has done absolutely everything. And God is slowly, bit by bit, taken out of the equation. Of course, we would never admit that we would ever think things like this. I mean, that`s not what Christians do. Right? So, even thinking about thinking those things is completely ridiculous and impossible. Ridiculous, yes. Impossible? Eh...

God, by His grace, has been showing me and reminding me of my weakness. Teaching me humility. After all, when I think of how weak I am, humility is really the only proper response.

We are not invincible.

We are not here forever.

We are but dust.

So, let`s give thanks. Let`s give thanks that we`ve been given breath today. Let`s give thanks that, despite the fact that we were in sin and darkness, the Almighty God sent His only Son to redeem us.

Also, let`s pray that He might give us strength to fight against dependence on ourselves. After all, we now call Him Father. Think on that. Hit your knees. And tremble.



--Rye Bread

Well hello there

            Hello there, blogging world. Nice to see you again. Back in action. Here we go. I guess I`ll just kinda be filling you in on what`s been going on around here...

As far as I know, I won`t really be posting any pictures, because I don`t have access to them at the moment. So, I guess I`ll just be typing a lot. ;) Anyway, something that is super exciting is that I started taking guitar lessons recently! Soooooo super uber pumped that I get to do this!!! I started playing when I was 13, so 4-ish years ago. But I had mostly taught myself over that period of time, so this is going to be excellent for me, not just as a guitar player, but also as a musician in general. 

           While I`m on the subject of music, I will officially publicly reveal that I am working on an album. Although I think that most of you knew already anyway haha. But yeah, I am really excited about it and I am having a blast recording all of it and experimenting. I hope to put together a collection of 12 songs. I`m up to 7 right now, but those aren`t even quite done yet. I`m sorta hoping to  have it done by the end of the summer, but we`ll see what happens. :) Maybe I`ll just release an EP or something...I don`t know. Anyway, yeah, that`s happening and it`s really fun!

           Summer is almost here! Crazy. And speaking of summer, it is the season of finding a job for many, including me and my bro. We are hoping to work at Family Christian, and we`ve already put in about 10 hours there, but we`re not officially hired yet. Confusing, I know. They needed help moving in to a new location, so we helped out with that. Hopefully, we will get put into the schedule, but we`ll have to wait and see. 

           Also, related to summer, our sister Sunshine is home from school!!!!! Which is just fantastic. 

           Also, not really related to summer, my parents headed for Jamaica in the wee hours of this morning. Which means that we children are home alone for 6 days or so. Hopefully we will hold down the fort adequately. ;) 

           Just a couple nights ago, our little sister Peaches officially graduated kindergarten!! Whoohoo!!! The little program they put on was just great. It was so fun for me, T-bird, and Sunshine to watch, because we had graduated from kindergarten at the same school, and with the same teacher that Peaches had! They did a lot of the same stuff that we did in our graduating program. That was 11 years ago for me and T-bird....weird...I feel really old. 

           Oh, and our youth group just started going through Proverbs. We`re gonna be going through it throughout the summer. It`s been super good!! As we read it, we`re trying to find connections to Christ mainly, but also other New Testament stuff. It`s pretty amazing how much you can find when you`re keeping your mind open to more that just what you`re reading. It`s caused a lot of good discussion as well. I think it`s a really excellent way of edifying and encouraging one another as fellow believers. I`m really excited to continue with it!

          Anyway, there`s probably a whole lot more going on that I missed, but I`ll stop there. Have a fantasmagorical weekend!!!!

--Rye Bread