Why I Write and Who I Am

[blswinney7]

Hello! My name is Bryan Swinney. I am a born again, Spirit filled Christian, who is an advocate of God and His Spirit. I love to share His love and His plan of salvation with everyone. God has blessed my life so extensively that I will never be able to repay Him. So I endevor to share as much of Him with others as possible. That is the reason that I write as physical limitations restrict my mobility extensively. The limitations cannot silence my writing, so it cannot silence my witness.

Bryan Swinney
[(3*4)^2]*10^3=144000

[BrotherDave]

Hey bro!
Give us your testymoneee.
Write it so we all can see.

brotherdave

[blswinney7]

The saving grace of the Lord and the love of my Mom have allowed me to live as long as I have. The Lord kept his healing hand upon me from childhood, and my mother placed me (at infancy) in her face at night so she could listen to my breathing. Together, the Lord and my mother kept me alive, for I have a rarely diagnosed physical problem - central sleep apnea - complicated by asthma, heart failure, diabetes, and a myriad of prescription drug reactions.

My parents married when Dad was 21 and Mom was 16. They both came from a very rural setting where agriculture was the primary industry. In spite of the old idiom that “men were men and women were women” at a younger age back then, than they are today, is not necessarily so. They moved to a large city shortly after marrying to allow Dad to acquire work. Dad worked on oil field construction projects, which often took him away from home for long periods of time. This left my 16 year old Mom at home alone with a small sickly infant, little or no income and in an unfamiliar city - cutoff from her mother and sisters. Mom’s isolation from her family was worsened by the fact that her father was an alcoholic that abandon her mother and family, leaving their mother to raise them by herself. So, Mom’s dependency upon her family was much more intensive that normal. This situation placed some intense stress upon Mom and her relationship to Dad. In retrospect, I can identify numerous periods of separation in their marriage. Whatever the cause, Mom and Dad, after handling their emotional and day-to-day problems, did not have a lot left over for us children - my two younger sisters and me. We were five individuals who lived under the same roof without really being a family. Open or outward demonstrations of affection simply did not exist. I was 35 years old when I put my arms around my Dad and told him I loved him - Dad was so choked up with emotion that he was barely able to choke out, “I . . . I love you too.” That was the first time I can remember hearing him say that he loved me.

I am familiarizing you with this background so that you can see why a 12 year old boy would purposely begin searching for a better way to live his life. Just to put things into the proper prospective, there is nothing particularly outstanding in me, so the motivation to seek a better way of living my life had to come from an external source - from God Himself. The only hope for a better life, I found in the eyes of the older ‘saints’ of the church. They radiated a special glow that produced an air of love, hope, confidence, commitment, and joy that I did not see in other peoples lives. I decided that I wanted what they had and I did not want to wait until I was 50 or 60 years old to have it. I wanted it right then. So, I did not enter into a casual commitment to God, at age 12; I earnestly sought to know the Lord and His will for my life. At the age of 13 I made my public profession of faith and was baptized in a nearby creek.

During my junior high school years, I must confess that I did not accomplish much for the Lord, other than developing a sensitivity to His will and spirit. That sensitivity saved me from many pitfalls that young people often fall into. The Lord protected me from sexually intimate relationships by making me intensely bashful - a major accomplishment for a young man who was modestly popular and played a major role on the school football, baseball, basketball, and track teams. By His helping me learn from others’ mistakes, I had no desire to drink alcoholic beverages, because, I saw its destructive influence upon several members of my family - a grandfather and an uncle. During my high school years, I sang in my church’s adult choir, sang an occasional solo, and substituted as a Sunday School teacher. With the
passage of time, God’s influence upon my life changed me in countless ways - ways that made it possible for me to become and to accomplish things that I would never have had the opportunity to become or accomplish without Him.

His leadership helped me in making major decisions. He lead me into directing music at local neighboring churches, where the music directors needed some time away from their church. All the while He was preparing me for a greater role during a particularly stormy period for my local church; I was chosen to lead the music on an interim basis. I felt completely inadequate for the position but felt that I could not say, “No,” to the Lord. The lack of formal music training and inexperience in working out personal conflicts among the church family could have overwhelmed me, but the Lord provided me with what I needed through the deacon body and the interim pastor who set me at ease and provided me with the encouragement I needed. I would like to report that I successfully maintained the music standards and the church choir, which my predecessor established, but truthfully, I was greatly concerned about the old music program completely falling apart. A visit from two young former members of the church, who returned from college to provide special music for a service, dispelled this concern. Both of them helped me see that the entire congregation had become one big choir. The congregational singing had become a marvelous enhancement to the weekly worship experience. While I was concerned about the music program, the Lord was melting the souls of the congregation into a different and more marvelous creation. The Lord always provides me with what ever I need for the work at hand.

He provided my wife, Lois, and me with two precious and extraordinary children - Janna and Keith. I have always felt that the Lord provided my children as a cherished and treasured gift to me personally. I look back on the times when they were little and relish the experiences of those times.

The Lord led me into a marvelous business career with a major oil company - allowing me to stay on the leading edge of engineering technology for many years and eventually leading me into the management field. Where more intelligent and better educated individuals fell by the wayside, the Lord repeatedly placed me in a position of opportunity and helped me to flourish. When confronted by immediate supervisors, who were hostile, dishonest or distrustful of me, the Lord removed me from their influence. When supervisors made unfair demands, to which I usually would have exploded in a fit of anger, I felt the calming touch of the Lord’s hand which allowed me to respond in a positive and rational manner - helping the situation immeasurably.

When my vocation required me to relocate my family, the Lord always led us to a local church where we could serve Him and find other christian folks to befriend. The role of service, He provided, changed from time to time, but there was never a doubt of His leadership. I have often remarked to Lois that I felt like we were on the mission field. Our presence, in the many churches that we attended, brought a larger and more committed vision of the Lord’s work to many individuals

In summary, I must admit that the Lord took an introverted young man from a dysfunctional family situation in a small rural community and changed his life completely. The Lord repeatedly provided the required preparation and placed me in the right place at the right time - leading to new opportunities, responsibilities, promotions and recognition (both spiritual and secular). His transformation of me has been a marvelous experience, which has enriched my life in countless ways.

Yes, In spite of the physical handicaps, He has given me the joy that I sought as a 13 year old boy.

Fulfilling a need within myself, I have used every opportunity available to spend some time with children, especially those within my family, to the extent that at times other members of the family may have thought something was strange about me. I had thought my true intent went unnoticed and unknown until I overheard one of my nephews enter a room one day and proclaimed, “There’s Uncle Bryan, spending quality time with one of the kids.” I smiled inwardly and continued to read . . . . to his own son. There is no other explanation - this need to nurture and love others comes from God’s love and the presence of His Spirit within me.

Presently, I live alone in a small apartment in Houston, Texas with failing health. My wife of 44 years divorced me as of May, 2002. Her reason - her life had all the stress she could bear, mentioning the death of her father and mother, the fact that I had been in he hospital for three major instances since 1998, her forthcoming retirement from teaching, and her life long dream of traveling freely, after retirement, which she felt she could not accomplish with a semi invalid husband. Her solution was to divorce me after taking all of our accumulated savings for herself. Even so, God continues to bless my life. Since the divorce, my blood pressure has become that of a teenager and an active ulcer has disappeared. I still enjoy the presence of God and His living spirit inside my soul and I am at peace with the world and all men.

All I can say is; Bless the Lord oh my soul! Bless the Lord! And all that is within me, praise Your Holy Name! (Psalm 103, Paraphrased)


Bryan L. Swinney
1998, 1:31 AM, Revised Tuesday, July 1, 2003, 11:34 am

[writegirl1949]

Bryan, what an awesome testimony ... and what a humble man you are.

I'm sure your life has influenced others for the Lord and He certainly views you as a faithful servant. What kind of writing do you do?

Welcome to this wonderful site. I know your presence is a blessing here.

What I like best about this place is the diversity I've found, both in writing and in personalities.

Blessings, Francine

[MamaCB]

A wonderful write! Welcome to the site.

God Bless,
MamaCB

[ellenjames]

Bryan,

That's a wonderful testimony. Your writing is very good.

Welcome to this site. The people here are friendly and helpful.

God bless you!

Ellenjames

[dublinheart]

WelcomeBryan,
It's a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for opening up and trusting us with your testimony. :)

[David Meigs]

Bryan,

Glad to meet you bro. Once again, as your testimony reveals, when life (or the devil) gives us lemons, the Lord turns them into lemonade, and lemon chiffon cake, and lemon bars, and..., and..., and...


David

[Merry]

BRYAN! Welcome, Thank you so much for your testimony. Your faith example is one from which I think we'll all benefit. Glad to have you!

[rodojeki]

Blessings to you Bryan....thank you for sharing and Welcome......

Donna

[whitehawke]

Hello Bryan,
nice to meet you and thank you for sharing. You sound like a man of peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
Rulan

[Bill Snodgrass]

Nice to have you hear! Enjoy!

[blswinney7]

Each and every one of you are greatly appreciated. You make an old man feel welcome. Many heaping Texas thanks!

Bryan Swinney