Winners and Losers

The Field That Raised Me…

What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Sports have always been a huge part of my life. They’ve been there for as long as I can remember. I come from a long line of athletes. My grandfather even had an opportunity to pitch for the Detroit Tigers, but he chose to serve in World War II instead. My father was a great athlete too, and he was also my coach growing up, teaching me the game—and a lot about life—along the way…

I love a lot of sports, but my two main ones are American football and baseball. I played Little League all through my childhood and into my teens. I didn’t just throw on a uniform and participate—I excelled. I was a star, haha. I’m normally pretty humble, but I want to be accurate here so you can feel what I’m putting down 😅 I was mainly a pitcher, but in between starts I played shortstop and left field, doing whatever my team needed… I also hit for power and average.

In little league.. I once made an insane diving catch in left field to win the game… the crowd went nuts… bum-rushed me and carried me off the field on their shoulders cheering haha…

Sports were where I learned who I was when things got hard…

I kept it going into junior high and high school, playing both baseball and football. On the football field I lined up at quarterback, wide receiver, and at cornerback on defense, and I excelled there too. The dream was always to try and go pro in baseball, but along the way I got pulled into the music scene and ended up chasing that route instead. Even then, I never really left sports behind. I kept playing, jumping into league softball over the years and staying connected to the game any way I could.

As far as watching sports, my heart stays close to home. I love the Atlanta Braves and Falcons, and when it comes to college football, I’m a huge Georgia fan—Go Dawgs! Major League Baseball, the NFL, and college football are my mainstays, but I also enjoy basketball and golf, both playing and watching. Sports have always been more than just games to me. I’m thankful I grew up the way I did, grateful for the chance to play, I miss them days…

…….⚾🏈→🧠→💪→⛈️→†→’…….o8o→||→{me}→~⛈~→|†|→’ …….⚾🏈…….“`💥→🧱→|†|→’…….⚾+🏈→|me|→⛈️→’

My first year in little league… im holding the bat wrong in this pic.. my hands are opposite how they should be lol

1 Corinthians 9:24–26 (NIV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize… Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Almost

Two Lottery Stories

What would you do if you won the lottery?

I’ve got two lottery stories. Here’s the first—one that’s stuck with me for years.

Back when I used to work delivering top-grade fruits and vegetables to restaurants all over Atlanta, one of the guys I worked with told me this story about his aunt and uncle up in Michigan. They were the kind of folks who played the lottery religiously—same numbers every week, knew them by heart. His uncle worked construction, his aunt stayed home.

One day, the uncle was on the job, radio on in the background, when the lottery numbers came up. One by one, he heard them read off… and they were his numbers. Every single one. He stood there frozen, trying to grasp it—he was a millionaire, just like that. He felt like Jed Clampett, like George Jefferson—about to “move on up,” as they say. He couldn’t believe it—after all that time, the numbers finally hit.

Trembling, he grabbed his phone and called home. His wife answered. He could barely get the words out—“Honey, we won. We won!” You can imagine that rush of joy, disbelief, tears, laughter—the whole spectrum of emotions hitting at once.

When they finally calmed down, he asked her, “Where’s the ticket?”

Silence.

She didn’t know. Couldn’t remember. They searched every corner of that house—you name it: drawers, kitchen counters, coat pockets, even the trash—but the ticket was gone.

Never turned up.

It was a multimillion jackpot—ten million or more, my coworker said. They never recovered from it. They ended up divorcing. He drank himself into an early grave; she lost her mind and eventually wound up in a mental hospital.

I’ll never forget that story. They were just one missing ticket away from a whole new life. Makes you realize how thin the line is between winning big and losing everything…

The second story’s a little different—it’s about the strange brush I had with the lottery once.

I don’t normally play. Honestly, it had probably been ten years since the last time I bought a ticket. But one day, these numbers just popped into my head out of nowhere. They felt… random, but not really. So I scribbled them down and thought, why not? Maybe I’m supposed to play these.

That evening, I bought a ticket for the Fantasy Five drawing. Later that night, I sat down in front of the TV, ticket in hand, heart doing that nervous little dance while I waited for the numbers to roll out.

The first one—bam. I had it.
The second—got it.
The third—hit again.
The fourth—yes! Four in a row.

Now it all came down to the last number. If it hit, I’d be holding a ticket worth half a million dollars. I was right there on the edge of my seat, waiting… the winning number flashed on the screen—29.

I looked down. Mine said 30.

Missed it by one digit. Just one.

Still, four out of five wasn’t bad—I got a hundred bucks out of it. Not life-changing, but it sure made for a good story.

Funny how luck works, isn’t it? One number can mean the difference between a payday and just another story before bed…

So I guess if there’s any moral here, it’s this—don’t store your hopes and dreams in things that can be lost…
store them where they’re eternal —
that’s where the true jackpot is waiting…

As for me… I don’t believe in luck or chance.

…….🚫💰🏃‍♂️🌍…⏳🕯️…👋🪦🚫🧳…🚘⚰️🚫🧳🧺…✅💎⬆️☁️✝️…♾️✨…….—/—$→🌍…⏳…→∅…⚰→∅…→↑†…∞’…….🚫$→🌍…⏳…⚰️→🚫🧳…“no hearse w/ luggage rack”.🤷‍♂️..↑†☁️…💎→♾️’…….—/—$→🌍…⏳🕯️…⚰️→∅…↑†☁️…💎♾️…….<3†’

Matthew 13:44 (NIV)
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field…”

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~                          …..t

I Am Back 🙌

So I’ve been sick for two years…
it’s been horrible…
I’ve been gradually getting better over these last months…

A few weeks ago…
I made huge progress…
felt like I got healed…

And today…
I feel it in every way…

I’m gaining weight again…
I’ve been working out daily for almost two weeks now…
and in a short time… I’m putting on muscle…
I’m looking better than ever…
I’m feeling strong…
I feel like myself again…

And I can’t praise God enough…
Oh thank You… Holy Father…

I’ve had people all over the world praying for me…
pulling for me… and my girlfriend’s faithful prayers…
Oh how grateful I am…
thankful…
humbled by the entire experience…
Oh how happy I am…
that it’s over…

because there were moments I truly wasn’t sure I’d ever get back here…

Honestly.. my faith wavered over these past few years… I was so sick…
I lost nearly 60 pounds…
I was told it was cancer…
then told it wasn’t…
and to this day… I still don’t know what it was…

I just know it was hard…
a daily struggle to not give up…

But now…

Because of my God —
I am back…

Not just back…
but renewed…
Stronger…
Better…
Alive in a way I hadn’t felt in years…

And today…
I stand here in gratitude —
the fear is gone…

All glory to God —
the healer…
the restorer…
the One who carried me when I couldn’t carry myself…

Amen and Amen.

Forever and ever…

“Though He slay me.. yet will I trust in Him…” — Job 13:15 (NKJV)

“The Lord restored the health of Job…”
— Job 42:10

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Bryan Loia Hudson…

(Loia is pronounced “Loy”)

Write about the significance and meaning of your name.. etymology.. etc..

I was given two names…
—one stands…
—one speaks…

Bryan holds the ground…
Loia says the thing…

Somewhere between the two…
—I live…
—I write…

Song Of Solomon 4:16… “awake.. north wind.. come south wind!
blow on my garden… that its fragrance may spread… everywhere…”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

the boy who went fishing and never came home

a memory I have carried…

I still see him
when I think of that summer…

a small boy
with a fishing pole bigger than his arms…

walking the neighborhood
like he belonged to no one… and everyone at the same time…

I didn’t know then
that some children are already alone
before anything bad ever happens…

that summer hung over us like syrup…
slow…
impossible to escape…

he was always there on those endless days…
quiet…
never saying a word…
just giggling
smiling a lot…

his face dirty…
always alone…

he moved like a question mark…
drifting through the neighborhood…
always in spaces kids that age
weren’t usually allowed to be
by themselves…

something in me felt off about it…
but I ignored it…

because kids do that…

I told myself…
that’s what summers do…

scattering children
like dandelion fluff…

at first.. I thought
a grown-up had to be nearby…
surely one would come for him…

but they never did…

until that one day…

That summer—
I was staying at my aunt’s…
with my cousin…

a place always full of noise
and boys
and bikes
and long days…

I was 12…

there were a lot of us my age…
we all fished…
it was just what you did…

you grabbed a pole
walked
until the water showed up…

the lake sat in the neighborhood
like it belonged to us…

and on those days…
it did…

we went there laughing…
competing…
pretending we knew what we were doing…

none of us thought twice about it…

back then…

the water…
was just water…

we walked with our poles dragging behind us…
dust lifting
settling again…

no hurry…
no reason to hurry…

the neighborhood felt stretched out that afternoon…
like the distance between things had grown…

it felt like the world
was holding its breath…

I remember thinking
the day was taking its time…

not knowing
why that made me uneasy…

I saw him…

his quiet smile…

there by the water’s edge…

he was fishing…
by himself…
like always…

his name was
little Jerry

he was
5

we got bored of fishing the way kids do…
lines reeled in…
poles dropped in the dirt…

someone said swimming…
and that was enough…

we ran to a neighbor’s house
down the street…

his mom was outside…
she cut a watermelon open
on the porch for us…

red juice down our wrists…
seeds stuck to our fingers…

laughing…
sticky…
unknowing…

the last normal thing…

the air tasted like sugar and sun—
and I remember thinking
I’d never seen a red
brighter than that watermelon…

when we walked back toward the lake…
the day was gone…

the air was torn open…
like something holy…

I heard a woman screaming
before I saw her…

oh no… my baby…
oh no… my baby…

again and again…
like the words were all she had left…

someone’s radio was playing
on a distant porch…
bright
against the screams…

my aunt was there…
standing still…
her face not hers anymore…

people were running…
shoes left behind…
voices everywhere…

and without anyone telling us…
we went into the water…

all of us…
spreading out…

hands down…
feet searching the bottom…

the water smelled like mud and metal…

it was no longer just water…

I stood beside my aunt…
searching…

then her voice split through everything—
in a tone I had never heard before…

oh my God…
here he is…
I have him…

I’ll never forget seeing him come up
from beneath the surface…

the water ran off him
like silver threads…

with him in her arms—
she rushed to shore…

he just laid there… still…
quiet…

fear was on the air—

CPR…
chest compressions…

pressing…
breathing…
pressing…
breathing…

the images…
stacked on each other…
in my mind…

everyone was praying
when the ambulance arrived…

they took him away…
still working…
still trying…

and so…

he wouldn’t make it that day—

he died in the back of the ambulance
on the way to the hospital…

his fishing pole…

at my feet…

the hook…

still baited…

the water went still again…

Matthew 19:14
Let the little children come to me… for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~          🎣-¡

Above It

Where can you reduce clutter in your life?

I’m working on rising above everything
that comes against me…



it doesn’t have to crush me…



I can crush it…


—                                                                      😎`’

👀🔙⏳
🧬🌱
👫❤️👥
🌊🌊🌊                                                 ✝️
⬇️🌊🌀                                   🩸
😮‍💨💨
⏳⬇️🌊
🆘❓
⏰❌🚫                💧
😨🤐                                                               🪶
⚠️🧍‍♂️
🌍🧠
🙅‍♂️
👀➡️🗺️.                         ✝️
💭✨
🌍🧲💥                                                 🩸
✋🔙
🙈⏳➡️👁️
⚖️❤️
🤝🧬❌📦
🙏🕊️
⏰❌🚫              💧
😨🤐
⚠️🧍‍♂️
🌍🧠                                                               💧
⏰❌🚫
💪🔥            🩸
⚠️🧍‍♂️.                                                ✝️
🌍🧠
🙅‍♂️
🌌➕🙏
🌌➕🙏
👁️✨
⏰❌🚫            💧
😨🤐
⚠️🧍‍♂️.                                   🩸
🌍🧠
⏰❌🚫             ✝️
💪🔥👀
⚠️🧍‍♂️.                                                         💧
🌍🧠
🌌➕🙏
🌌➕🙏           ☔                                💧
👁️✨                 😎…
🙅‍♂️⬇️
🙅‍♂️⬇️….. emoji lyric tower ☝️

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 🔥
We are hard pressed on every side… but not crushed… perplexed… but not in despair… persecuted… but not abandoned… struck down… but not destroyed…

bryanforchrist               …..t

© 2026 Bryan H. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~                    

Ghetto S’mores…

What snack would you eat right now?

Ghetto S’mores… smoked oysters… cream cheese… Ritz cracker… Trust me… 🔥

…….🍘🐟➕🧀→😄→🙅‍♂️👎➡️😋👍→🔥😈✨’

I try to find some peace of mind
When my life’s treating me unkind… yeah… Pain will be my motivation
I’m gonna use my imagination
Yeah… I’m gonna live before I die…

YOLO…

© 2026 Bryan H. All Rights Reserved.

`’.,°~

Saltwater and Second Chances

The Day Me and My Friend Almost Drowned…

It was the summer of 1996…
I had it all figured out—
  until I didn’t…
I thought I could—
  until I couldn’t…

Life shows up at times…
 and will straight wreck your ship—
it’s a beast…
 a leviathan…

You can’t just ebb with the tide…
 if you don’t lead it—
  it will lure you…

Drowning is not an option…
Swim like your life depends on it—
  because it does…

Me…
my friend Terrell…
and his girlfriend Helen
decided to go to Panama City.. Florida
for the weekend…

It was about a six hour drive from Atlanta…
I was really spontaneous back then—
 so were my friends…

We would do crazy stuff on a whim…
 without thinking much about it…
it was Helen’s idea—
 T and me just looked at each other
  and smiled…

Within half an hour…
we were in the car and on the road—
 the highway was our runway…
 we didn’t have a flight plan…

After watching my life race by
like highway lines…
for what felt like eternity—
we finally made it…

That’s a notorious drive…
 it always feels double the time it takes…

So we found our rooms…
 chilled for a short time…
bought beer—
 and headed to the beach…

I didn’t know this but
T brought a funnel…
and he knew I had never done it before—
 so I tried it…
  about choked myself…

No bro…
it’s cool…
thanks anyway…

I like to actually taste
and enjoy a beer—
not shoot it like a rocket…
Down my throat…
to my brain
and insides…

So after a day of brutal heat
and alcohol…
I could hear the Gulf
calling my name—

Deep calls to deep…
 like a favorite song…

The two of us traded
the safety of the sand…
 for liquid turquoise…
oh.. how good it felt
on my body…

Such a beautiful and strange thing—
 is water…
It gives life…
 it can take it too…

We both were excellent swimmers…
 loved it so…
spent a lot of time in the water together—
 we ventured out pretty far…

I started to get a little tired…
Told T we should head back to shore—
 he agreed…
I could tell he was tiring too…

We hit a sandbar…
finally able to stand…
feel the bottom again…

I could feel the alcohol
hitting me more…
 creeping up on me…
  my head was spinning…

As I was bobbing…
 fighting waves…
an undercurrent picked up slightly—
 pulled us off the sandbar…

We could no longer stand…
It was back to treading…

T wasn’t looking good—
 he had way too much to drink…
This was a bad idea…
 things were about to get real…

Suddenly—
we were like two kites
with broken strings…

He started to struggle hard…
 fell below the surface…
  then up again…
   then down once more…

Oh no…
 oh no…

He cried out for me—
 help me…
  then he went under…

I went down after him…
with what strength I had left—
 got him back up…

But he was in survival mode…
 total panic…

He clung to me—
 I couldn’t move
  my arms
  or legs…

Next thing I know…
I was under water…
 he was on top of me…

Stepping all over me—
 his feet pushing me further down
as he fought for his life…
 to stay afloat…

I sank below…

Under water…
 out of strength…
  out of breath…
   far from home…

Fear spun over me
like a dreaded whirlwind—

I thought about the ones I loved…
 my life…
  how I should have done better…

I tried to fight some more—
 but I just had nothing left…
  zero breath…

I noticed the sun above…
 its beams shooting through the water
  all around me…

The fear left…
I was ok now…

I said a prayer…
 then from beneath the ocean…
  I said my goodbyes…

I gave up and breathed in saltwater…

Then—
unexpectedly…

I felt sand under my feet…
With new-found strength—
 I pushed off and up…

My head shot above water…
I found myself again
on the elusive sandbar…

I instantly started coughing…
 spitting out water from my lungs…

I breathed in—
 it was air this time…

I slowly walked
the narrow sandbar
back to shallower water…

I made it back to the beach…

My waterlogged body—
 collapsing…
  surrendering to sleep…

Later that evening…
close to sunset…

I woke…
 I remembered…
  I was so thankful…
   grateful…
    happy to be alive…

But oh my Lord—
 where was T…
  was he ok…

Then—
down the beach…

I saw him
and Helen…

The same thing had happened to him…
He somehow made it to shore…
 passed out…
  and slept…

He had just woken up
the same time I did…

This was all just so unreal…
How blessed
and fortunate
we were to have made it out…

I learned major lessons that day…
 I’m always learning stuff…

My friend T survived the ocean that day…
Only to be shot and killed years later—

Murdered…
 gunned down…
  in cold blood…

Like he was nothing…

over nothing…

He made it out of the water…
 but not the world…

And I’m still out here…

trying to make sense
  of the waves

that never stop coming…

Psalm 42:7 (NIV)


“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls…
all your waves and breakers have swept over me…”

© 2026 Bryan H. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

Across the Night Mile

my word journey…

When I was a kid…
in school…
I so enjoyed reading… and literature…
it felt like doorways…

I loved to write stuff back then…
my teachers would encourage me…
give me a little praise here and there…

I always felt a strange connection to writing—
it tugged at me throughout my early years…

But after high school…
I mostly abandoned it…
I just folded it up neatly…
put it away…

Except for trying to write a few songs once in awhile…
but it was like I had the worst word block…
for most of my life…

I could feel the words…
I just couldn’t effin find them…

I guess it wasn’t time yet…
I was still living it all…

So I laid my pen down…
grabbed a pick…
grabbed my guitar…

I let it fly…

I stopped trying to write my own songs so much—
focused on learning all the songs on the radio…

I bought album after album…
I learned them…

Music became me…

Great lyrics from the heart and soul of others…
helped me see in the night…

The words that were in me—
that I couldn’t find—
I found elsewhere…
and put them in me…

An endless amount…
filling all the holes…
inside… 😎

With my pen in my pocket…
a guitar in my hand…
I stood tall…

Step after step…
strum after strum…

I walked it out…
through the fire…
through the rain…
through the pain…

I walked it out…
across the night mile…

Alone…
but never alone…

I walked it out…

Now…
I just look back…
and give it all—
the final finger… 😁

I think the pen is about ready for action…
again…

A few months ago…
I had a dream…

Words were on their way to me—
riding the night…

I dreamt of a poem…

I was so moved when I woke…
I just laid in bed thinking…

Then—for about twenty minutes—
I wrote…
bringing to life the dream…

For a week after that…
the words kept up…

Coming from somewhere inside…
pouring out…
filling pages…
Feeling right…

like I found a buried key…
to a blue treasure room…

This happened all of a sudden…
in one night…

And it hasn’t stopped since…

I’m just trying to keep up…

I don’t know why it came when it did—
but I’m thankful it did…

The great dam…
has finally broke…

I started feeling something inside…
a hummingbird…

Telling me I should start a blog…
so I did…

So here I am…

So what do I do now?
haha…

I think I’ll just be me…

I started feeling I should write about my life—
so I did…
so I have…
so I probably will more…

I never dreamed how much it would help me…
by telling my story…

Like draining a fevered swamp…

So when I write now…
I pray some…

I pick out my music…
usually a full album…

I get in the zone…
it’s game time baby…

Then I remember…
then I go back…
to how it was…
to how it felt…
to the emotions of it all…

Then I embrace that intensity…

I let my words rise from inside…
like heat from the asphalt…

Then I let go of it…

I give it all away—

for good… 😎 `’.,°~

She once believed… in every story he had to tell…

Once divided… nothing left to subtract… some words when spoken… can’t be taken back…

And He who forgets… will be destined to remember…

© 2026 Bryan H. All Rights Reserved.

My Edumacation…

What colleges have you attended?

Life Christian University (LCU) —
minored at Hard Way Community College 😎`’.,°~

LCU is a real college… yes.. I actually attended 😄 studied theology…

…….⛓️⚫️😮‍💨💧🚬🚗🙏 🛣️’…….==o–||–o==→……🤕💔🍾😞🚙🙏🌙’……./\/\_💔_/\/\→’ ‘…….↯😵→😔→🙏→↗️’…….↯→…→/→^’…….🎓✝️→⛓️⚫️→😮‍💨→📚🔥’…….[ ]→==o–||–o==→’ 🤌🤌🤌💯

Well it’s been ten years… and a thousand tears… and look at the mess I’m in…

© 2026 Bryan H. All Rights Reserved.