What My Mornings Look Like…

What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

— the first hour, and then some

So… once my dreams let go
and morning rolls around…

I open my eyes—
and I’m instantly happy.

I’m glad a new day has begun for me.

I thank God…
tell Him I love Him…
just chill for a moment—
embracing His love for me.

Then I usually lay there for maybe ten minutes…
eyes open… just thinking.

Then I reach over—grab my phone…
reply to my girlfriend’s texts…

They’re always there waiting on me.

She’ll send a photo she took…
or a piece of her art…
a scripture she picked out just for me…
along with her words…

So Supergood to wake up to this…

After hygiene stuff—
I head to the kitchen… get my coffee…
make my way to the couch…

Start my morning devotions…

Two different ones I read…

“Streams in the Desert” — by Lettie Cowman
“My Utmost for His Highest” — by Oswald Chambers

Both from the 1920s…
both deep…
in different ways.

One poetic…
one piercing.

I read…
sit with it.

Think about it.

Then I pray…

I talk to God for a while—
real talk.

Then…

I shut my mouth.

I listen.

To what He has to say…

After that—
headphones on…

I open up YouTube Music
Choose something… then just let it go…

A mix of Christian and secular

Then comes one of my favorite parts—

I grab my guitar.

I try and learn one new song a week, sometimes more

Right now I’ve been learning…

“Infra-Red” — by Three Days Grace
Next up… “Fine Again” — by Seether

Most times…
I don’t use tabs…
don’t look up chords…

I just listen…
play what I hear.

Learning the lyrics are the main thing…
the guitar part I make my own…
in my own style…
usually…

I’ll jam for a while…
have some fun with it…

then it’s back for more coffee ☕️

Headphones back on…

Then I check in—

My ministry platforms…
my YouTube…
my blog…

I respond to people…
read what others are sharing…

I’m not a big commenter—
but I show up lol

Then later I think on…
pray on…
whatever I want to write or post…

or if it’s time for one of my weekly series posts—
I’ll do that…

post on my other Christian platforms…
make a YouTube short sometimes.

Then I hit my workout.

Every day—
except Wednesday and Sunday.

After that—
protein shake…
something to eat…

And yeah…

That’s been my mornings lately.

I’ve been on leave from work for about a month now…

So right now—

My job?

Is just having awesome days 😎

Also… at night… I read the Bible and whatever other book I’m reading… right now it’s Hemingway’s memoir “A Moveable Feast”

After I read… I listen to more music… then I spend a good amount of time praying for others… then I sleep…

Lettie Cowman
Oswald Chambers

Lamentations 3:22–23 (ESV)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases…
His mercies never come to an end…
they are new every morning…
great is Your faithfulness.”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson (bryanforchrist). All rights reserved.

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Gee Wiz…

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don’t want to grow up… I’m a Toys R Us kid… they got the best… for so much less… you’ll really flip your lid… from bikes to trains to video games… it’s the greatest toy store there is… gee wiz… I don’t want to grow up… cuz baby… if did? I wouldn’t be a Toys R Us kid… 🤷‍♂️

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

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Hidden Gems from the B-Side — ⛽️ FUEL (Week 20)

Shimmer 🎶 Bad Day…

So today I’m moving on… FUEL anyone?…

Man… I’m so loaded up with music and bands… sometimes I just sit there like… who’s next?… there’s just too many…

But yeah… Fuel… one of my favorites.
They’re a little different… some songs are slower… easy… almost laid back… but when they decide to… they can come in hard and rock the absolute crap out of you.

I’ve seen them a few times… but here’s a cool one…

I lived in Leesburg, Florida from 2o16–2o21… little old house… about two blocks from downtown. Leesburg is known for Bikefest every year… bands playing all week long…

And I’m not kidding… I could always hear it all from inside my house… loud and clear.

So it’s 2o17… I’m laying on my bed one day… windows open… just chilling…

Then all of a sudden…

music cuts through the silence…

this band starts rocking… hard… sounding really good…

I’m laying there like… hold up… who is that?…

then it hits me…

duuuude… it’s Fuel !!! 😁🥳😎

So yeah… I just laid there… in my bed… and listened to their whole set that evening…

super cool.

I got two for you now…

🎧 Shimmer — Sunburn (1998)

🎧 Bad Day — Something Like Human (2oO0)

Shimmer is the song that put them on the map… these 2 are a little more chill… in coming weeks… I’ll let them rock harder for you… thought I’d take it easy on you for starters 😏…

The concert I heard from my bedroom evening

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

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Miles, Music, and a Few Tricks Along the Way

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had…?

I’ve done a lot… I love a lot.

Sports… fishing… music… writing…
working out pretty religiously these days…
and I’ve always loved driving… oh… I’m a people and animal whisperer too…

I drove 18-wheelers all across the U.S. for 17 years… professionally.
Spent time training student drivers with FedEx Ground…
that part stayed with me… something about watching it click.

Same thing with teaching guitar and music back in the day…
there’s something about passing things on.

But if we’re talking secret skills…

I can juggle.

Learned it as a teenager from a guy at a pool hall…
with billiard balls.

And this one’s a little ridiculous but true…

I can throw grapes so high they disappear…
wait… track them back down out of the sky…
and catch them in my mouth.

Oh… and I can juggle grapes and eat them at the same time…

Yeah… I know… lol…

Nothing special… just a fun way to feed your face.

Not today though… too much other stuff to juggle…

˙uoıʇɔǝlɟuı ɥʇıʍ ƃuıs I sɐ ƃuol oS
…ʎɐs I ʇɐɥʍ ɹǝʇʇɐɯ ʇ,usǝop ʇI

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson

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Shakespeare & Me & Ben Howard (Week 21)

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Willy `•.

“A light condition in a beauty dark.”

Me `’.,°~

…that light in a shit storm…

Ben Howard !i¡-

“Keep your head up, keep your heart strong.”

Isaiah 45:3
“I will give thee the treasures of darkness…
and hidden riches of secret places…”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson
All rights reserved.

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Some Men Say It… Some Men Live It

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

This is Pastor Wendell Wilson…
he discipled me.

I met him in June of 2o08…
and ended up living with him for about five years.

He ran a Christian rehab for men down in Florida…
and after I finished the program…
he asked me to stay on…

become his resident director.

So I did.

I served there for four years…

and somewhere in all that time…
he became more than a pastor to me…

he became a father.

He was one of a kind…
a remarkable man.

I could tell you story after great story…
so many memories…

but what stands out most…

is how he lived…

How he loved people…

I’ve never met anyone who genuinely loved others like he did…

And the way he spoke to you…

man… he had a way with words. He backed them up too.

He would say things to you…
right in the moment…
exactly when you needed to hear it most.

One profound thing he told me that never left…

“Son… people would rather see a sermon any day… than hear one.”

That stuck like Chuck with me.

I still carry it.

Because as powerful as words can be…
they don’t mean much without something behind them.

I can say the most beautiful things…
turn your stupid heart to jello…

but at some point…

I need to shut my mouth…
and be about it.

Show you.

Let you see it.

Because I’d rather see something real…
than hear something perfect.

No matter how well penned it is…
it’s empty…
it has to be lived…
it’s just beautifully nothing…

I’d rather see things clearly…
and say things simply…

let action… with feeling… be the real pen…

Pastor Wendell passed away at his home in 2o16…
surrounded by friends and family…

and it was beautifully real… to see.

…,’…,’…t

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | bryanforchrist | All rights reserved

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Best Compliment I Ever Received

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

I’ve had some kind words over the years… but one stands above the rest…

It came through a window…

Back in the late 90s… I was living in a little downstairs apartment outside Atlanta… just me… a guitar… and a lot going on in life…

Most nights I’d sit by that open window and play… sing… pour it all out…

What I didn’t know…

Was that someone was listening…

There was a girl in the neighborhood… and for about a month… she would come by at night… lean up against the outside of my building… just out of sight…

And listen…

She told me later… she’d wait, hoping I’d be there… that my songs helped her get through things she was dealing with…

That she would just stand there… breathing it in… and for a little while…

She could forget her life…

One night… she finally said hello…

And I’ll never forget all the things she said to me…

That my music gave her peace… even if just for a moment…

I’ve never had a better compliment than that…

Not applause… not praise…

Just knowing that something coming out of my heart… reached someone else’s…

And helped them breathe a little easier…

That’s everything to me…

If you want to read the full story, it’s here…

https://loia.blog/2025/12/21/the-window-song/ 👈

Proverbs 25:11 (KJV)
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | All rights reserved

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Shakespeare & Me & Hootie (Week 20)

Troilus and Cressida

Willy `•.

“Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back…
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion…”

Hootie ♭ ♮ ♯

“Time… why you punish me?”

Me `’.,°~

Tears run deep…
in dueling smile lines…

James 4:14 – “For what is your life?
It is even a vapor… that appeareth for a little time… and then vanisheth away.”

© 2026 bryanforchrist | All rights reserved

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Hidden Gems from the B-Side — Flyleaf (Week 18)

So I Thought ♬ Cassie

Hey yall… happy Sunday… today I have two more from Flyleaf for you.

Both of these songs carry a lot of emotional weight. Cassie was inspired by Cassie Bernall, one of the students killed during the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, and reflects on the courage of standing firm in faith even in the darkest moment. So I Thought looks at a different kind of struggle — that painful realization when someone you trusted turns out not to be who you believed they were. Together, they show two sides of Flyleaf’s writing: faith under fire… and truth after betrayal.

♬ So I Thought
Album: Flyleaf
Year: 2005

♬ Cassie
Album: Flyleaf
Year: 2005

John 16:33 (KJV)

“In the world ye shall have tribulation…  but be of good cheer… I have overcome the world.”

© 2026 bryanforchrist | All rights reserved.

`’.,°~                         …t…

A Short Story Idea the Lord Gave Me

Yesterday, the Lord dealt with me all day about writing short stories in the future.

He reminded me of a time when I was about 10 years old. I shot and killed a bluebird that was resting on a clothesline. I was so sad. I held it in my hands, crying.

I took it to my mother, thinking we could save it — but it was too late.

Yesterday, God brought that moment back to my mind.

And He gave me an idea for a story… how that bird could represent Christ dying for me.

He also gave me the title

Soft Blued Kings

I spent three hours last night just trying to write the opening sentence. With His help, this is what I came up with

Way up in a lone Georgia pine, proud were the wings of two —
a bird of a father, a son true blue.

This story will take some time.

I’m going to take it slow…
and allow the Lord to help me write every bit of it.

It will be my first short story like this, and maybe the first of many.

© 2026 bryanforchrist

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