tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-204641972011-04-21T19:58:14.973-07:00Bryan Osbornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615361222760181362noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20464197.post-1145639201299803372006-04-21T09:52:00.000-07:002006-04-21T10:06:41.316-07:00Ok, it's been WAY too long, but here is the first official post. By the way, that's not me in the picture ; )<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5675/2050/1600/flat-tire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5675/2050/320/flat-tire.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Several times I have been out on my mountain bike and find my ride is becoming and more squirrelly. When it finally gets bad enough, I stop and check the tire only to find that there’s a thorn or some other tiny thing stuck in my tire and it has been causing a slow leak. Sometimes the hole in the inner tube is so small that you can’t even find it. The leak has been there for several miles, but I didn’t notice it until my tire was flat. It just kind of sneaks up on you until you can’t go forward any more.<br /><br />“Satan is cunning. I will never forget what Brother Thomas E. McKay said in an address from this pulpit: “We do not lose our faith from a blowout--just by slow leaks.” Elder ElRay L. Christiansen April Conference, 1958<br /><br />Satan will not temp you with adultery, right out of the gates. That just won’t work. He slowly chips away at you first. For example, he may start by getting you to watch inappropriate movies and then eventually maybe he’ll move you into Internet pornography. Baby step by baby step, you won’t even notice until suddenly you find yourself justifying leaving your wife and kids. You picked up the thorn several years back, but you didn’t even notice until you are now looking at a flat tire. I hear you say, “That could never happen to me.” I hope you are right, and yes, maybe it won’t be adultery, but we all have our own thorns.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/20464197-114563920129980337?l=osbornz.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bryan Osbornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615361222760181362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20464197.post-1136271041974290342006-01-02T22:40:00.000-08:002006-01-02T22:54:10.033-08:00Well, my good friend Dennis (<a href="http://www.denniswest.com">http://www.denniswest.com</a>) has been bugging me for FOREVER to start a blog, so here it is. I don't know why it took me so long to set this thing up, after all, I am a writer by profession. It is probably because every name I chose to use was already taken.<br /><br />I have been watching and participating in my own way in what is known as Illustration Friday. Although it is primarily an exercise for artists, I have been using the topics as a springboard for short stories, character studies, flash fiction and the like. I may also post reviews or observations from time to time. I hope you enjoy my musings.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/20464197-113627104197429034?l=osbornz.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Bryan Osbornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615361222760181362noreply@blogger.com1