Welcome to me!!!! :) My name is Chris Miller, or affectionately known by some of my peers as "Cran". I have my best friend Bill to blame for that nickname...during my freshman year of college, I lived with Dan McCurdy, another one of my best friends. Since we hung out all the time, Bill dubbed us as "Cran", and somehow the name spread through my circle of Messiah College friends. Now, Bill won't call me anything but Cran (I also won't let him :) ), and the name seems to be stuck with me for the rest of my earthly life (and afterlife as well...whenever Bill prays for me, he prays for Cran...haha). So henceforth, we have Cran's Journal of Theological Meditations, also dubbed by Bill.
There are quite a few sides of me that I'll share in this page, most of which everyone knows about but some of which people may not know about me. I'm 24 years young, with the heart of an 11-year old. I graduated from Messiah College with a B.S. in Business Information Systems, and currently work at an I.T. Help Desk for a medical company, whose name I won't mention for security/privacy reasons. I am good with computers and can do a little bit of programming, software maintenance, and hardware maintenance. I love to help my friends if they have computer problems...so if you have a computer issue, send it my way! It's one area God gifted me in, so I want to use that gift to glorify Him.
Even though I may be good with computers, I'm not your typical "computer geek". I'm an athlete as well and am HIGHLY competitive. If someone challenges me to something on the court/field, I don't back down from it. I played organized baseball for 12 years, all the way from t-ball to high school level. In my prime, I could throw 80+ MPH fastballs. I also play volleyball, basketball, racquetball, football, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and basically whatever sport someone wants me to play. On given weekdays, you can find me at Planet Fitness at 6:00am. I believe as a temple of the living God, it's our duty to care for our bodies and keep ourselves healthy so we can serve our mission here until the Father calls us home. Besides, I don't know what I'd do with myself if I couldn't play sports. :)
I've been blessed with an extremely solid group of friends. I don't know where I would be in any aspect of my life without them. During my senior year at Messiah, I was blessed with the opportunity to live with 4 other guys, who would eventually become 4 of my best friends. We shared stories, we laughed harder than any of us had ever laughed before, and yes, we even cried and bore each others' burdens. During the spring semester of that same year, God led me to lead these men along with 5 others in a men's study, by reading through a book called "The Disciplined Life". Even just after the first night, the 10 of us became brothers. Proverbs 18:24 says that there is a man that sticks closer than a brother. While I believe that's true, I also believe God blessed me with 9 more. My journeys since have led me to others that also have become my close brothers. As I said, I don't know where I would be without these people in my life.
If you know me, you know that I LOVE to laugh, and more importantly I love to MAKE people laugh. I'll humiliate myself, crack a joke, do voice impressions, whatever it takes to make someone laugh, even at my own expense. I also believe that God gave me a gift to make people laugh and put a smile on someone's face, and man I love doing it. If someone's laughing or smiling. I'm happy. And if I can be the one to put that smile on someone's face....beautiful. I've seen both sides...I've gone through ruts and times of minor depression, and I know for sure I greatly prefer laughing and smiling. :) :) :) Haha
Finally, there's one more side of me which I don't believe is revealed too often, but it's the side which I believe is best revealed through this blog and other writings I do. It's true that I love to have fun in all I do, but I'm also a deeply thoughtful, deeply meditative, and deeply spiritual person. I'm extremely passionate as well, and while my passion has hurt me in the past and put me in bad places in my life, I've learned and am still learning to use that passion for God's glorification. I don't believe the Christian life should be anything less than a reckless pursuit of our God, and letting His light shine through us to the sinful world. I've also struggled with many demons in my past which have hindered my walk with Christ severely. In 7th grade, I happened upon a picture of a mostly-naked woman in a workout magazine, and I found myself looking at pornography for the next 7 years, all the way through my junior year of college when I finally opened up about it and began healing from it. It was the most difficult battle I've ever been through, and hurt many people in this path. But in Christ I am a new creation. In Christ I will BOAST in my weaknesses and downfalls so that He may be magnified. And because of this I stand unashamed and victorious over my past demons. Although I still face temptation, through the grace of God I will never enter that cesspool again. This blog is public, but deeply personal as well. I won't publish anything on here that I don't want anyone to read, but if God can use my experiences and struggles to help out someone who is struggling, then through God's grace let my fingers fly across this keyboard. Yes I have some things that I won't share with the general public, but I absolutely will not hide who I am...the good AND the bad.
Thank you to anyone who reads this, for allowing me to share about myself in this format. I pray every time I post something that my words can be used to bring someone closer to Christ, and I pray I can continue to do that through this blog. If you ever need to laugh, come to me and I'll do something stupid to make you laugh. If you ever feel the need to lose in an athletic competition, come to me and I'll be happy to fulfill that for you ;) But MOST importantly...if you're struggling with something and need to read about what this sinner is going through, I promise to let God speak through me, I promise to pray for you, and I promise to point you to the Father, who is eternally wiser and more comforting than I could ever attempt to be. God bless you, friend :)
