The Thing of the Day Writers

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ben Godfrey

(second from left)

Thing Writer Since: 2002
Age: 29
College: Goshen College (Communication), Lancaster Bible College (MA - Pastoral Studies)
Occupation: Retail clerk at Godfrey Bros. Meats
Ben enjoys: Mountain biking, skiing, hiking, spending time outdoors, playing any sport, campfires, listening to music, spending time with family and friends, talking to kids, laughing, teaching people about Jesus, and hearing stories of/learning from people with much more life experience than him. He enjoys driving places as well.
Favorites: Sports - Penn State, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Eagles. Snack - peanut butter on just about anything. Music - TobyMac, Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Disciple, Third Day, Rich Mullins, and really, the list could go on forever.
How he fell in love with JC: Ben grew up attending church from the time he was born. He gave his life to Jesus in fourth grade, followed by being baptized at his home church. There wasn't much change in his life though, and for a long time, Ben understood "living the Christian life" to be nothing more than not swearing and not drinking. It was during college, using the friendships that God brought into Ben's life, that Ben awoke to the realization of what truly living as a saved Christ follower really was. Through these friendships, accompanied by an excellent Bible study program called "BSF," Ben's faith became real. It was at this point that Ben truly fell in love with Jesus, wanting to proclaim Him in every facet of life to all those who needed to hear.

Why did he start up the Thing? Ben was excited to perhaps share a bright spot in someone's day during college. So, he started sending emails out. Eventually, Ben wanted scripture to be something that people received daily. When Joe Correll convinced him to create a blog, the focus changed a bit, as Ben and Joe were both dropping The Thing into God's hands, allowing Him to use it in ways that were beyond their comprehension. The start was to bring a smile to people's faces... Now, it's to plant the seed of Christ wherever God allows it to take place.
Church Life: Ben is a licensed minister, who is asked to preach at his home church, Codorus, about four times a year. He also is a member of the praise team, and is one of the advisors of the youth group. Helping to lead the youth is one of his favorite parts of serving at his church. Ben strives to be a positive, Christ centered example to the teens in a world full of negativity and uncertainty.

Rhonda

Thing Writer Since: January 2009
Age: 28
Marital Status: Married to Eric Ritenour
College: Geneva College, majored in Music Education
Occupation(s): Houseparent
Rhonda enjoys: Music, reading, developing her writing skills, watching movies, going to cafe like places and just visiting and "chatting it up" with people. Running, hiking, any sports...
Favorites: Steelers Football, old movies (like Hepburn stuff), history, and...cheesies? (must be a Western PA term!)
Favorite phrase she uses that Ben makes fun of: "Let's go sled-riding!!"
How she fell in love with JC: Rhonda grew up in church, but her faith took some amazing steps of growth in watching the transformation that Jesus made in her father, who had changed later on in life from a mean alcoholic, to a "can't stop telling people about the love of Jesus" kind of Christian...She was blessed to witness this change in his life even though his life was nearing an end and he passed away shortly after of brain cancer. I'm sure she'll tell you more about that as the time goes on...
Why write on the Thing? Rhonda agreed to write on the Thing because I (Ben) forced her to...haha...In reality, she was a part time Thing viewer, and then as Joe (then writer) and I felt the need for a third writer, to help keep the quality of the Thing up, as well as give us some "down time," I asked her if she'd want to join the team. She said yes, because she wants to seize the opportunity to put some of her thoughts and prayers into words. And you'll love reading the words she writes!

Connection: I (Ben) know Rhonda personally because she is the wife of our former young adult pastor at Codorus Church, Eric Ritenour. Eric came to the church in 2007, and soon after proposed to Rhonda. Then they were married, and Rhonda joined Eric in York, PA. Since being at Codorus church, she has shown that she is a woman chasing the heart of God, and it is evident in everything she does. We are pleased to have her thoughts on The Thing of the Day.

Thing History

The Beginnings - The Thing of the Day started in the fall of 2002 during Ben Godfrey's senior year of college. Ben was inspired by his friend Lisa Rose who at the time was producing the "Word of the Day." Ben realized that everyday was some kind of "National day of this" or "National Day of that." As this intrigued him, he thought others might want to know. An email address list was put together, and he began emailing this information to everyone. The initial purpose of The Thing of the Day was to bring a chuckle or smile to someone's face for a part of their day. The thing began to change when the Lord put it on Ben's heart to share scripture as well. The Thing format then modified to having a daily verse, accompanied by "The Thing" which was a joke, funny story, riddle, funny picture, or whatever. This email format continued sometimes quite regularly, but other times quite sparsely, until early 2006.

Hey, Let's make a BLOG! - In the fall of 2007, Joe Correll (a faithful Thing of the Day email reader) had a thought. He told Ben how much he used to like the Thing of the Day emails, and had a challenge for him. What if The Thing went to a whole new level? A blog with daily posts? Really?!? Joe offered to help write, and after some consideration, Ben was on board. At the time, blogs seemed quite foreign to Ben, so he was a little nervous about it, but Joe helped him push through those anxieties. The new format of the Thing of the Day became basically a daily devotional, with a day off on Sundays. Little did Ben and Joe know how God would use The Thing...

Writer History - On the Thing, we have had a couple of guest writers from time to time, but the blog's original writers were Ben and Joe. The burden of posting six days a week began feeling heavy to them, so in January, 2009, Rhonda Ritenour was added as a third writer. Eventually, Joe's wife Laura began to write as well. In May of 2009, Joe and Laura stepped down as writers until September 2009 when they began writing again. In December 2009, Joe truly felt that God was calling him away from the Thing. Finally, in January 2010, Ben and Rhonda added Sheila Werner as a third writer. Alex Bahn also was a writer for a little while in 2010. In January 2011, having quite faithfully served God through the blog for a year, Sheila stepped down as a writer, focusing on some other areas of ministry in her life. In February, 2011, Matt Rapach joined as a writer. Matt wrote for a month or so, but then resigned, as God had other things in store for him.

Today - Ben and Rhonda desire to be vessels used by God to glorify Him and promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We wholeheartedly believe that Jesus Christ's death on the cross is our only means of salvation from the sins we have committed in life. We have seen The Thing being used to encourage people, and the blog has been visited by countries all over the world. This, combined with God bringing an average of around 30 viewers a day to the blog, excites us very much, as we see Philippians 4:13 coming to life - We can do all things (even share the Gospel to the world through a little blog) through Christ who strengthens us.