Happy New Year!

Since this morning, I have a few updates!

First.. I got like six inches off my hair.. and layers cut in. My hair was all the way down to my butt... and now its just below my shoulder blades at the very longest point.. I freaked out a little when I got home and saw how much had come off. However, it is now a lot healthier looking and I'm sure it will be easier to bring it back to life with less of it to worry about right? :)

Second.. I don't really have a list of new year's resolutions... however.. I shall attempt to make one right now *Deep Breath*

1. Try to not talk people's ears off
2. Try to think about what I'm about to say. Is there a point? Could it hurt someone's feelings?
3. Try to sort out what on earth I'm doing/want to do with my life
4. Practice singing A LOT
5. (you saw this one coming) Get my hair healthy
6. workout

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Have a great 2015!

7. Sense when people need to talk or want help with something they're going through. Yeah, this might be the hardest...
8. Keep up with my "This Week's Question" series I just started.
9. Finish my costume (which really has to be accomplished before April.. I'm throwing this in here so I can be like, "YES! I FINISHED A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION!" haha)
10. Bring my grades up.. I hope

This of course didn't include the very obvious "Be a better Christian!" haha

Alright, thirdly... I am still trying to find songs to learn, people! I think I may start a new series on songs I like.. yes I'm that into music... Suggestions are greatly appreciated :)

Love!
Ruth

Two posts in one day................................................ Does that make up for not posting much or make it worse?????

This Week's Question: Does my speech say I'm a Christian?

This started bugging me because.. well... I suddenly realized that a lot of people talk as they shouldn't.

Let's start with the saying I have heard most frequently in Church. "Oh my God." Can I just mention the verse, "Take not the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Okay I think that speaks for itself.

One of the reasons we should be careful about our speech, is to show that we are different from the world. I mean, anybody can lose control of themselves and use a swear word, right? Besides, the Bible says to bless those who hate you and persecute you and spitefully use you right? So we shouldn't be cursing. We shouldn't use vulgarities simply because they are disrespectful, and we are supposed to be respectful. This all came out of a random conversation with someone I met online! lol  And the habit of someone I know slightly in real life.

But swearing is not the only issue we need to guard against. Being flippant in our speech is also a problem we don't even notice mostly. I know I have an issue with being flippant. Thankfully, I have never picked up the use of swear words, so I don't really have to worry about that, but being flippant is dangerous. It's easy to accidentally make light of something serious or your own feelings. Believe me, I have personal experience with this, and sad enough, it isn't previous personal experience, I do this just about every day, if not every day. I have accidentally hurt people by being waay too flippant. I've teased them without realizing it wasn't funny to them, and then I've had to try to make up. Not sure how well it worked....

So what my point is today, control your tongue. It's an often repeated exhortation in the Bible. The last few chapters of James deal with it a lot, and so does Proverbs. Paul mentions it.. not sure how often, but I know I've seen it. Let's control our tongues. Let's make our words count. Let's not offend people by not thinking first. I have had trouble with this since I was a little girl. I've always loved talking and communicating (wondered why I have this blog?????)

Hope this encouraged you!

Love,
Ruth

P.S. feel free to contact me at ruthlongworth62@gmail.com  Yes, that is a different name! It's the original title for this google+ account because the only blog on here before had been one for sewing. I used my "pretend" name!

Blessings!

Umm.. Random?

Okay ... So I was actually grounded over Christmas :/ So I didn't get to post Merry Christmas! lol Thankfully, however, I was able to tell most of my friends Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas for whoever I didn't tell! :D I know it is super late... :P

So a little update.. I was not able to make it to any Nursing Homes over Christmas. Didn't have a ride. However, it gave me a LOT of practice singing.. and I love it. Up next, I'm going to be learning some random songs and still maybe going to Nursing Homes throughout the year :)

Some songs I'm planning on learning.. If you're interested of course ;)

Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat (Friend asked me to)
Danny Boy (Pretty much know this one already)

So.. if you have any favourite songs that can be played on guitar... COMMENT AND TELL ME PLEASE! lol I need some ideas :) I'll probably toss in a few English folk songs :)

Yeah.. I know it's about every person's dream to sing someday. But,  this is something I really do want to do. I don't need to make it big, I just want to make people happy or thoughtful :) So my dreams are not ridiculous for those of you thinking they are LOL

Love,
Ruth

P.S. I'd love to hear some ideas for posts.. I am like.. clueless right now :)

Reality vs Our Dreams

I forget exactly what it was that made me start thinking about this. I know part of it was a song by Casting Crowns entitled, "Broken Together". Pretty much, the song is about a husband and wife that were arguing, and now he's saying that neither of them can be perfect, so can't they just be "broken together".

Media puts a lot of stuff out about happily ever after. Books... movies.. A lot of people have this idea that after they find their special someone, life is going to be beautiful. Well, no. Sorry to say, it isn't. Instead of having your own issues to deal with, you now have your spouse's too. And, heads up, no human is perfect, not even your dreamboat.

I'm afraid a lot of girls get caught up in daydreams about that awesome someday. They think it will be wonderful, to have somebody that loves them "perfectly." Well, sorry to tell you, nobody loves perfectly except God. It's a shame, but its the way it is. There is sin and nobody is sin free except Jesus, who is God.

Life only gets more complicated. It won't get easier, it's going to get tougher. Don't disillusion yourself. You'll never have life in control, because God controls life. All you can do is to put your trust in God and follow Him as well as you know how.

Now you're probably wondering, "What was the point in this post?" I really don't know. I just thought about it a bit and was like, you know what..... I don't even know if any of my readers have a flawed view of their future life. I just felt as if I aught to do a post. A lot of girls struggle with their daydreams and life not turning out as they had hoped. But just remember this, if God makes it happen, and you're a follower of Jesus, it will be what's best for you, whether you understand why in this life or not. It will ultimately be for your good. That could very well mean your spiritual good, and you may never know until you get to heaven, that is why we have to live by Faith.

So, I hope this encouraged you! It was a really random post, but hey, I thought of it so I posted it right?

Love!!!

Ruth

Judgement vs Loving Concern

I think we've all heard "Don't judge me" before right? They say, "God is love" and quote all the "Judge not that ye be not judged" verses don't they?

But have you ever heard someone in that frame of mind quote Matthew 18:15-17? It's all about confronting your brother with his sins. Look it up if you want.

So people might be like, but we're forgiven, just because I make a mess-up does not mean you should start "judging me". The point is, showing someone their sin is not judging. Your motive in pointing out a sin you've noticed in a friend should be so they can fix it so they show a better image of Christ to the unsaved world. That is not judgement. That is lovingly showing them how they should be doing things.

I try to do it lovingly, but it seems it never comes off right. Maybe we should make more of a point to always love.  My point in doing this post, was pretty much just to point out the difference between loving reminders and judgement. Judgement is reserved for God to give.

Also, when we're on the receiving line of reminders, we need to remember to be gracious and to think seriously about what the person is telling us. Even if you don't think you're the way they're saying, if you think deeply enough, there may be something to what they're saying!

So let's not judge. Let's have loving concern for each other as brothers and sisters!

Love,
Ruth

Reminder

Tonight at 8 p.m. EST we are going to have a prayer "hour" for the persecuted church. I'm calling it a prayer hour for the sake of the name, but you do not have to commit an entire hour. It would be great if you could join your prayers to ours sometime within the hour of 8-9, but don't feel as if you have to pray the entire hour! We are not meeting anywhere, just doing it in our own homes at the same time. I believe the verse, "Where two are more are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" also refers to gathering together in Spirit, which is what we will be doing! I already know a few people will definitely be partaking, but we'd love to add to that number! Make sure you tell your friends, Bible study groups, Youth Groups, anybody you know would be interested!

Just so you have a little idea about who/what to pray for... We are going to be praying for the Christians in places where there is a lot of persecution. Countries would include, Syria, Africa (I know that's a continent, but for simplicity's sake I'll list it), Korea, and China. If you know of any others, please feel free to comment and suggest them! Also, if you think of anything or feel as if God is speaking to you during your time of prayer, please share it with us in the comments on this or my Google+ post reminder.

Prayers for the Christians attempting to minister in these difficult areas would also be a great idea for tonight!

Love!
Ruth

Prayer Date

This Friday, December 5,  at 8pm some friends and I are going to have an hour or so of prayer for the persecuted church all over the world. We're not going to be gathering anywhere, just doing it at our own places. If you'd like to join us, feel free! If you don't have an entire hour to spare, that'll be fine, too, really I'm calling it an "hour" to make some sense because it will be roughly between 8 and 9. Myself, for instance, I don't know if my mom will need me for anything, but I'll try to put in a good amount of time. At least some time spent in prayer will matter a lot!

I'd love to hear from you if you're going to partake.. if you're not, I'd still love to hear from you! If you have any specific stories you know of that we could pray for, go ahead and comment! I allow anonymous comments :)

Tell your friends!

Love in Christ,
Ruth

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vintage Thanksgiving ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, anybody out there on the World-Wide-Web that is reading this! :D I hope you have an awesome day, lots of fun, not too much to eat, watch a good game of football, don't complain, and have lots of people around you who love you! If you don't have family and friends around, well, know that I'm here! I love you, and Jesus loves you, so you're not alone! :)

Of course, because it's vintage
 and WWII

Happy Thanksgiving, again!

Love!
Ruth

Thankful For

It seems to be "the thing" to do right now, to post something about Thanksgiving. I thought I'd try my hand at it before I have to go de-bone the turkey, help with baking and all sorts of other things!

While we're at it, why not just start a sort of blog challenge? Post fifteen, yes I said fifteen things you are grateful for! (I could cheat here and use individual family members, but I won't.. man I could get more than half with that!) Okay so the challenge will be called.... Thankful For... like this post!

1. God. I seriously do not know where I would be if I didn't know God was real and that Jesus came and died for me. I would be soo stressed so often!

2. Music. Both to listen to and to worship with... I love music!

3. Family. Sort of goes without saying! We irritate each other sometimes, but we're always there for each other when we're most needed!

4. My Pastor. He's really cool and encouraging, has an awesome family, shows us things from the Bible that we may not have noticed and is just all around really awesome!

5. My Pastor's wife. She's so sweet and caring, it's soothing just to see her! She's so motherly to everybody, too!

6. My ex-youth leader. Also a sort of mentor, best friend, all around awesome adviser! She really has helped me in the past year so much! She's a great Christian, really inspiring and motivating. She's such a good example!

7. My youth leader and worship pastor. He's so awesome! He's fun, he's serious, he's wise, he has an awesome wife and family! Best of all, he calls on us to live seriously and think about what life is really about!

8. Friends. Friends are just so awesome, aren't they? I don't have an exorbitant amount, but the ones I have care about me and that's what matters! You can ask them to help you with things, to pray for you, to pray with you, and generally rely on them! I love my friends!

9. Theresa. She's sooo sweet! She's so caring! She is soo soo sooo loving and wonderful! (and talented!) I can have awesome conversations with her for hours and hours and we never run out of stuff to say!

10. Bascha. She's like, the second Theresa! Caring, loving, wonderful, talented, awesome to talk to! We can go on for hours, too! She's so sweet!

11. America. Yup, proud to be an American! I'm thankful to God our country is like it is! It has its faults, but every country does, and if I have to chose, I definitely pick America!

12. Our armed forces. All the branches! Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, National Guard! God bless and keep them all!

13. Books. I love reading :P I read so many books it would make your head spin. I'm not the kind that quietly picks up a novel and sits there quietly under a tree wrapped in the realms of fantasy. No.. I sit here, reading books online (because I read so many books its not worth it to buy them :P) and every now and then you will here a rather loud giggle.... hehehe Then, after like four hours of reading, somebody will come up and be like, are you finished that book? Me: "I'm halfway" Them: "You were halfway about an hour ago!" Me: "Oh yeah, that was the one right before this" I go on reading binges! hahaha

14. Spaghetti. I love spaghetti! It's de-li-cious!

15. Movies. Especially old time movies. I love to watch old movies!

Okay, folks! That's all! Not everything I'm grateful for, but if I started listing more, it would get really basic, like, beds, houses... stuff like that! hahaha

I'm going to call on Theresa from TMarie and Olivia from Fresh Modesty, though I'm guessing she's already going to do something of the sort, to take the Thankful For blog challenge! Get creative, girls! If you can't write a post, I understand, but I think it would be lots of fun!

Love,
Ruth

Five Minute Journal

This is a little thing my youth leader introduced me to at youth camp. I have to admit I don't do it every day. I did for a while but then got so ridiculously busy.. or sidetracked.. or whatever. :D So here's the layout!

Morning ------

Grateful for: 1.
                   2.
                   3.

What would make today great:  1.
                                                 2.
                                                 3.

Daily affirmation ----



Evening -------------

Awesome things that happened: 1.
                                                 2.
                                                 3.

Things I could have done better: 1.
                                                 2.
                                                 3.


There ya have it! I just copy it out in pen in my notebook when I actually do it ;)

Love and prayers!
Ruth

Thoughts: Perfect Plans

Ever had stuff planned out, anticipated and looking awesome, then all of a sudden the opposing left-ender comes and crashes into your whole beautiful play? (Sorry, I've been reading old books with football accounts in them :D)

When that happens, well, now your whole play is destroyed, obviously its been figured out or they wouldn't have sent their left-end in. So now, you're nervous, maybe freaking out, confused, not sure what will come next, right?

But stop! Relax! You're not the coach or the captain. They've got a plan that will pilot you through the game with a good showing! It's all been planned out. So stop worrying, right?

There we go. Listen to the Captain. He knows his business. He knows the perfect plan! Possibly my favourite Bible verse ever... "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God: Those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Love,
Ruth

Veteran's Day

Today is Veterans' Day. It's a day we remember the people who have served through the military for our country. I am proud of everyone who has made the decision to sacrifice a peaceful civilian life to an uncertain military career. I'm proud to know some of them personally.

So I want to say "thank you" to all who serve our country or have served. Also a big thank you to their supportive families. Thank you for being willing to risk your life for our country. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm proud to be an American. Thanks to you, I can be one. God bless America, and as I recently saw on a bumper sticker, America, bless God! Without Him we would be nothing.

Love and prayers!

♥Ruth

Thoughts: Gods Will vs My Will

Okay so I'm changing the title of my little random series. Because the other way sounds... I don't know, not as nice? :D So I've changed the title to it :)

Okay. Here we go.

Do you know the traditional way of ending a prayer? The "Thy will be done. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."? It suddenly struck me last night while I was falling asleep that there should not be a difference between my will and God's. They should be the same. I should will what God wills. Right? Obviously His will is perfect. He can't will anything bad so shouldn't they be one in the same? Shouldn't I will for everything to be perfect just as He does? Shouldn't I follow Him and love Him and so want things to be how He wants them that my will is the same as His? I think it should. I wish my will would always be the same as His. I mean, once I know what God's will is, I'm like, "Okay awesome let's do this".. most of the time. But I wish it were such that I wouldn't wish anything except what He wanted. Too bad we're not perfect. It would save a lot of time hoping and wishing for things that might never happen simply because that's not what's best for us.

So, let's try to be of such a spirit of joy in God's will and joyful submission to it, that we can truly say, it isn't God's will versus mine. It's one in the same. Wouldn't that be great? Let's try to have the same vision as God. I'm sure it will help us to hear His voice better, as well.

Okay I realize I'm posting this kind of late and that I'm tired. If any of these sentences didn't quite fit together... just try to rearrange them in your head. I'm sure they all make sense, just not sure about the order they come in. I'm tired... I stayed up kind of late on the weekend and didn't go to bed early last night and now it looks like I won't get to bed early tonight either. Oh well. :D At least I gave you something to think about?

Love and prayers. As always you can comment and ask for any kind of prayer you may be needing. Keep me in your prayers, too, please!

Love,
Ruth

Thoughts: Daydreaming

Alright, new series ... I guess? I have no schedules for when I will post a new "I'm Getting a Clue", but whenever an idea strikes me I can post under this series.

I haven't come to share my daydreams with you, don't worry. But I'm going to talk about the affects daydreaming can have on us and definitely does have on me!

When I daydream (and I try very hard not to), it's usually a take on what could someday happen. I get really into, "Oh that would be so great if it did" and when it doesn't (I don't believe anything has ever gone how my daydreams go...) I feel like, "How bum. It could have been so much better."

So you might be thinking, "Well, so what? What's wrong with wishing things would go differently?"

"Be content with such things as you have." Remember that verse? I do. That's why I now try not to daydream. It's too easy to grow discontent.

Another reason, is it can draw our thoughts away from today. Living for today, doing right today.

Personally, I've found it a good idea to just steer clear of daydreams :D They do me more harm than good. It can be very hard, and some things aren't really distracting like others, so sometimes I don't mind, but I generally try not to. It's extremely hard for someone with a creative brain like mine :P

Hope this gives you something to think about!

As always, praying for my readers!

Love,
Ruth

Today's Question: Why Am I Afraid?

Well... this is the very last "Today's Question" because.. well, it's the end of October, and if I keep up, I will run out of questions! I may be doing a new series like... "This Week's Question" or something like that, but you guys will need to let me know if you want me to do it! :D

Okay, so, you may not be afraid of things, I am. I'm scared of the dark........... and I'm scared when I am the last person awake in the house..... Those are two funny statements, but let's get serious (but yeah they're both true, too)

I am frequently afraid that when I get older, I am going to do something stupid that I will regret. I'm scared I might someday turn my back on God. I've even been scared before like, "What if I'm not saved?!" You know, there are a lot of people that think they are saved, but never really were.... However, if you examine your life thoroughly, and dwell deeply enough on the why's of what you do, you can figure it out. (That's how I now know I am saved! lol)

So back to the case of me being scared I might sin really bad someday, and/or turn my back on God.

This is a big deal for me, or was, rather, before I found a very comforting verse.. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not death or life, or demons or angels, or our fears for today or worries for tomorrow, not even all the power of darkness" Romans 8:38 ... I was afraid because some people I knew had strayed from the straight and narrow. (By the way, this terror also crept in about what if my friends were to sin really bad and/or turn their backs on God) but then I found that verse. And I've been finding others like it, and it brings so much peace.

I am (or was, or sometimes am) afraid because I have a lack of faith in God to keep me close beside Him. I mean, why am I freaking out? After all, it's all through God that we even got saved, right?! So why would He just drop us? He won't, and that's why we can have peace! Another great post to advocate "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman! :D That is MY song ;) It's very special to me. Tenth Avenue North may be my favourite band, but "You Never Let Go" is my special song.

Love and prayers,

Ruth

Today's Question: Do I Have Faith?

Do I have faith? .........yes. Enough? No. Like most things in this fallen earth, it isn't perfect as it should be. Our faith should be strong enough to move mountains.

When we stress or are anxious about things, it is because we do not have enough faith in God. I don't stress very much.. I do about school, I do about my friends that are just now launching into their own lives. I sometimes freak out when I realize some of my friends won't be at my church next year. They'll be in college. It can be very disconcerting for me at times. I wonder how things will be... like, "Oh my goodness! How will I survive youth without them?!" haha Yeah, I know, that is not something that should freak me out, but I feel like so many people are growing up so fast!

But, as in another post I said, the verse, "All things work together for good for those who are called", really helps me be like, okay, chill! lol That verse is pretty much my motto! If it could be called a motto... A song that really has encouraged me in changing times is "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman (Love Matt Redman! :) ) It's helped me relax about friends I've been worried for and such soo... it's an awesome song! Besides, it's a great tune and beat! :D

Hope this encouraged you to be strong in your faith in God.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
  --Hebrews 10:23, NLT

Love and prayers,
Ruth

Today's Question: Who Do I Love?

Sort of built off of Tenth Avenue North's blog post. And also by a post by LeCrae I saw on Facebook :)

So... Who do I love? I know a lot of people may find this hard to believe, but... I love just about everybody! There are only a very few people that I don't like, and I wish I liked them! lol

Okay, but what the answer should be is everybody. Because, didn't Jesus say to love as He loves? And didn't He come to save everyone? And didn't He say that "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." ? Yes he did. So apparently, Jesus loves everyone, and since Jesus loves everyone and also told us to love as He loves, shouldn't we love everyone?

This is a delicate subject, especially for me right now. But the point is, to love the world, and hate the sin. Sort of coined off of Phillips, Craig and Dean's "Great I Am". :) So we love the people, but hate the sin they are living. Make sense?

Let's show the world how much we love them but not shrink from pointing out sin. (No I'm not saying to go around telling everybody the sins you see them commit, just if you need to address it, then do and don't shrink from it!)

So I guess that's it for today's :)

Love and prayers!
Ruth

Today's Question: Why Do I Still Hold On?

I hold on to a lot of things. I do. It's hard for me to let go of so many things! Friends... that is something extremely hard for me to let go of. I am *cough* too loyal.

What we need to be doing is accepting what God is showing us, however it is that he shows us. If God shows me that certain "friends" are not desirable, I need to listen to His voice and break off my relationship with them. If He shows me that something I really wanted is not in His plan for me, I need to humbly submit to His perfect guidance.

I mean, why not submit?! He has my good in mind and is planning a perfect life for me! The most perfect life that could be designed for me! Why am I still holding on?

We need to let go of things. This world is too trivial compared with the next to let things in this life ruin our next life. Let's look to the final prize instead of these pennies scattered along our trail. Let us "forget those things which are behind, press on toward the prize" along with St. Paul.

We can do this through Christ who strengthens us!

Love and prayers,
Ruth

Today's Question: Why Do We Put Ourselves Down?

Let's start by my saying.. I am so puffed up this isn't much of a problem with me ;) Actually, I don't think I'm too puffed up lol I wouldn't say I'm puffed up but others might :D

Okay, but this isn't so much a question post as it is me saying, "Stop putting yourself down! Is God putting you down? No! So why should you?" My great-grandmother, God rest her, used to say, "Don't put yourself down. There will be plenty of people in the world trying to do that without you adding to it."

You feel worthless? God is telling you that you are worth something! He loves you and that alone is enough to make you worth something! God is telling you you have worth. Who are you to say "No I don't." He's given you worth with His own blood! Saying you're not worth it is the same as saying His life wasn't worth it! You were counted worth His blood! You're going to tell me you're not worth my love when you were worth God's?! I see something wrong with that picture! It is in essence saying that God is wrong.... Whoah.

Let me just add, even if you aren't saved and are reading this, God still does count you worth His death. It's not too late to accept His sacrifice. As a matter of fact, let me just say, if you haven't accepted Jesus, how dare you turn your back on such a gift from God! Do you know that's the same thing as saying, "I don't care that somebody sacrificed His only son that way I wouldn't die." Can you imagine not being grateful to somebody when a criminal was about to shoot you (or harm you in some other way) and they bodily threw themselves in front of you and were shot (or beaten) to death? And Jesus' death was even more painful. I can't imagine not being grateful!

Okay that was rather rambling, I hope it made sense. Hey, there's a reason for this blog's title right? :D

No song reference today, I'm sorry, unless you want to google "Mercy" by Matt Redman (love that artist, by the way!)

Love and prayers,
Ruth

Today's Question: Do I Really Want God?

Don't freak out about the title. I know all Christians are like, "Yes! Of course I want God!" But to understand what I mean, we need to look deeper into this question.

So, let's say, yeah of course you want God right? Okay. But do you always want God? You want Him to work in your life and to give you strength and faith, right? But do you want Him to say "No" when you want a "Yes"? Don't you frequently have that feeling? that, "but  why not?" when God says "No"?  I used to have that like.. all the time! haha I used to get pretty disappointed. Now that I've been thinking more about, "All things work together for good", I have a lot more peace.

For instance, today I wanted to go to Youth, but my mom's tired so she doesn't want to drive me. I don't drive so I can't go. ....A year ago I would have been sour for about an hour and a half! lol Today I was like..... okay, I'm disappointed but, okay.

Some other things I have really wanted in life, but, at least for now, it isn't God's plan, so that verse can really be a life saver! Well I guess so! After all, it was given to us by the Lifesaver, right? :)

This post was kind of inspired by "Completely" by Among the Thirsty. I love that song so much. It's about giving yourself completely to God. Go ahead and google the lyrics! :)

I hope we all really want God!

Love,
Ruth

Today's Question: Who am I Giving Glory?

This is inspired by a Bible verse I read today in Acts 12:23... "And immediately, the angel of the Lord struck him because he gave not God the glory"

..........................Yeeeeeeeah.. scary! That's a pretty creepy thing to think of. I know sometimes we seek our own glory. I'm prime for that, I know! haha Which is kinda bad.. actually it is bad. Like, my music. Okay.. To truly know me you have to know that I really love music. I love playing guitar and singing. So what I really want to do with that is to bring God's love to people, right? Well yes that's right, I guess you couldn't answer that question :P However, I also have this little part inside that wants people to think I'm awesome at the same time... which is bad. haha It's not bad to want people to like you and think you are talented, but that shouldn't be the focus in everything we do. Our focus should be on bringing glory to God, because He's the only One that deserves glory.

Funny, while I was writing this... I was listening to K-Love... here's what I heard.

Steven Curtis Chapman ... "Do Everything"
"Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you 
Cause He made you to do 
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face 
And tell the story of grace 
With every move that you make 
And every little thing you do "

Pretty good song, google it or yahoo it or something! haha It's a good reminder :)

Love and prayers,

Ruth

Today's Question: Am I taking it For Granted?

Holler over to Jason Gray... "Good to be Alive" ... that's where I got the line :) Actually, that line isn't in the song... I skewed what the song says to get that question out of it ;)

So this is yesterday's post... I was grounded yesterday, so I'm sorry about that! I may do another post later, but I don't know :D

Are we taking life for granted? I know I do sometimes.. more often than not, really. We need to remember not to take life for granted. It could be taken from us any day. Car accidents aren't so infrequent as we might wish they were ... I mean... scary right? You could die any day! :O So we need to make every day count as much as possible. Just smiling at someone can make a difference in their day! I've seen people just kind of dull looking and I smile at them and they brighten up. It makes it worth it, seriously.

Let's not take life for granted. It has been granted to us only as long as it has been and we don't know how long that is. So let's make it worth while right?

Praying for you as usual! Keep me in your prayers too, will you? I definitely need prayer, everybody does! I especially want this blog to help people, encourage them. Prayer for my posts to encourage would really be awesome! :D

Love you!
Ruth

Tenth Avenue North

Hey, check out their blog... it's super cool! I like this post they just posted :) They put some stuff up that makes me think, and other stuff that's just so fun! haha

Tenth Avenue North Blog

They are like.. probably my favourite Christian band due to their stance on a lot of things! :) I like their lead singer's encouragements! :D

Hope it encourages you!

Today's Question: Who am I?

So... Who am I? Ever been asked, "Who are you?" I have.. by people I thought knew! HAHAHA  okay but that's off topic right? Who are you? Who am I? I am a child of the one True King (little nod toward Matthew West there ;) ) I hope you are too!

But one of the questions (and this I think is just kind of a recurring thing in this series.. agreed?) we need to ask ourselves ABOUT this question is... do we show that we are a child of the King? Really this is one of the most important questions Christians should be asking themselves. We are ambassadors for Christ (ambassadors are people pretty much who represent their country/king) So we represent Christ and we need to be doing it correctly. Not saying anyone can be perfect, but we need to be actively aware of our missions.

Summary... Make sure you are showing you are a child of the King. Try to stay mindful of being an ambassador for Christ!

Praying for everyone (of course in general) that reads my posts!

Love,
Ruth

Same as before, feel free to comment, especially if you want prayer.

Today's Question: Am I a Light?

Okay, I'll admit, these are spur of the moment, not taking all that long a time to come up with a question HAHA This one was inspired by me going to K-Love and seeing they were playing "Learning to be the Light" by Newworldson.

Am I a light? I certainly hope so! But, still kind of running with the general drift of yesterday's, it is an active attempt being made on our parts that will make us lights. It isn't a laxidazical (yeah I made that word up!) just living doing the "right" things. It is actively attempting to be more Christlike, to help those in need that is being a light.

Let's try to focus on becoming better Christians. Let's focus on helping others and not just thinking "oh I have this". There's a bigger picture than most of us usually find the time to see. James says that "true religion is to help the fatherless and widows in their time of need" so let's help those in need, physical, mental and spiritual need. Prayer for those we know need strength/comfort/peace is also helping :) I must admit that is a great deal the extent of my helping! I don't have many resources at my disposal, but I love to help through prayer!

Love!
Ruth

If you want, feel free to comment below. I allow anonymous comments, but I would love it if you would sign your name! :) Feel free to ask for prayer, too, for situations in the world, or for personal things, or for friends. You can keep personal and friend prayer requests private if you want, by not signing.

Today's Question: "Am I Just Getting By"

Song title by Tenth Avenue North :D Love that band! They have so many good songs!

So... Today's Question (new series I'm going to do on here! :D) I think it's a good question to ask ourselves occasionally. Am I just getting by? Well... I know a lot of the time that's all I'm doing. But we need to be doing more. We being humans, especially those of us who are Christians. We should have a mission to fulfill. We should be actively working to help make our surroundings better. We should be fueled by something, and that fuel needs to be God's Spirit awake in our hearts.

So umm in summary....

Let us stop just living and become alive. Let's pull together, nearer to each other to strengthen each of us in our work. (Anybody need a reference to No Man is An Island by Tenth Avenue North?) We need to drop our petty quarrels and disagreements and draw together as one!

We can do this!

Love,
Ruth

l Haven't a Clue what I'm talking About...

... meaning I don't know WHY I'm talking about it.

You know, it's really awesome being a Christian. Since I've steadily become more serious about it over the last year, it's really been cool seeing the way I've been learning things/being shown things by the Holy Spirit. I've found that my greatest comfort has been knowing God has a plan and that it is perfect. I know some people are probably like... comfort in what? I'll be the first to say, my life is extremely easy, nice, filled with love from my family and friends. I do, though, tend to worry about my future. I'm rather flighty minded so I'm not too good with sciences so sometimes I worry I won't get into college (I'm a music major hopeful) sometimes I get scared like, what  if nobody ever wants to marry me. That's like every girl's dream isn't it? Sometimes I might want something right now... But always, no matter what the thing is that I want or worry about, I can know that it quite obviously isn't time for that right now or I would have it. I can know that my future is going to be the absolute best it could be even if I don't get a degree in music, or don't get married. 'God works all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.'

It also makes life and following God a great adventure because I don't know  what is around the bend, but I know it will ultimately all be best for me, because God loves me and only wants the best for me.

Love,

Ruth

Encouragement

Alright, so recent events have made me realize that I need to encourage people more, and could use more encouragement myself! :) (I think everyone can use more encouragement)

So a little post about my random ramblings on about encouragement ;) (I want to promise this won't become an essay but i really don't know for sure ;) )

Encouragement- something that makes someone more determined, hopeful or confident (from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

I don't think we (and I know I'm assuming a TON about anyone reading this post) usually realize how much just a nice word like, "hey, I like your shirt" or "Hey, it's so good to see you!" can mean to people. I know I always feel special and happy when someone takes the time to notice me.

That being said, I realized I am waaay too not like that! haha I usually tease the life out of people (suddenly realized there are some friends I have that I have NEVER complimented :O) Not that I don't THINK the compliments, just I never think to SAY them.

Christians are in a constant battle against temptation. We need to be encouraged, which is why the Bible tells us to, "Encourage one another and build each other up" Our generation rising up now is the one that will make a difference in the world. We need to decide to make a positive, encouraging difference, not keep it the same, and not make it worse. We need to be a force for good. We need to take time out of our daily lives to encourage one another, help each other out with things we may be going through, and to notice each other more. This life is not about us. It's about God and how we can best show His love to those around us.

There are many people who feel alone, left out, unloved, un-cared for, hopeless, and lost. We need to (let me quote Tenth Avenue North's lead singer Mike Donehey) "come off of our islands and into fellowship with one another" (okay I think that's a quote haha it's basically what he says though even if it isn't) So I want to encourage you, to encourage those you know, those you randomly meet in a store, by being friendly, loving, caring and helpful. Let's come off our islands and help each other make a beautiful Cathedral! :D (yeah more Tenth Avenue North, but seriously they are so gifted!)

You can do this!

Love,
Ruth

Random... You guessed! Ramblings!

So I've been watching The Monkees a bit lately, and a line in their theme song made me think. It says, "We're the young generation, and we've got something to say" (yes I'm aware this is a strange place to pull what I'm about to say out of :P)

But that line struck me that we (meaning us teenagers now) are the young generation, and we should have something to say. I have something to say..... and we Christians should all have the same thing to say- that Jesus came and loved us so much that He died for us and then rose again so that we could have everlasting life.

My point is we need to remember to be examples, to speak the truth, and to reach out to people. Christians cannot stay in their little zone of safety within their Christian friends and Church people. (Yeah, I myself need to try to do this more) We can't be afraid to speak out in truth and love. We are called to be brave in Christ and we need to take the challenge and run with it. We cannot stay silent we have to be a voice crying in the wilderness of sin and despair.

Just some thoughts started on The Monkees theme song ;) Yay for the Monkees! haha

Love,
Ruth

Let's not Forget

Today it is 13 years since 9-11 so I just want to honour those who died during it by reminding anyone who reads my blog about them. Let's not forget their families, either.

God bless America!

Ruth

Revelation Study

So I noticed some things about Revelation while I was reading it through... this was a while ago....

So to start off, our pastor said he wanted us to read Revelation through three times without looking at anyone's commentary.. just reading it straight from the Bible. After each time we read it, we were told to write a paragraph about what we noticed the most etc... So I will type up my paragraphs and give them with their numbers beside them...

1. What struck me most reading through the first time, was God's anger toward sin. The passages where His anger are poured out are really intense. Also, the ultimate power of Christ as the Lamb. No one else "in heaven or in earth" could open the seals on the document God held. Mostly, the majesty of God and His heaven and His power and glory are what I noticed.

2. On my second time through, I noticed a lot of parallels (they will be listed after the paragraphs..) Mostly the usage of 1260 days (which is the same as 42 months). The symbolism also was a lot more noticeable. It is still difficult to figure out what is symbollic and what isn't, but it's getting easier.

3. I was reading through for the third time, and I realized that a lot of the imagery of like, Kings and such doesn't necessarily refer to actual kingdoms and kings. It's more a grouping of the enemies of God. The imagery is really strong. John wants us to see what he saw and to hear it like he did. The book is definitely organized. Some things that are going to occur at the same time are not all mentioned in the same passages, but you can look and compaare and put a lot together that isn't in the same passage. It really shows how great God's power is and how much He hates sin. It also shows His mercy. When the spirits are crying from under the altar, God says to wait, "until the number of their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed." So really, it's as if He were waiting for more people to accept Him (and be martyred for their faith) Also, when I read what's going to happen to His enemies, I really realize how awesomely merciful He was in saving me. Why me? Just because He wanted to. So it really shows both "sides" of God as it were.

Okay so there are my paragraphs. Now some parallels I noticed (which you can look up) are these:

The times in all these verse are all the same length...

Revelation 11:3, 11:2, 12:6, 13:5

And the number of people standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion is the same as the number of Jewish people sealed (Rev. 14:1 and I can't remember when they're sealed!)

Okay, so other than that, the only other thing I really noticed, was that the plagues when the angels pour out their bowls on the earth are seven of the plagues that plagued Egypt when Israel was going to leave. The only ones not given to the earth are the death of the firstborn, the lice, and the flies. Hail, Fire, Sores, Water to blood (a big amount and then wells and springs in both cases which counts as two separate acts), and then Frogs.. which I find interesting because no, there is not a direct plague of frogs in Revelation, the angel pours out his bowl and the river Euphrates is dried up and three unclean spirits (like frogs) come... so I thought that was really cool. I didn't write this note down yet, so I don't have the references, but if you have a Bible that gives you subjects, then you can find it pretty easily.

So that's all folks! :D Thought it was pretty cool, and it really is a good idea to read through the book a few times, you understand it better each time! :D

Love,
Ruth

Books

So I've read this (in my opinion) REALLY good book by Lisa Beamer called "Let's Roll". It's about her and her husband (Todd Beamer)'s life together before 9-11 and then her life with their kids afterward. I thought it was a really cool book, showed their faith in God, and was really pretty encouraging to read.

Okay so that's not the only book I'm recommending today.. (hehehe) I also LOOOVE the book "Little Princes" by Connor Grennan. It's a book about this college dude (yes another true story) who decides hes gonna go on a trip around the world having fun. But he wants to justify this whirl of fun so he decides to do three months of helping care for these orphans in Nepal. So the story chronicles his work in Nepal and it's really cool, I'd tell you more except it might ruin the story! I really love it though, and if you have some time you should totally read it :D This one is also encouraging to read, it shows how he came to Christ etc.

So then I have a few 1910's books I love (hehehe) There's a series "Dick Prescott & Co." by H. Irving Hancock which I am reading right now.. They are really fun! and then there is "For the Right" by I can't remember who LOL but that's the title so you can look it up on gutenberg.org

So check out Gutenberg if you like reading oldish books. It's sort of an online library and has all kinds of coolness on it :)

Love,
Ruth

Music

So, all I listen to right now is folkish and vintage (read 40's type) and Christian music. Mostly the latter. So here are my absolute favourite Christian bands! (Pretty much any Scottish or Irish songs I like.. and lots of '40's... I don't really have favourites of those)

There is:

Tenth Avenue North
Tobymac
Matt Redman
For King and Country
Hillsong (all their bands)
Sanctus Real
Newsboys (some of their songs)
Kutless
LeCrae (don't say it!)
Colton Dixon (love his different voice!)
Francesca Batistelli
David Dunn
Matt Hammitt
Steven Curtis Chapman
The Afters
Young and Free (which I think is part of Hillsong)
Mandisa

Alright, I know you are all thinking.. "Did she just list every Christian singer out there?" (By the way, those were not listed in favourite, but if they were, Tenth Avenue North would still be at the top) Now for a list of my favourite songs from these folks :D

Tenth Avenue North: By Your Side (if I'm forced to chose, but I love them all about the same)
Tobymac: Favourite Song
Matt Redman: Mercy
For King and Country: Fix My Eyes:
Hillsong: I don't know cause I listed all their bands :P
Sanctus Real: Forgiven
Newsboys: We Believe
Kutless: What Faith Can Do
LeCrae: ummmmm don't know! lol
Colton Dixon: More of You
Francesca Batistelli: He Knows My Name
David Dunn: Today Is Beautiful
Matt Hammitt: All My Love
Steven Curtis Chapman: I think it's a tie between "Cinderella" and "Glorious Unfolding"
The Afters: Broken Hallelujah
Young and Free: Alive
Mandisa: Overcomer

There we go! (whew) those were hard! haha

Hope you guys look these people up and their songs (which I love!)

Love,
Ruth

New Blog

So I realized I have been rambling on random things over at Sewing Room Tales, and decided that.... yeah I know I think up a lot of stuff in my room (which is my sewing room/study room/bedroom) but it sort of almost needs its own thingy. Therefore.....................

Introducing! Ruth's Random Ramblings!!!!!!!! (confetti anyone?)


Okay so now there we go ummm .... This blog is just really for me to post random things like how I have two posts in Sewing Room Tales.. one is about Music and the other is about Books so umm that.. where did that come from with a sewing room???? Oh yes and another on a study of Revelation That's the whole purpose of this blog to contain my random little thingys.... so I will be copying the two (do I have others?) posts from Sewing Room Tales, and adding them here so that I have everything nice and organized.


As an introduction about me, since you may stumble across this and not Sewing Room Tales.....

I am Ruth. I am sixteen years old (as of next week anyhow :P) I am a sister to nine crazy siblings lol I am a writer, a guitarist, a singer, a songwriter, a seamstress, a student, a friend-to-anyone-who-needs-one. How people describe me? Well that would be, dorky, crazy, nutty, funny, silly, sweet, irritating (at times haha hey, I'm trying to be honest here :P) So now on to the important things. I am a Christian, and I believe it is important to make my faith public. So that's why I'm saying it (duh) This blog will definitely reflect that.

So there's my little intro... for my first post, I may post like 3 posts back to back so don't freak out if you see these all say the same day, I probably have not taken time to actually write these tonight they are probably copied from my other blog :P That is if I get around to doing it :P lol

Love,
Ruth