Memorial Day

It's not about cookouts. It's not about pools opening. It's not about Summer time. It's not about strawberry pie. It's about fallen heroes. It's about the lives its taken to keep our country safe and free. It's about the honour and love and respect they earned with their lives. It's about their sacrifice, and their families sacrifices.

To forget what this day is truly about, is to belittle and disrespect the sacrifice of thousands of men. It is to belittle the men and women currently serving and to make light of the hardships and struggles that went toward forming our country. Let's respect our military, let's respect our country, let's respect our heroes. They deserve it!

For any military families who have lost a family member who may read this, God bless you and comfort you!

Love,
Ruth

P.S. feel free to comment! :) I allow anonymous comments on my blog! If you have someone you know currently serving, feel free to ask for prayer for their safety. I know how much you want them safe!

Hey!

Long time no post, I am aware! So some plans for this blog...

I'm not sure if I'm going to end up keeping it up. I may switch totally to "I Press On" which.. gives more clearly a feel of things that I  think and muse about rather than Ruth telling people what to do! haha This Week's Question is definitely on pause as I have not been able to think of any at the moment. Lots going on ;)

I'm working on Advanced Biology (getting an A! YAY) and Advanced Mathematics (getting an A YAY) Both of which are honours courses. Also I'm studying guitar... taking care of goats... writing music... reading Pilgrim's Progress (which by the way is a must read! this is my second time through it.. perhaps third!)

So there you have it! I am still on the planet. I have been living... I'm having a pretty good time! :) Hope you are, too!

Love,
Ruth

Update

I haven't posted in about two weeks! Wow! I've been pretty busy... Mom and dad wanted to talk to me about my aims with my blogs so that explains the silence! I've been missing blogging! (By the way, for a blog of only devotional things, check out my new blog!  I'm so excited to start that one! It's pretty much just a journal of what I learn etc as I do my devotions and what not! I hope it encourages you, too! I'm working on a pair of 18th c stays, getting ready for my college sisters to come home, taking care of animals, doing school, talking with friends, going to church.. Lots of stuff! Excitingly busy :P I took a photo shoot today of my two little bucklings! They are adorable!

Here they are!

Billy the Kid (also known as Snuggle-bug Wiggly Wiggams, Billy Boy, Charming Billy, Billy Blue-eyes, and Tucson Junior) 

Comanche (also known as Manchy-Nancy, Manchy, Sweety-pie, and My Manchy Nancy)

Here they are running after me ♥ so adorable!

They are adventurous :)

He's so sweet! 

They're squirmy and heavy... So I was holding him mostly on my side!

Another sweet one of Billy Boy! :) Paint on my hands... grrrrr

They're also extremely voracious 

They love roses.... I think I've rubbed off on them :D

...They don't like to stand still....

That has got to be THE CUTEST PICTURE EVER! ♥

And proud daddy... if you will recall last year I had a little baby buck named "Tucson Kid" This is him all grown up! 

That's the shoot! :D I had a blast doing it with them.. got covered in poison ivy (I'm not very allergic to it, thank goodness.. and I still have none! :D) My little babies are growing up! :*( Sooo sad (that I don't have to wake up at all hours of the night to feed them... they don't get sick as easily... they don't have to be fed but twice a day.. so sad right? :P) Tucson still loves me. When I walk by his pen with the bucklings... he looks up and goes.. "mrrrrr" like.. "What about me?!" LOL He's adorable! And he still comes and puts his head against my leg and just stands there. SO sweet! ♥

Well there you have it! Lots of fun! Hope you enjoyed seeing pics of my babies!

Ruth

What Am I Doing to Change the World

I wrote a post some time back entitled this. I said that all Christians are called to be worldchangers and to witness for Christ.

Well, one of my brothers brought to my attention that not everyone is called to go talk to unsaved people who do not ask about our faith. Paul says, "have a ready answer for when people ask about the hope that is in you". When they ask, not when we see them.

Also, my mom pointed out that our brothers are not unbelievers, brothers are believers. So when the Bible says "when you see your brother overtaken in a fault, confront him", it's talking about your brother, spiritual brothers, those who believe in Jesus and follow Him.

I hope I didn't cause confusion. I was not clear on this point myself. Not everyone is called to actively change the world. All we are all called to do is be good witnesses, through the way we live. "So that men may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven."

I apologize for putting the wrong idea out there. I hope I've cleared it up!

Love,
Ruth

Thoughts: Neglect

So, I don't know if you've ever had this problem or been aware of it, but I have seen a lot of neglect in the Christian community.

Let's start with youth groups. Let's actually take a small youth group, with nobody that even acts up, and go there. So, we see the youth leader at the door. "Hey!" he says, "Good to see you this week!" You smile and say hey back. Then he tells you everybody's in the chapel. Cool, let's go see them. We walk in the chapel. There's the girls, Mary, Anna, Katy, Jodi, all in a group. They're talking away. Fun! The girls are talking! Let's go join. "Hey, Anna!" we greet them, very pleasantly with a smile that says, "I'm glad to see you today!" "Hey! I like your shirt." "Thanks, I got it at the thrift store for three dollars." "Really? Awesome!" Anna turns back into the circle without opening to make room for us.

Okay, guess they must be busy right now. Oh! There's John and David and- oh! Daniel came today, too! Let's go say hi! "Hey guys!" "Hey! I didn't see you in church this morning." "No, I couldn't make it. Didn't have a ride." "Oh. Okay. Oh, I know right, John? So true! hahaha" David turns around and closes us out of the circle too. Fine, I guess everybody's busy. Let's go be a wallflower. Maybe after a while somebody will come over to talk.

Tick tick tick tick tick. "Guys!" says the youth pastor, "Let's all grab a seat and stand to sing!"

We really did just go that entire time with nobody talking to us. Seriously. Now, maybe everybody was just busy this week. No. Every Sunday. Every time. Nobody is ever more than polite to us.

Don't believe me that it goes that way? Believe me. Apparently it all depends if you're in their "circles" or not . This is so wrong. Some kids are hungry for friendships and love. There's a reason that the church is described as a family. You know the, "brothers" and all? Do we really just go around all day only be barely polite to our siblings? This is neglecting one another and should not be done. It's hurtful. It makes people feel unloved and not wanted.

We need to remember to encourage, love, and support one another. We need to remember to reach out to those who may  not be so popular. We need to love more. Neglect is not right. God takes us, no matter how dweeby, dorky, or funny we are. We should accept each other as He does.

Love,
Ruth

"Lead Me to the Cross"

This is a song by Hillsong United (have I mentioned how much I love them???) and the words are as follows:

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemption's hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

[Chorus:]
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
Human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

[Chorus]

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

[Chorus]

I was singing part of it today and suddenly realized something. See the part "Bring me to my knees" in there? A lot of people sing this kind of lyric on Sundays or sing them because they like the song, and don't realize what being brought to their knees truly is. It really is when you're in a helpless place. When you're brought to your knees, there's nothing you can do. You just sit there and want to scream at somebody or punch something because you're so broken, you don't know what to do. You're so hurt you feel like there's nothing to be done. That is being brought to your knees. People sing these lyrics so lightly, and a lot of them, living their easy lives don't know what it actually means. Being brought to your knees is being so devastated that all you can do is say "Jesus!" over and over and over again. 

But that is the beauty of trusting and following Christ. When our world does fall apart, He is there to catch us as we begin to fall. He catches us and says, "No. You are more because you are Mine. You're more than this world that's falling apart. I have you. Be still and know that I am God." And when that happens, that is being brought to your knees. That is counting everything you held dear as lost. That is when you learn to lean completely on God. When everything around you gives way. "When all around, my soul gives way, my Anchor holds within the Veil!"

Being brought to our knees hurts, but it helps. There's a saying, "no pain, no gain." If we don't feel the pain of having our world fall apart, then we don't feel the beauty of leaning on Christ. I can say that I have been brought to my knees. I have felt my world falling apart, but I leaned on Christ, and He brought me back up and set me back down and said, "No. You're more than what's around you. You won't give in, because you are in Me." It is beautiful. I know from experience. It hurts, but it's beautiful. God has blessed me so much, and I think I can truly say I have been brought to my knees and praise God I have been stood back up through His mercy and love!

Love,

Ruth

This Week's Question: What Does Love Look Like?

I've done a post on love and how it doesn't always mean romance etc. a few months ago. (Valentine's day) Today, though, I want to point out what love looks like.

Love isn't girls telling each other they look "so cute!" Love isn't giving people hugs. Love isn't seeing someone every day. Love isn't talking to someone all the time. Love isn't agreeing on everything. Love isn't never arguing.

Love is encouraging people. Love is, not seeing someone all the time, but still being close. Love is, not talking all the time, but being quieted and happy just knowing you're there. Love is, not agreeing on everything, but still loving and caring. Love is arguing, (even though we shouldn't because no one is perfect...) but being able to forgive. Love is being there for someone. Love is telling them "it's okay". Love is knowing, even without the person telling you, that they care, that they love you.

Believe me, I know this from experience. I have some awesome friends! :D They put up with my very many quirks ;) Because, believe it or not, I have many quirks about me :D

Well, I hope this helps you see what real love should look like! Forgiveness, support, encouragement, care, forgiveness.

Love,
Ruth

This Week's Question: Do I Pray Enough for Myself?

I think the answer for me is "no". Sometimes we get so caught up in praying for our friends/family that we forget to pray for ourselves. I've been doing this a lot lately. And because I have been focusing on trying to help people I know, I've been paying less attention to bettering myself. Which, in case you weren't sure, is a recipe for disaster.

We can't get so busy helping other people that we stop paying attention to our own lives. We are supposed to be fighting the good fight ourselves, not just helping other people too. Doing it ourselves is going to help us to help others better. It's so important that we concentrate on our own spiritual lives as we concentrate on our friends/family's.

I get too caught up trying to help other people. I know I do. I need to remember that when I pray for my friends, I need to pray for myself, too. I need to ask God to help me be more like Him. As a matter of fact, I need to labour in prayer over myself, not just my friends I'm worried about. Because when we let our guard down (remember prayer is a guard) the devil jumps right in there. He wants us to forget. He wants us to focus on things other than our spirits.

Also, when we don't pray for ourselves, we're being unfair to our friends who are praying for us. It puts all the work on their shoulders instead of taking some of it ourselves!  That's not balanced, and everything we do should be balanced.

So my point.. we need to remember to pray for ourselves as well as our friends. The only way we can be effective, is to keep our own spiritual lives healthy and active!

Love,
Ruth

Happy Easter!

Hey! I already did an Easter post over at https://girlslivingforgodsglory.wordpress.com/ So I thought I'd just give you the link and say, Happy Easter!

Thank God for His merciful kindness toward us! He is gracious, forgiving, wonderful, and worthy to be praised!

Ruth

Thoughts: Friendship

Cause thoughts posts are fun, thought provoking (for me to write anyhow ;) ), and just random. :D And this blog is about randomness after all.

So for thoughts today, I thought I would do a post on friendships. You may want to grab a snack before sitting down to this lengthy discussion :) I've been learning a heck of a lot this year about friendships.

We'll go down the list shall we?

Number one would be that people change. They can change for better or for worse (one of the reasons that's in the marriage vows...) They can change for the benefit of your friendship or for the decline. You have to expect change. Nothing on earth is constant. Only God is constant, and that is why our hope is in Him. That's why we look forward to the day when we will stand in His courts, before His face and we'll sing to Him. Because He alone is constant and sure. You don't have to worry about God changing for the worse. That's why our faith is such an anchor in changing times, because it's something that stays constant.

Number two would be to give people time. Now by time I don't mean to give them of your time. I actually mean quite the opposite. I'm very good at giving people my time. I'm too good at it. I want them to tell me what they're doing, I want them to share what I've been doing, I want to open up to them, I want them to open up to me. And that's where the tension usually comes. Not everybody will want to open up to you right away. Some people take a while before they feel close enough to you to talk about things that affect them. This is especially true of quiet or shy people. They take longer to share their feelings. They don't want to tell you what's bothering them. They just tell you they're stressed and then when you ask say "nothing" or "I don't know" or "it's complicated" or "I don't think you'd understand". Well, maybe I wouldn't, but then again, maybe I would. I'd at least care! So really, whether they tell me or not doesn't make a difference for them. I'll say the same thing either way "It's alright. Don't stress. I'll pray about it for you. You've been praying about it right?" lol That sort of thing. So don't forget to give people time to open up to you. It makes a world of difference and means so much more when they do voluntarily.

Number three is encouragement. It's an important part of friendship. Encouragement can come through a lot of different forms. Sometimes we may not even realize that's what we're doing. By the way, the same can be said for discouragement, it comes in a lot of different forms and sometimes we don't realize that's what we're doing, so be careful. I'm not sure which of these I do more often. I think encouragement (wouldn't we all like to think that! lol) But really, I think I generally encourage people. That's my aim anyway. I have some friends that encourage me without even trying, so that's what my aim. Is to be like them!

Number four would be... Pull back. Sometimes people need you to pull back and give them space. They need time to live their own lives, if you know what I mean. People don't always want you around (except for me. I pretty much always want my friends around!)

Number five would be... Tell them how much they mean to you. I haven't in the past and when "friendships" dissolved, I sort of wondered if I had told them some things if they would have understood me better and wanted to keep being my friend. So I have taken to telling my friends how much they mean to me. It makes a difference. I like it a lot when people tell me that I mean a lot to them. It makes me happy :)

Alrighty. That was lengthy. It was important. It was hopefully thought provoking. Let's sum it all up in a paragraph if we can :)

People change and we need to expect that. Try to work with the way they change and encourage them to change in a positive way. Give people time to open up to you and to come to you. Don't always be the person that makes contact. Sometimes it makes a huge difference if you let the other person come to you. It also can make you feel special. Encourage your friends through difficulties and change. It shows what you're made of. If you give them good encouragement, then they'll see that and be like "oh yeah, she's really an encouragement." Pull back some and let your friends live their own lives. They're busy. They may not have as much time on their hands as you. Be considerate of their time frames. Tell them how much they mean to you. It means so much to you when your  friends tell you how much you mean. So do the same for your friends. It will really help your relationship.

So, I hope that helped you if you've been having trouble balancing or understanding your friendships etc. It's been hard for me to learn so I'm just putting it out there for you to read! Hopefully you learn by advice :)

On a side note, I now have an "About Me" page if you don't know me and want to see some random things about me. I had fun making it, I hope you enjoy reading it :)

Love and prayers,
Ruth

Girls' Meetup and Flowers

So.. last Thursday, my really sweet, really awesome, really fun girlfriends from Charlotte came up and paid me a visit!

Left to right is: Ann Marie, Yours truly, Theresa, Bascha, and Caroline

YAY! We had a blast. We made fans, we talked, we joked, we giggled, and we laughed (so much that Bascha's mom thought the glue fumes got to us! But we had the window open so it wasn't that)

Theresa looking very pretty :) Her fan is very period looking!

We went outside and we fed baby goats (Theresa insisted on staying indoors due to not wanting to get dirty! :O What kind of country girl are you Theresa?!)

Bascha with my adorable "Anthem"

Then we went back inside and worked on fans again.. giggled some more.. sang some.. played music.. generally talked about what we had been up to. We only get together like twice a year, so it's always an amazingly fun time when we do get together!

Left to right: Caroline, Ann Marie, Me, Bascha, and Theresa

We had such a fun time! It was rainy and chilly, but still definitely Spring! It was awesome!

Now, in the spirit of spring, I have some pictures for you!

Lots of fun and Spring. And now its homework hour so I have to go!

Love,

Ruth

This Week's Question: Where Does My Strength Come From?

Well, more than likely, you know the answer to this one ;) "My strength comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and of earth."

But do we act like it? Do we freak out and lose control of ourselves when life isn't going easy or the way we want it to? I do sometimes, but nobody knows because I don't want them to. So in a way, I don't completely lose control of myself, I just give way to feelings for a while.

When life turns crazy and unexpected things/problems happen, the only way I can keep myself from losing it is to lean on Jesus. That's all anyone can do. This is not saying I have crazy emotional issues ;) Just if I didn't have Jesus to lean on, I'm sure I would! Because life is stressful. Life is heartache. Life is uncertain. Especially if you're a caring person, life is heartbreaking. I know.

Our hope, our lives, our focus, our hearts, our thoughts, our actions, need to be centered in our faith. In Jesus. In our hope to come. In God's will for us. In God's will for our friends and people we know. It's the only way you can submit to the things that happen in life. It's the only way to keep from losing it sometimes.

I've got a few really great songs I love on this subject that I want you to look up.

"Shoulders" by For King & Country (I have this music video on my G+)
"Busted Heart" by For King & Country (on my G+)
"Lord I Need You" by Matt Maher

and of course.. THE song... "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman

Praise be to God, I have Jesus! Never get "used" to having Jesus or His forgiveness! It means so much, especially in hard times.

Love and prayers, God bless!

Ruth

P.S. Don't forget to keep me in your prayers. Life's been crazy with people I know. It's hard. Thanks!

"Pray for one another" James 5:16

How Far I've Gotten On My New Year's Resolutions

Shall we start from the top?

1. Try not to talk peoples' ears off. I'd say I'm working on it. Getting better, obviously cause now my pastor's son doesn't hate talking to me! :D
2. Think about what I'm saying. Is there a point, could it hurt someone's feelings? Getting better at this, too, though sometimes I still think a second too late :/ Thankfully I don't think I've hurt anyone's feelings yet. 
3. Try to find out what on earth I'm doing/want to do with my life. I think I've narrowed it down to a general purpose. Encourage people. This looks like its consisting of a degree in nursing and possibly a minor in music. What I plan to do with that pretty much is help veterans and military personnel :D
4. Practice singing a lot. I'd say I've done this! haha I've been writing songs, too, if you follow me on Google+ you may have seen my latest "You Will Be With Me" I'm currently working on a better recording and rewriting the chord progression.
5. Get my hair healthy. I am proud to say that instead of being put at 0 on a scale of 1-10, I am now at a 5 :D
6. Workout. Yeah I've been doing this too :D
7. Sense when people want help, or need to talk about what they're going through. Yeah, this one has happened already. I've accomplished this one.
8. Keep up with my "This Week's Question" series. Yup. As you can see! :D
9. Finish my costume. It's finished folks!
10. Bring my grades up. I actually am. YAY! lol As well as adding Advanced Biology which seems like I'm going to be able to do well in!

Maybe I should make a new list of resolutions? My quarter resolutions maybe! :D

1. Learn the technicalities of music. I really need this for my songwriting.
2. Write five songs (please remember this is for the next quarter of the year) good enough to send to my actual pro music friends lol
3. Make a thousand dollars (personally) in fundraisers for my youth to go to camp! :D Can't wait this is going to be so fun! And really, I don't see how this is going to happen. But.. this is sort of a... I'm hoping God will help me make this much! Going to ask Him to! It's gonna be cool.
4. Form a game plan for helping veterans in my area. I'm really hoping to do this soon.
5. Get A's in my Advanced Biology and Advanced Mathematics!

Okay, I think that's good for a quarter? Three months? Yeah, I think I can do that! :D Have to be realistic with resolutions, you know ;)

Let me know what ya think!

Love,

Ruth

Thoughts

I heard this thing, I think it was a movie review? And the question was... "If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for you to be convicted?"         ........Just wow. I never thought of that before.

If I was on trial for my Christianity, would I be convicted? I think the answer for me is yes. I have openly stated so online, to friends, in public. Most of the things I do are related to my faith, so yes, I think I could be legally convicted.

Now let's switch that question. If you were faced with a penalty of death, would you deny your Christianity? Would you deny your Lord? the One who gave His own life for you? the One who you love because He first loved you? the only One to ever love you perfectly? Would you deny Him in fear?  I honestly do not know if I would. I definitely hope and pray I wouldn't. If it were by my own power, I know I would. But, God tells us that Jesus will strengthen us. He never lets us go if we are truly His. I think that is such a beautiful promise. It quiets me so many times when I'm scared because of things going on around me.

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; whom my eyes shall behold for myself, and not a stranger."

God be praised it isn't by our strength, but by God's perfect love for us! We aren't worthy, but He chose to show grace and mercy.

Love and prayers,
Ruth

This Week's Question: Am I Showing Christ to the World?

First of all, I'm going to say that it is positively impossible to perfectly show Christ to the world. No human lives without sin, but Jesus. And Jesus only could because He was perfectly God and perfectly Man at the same time. So, let's first of all get ourselves a realistic idea of how to show Christ to the world.

We should want to show God to the world, so I won't even list that as the first necessary thing (which really is the first necessary part, but we'll assume you know that and want to do it! :) )

One of the first steps, is to admit that we aren't perfect. I've noticed that a lot of Christians seem like they want everybody to think they have their lives perfectly together and don't stress or anything. That's not realistic and by acting like that, some people are pushed away. Especially those who are really struggling with something. They come to somebody like that and the Christian is like, "Well, you know, I don't really stress about things yadayadayada" and the struggling person is just like.. "Wow I'll never be able to be like them. I guess I'll just hang it up." You know? I know I'd feel like that! So first of all, we need to be realistic.

Secondly, we need to realize that through God, we can be effective witnesses for Him. If we allow Him, and listen closely for His voice, God will work through us to show the part of Him that particular people need to see. Get what I'm saying? If we allow God to work through us, He will work through us in the way He needs us to for that particular person.

Thirdly, we need to, as my youth pastor says, walk the walk of death to sin. Which in essence means, we need to be constantly putting sin to death in our lives. I really need to work on that more ;)


Alrighty, so in conclusion, we need to; admit we are not perfect and don't have our lives in control, be sensitive to God's leading so He can use us in the most effective way, actively war against sin in ourselves so we can become more like Jesus.

Now for a little update :D I have started Honours Advanced Biology, it is very interesting. I like it, though I'm not one for mathematics and chemistry, I enjoy biology. I'm hoping I can get an A in it! Also, I took the SAT on Saturday, so we'll see how that turned out! (pretty sure I'll be marked down for spelling behavior as "behaviour" but whatever) I've redecorated my room, and I've been feeding baby goats, and enjoying this BEAUTIFUL spring weather!

Love,
Ruth

Hillsong Church

It was recently brought to my attention that there was some confusion about Hillsong Church's doctrine. I want to publish what their pastor's actual statement was, in order to help them correct the error in the media. Here's a link to his actual statement, and here is the copy of his statement.

http://hillsong.com/media/statement-re-recent-media-comments-on-homosexuality

"Statement from Brian Houston - Senior Pastor, Hillsong Church

Re: recent media comments on homosexuality

I encourage people not to assume a media headline accurately represents what I said at a recent press conference.

Nowhere in my answer did I diminish biblical truth or suggest that I or Hillsong Church supported gay marriage. I challenge people to read what I actually said, rather than what was reported that I said. My personal view on the subject of homosexuality would line up with most traditionally held Christian views. I believe the writings of Paul are clear on this subject.

I was asked a question on how the church can stay relevant in the context of gay marriage being legal in the two states of the USA where we have campuses. My answer was simply an admission of reality – no more and no less. I explained that this struggle for relevance was vexing as we did not want to become ostracized by a world that needs Christ.

I made the point that public statements condemning people will place a barrier between the church and the world (and I note that Jesus came to save and not to condemn), which is why at Hillsong, we don’t want to reduce the real issues in people’s lives to a sound bite."

This Week's Question: Is My Friendliness Unfriendly?

..."But how can that be?!" you're probably asking. But.. well, it can be. Take it from me, I know! ;)

I am so friendly, that I inconsiderately don't think about how somebody else may not want to talk/hang as much as me. Being inconsiderate of others, is unloving; even if that inconsiderateness is caused by a want to be with someone.

I am personally aware of this. More than once I have been overpoweringly into talking to someone and it fries their circuits. Big time! Not everybody likes to talk as much as me. Some people dont like to talk as much as me, and I should be considerate of that because love thinks of other people, not just myself.

I've always loved socializing. Strange that I can be so shy when I first meet people, or am around strange people.

I need to find a balance. Everything in life should be balanced (Read Ecclesiastes for further knowledge on this subject!) including my talking. I need to figure out what is a good time, and what is overdone, and what is too little. I'm working on it!

Thankfully for me, I have some very loving friends! :) They're putting up with me while I figure it all out. I thank God continually for my sweet friends! They're all wonderful, loving, caring, patient, and best of all, Christians! So we really are more than just friends, we're siblings!

Love,
Ruth

P.S. Sorry I didn't have a direct Bible passage for this week's question, but I wanted to mention this cause it is an issue for me, and I'm sure for other talkative/sociable/outgoing people.

A Poem and a Prayer

Awake my soul and sing,

to Christ my Lord and King.

He overcame the grave,

a chosen inheritance to save.

He is my shield, my all,

He is my Helper when I fall.

Awake my God and hear my cry,

Awaken, Lord and dry my eyes.

Wipe every tear away,

draw me near and say,

You will never leave me.

Oh hold my soul, let fear in me recede.

God is my Rock and my Foundation,

the holder of the world, and King of all the nations.

Amen.

-Anonymous

Thoughts

Because I love doing thoughts posts, and because I've already done a "This week's question" and because it would be extremely hard to turn this into a question.

"The harvest is ready, but the labourers are few."

This verse means a lot to me, because I come in contact with a lot of people who aren't saved. Some of you are probably saying, "Wait, what?!" right now, but it's a fact. I always seem to hurt for them because I really don't like to think of anybody going to hell. I mean, why should I not go, and the next guy does?

In consequence of this, I find that I really really like to tell people about God. Still, I always feel like I'm not doing enough, and when someone doesn't want to hear about it, it makes me very sad. I wasn't always this way. As a matter of fact, there was a point in time when I didn't really want to talk about how I was a Christian. To be completely honest, the fear of man laid a snare for me. I didn't want people to not like me because I was a Christian.

I'm not sure exactly when the change came, but I realized that I wanted to tell people about Jesus. I think it was just realizing how many desperate, sad, depressed, lonely people there are in the world. You kinda hear stories, you know? So I started praying to God that He would use me to bring people to Him.

"Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that He send out labourers."

You can't really pray that prayer and not be willing to be one of the labourers yourself. (By the way, this is the end of Matthew 9, if you want to read the actual verses. I may not be quoting word for word) If God calls you to do something, and really, everyone is called to share the Good News, then you had better do it!

We are all called to be labourers for the harvest. Why are there so few of us? In regard to missions, my pastor always says, "You are either a sender, or a goer, there is no alternative except disobedience."

I don't want to disobey God.

I will be a sender, and a goer. I can be a missionary to those around me, and I can help encourage and support our missionaries who are out in foreign places, too.

I hope this made you think.

Ruth

This Week's Question: Am I Helping Those Who Are Weaker?

So, in case you didn't know, I've become a co-authoress on a potentially extremely interesting/crazy/awesome blog.. Girls Living For God's Glory  It's going to be a sort of fashion/talks/random blog.

I've chosen to keep out of the fashion aspect of it. Why? Here's where I tie in this week's question.

I happen to be more liberal than a lot of girls who are concerned about modesty. Don't get me wrong, modesty is a huge aspect of my life! Not to mention a great trial to me... I absolutely hate buying a shirt and getting it home just to find that it is waaay too see-through. Or.. to buy a pair of pants and find out they are way too tight! However, I feel comfortable in some things I know some girls wouldn't. For instance, I wear jeans. Not loose fitting jeans, but not skin tight either. I don't always completely cover my hips, because I don't feel it's necessary for me. A lot of girls I know always completely cover their hips if they wear pants. Or, I may feel comfortable in a skirt a little above knee-length, while another girl might not.

This is why I have chosen to keep off of modesty topics on our new blog. I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest writer, and the others being younger than me, I don't want to make them question what their parents have decided, or to make them feel I am not modest. I want to be a good example. Paul put it very well when he said, (and though he is speaking about food and drink, I believe it carries over to other things not clearly stated in the New Testament, as well) "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.... Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died." (Romans 14:14-17)

Like I said, I believe this passage can be opened up to mean anything not clearly laid out in the New Testament. For instance, modesty. Modesty is never laid out with.. "how long can my skirt be" "How tight can my pants be" Matter of fact, pants didn't even exist back then. All the Bible ever clearly states, is that we are not to put a stumbling block before each other (see verses right before the passage I just typed), and that we are not to appear as harlots.

I have to say, sometimes I reeeally wish it was spelled out clearly in the Bible, but I guess it's one of those things everybody has to figure out for themselves. Some things are flat out immodest, while others are.. meh on you it's alright.

So, in order that I not make anyone question their modesty parameters laid out by their parents, I will abstain from posting any fashion posts on our new blog :) Not a huge issue for me anyway, because I'm not that crazy about fashion posts anyway. I love when other girls do them, for me.. I don't know, not that interesting!

To sum up... I should always go the road that will be a good example to others. I should, when in company of people I know do not feel comfortable with some things, do things their way, even if it puts me out. That is love.

I hope this post made sense... :D I never know if they do until you guys comment! SO.. leave lots of comments!

Love and prayers,
Ruth