A Bug's Ride

Can You see the bug on the bottom left corner of this photo? This bug clung on for his dear life on the drive from my house to the grocery store, a journey of about 4 miles.  I watched him holding on around corners, over bumps and even as my speed increased. I kept one eye on the road and the other on this tenacious bug. He didn't succumb to the trials he was facing,  he just kept clinging on to my windshield. 

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

When I arrived at the store I paused as I watched him fly away and thought to myself , "I hope my grip is as strong on the Lord as this bug's grip on my windshield.".

As the speed of life pushes me along am I clinging to God?

When life puts a bump in my path do I stay fixed to my faith, clinging to the Lord?

When I can't see around the next curve do I let go and return to a comfort zone or do I cling to God and KNOW that HE upholds me with HIS righteous right hand?

So put away those bug sprays and let some of these crazy little creatures remind you of, and even challenge you today!!!

Love you all,

ruthann

P.S. Save the Date for the 2013 Living Beauty Full Women's Day Retreat- Saturday, October 26th!!!!

HE Leads Me

 Greeting My Beauties!!!!

This has been quite a week in the Greater Boston area. All of Massachusetts, New England, and the world have been riveted by the bombing, the deaths, the injuries, the manhunt and capture of the suspects. To say the least, it has been profoundly disturbing, unsettling and unimaginable. Like most of the world, I could not turn off the media coverage. I would have liked to say that I was calm and peaceful through the unfolding events but I was not.

At the end of last year I stopped my weekly blogging in obedience to a call form God for my silence in my life ( both around me and from me). It has been a  greater challenge than I thought it would be. I have been doing pretty good at creating a quit and peaceful life around me AND working diligently at stopping all my chatter. The latter has proved to be the biggest challenge. BUT I can report some recognizable progress!!!!!

SO what happened to me this week?  I was swept right up into the tsunami of media and social networking. The more I watched and listened the more peace was pulled from me. As my attention was moved from God's goodness to the evil I was more agitated.

Oh, I don't want  you to think that I was not taking to God through all of this because i was! I was praying through  he whole week. the difference was my attention was moved from the light of God's presence to the darkness and the Holy Spirit within me was grieved. I literally felt that sickness in my spirit.

At night I had to reset my attentions to my Lord. Not just in conversation ( prayer) but  by running to His Presence. THAT is where I belong, close to the Lord of my life, with my eyes focused on Him. This does not mean I am unaware of the world around me or  tragic events but it does put me in a place to live in peace, God's peace, NOT fear.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want .He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3a

When we are led by our Shepherd , He leads us to places of rest, refreshment  and restoration.
So I turn my attentions fully back to His Light and Goodness as I run into His Presence, into His Grace, into His Peace,....He is waiting.

Setting my face like flint,
ruthann

A Beauty-Full Heart

This past week my heart has been, like so many people's, heavy. It's not just a state of mind kind of heavy  but physically I feel a deep sadness over the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

At first, after the shock dissipated, I tried to comprehend what would cause a person to commit such an evil act of violence, but I couldn't. It is totally inconceivable to me and I like it that way.

I really don't want to understand the depth of the depravity. I don't want to let the influences of evil have any room in my head or heart. The lyrics to a Casting Crowns song "Slow Fade" are streaming through my thoughts..."be careful little 
eyes what you see".

Ephesians Chapter 5 warns us about this very thing. When you have a minute ( hopefully today) read the entire chapter. Verse 11 says "have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." 

"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise as but as wise". Ephesians 5: 15

Scripture warns us to keep the things of evil from our minds and not o exalt them but to expose them for the evil acts that they are. When we focus our attentions on these things it produces anxiety. The events of last Friday brought me right back to the awful feelings I had surrounding the September 11th  attacks.  I felt anxious.

I have had a choice to make this week. I could listen to the endless stream of media reliving every detail of December 14th or I could turn it off.

 I turned it off.  I chose not to give the acts of evil any more attention. I cast them off as darkness

 Not thinking about the evil does not mean that I have forgotten about the event or stopped feeling the grief for the loss of life and the devastation to the families of the victims. But I have chosen to look tot he acts of kindness of people helping each other.   have chosen to focus on how God is using people to love and care for one another.

Scripture also tells us not to be anxious about anything but to turn to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6) and to fill our minds with good things.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. Philippians 4:8

What fills our minds enters our body and eventually changes our hearts and our hearts direct our actions.  "above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

Ladies, if you want to live a beauty-full life than you must guard your hearts and minds. I pray that this Christmas and the year 2013 will find your hearts overflowing with the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That HIS peace will keep you and His joy will be your strength.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Think Lovely,
ruthann

In the Silence

 I have always talked a lot. As a child I dreaded getting my elementary report card  because more often than not I received the dreaded "U' for unsatisfactory in self control. I just couldn't stop talking to the people around me.

My family says I talk from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep. And sometimes sleep doesn't even stop me.

I talk to my dogs all day when no one else is home. I talk when no one really even seems to be listening. For some reason I like to talk. I like to express my self with words.

Along with talking I have always liked to write as well. I have written poems, letters, lists of ideas and for the past year this blog ( along with some of my sisters in Christ).

Over the course of this blog writing year God has been speaking to me. I wrote a blog entry on February 5th about  cultivating a quieter heart this year. I have learned to spend more and more of my time in silence, just listening to God and listening to the sounds of nature of an ordinary day. I have come to love the silence and even begun to quiet my own mouth a bit these last months.

However,I feel the tug of God to go to a deeper place with HIM in a quieter life. Literally, less of my voice and WAY MORE OF HIS VOICE.

.Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. Zeph 1:7

"In the quiet of my soul, in the stillness, I hear Your voice call." More Than A Friend by Jeremy Riddle

It has been a Beauty Full year my beautiful friends and I thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and inspirations but for now I will say good-bye to blog writing. I will be spending MORE time listening and less speaking or writing my own thoughts.

If HE prompts me I will share what HE is teaching me. Oh, I have a lot to learn and this will be a grand challenge for me. My fellow bloggers  will still be writing  so be encouraged by their journeys in this beauty-full life.

I love you all and am grateful for the time we have shared here and what I have learned about the Greatness of our God through this journey.

Keep on filling your lives with HIS Beauty and DO something beautiful for HIM every day!!

Let your crowns of beauty shine for HIS Glory.
ruthann

God, Be My Pilot

My husband and I just returned from a road trip to and from Virginia to see our newest grandbaby boy. The visit and the baby were delightful! And the trip wasn’t bad either.

We had brought along printed Mapquest directions, because I like to have a hard copy to know where we are going before we get there. We also brought our GPS so we could track our miles, ETA, next step, and for any recalculations that might be needed along the way.

On our trip down we had a couple of glitches that happened when the GPS did not agree with the written directions. Then we had to make a decision which instructions to follow. We ended up off the path twice, but recognized our error quickly, so we recovered by relying on our own knowledge of the error we had made. However in those moments we were frustrated.

At one point on our way home we decided to just stay on a particular northbound route which was clearly marked. We both remember feeling confident we could just stay on it easily for miles without needing to consult the GPS or our written directions.

But suddenly, without ever leaving this major highway, we found ourselves no longer on this major highway. We didn’t know when, how or where it had happened. We weren’t sure where we were. We had to depend on the GPS instructions to get us back on track and we relaxed in that.

The voice of the GPS was our guide. It took us on a brief but scenic circular path through our capital city of Washington, DC. We decided the detour was worth it.

It got me to thinking that sometimes we truly don’t know where we are or how we are going to get to our destination. At times we depend on our own limited knowledge, and find that we are frustrated. We might get back on track but the process isn’t always so peaceful.

The times that we rely on the written Word of God or on the voice of God, those are often the times when in our error, God may take us on what seems like the long way around, but it’s actually a short scenic route that brings us peace. 

Which makes me think of the age-old bumper sticker – “God is my co-pilot”. It really should read … “God, be my pilot”.

Gratefully HIS,

Jan

I am selfish

So, in the past 3 days, I've had a whole bunch of my stupid girl-complexes "activated"... some of them really silly, like Jillian telling me she already bought my Christmas present already and me freaking out about it (I don't like presents... too much pressure).  Others a little bit less silly, but still silly enough, like being 'mysteriously' blocked from my dad's Facebook, leading me to believe that he obviously doesn't love me anymore.  (Don't worry- it wasn't him- I'm still his favorite)

A few other things have happened that have challenged my self-esteem and made me wonder about why I'm still letting other people's actions determine my feelings about myself.

No answers, no insights.  But today is my first night at the soup kitchen, and I spent the day (after a quick meeting at work) shopping for food.  I'm about to start cooking, and then I'll be off to finish cooking, and serve people who can truly be considered 'the least of these'.

Above everything else today, I'm exceedingly glad that I have a reason to get my silly brain off myself, and focused on other people.  People who don't have the luxury of having all the stupid girl-complexes that I do, because they're too busy worrying about when they'll eat next, or where they're going to sleep tonight.

They don't wonder if friends are mad at them, because they don't have any friends. 

They don't wonder if their family is mad at them, because they don't have any family.

They don't wonder if what they just ate is headed straight to their hips, because they haven't eaten since Sunday.

They don't wonder about half the stuff I do, because they don't have the opportunity. 

Today, I'm grateful that I can answer their "how am I going to eat tonight" wonderings, and I'm determined to stop thinking about myself for at least long enough to meet one of their most basic needs.


Maybe it'll carry over to tomorrow too :)

Brooke

More

There was a time in my life when I didn't have much hope. I lived my life on my own strength, by my own wisdom and I often didn't have a clue how I could change my circumstances.

 I repeated cycles of dysfunction over and over with no hope to break the cycle. I faced difficult situations with  fear. I tried and tried to change but all I ended up with was more anxiety.

Then I met Jesus and as I lived in this new relationship with God I found that His strength and wisdom were more than what I could have fathomed. His faithfulness was proved over and over throughout the years. And I gained something very precious-HOPE..

No matter what the reality of the situation is I always have hope in my God.
For HE is faithful and true.

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. 

Psalm 71:14

God is good and HE is faithful AND I love to praise HIM for HE is worthy.  HE has done so much for me; rescued, restored and redeemed me. There is no way that I can offer HIM enough praise but I want to live my life trying to praise HIM more and more and MORE.

For His Glory,
ruthann