Happy Christmas!

Hello my lovelies …

It’s been a while since I’ve written and I have to say I’ve missed writing and hearing from you! I’ve been busy preparing for Christmas and more recently recovering from a sinus infection. I hope you’re surviving a busy December. It’s always such a busy month, isn’t it? I can hardly believe this year is almost over. It went by so-o fast!

Christmas Day is just around the corner and I hope you're enjoying a wonderful Christmas season with the many people you love. No matter what you're doing over the next few days, I hope you'll find some quiet time to meditate on the true meaning of Christmas and what it means in your daily life: That the very God of the universe chose to take upon himself the form of a mortal man as Immanuel, which means God with us. He knows each of us by name, knows each hair on our heads, loves us ridiculously and desires to have a relationship with each and every one of us.

Blessings to you and yours as we celebrate the birth of Christ during this very special season. May 2012 be full of every blessing!

Happy Christmas!

~Ruthie

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6

LOVE

Today's Reflection:

Fall in love every single day, with your first cup of coffee, the sun, yourself, your creator, your partner, life itself. Whatever it is, who ever it is, love, because love is grand and an incredible gift.

The words above were birthed today after some quiet time of reflection as I was drinking my first cup of coffee. I hope today has been good to you. As always, thanks for stopping by to read and to connect. Happy weekend ... xx, Ruthie

Today's Encouraging Message

All things are made

beautiful in

His time.

~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

You Are Not Alone

Today I’m dedicating the words “you are not alone” to everyone who has ever experienced difficulty and to the person who is currently experiencing difficulty, great or small.  We all experience difficulty in varying degrees and life’s difficulties I've learned have a strange way of making us feel alone and isolated in our frustration, in our fears, in our pain, or in our loss.

If you're in a difficult season right now and you're reading this today, I’m here to remind you that you are not alone. The promise of not being alone is one that bears repeating. I believe we all benefit when we hear these words. These words are healing and bring comfort. I also believe we need safe, strong people to come along side of us, sometimes holding our hand to remind us of this over and over again and especially when we're experiencing great difficulty and can no longer think clearly or see light at the end of the tunnel. And today, for some interesting reason, perhaps because I was home sick and had alot of time to think, I felt led to remind you of this. Today when I was thinking about this, I was thinking about a dear loved one who is experiencing a marital crisis. I also thought about some dear loved ones who recently lost their parents suddenly within an 8 week period of each other and yet another dear one who continues to struggle because her brother passed away unexpectedly before she had the chance to say I love you one more time. I also thought about the red-headed young man I saw at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting a week ago who's greatest sadness and biggest fear that day was being alone during the holiday season, specifically on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Eve. He admitted that he had hurt his family deeply, he also admitted his regret and was concerned and wondered if his family would ever give him another chance. I must admit to you that the pain on this mans face when he said those words wrecked me. I had this huge lump in my throat.  I have found myself thinking about him several times since that day praying that he stays clean and that his family would give him an opportunity to make it right. All families deserve healing, and wholeness and restoration. I also thought about the woman who showed up at the meeting who had only been clean for 10 days. Her face looked tired, desperate and sad. I also thought about a friend of mine who confessed to me the other day how lonely she's been feeling and how she had desperately hoped and prayed that she would have already met that special someone so she would have someone to share the holiday season with. I also thought about a family member who recently quit smoking who confessed to me how very difficult it's been for her to remain smoke-free. 

And as I sat there thinking, my mind drifted to those who are struggling with serious and major health issues, my friend who is spending the week at the Mayo clinic, desperate for answers and desperate for healing and for my friends who are battling cancer or who have a family member battling cancer and for a lovely woman who reached out to me a week ago to confess to me how very depressed she's been feeling. I also thought about the recovering alcoholics and the people who had once been addicted to drugs who now approach life one day at time, sometimes one hour at a time desperately leaning on God for strength so they remain sober and drug free. 

This blog post, these words are for you dear one. May these words bless you immeasurably and may they remind you that you are not alone, never, ever. What we all have in common as human beings is that we all suffer. Perhaps some of us suffer more privately and quietly than others, but we all suffer and we all need a Savior. Someone who is reading this right now needs to surrender some things to God. You've been holding on too tightly and for too long and it's exhausting you. Sweet heart, you need to allow God to take the steering wheel if you want to see change in your life. I hope you'll do just that. God can only work with a fully surrendered heart. His ways are far better than our ways and better than any plan we can ever dream up. Allow Him to hold you, comfort you, love you, lead you, guide you, and heal you. 

Allow me to share with you a few thoughts I scribbled on a piece of paper late this afternoon before I even thought I would be blogging about this topic.

Life will feel scary at times but you are not alone.

Life will feel hard sometimes but you are not alone.

Life will confuse you at times but you are not alone.

Life will frustrate you sometimes but you are not alone.

Life will break you sometimes but you are not alone.

God created you for a relationship with Him. You are not alone.

If you're going through difficulty, allow me to remind you that life is still beautiful even if you can’t see that  right now and this thing that you’re going through, well, it will pass and until it does, please, please remember that you are not alone. There is a holy God who see’s all things, who knows all things and He loves you ridiculously and endlessly. He really does and He is with you whether you feel Him or not.  

Until next time, may you feel God's presence during your time of need and may that comfort you in ways you could never imagine. Read on for some verses I found in the Bible just for you. These verses are not just words but God's promises to us. My prayer for you today is that you will find comfort in these verses and in the truth and promise that you are never alone. And if you scroll down a bit more, there's a beautiful song I posted from YouTube that I really love and hope it will remind you that you are not alone. The song is called Timshel by Mumford & Sons.

Blessings to you dear one, 

xx, Ruthie

Be strong and courageous! Do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. ~ Joshua 1:9

When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end. Because I am God, your personal God, your Savior. ~ Isaiah 43:1-3

Do not be afraid, for I am with you. ~ Isaiah 43: 5

More Peace, More Joy

I can hardly believe it!  I have spent the last several hours writing four heart-felt letters to family members who are going through great difficulty and ... (this is the believe it or not part) I started filling out my Christmas cards, an activity I haven’t done in perhaps ten years. I spent hours upon hours, writing today.  When I write, I typically write using a computer but today I wrote by hand and with a writing instrument.  My fingers feel a bit cramped at the moment but my heart feels full. I thoroughly enjoyed writing each letter and filling out each Christmas card with words and desires and prayers for dear loved ones.

The other day, a fellow Facebook friend and blogger posted a provocative statement on Facebook, one I have claimed as my holiday mantra. I loved it so much that I re-posted it with permission on FB because it makes so much sense and partly because I hope it catches on.  It’s brilliant!

The person who wrote these lovely words is Shauna Niequist. She an author and blogger and if you would like to follow her blog you can click here. She wrote: “My intention for this holiday season: to choose quality over quantity, meaning over mania, people over pressure, relationship over rushing.” Isn’t that lovely? And doesn’t that make sense? If you’re reading this today, I hope you’ll choose this as your holiday mantra as well.

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, I’m working on activities that will prepare my heart for Christmas. Christmas is such a lovely time of the year and some of us miss it because its become so commercialized and because we get caught up in "busy" and forget what it's all about. Every day until Christmas arrives, I’ve determined to carve out some quality and meaningful time to slow down and to do things that will nourish my soul and choose activities that will help me appreciate the season and the people in it.  Today I did that through letter writing and writing notes in my Christmas cards to friends and family. Yesterday I did this through spending time with family. 

The holiday season is in full gear now and this season my desire for you is the gift of more peace and more joy. If you have peace and if you have joy and if you have more of it, that covers a multitude of things.  And if you're struggling with peace these days and if you you're not experiencing joy in your life right now, when it happens, and it will happen dear one, it will cover a multitude of things as well. Think about that for a second. What would more peace and more joy feel like and look like to you?

My desire for you in this beautiful and sacred season is that you would think about things and find things to do that would bring you more peace and more joy and that your hearts would become so full that God’s goodness would overflow from it so that His Son would be magnified and glorified. When our hearts are full like that, we’re carried by His love and we become a blessing to others and promoters of more peace and more joy.  And that's always a lovely thing, isn't it? The world as I see it, could use more peace and more joy because there's such a shortage of that these days. The kind of peace and the kind of joy I desire for you is the kind that lasts, the kind that only happens super naturally, the kind that only comes from a holy God. 

In closing, may we all choose well in this season. May we all choose joy and peace and may we choose quality over quantity, meaning over mania, people over pressure and relationships over rushing. 


Until next time, blessings to you and yours,

xx, Ruthie


Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. ~ Matthew 5:9


How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony.    ~ Psalm 133:1

Recapping a thankful November

Last year during the month of November, I posted one thing I was thankful for each day on Facebook to shine light on living with gratitude and to encourage gratitude in others. I encouraged other Facebook friends to join me if they felt inspired to.  There was no pressure to participate and to my surprise, many joined me and daily we posted together. It was a wonderful daily exercise and such a delight to read what people were thankful for, big or small. This year, starting with November 1^st, I decided to do a repeat and encouraged others to join the gratitude movement. Many did! And for that I’m thankful because choosing gratitude requires intent focus by today’s living standard and the blessing in it is that it causes joy to rise in our spirits. And what the world needs I believe is more joy, don’t you think? The world needs alot of things but it certainly could use more joy. Joy is lovely, intangible, immeasurable and oh so necessary if we want to flourish and thrive.

Below you’ll find a cataloged list of what I posted on Facebook for the month of November through today, Thanksgiving Day. I hope it blesses you and may it inspire you to think about what you're most thankful for today.

As always, thank you for choosing to stop by and for following the posts on Ruthie’s Corner.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

With Gratitude,

xx, Ruthie

11/1/11
Today I'm thankful for will power and discipline and for the deep rooted hope my heart feels today.

11/2/11
Today I'm thankful for Diana my fabulous esthetician who does a fab job in reshaping my eye brows.

11/3/11
Today I'm thankful for the gift of friendship. Looking forward to dinner with a dear friend tonight.

11/4/11
Today I'm thankful for sunshine and for the great people I work with each and everyday. Happy weekend everyone!

11/5/11
Today I'm thankful for sleep and for the little extra hour we're gonna get tonight.

11/6/11
I think rubbing alcohol is brilliant and the easiest way to disinfect my smart phone. I like it w-a-y better than the wipes from Clorox, leaves no streaks. Thankful for new methodology's.

11/7/11
Dear God: Today I'm thankful for you.

11/8/11
Today I'm thankful I found a $20 Starbucks gift card in my wallet. Mmmm ... life and coffee feel oh so good this morning. Happy day everyone!

11/9/11
Today I'm thankful for the amazing leaders, mentors, coaches and unsung heroes in my life, past and present.

11/10/11
Had a fab night tonight. Girlfriend time rocks. Love my new French gifts, our convo, laughs, martinis and our fab pasta dish. What a great Thursday. Thankful.

11/11/11
Dear God: Today I'm thankful for my freedom and for the peace it brings. Thankful for those who served our country in the past and with much gratitude I ask that you pour out special blessings to those who are serving today and tomorrow (future). Bless their families too. So-o thankful for the courageous men and women serving today.

11/12/11
Whoa! I slept like a bear in hibernation. I just woke up (2pm). I knew I was exhausted but had no idea to what extent. Even I'm amazed! Thankful for good sleep. It’s so necessary. Happy Saturday everyone!

11/13/11
Today I'm thankful for God's word and His promises to us. There are many in His word. His word and my relationship with Him are the reasons for my joy and for the hope in my heart.

11/14/11
Today I'm thankful for friendship, prayer and old friends who call you out of the blue who breathe life into your life.

11/15/11
Your light makes me fall in love all over again. Thankful for this new day.

11/16/11
God's greatest blessings often come in unexpected packages. I like that. I like that a lot ... and I'm thankful for that today.

11/17/11
Today I'm thankful for people who just get me. I love and honor and cherish those rich connections.

11/18/11
Today I'm thankful for the people who take the time to share what they've been thankful for on FB. It’s such a pleasure to read those posts because it encourages gratitude for me all over again. Happy day everyone! xoxo

11/19/11
Today I'm thankful for love. Thankful for what it produces, how it attracts and heals, empowers and builds up. Yes, love is good. Thankful.

11/20/11
I attended my first “open” AA meeting in Libertyville this morning to support a friend. And today I'm thankful for his sobriety (3 yrs now), his inspirational story and how moved others were today to hear his story. Alcoholics Anonymous is an outstanding program! ... Thoroughly impressed!

11/21/11
Today I’m grateful for my voice and prayer and for recognizing that prayer and faith activate God’s power in our lives.

11/22/11
Today I'm thankful for answered prayers and for kind people who reach out to me to encourage me to keep writing. Today I received an email that left me crying in gratitude.

11/23/11
Today I’m thankful for a five-day holiday.

11/24/11
Today is Thanksgiving Day and my heart is filled with ridiculous amounts of gratitude, gratitude for big and small things and for people, experiences and for what I’m learning in this season. Today if I had to summarize what I’m thankful for I would say it includes: love, forgiveness, second chances, my health, peace, prayer, family, friendships, grace, hope, strength, courage and faith.  Yes, it’s a lot and I’m thankful for all of it.  Today I’m grateful for a holy God who realizes that I'm fabulously flawed and who chooses to loves me anyway. Just writing that brought tears to my eyes. Today what I have feels like enough, more than enough and for that I’m grateful, grateful for a spirit filled with contentment. It’s no small thing when I consider how I’ve lived most of my life. I think I’m finally growing up. I think I'm finally growing into the person God created me to be and that feels good, real good and for that I’m thankful.

So it is with great gratitude that I wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day. Many thanks for reading. 

Until next time,

xx, Ruthie

 

Unspoken words

The memory of yesterday lives on as beautifully as it started as I recall days gone by. I still remember every detail that makes him beautiful to me. The first day was one of the best days, the best of many. It was the most magical day of the year, perfect and indelible in every way. 
A chance encounter developed into a deep connection, a connection neither of us expected and on so many levels. Tenderness, sweet kisses, amazing conversations and moments that connected two hearts and two souls together are all unforgettable. His eyes were amazing and his smile ... well they lit up the room, every single time. I miss those beautiful eyes and how they gazed into mine. And I miss how breathtaking it was every single time his fingers softly traced the lines on my face. Was he trying to memorize me? Did he know the end was near? Or was it the beginning? It still makes me cry when I think about how amazing those moments were. They were beautiful, tender, truly unforgettable and yet I forgave his mistakes and gave him reasons and a history for breaking my heart. I thought I knew him, but I now realize I barely knew him. And now I see everything and understand every thing. And even when he broke my heart, I still remembered the reason why I loved him in the first place.

Inspired by: What I didn't say.

Beautiful People

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. ~ Elizabeth Kubler Ros

Isn't the above quote beautiful and perfectly written??? I heart this quote.  The next time you meet a beautiful person, make a mental note and remind yourself that their journey was likely not an easy one. These extraordinary beings I'm convinced are called and equipped by a holy God and filled with wisdom and discernment because of their life experiences.

I'm With You

Beautiful, beautiful song!

Blessings

Below you'll find a another music video to a very beautiful song.

The artist: Laura Story. The song: Blessings.



I Shall Believe

Below you'll find a youtube music video to a song I heard on the radio yesterday morning. I'm not familiar with the artist nor the song but I think it's lovely. The artist: Matt Brouwer. The title song: I Shall Believe. The melody and lyrics: beautiful and evocative. I hope this blesses someone today. As always, many thanks for stopping by. Until next time, lets keep believing.  ~ Ruthie

Let your light shine

It is with great sadness that I share with you that I’ve lost two dear and wonderful people in my life that I loved very much. These remarkable individuals left beautiful and indelible marks on my heart that began when I was a small child. My aunt Margret died suddenly in her sleep in September and her husband, my uncle Victor died suddenly on Sunday night. Their deaths happened within an eight week period of each other. It’s sad and yet beautiful at the same time. They were very special people in my family and to my family and especially to me. They were special because of how they lived and loved and helped others. Their lives made a difference. And their lives mattered to many. Their deaths have prompted me to think a lot about my life and my life purpose and the legacy I will leave behind. I’m asking myself these days: Is my life making a difference? The answer: I think it is. I try to live a life that focuses on loving God and loving people and adding value every single day. I'm learning that no one can confidently say that he or she will still be living tomorrow. Tomorrow is never promised, not for you, not for me, not for anyone. What we have is today. We have now. We have this moment. And moments count.

And because moments count, we should choose to celebrate and live with gratitude. Let's choose to celebrate something good in our day, every day and let us thank God for our blessings, big and small. If you say to yourself that you can't think of a single good thing that happened today and yet woke up with the ability to see and walk, hear and speak, then give God thanks for that because that in itself is a blessing, it's no small thing. Yes, today may not be perfect, but there's something good in every day. I'm learning that we’re as happy and as grateful and content as we decide to be. We hold the power to believe and see the good in each day and we have the power to choose to live with gratitude. I believe that when we choose to live with gratitude, joy inevitably rises. And when tomorrow arrives, let's not regret getting older. Let's not regret it because I'm learning that getting older is a privilege that so many are denied. Let’s stop being complainers and awfulizers. It's easy to fall into that trap, isn't it? Let’s stop complaining about the wrinkles on our skin or the grey hair that grows on our head or the “readers” (glasses) we need to read. Let’s choose to appreciate the beauty and wonder that exists with ever new sun rise and let us embrace the beauty that radiates from our soul when we realize and embrace that we were fearfully and wonderfully made with purpose by a holy God who loves us endlessly. Let us realize and embrace that real beauty is internal first and only visible when we allow it to be manifested externally by the way we think and speak, live and love.

Forty four years on planet earth has taught me that we are most beautiful when we choose to let our light shine. It's beautiful because that light, your light radiates love. And love dear one is what it's all about because love always makes a difference.

So my question to you my darlings is: Will you choose to let your light shine on today? 

Until next time,

Ruthie

Real beauty is internal first and only visible when we allow it to be manifested externally by the way we think and speak, live and love.

Awake My Soul - Part 7 - Psalm 23

Click here to view a very encouraging message delivered by Darren Whitehead, teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church. Darren offers fresh insight on Psalm 23 and teaches on the very nature of God. It's a fantastic message, one I hope you'll carve out some time to listen to and watch. 

If you're going through difficulty, please listen. 

If you need encouragement, please listen. 

If you need a fresh word from God, please listen. 

My prayer tonight is that this message will bless you and encourage you in some way, big or small. It's no coincidence that you're here. It's no coincidence that you follow my blog and visit regularly. If you're reading this, please listen and watch this message. I'm certain there's a take-away message for you. I'm learning that God is a creative God and draws us near to Him sometimes in the most surprising ways and through the most surprising people. I trust that your visit today has great purpose. I believe God wants to encourage you today. 

Until next time, 

xx, Ruthie  

Dreams

Even when it looks like a dream is dead, know this: God is able and can renew that dream and breathe new life into it. So don't lose hope! Don't give up! It's not over until God says it's over. 

Love, Faith, Hope

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Love, faith and hope are three words I was thinking about on repeat this morning and I'm not exactly sure why. And in case you're curious, I was thinking about them in that exact order too, not the order you typically read in 1 Corinthians which is: faith, hope, and love. This morning felt rather extraordinary. Nothing spectacular happened to make it feel wonderful, it just was. Do you ever have mornings like that? And when they happen, don’t you just love them??? I think it felt wonderful because I woke up feeling extra happy, extra alive and extra grateful. That's such a fantastic feeling. I think that's what you call joy and what I felt this morning felt incredibly awesome and I will gladly welcome more of that, please and thank you. Joy, I'm convinced is uncontainable, wouldn't you agree? It has to be expressed. In fact, it must be expressed. And to add to my already fabulous morning, I was completely delighted to discover a $20 Starbucks gift card in my wallet. Awww ... what a wonderful surprise. Thank you my angel and bless you! Tuesday feels terrific already. I'm not sure why the words love, faith and hope were floating in my head on repeat this morning but I'm pretty sure there's a reason for it. I'm the kind of person who likes to pay attention to her thought life because often times its what's birthed in thought that inspires me to write and also because I believe that's how God whispers and reveals things to us. I'm learning to pay attention to that quiet voice. I'm a passionate and curious learner, so paying attention to my thought life is important to me and feels quite natural. Some people think quietly, others audibly and while admittedly I do both, I must confess that I also think alot on paper. It's how writing became my passion. As I pondered what God might be saying to me this morning through these words, I decided to pen my thoughts to explore, discover and learn what might actually surface. So here I am ... sharing my thoughts on love, faith and hope, yes in that order. :o) I hope these words will bless you today. 

We all hold the power to love, to exercise faith and to keep hope alive. So let us do just that. Let us love radically and unconditionally. Let us cherish what love produces for it is always good. Let us be faithful people, faithful in all things. And collectively, let us keep hope alive despite how scary life might feel sometimes. I've come to believe that God knows it’s scary to be us. And because He knows it's scary to be us, He's promised to love us endlessly and to be with us no matter what. I must admit, I find alot of comfort in that. I hope you will too.  

Today, may you rest in the assurance that you are deeply loved by a Holy God who will never, ever give up on you and may you rest in the assurance that you are never alone.

Today I choose love. Today I choose faith and today I choose hope. Today I choose to remember that I have the power to love and to cherish what it produces. Today I choose to remember that I have the power to exercise faith muscles. And last but not least, today I choose to keep hope alive by trusting in a God who see's all things and knows all things and above all else because He is a faithful God.

Blessings ... 

Until next time, 


Ruthie

YOU

Wow ... this is a powerful video delivered by a lovely young lady by the name of Amena Brown. The quality of the video from a technical stand point is not the greatest but the content is nothing short of amazing. I don't know who Amena is and I certainly don't know much about her but I can tell you with absolute certainty that she is an extraordinary individual and has an amazingly humble spirit that makes her beautiful. I remember watching this video for the first time several years ago and still remember how hair raising it was. I can't recall who originally sent the video to me but I do remember that I was glad they did because it blessed me. My response was: "Whoa!" The first time I watched this video was in my home, during the work week, in the evening and I remember that I was sitting at the dining room table. I must have watched it three or four times repeatedly because  I had never seen a video like that in my life, like ever. I thought it was so beautiful. I watched the video again tonight on a prompting and it's still incredibly powerful and incredibly beautiful. I trust that someone will be blessed by this video. Perhaps many someone's. And may it do just that, may it bless you richly and beyond measure. Blessings dear one ...

When God's story becomes your story, you hear a voice you can trust. ~Max Lucado

You are beautiful, you are loved

Well said. I heart this message. 

Gratitude

Last year during the month of November, I decided I wanted to shine some light on living with gratitude during the month of November. I did this by spending some time every day thinking about what I was most thankful for and then I posted that one thing on Facebook to share it with my Facebook family. Many of my friends on FB loved the idea, ran with it and began posting thankful posts as well. This absolutely thrilled me. It’s was like a mini-gratitude movement. How lovely! I have to say, it was really fun to read their daily thankful posts. It actually made the month of November a little more exciting when I logged into Facebook and it helped me learn more about them too. The idea was birthed either the morning of November 1^st last year or possibly the day before. I can’t remember all that clearly, I’m just glad I ran with the idea and posted every day because the pay off blessed me and I think it blessed others too. I posted for many reasons, partly because its the month we celebrate Thanksgiving but mostly because I wanted to do something to encourage a paradigm shift in thinking and to shine a light on living with gratitude. Those who logged into FB regularly read my daily thankful posts. I prayed and hoped that my posts served as a reminder to give thanks to a holy God for the goodness in our lives. I also posted and shared because it helped me too. It helped me to rise and end my day with gratitude. I’ve learned that every day is not a perfect day but there’s always something in our day that is good and we should be thankful for that. I also posted because I truly love inspiring others to live with gratitude. I think its in my DNA.  

We’re living in a day and age where negativity is every where. It’s always been prevalent but lately it seems ridiculous. We hear it in various forms and from various mediums such as the local or global news we watch on television or what we hear on the radio. Sometimes the negativity comes from a chronic complainer who giftedly manages to find something to awfulize each and every day. Can I get an Amen here? These are the individuals who need a dose of positivity pumped into their veins, daily! We all encounter them, don't we?  We encounter them at the work place and sometimes they show up at family gatherings. There's no escaping them but bless them, because I think they’re the ones that would benefit the most from a paradigm shift. My friend Katie and I call them our extra-grace-required (EGR) encounters. And contrary to most people's opinions, I don't believe they're a hopeless cause. They just need many people to be a light in their world and some would def benefit from professional help for sure. They need people to not be afraid of their pain. Their negativity is almost always a symptom of some sort of pain they're carrying. These people I'm learning often need more encouragement, attention, love and affirmation because somewhere along the way, they didn't get enough of it.

In light of how fun and successful my daily thankful posts were last year, I decided to do a repeat this year to encourage living with gratitude. I can only hope and trust that my thankful attitude and my Facebook posts will inspire others to live with gratitude as well even if its only during the month of November.

Yesterday my thankful post was: I’m thankful for the deep rooted hope my heart feels. I'm hopeful and prayerful about many different things these days.

Today I’m thankful for the little trip I’m making to my favorite little day spa to get my eye brows waxed. Yes, it’s not an over the top thing but I’m always super thankful when I receive any type of pampering. Always makes me feel a little happier. And happy is good, isn't it? :o)

What are you thankful for today?

Until next time, be well and be thankful …

~Ruthie

p.s. The picture I included in this post is a picture frame I purchased at Crate and Barrel recently. Instead of a picture, I decided to use it to encourage gratitude. The frame sits in my office at work on a book shelf. It’s the first thing I read every morning when I walk in and it serves to set the tone for a great day filled with gratitude. And a strong cup of coffee helps immensley. ; )

You don't have to listen

Powerful! Awesome! Empowering! and Inspiring!

Five provocative questions

Many of my friends know that I love, love, love ponderous and provocative questions, probably because I’m a thinker and thinking always leads to discovery. Discovery almost always creates new energy which often leads to new movement. This movement is usually a gradual unfolding. Life, people and how people behave and respond to life intrigue me immensely. I’m always observing and paying attention to what people say, how they say it and how they respond to life's circumstances. This is one of the many ways I learn. Ponderous and provocative questions excite me because I love spending time exploring the answers. I find that in exploring the answers I discover and learn many things about myself. And if you've been following my blog regularly, you know how much I love learning, right? Below you’ll find five powerful questions that will lead to self-discovery. I take no credit for these questions. These questions came from author, life coach and motivational speaker Valorie Burton. I hope these questions provide some fabulous "food for thought" and may they serve as a catalyst to help you move forward in a key area of your life. 

1. Why am I here?

This question gets to the core of your life mission. Every experience, every contact, and every gift or talent that you have exists to support you in accomplishing your mission in life. If you are alive, you are here for a purpose. What will be the most important mark you make on the world?

2. What would I like to learn?

The most interesting people are those with a diversity of perspectives and experiences. Life is a learning journey. The more we learn, the more we grow... and the richer and deeper our life experience. Make a list of things you'd like to learn and make plans to learn them. Be willing to try something new, something that takes you outside of your comfort zone.

3. What brings me joy?

Often it is the simple things that bring us the most joy. Make a list of the things that bring you joy. Then begin incorporating those things into your life on a daily basis. Don't wait for a special occasion to purposefully make your life joyful. You deserve joy every day.

4. What am I most afraid of?

Fear can be our enemy if we allow it to be. Fear also can be a great teacher and a catalyst for change. For example, fear that you will fail can motivate you to be creative and work hard so that you succeed. On the other hand, fear can keep you from living your highest potential if your fear paralyzes you from moving forward in your life. Once you identify your fear, you can begin determining ways to reduce the risk that your fear presents. Once you make the decision to overcome your fear, you find your fears are often more perception than reality. As a result, you fear less in your life than ever before.

5. What is one step I can take today to move closer to my ideal life?

Taking a step toward your dreams will generate excitement for the possibilities available to you. Write a vision of your ideal life and then move toward it one step at a time. Celebrate your steps along the way. Consider that following rules and tradition is not a prerequisite to success. Open your mind to creating your own opportunities - it's what I call "entrepreneurial thinking."

10 thoughts and one for good measure

Through your words and your actions, make it your ambition to leave every person a little better off than you found them.

God does perfect work through imperfect people. That's good news for all of us!

God wants to replace your doubt with FAITH, your pain with HOPE and your fear with LOVE.

"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Every sunrise reminds us that God is always creating new beginnings.

Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something when the Bible says you can do ALL things through Christ.

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Treat every day like it's the most important day of your life, because it just might be.

Don't spend your life speculating on the future or reliving the past. Either way, you're missing out on the present.

God specializes in the impossible.

Like water flowing to its destination, let nothing stop you from achieving your goal, even the seemingly immovable obstacle.


The words above are not my words but a collection of tweets I read on Twitter this morning. I trust they'll bless you. Happy Sunday! 

25 Random things about me

1. My favorite colors are blue, green and pink.
2. I'm a great parallel parker! Really I am! Straight up! ... No joke! :o)
3. Favorite artists / painters: Jack Vettriano and Vincent Van Gogh.
4. I love singing in the car, out loud all the time. 
5. I leave myself voice mail messages at the office ALL the time to add things to my TO-DO- LIST. And sometimes instead of voice mails, I send myself e-mails to the office from my Blackberry to do the same thing. LOL!  Does this make me a good delegator????  ; )
6. If I had to choose, I would rather clean than cook, probably because cleaning brings harmony and order to my life and cooking can be messy. I'm just sayin'.
7. I moved to Louisville, KY at the age of 27 for approximately 3 years. It was a wonderful life experience. 
8. I have more books than I have time to read. But that's okay, because I imagine heaven will have a library of some sorts anyway. 
9. I cried when Elvis Presley died. 
10. I love to make people laugh. (This is one of my favorite things.)  
11. I sometimes smile and laugh at the most inappropriate things. Always gets me into trouble!
12. I'm easily distracted by chocolate. 
13. I hate scary movies ... but I love a great comedy or a great love story! 
14. I’m convinced my prince is out there somewhere. I think he’s just stuck in traffic. 
15. I love conversations with strangers. (It's amazing what strangers will share with you.)
16. I’m so-o not a morning person but totally appreciate how sacred the world feels when I’m up super early and it’s still dark out and most of the world is quiet and still sleeping.
17. Most people don’t realize how intuitive I am until they get to really know me. 
18. I love dancing! :o)
19. I’m not a cat person, and yet I have a cat and I really love her. It took me 13 years to learn that.
20. My son Michael and I are both September babies. He was born on the 16th and I was born on the 24th.
21. I hope the words on my epitaph will read: She inspired, she was a helper and she danced. 
22. I gave birth to the most beautiful baby in 1987. Best thing that ever happened to me. 
23. I’ve learned through experience that the birthing process is much easier than raising a child.
24. Being a mother is the hardest job I have ever loved.
25. I’ve learned in life that the only thing I can control is how I love God.