Lessons from Auntie Ruthie

It’s funny how God works. He uses that which is familiar to speak into your life. I have an amazing Aunt named Ruthie; five years ago she went home to be with the Lord. She has three talented children and a husband who remain here on earth with us.

Early this morning, God used Auntie Ruth to speak into my life. In a dream,I saw Auntie calling me to follow her and she took me to a living room where Uncle Danny, Amy, Michael, and Ryan were. They were discussing plans for something they were creating. I saw pictures laid out on the floor and walls. Uncle Danny suggested building another wall, and Ryan a place for an aquarium, and Amy added details for the wall. It was some type of memorial of all my Aunt’s work and accomplishments. Crafts, songs, lessons learned, a collection of what she left behind. I have never seen them so excited and happy together. They were celebrating not auntie, but what they had together. Auntie Ruth had me look closer. The memorial was not real, it was there lives that were on display. They were creating it with there lives. This memorial to her was them, as they used the gifts and talents that Auntie Ruthie encouraged it them. The love and security she gave to nurture them to take flight. It was there accomplishments on the walls. She was showing me how proud she was of them, not herself.

In life sometimes as a Mom I question myself. Am I a good mom? What can I do better? Have I missed it? If I do nothing else in life, but raise my children to love God with there whole being and find security in Him. Then I can die happy.

I want to be a mom like Auntie Ruthie, a mom with no regrets. I want my children to find safety in me and know I will always be there cheering them on in life.

Thank you God for the blessing of knowing and loving such a great woman. I will never forget you Auntie.

Amazing

Lord God, You amaze me. Outside the wind is blowing and the rain is pouring out and yet somewhere else in the world it is sunny and bright. You alone can see it all.

I cannot comprehend that Your words, mere words spoken into the air made this world. What authority the sounds that come forth out of your mouth create. I am overwhelmed to think of how small I am, and yet You think of me. You have fellowship with me and desire to dance with me in this journey we call life.

I feel so secure in You. I can truly say with all confidence that You are all I need. You hold my every desire because it comes from You. My heart beats for what Yours does. You make my life full and worth living. I love You because I have felt Your love for me. Life is not perfect but I am not alone. How can I thank You? I give You my life, it’s all I have. It belongs to You and I am happy to be free.


Psalm 8: 3-4 “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

It's All Good

Genesis 35: 14-15 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

As I think about my life I notice there are many times that God has shown Himself to me. I like being able to look back at the landmarks of victories that God has brought me through. When life is uncertain, I glance back and remember God’s goodness. It gives me confidence that the future is secure in my Lord. Just in December alone I have seen the greatness of God.

· Dec. 21st: Isaiah and I were in a car accident that totaled the car. We walked away with no injuries.
· Dec. 26th: We bought our new car at a low interest rate and the monthly payment we wanted.

It may seem small but God deserves praise for all the things He does in my life and as I look to my future, I know from experience that everything is going to be good.

Thank you, Lord for always taking care of me.

Do you love enough?

Jude 1: 22-23 “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

Sharing the life I live in Christ is no secret, and yet how much do people really know? People all around us have titles. Director, Doctor, Christian, but these are all quite general. Director of what? What kind of Doctor? Christian…what religion? God gave us a mandate to tell the world of His love and how to have a relationship with Him. This is what I was created to do. Being a follow of Christ is the best life I know. I have the awesome opportunity everyday to love someone out of hell. The question is how well am I doing that?

Honestly, I have battled with the balance of gentleness and harshness in regards to telling others about Christ. As a young Christian, I threw peoples sins in their face and demanded repentance. As you can image that didn’t go over so well. Jesus said to be merciful, to appeal to others in love. Then I loved so much I didn’t speak of the consequences as much. God also said “mixed with fear”. Fear is not a bad thing, when you become aware of dangerous consequences to your actions.
Jesus said to love others as you love yourself. If I am to truly love others, I need to be able to speak the truth.

· There is nothing wrong with saying Jesus loves you enough to die for your sins. We are kidding ourselves to think we don’t sin. Sometimes the truth hurts.
· It’s ok to say that rejecting God will one day result in eternal punishment. All decisions in life have a result, this is one of them.

I want to live my life with no regrets. So, if speaking the truth gets people angry at me, or gets me fired its ok. I will love as Jesus loved but not candy coat the truth. It’s my responsibility to pull them out of harm’s way.

Do you love someone enough to tell the truth? Maybe a better question is, what will happen if you don’t?

Compassion

Matthew 14: 13-14 “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Jesus just heard how His cousin was beheaded. What terrible news. I can’t image the horrible feeling of losing someone you love in this way. Jesus wanting to be alone, understandably, but He can’t even do that. The crowds follow Him. Can I be honest? I would have told the people to leave. I would have probably been angry that they had no consideration for what I was going through. Thank God I am not Jesus. Jesus does the unthinkable. He puts His feelings aside and takes care of their needs.

I am learning that I am self centered. Yup, I said it. Sure I love people and I do many different things. But genuine love for others comes when you are in great need and give anyways. Jesus compassion was not based on convenience. It was based on the great need of the people.

I have been truly blessed and I’m not talking about finances. I have a wonderful family, the best children, and an incredible husband. I have a great God who loves me. Today, I am so thankful that Jesus cares about me and that I can learn to love others the way He did.

Lord, You blow me away with Your huge love and thoughtfulness of others. Teach me how to be more like You. Amen

Savory

Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

We have all heard people say,” I don’t go to church because they are all hypocrites.” It is hard to hear and not completely true. However, there are enough people who claim to be follows of Christ but their actions prove otherwise. Jesus was the real deal and yet we find that Christians have a difficult time doing what is right. We are not perfect, the bad thing is when we try to act like we are and fail. I will be honest; there is not a week that goes by that I do not question my example. I’m not swearing or doing some horrible sin, but I want my actions to glorify God in all things.

Have you ever eaten anything with no flavor? It’s edible, but not good. What about something too salty? When it’s too salty you can’t even eat it. Neither of these is a good. See either people can’t stand you because you are throwing scripture at them and the next minute blowing it. Or you are so neutral that they have no reason to desire Jesus.

Today, I am taking a good look at myself. It my life savory to sinners? Do I cause them to want what I have? What about you?

Lord, I see areas that need more salt in my life. Help me to not be a hearer of the word only but a doer in all things. Amen.

Thank You pt.2

I have being going through 25 days of thankfulness with Isaiah. Today, I asked him to name five people he is thankful for and why.

This was his list.

You Mom: your nice to me
Dad: he is fun
Leia: she is funny
Tino: cuz
Julian: because he's good

This morning I am thankful for Julian Contreras. Julian is twice Isaiah's age but has never devalued him. When Isaiah was four years old, I had to change jobs and Isaiah spent two days a week with the Contreras family. Julian was and continues to be a wonderful example, teacher, and friend. Thank you Julian, you are an awesome young man.