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myscottiemalachi
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Name: Ruth
Birthday: 6/10/1987
Interests: People. Life. Music. My Siblings. Reading. Missions. The Arab world. Old ladies. Singing. Funny sayings. Simple pleasures. Brothers. A good childrens book. The mountains in Hualien. My students.
Expertise: Smiling
Occupation: Student and Care Taker
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
11/19/2004
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Fretting means getting out at elbows mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, "Fret not," but a very different thing to have such a disposition that you find yourself able not to fret. It sounds so easy to talk about "resting in the Lord" and "waiting patiently for Him" until the nest is upset - until we live, as so many are doing, in tumult and anguish, is it possible then to rest in the Lord? If this "don't" does not work there, it will work nowhere. This "don't" must work in days of perplexity as well as in days of peace, or it never will work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work in anyone else's case. Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself.
Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how wicked we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not "out" to realize His own ideas; He was "out" to realize God's ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God.
Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God? Put all "supposing" on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.
-from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers
One day in Israel Kaylan and I set out to do some touring. Little did we know what kind of day we'd have! We met people, saw lots of neat places, enjoyed the Sea of Galilee, and most importantly learned how to walk. We learned to just put one foot in front of the other - stop thinking about how hot we were - just sing and be happy that we were in Israel hiking all over the place not really sure of where we were going or how we were going to get there. We walked up the to the Church of the Loaves and Fishes, we climbed up the Mount of the Beatitudes, back down the Mount of the Beatitudes, and along the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. When we finally got to Capernaum the gate keeper there very willingly said he would take us to the bus stop. I think he felt obliged to do it because he was afraid we might keel over from the way we looked after all our hiking!
This kind of sums up what I've been thinking recently. Life seems impossibly overwhelming and easy to worry and fret about. But when I put God into the picture and allow Him to show Himself in my life the photo takes on real possibilities. It looks manageable. All God is asking me to do is take the next step. Get up tomorrow morning. Weed the potatoes. Pick those green beans. Make that phone call. Send that email. Laugh with that friend. Say I'm sorry. Sign up for those classes. He'll take care of the rest of it. Slowly but surely that wave that I thought was going to drown me gets smaller and smaller and smaller. Just one more step with that little foot. Just one more paddle with those skinny arms. Together we're goin' places!
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| It's been a year since I talked to you last. So much has happened in a year and it's hard to believe that it's really been 365 days since I last saw you smile.
I can't begin to imagine what your year has been like. Amazing I'm sure. Are you still whizzing around asking lots of questions and learning new things? I can only imagine your halo trying to keep up with you!
I miss you. We miss you. You've left a hole in this world and in many hearts that isn't easily filled. Thank you most importantly for the way you walked when you were with us. You pointed us toward Christ who is our only Hope and life. Your last name has come to mean a lot to me. Hope. Not a wish, something much deeper. Hope verging on faith. Hope most importantly in God. Hope in the future, hope for eternal life, hope that the suffering I'm going through right now will some day be over. Hope that no matter where I am or what I'm going through, God will still be with me.
Learn lots of stuff for me and I'll see you soon!
~Ruth
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Well Kaylan left last night at one in the morning. Thankfully the bus came and she didn't miss it. Today I'm going to catch a bus to my friend Hope's house. I have a 45min. walk to the bus station and then I have to figure out where and how I'm going from there to her house. Hope seems to be able to do it by herself and she explained it pretty well to me so... here goes!
See you all some time in the States. Soon hopefully! I may be falling in love with Israel but I still haven't lost my first love, my family and friends from the US.
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It's a relatively quiet morning here in Jerusalem. I was awakened around 6 with a car alarm that kept blowing for about five minutes. My roommates at the hostel I'm staying at are slowing waking. They make up a pretty interesting group but I won't go there right now.
It's exciting to finally be in Jerusalem and to be exploring and discovering old places and meeting new people. Kaylan and I spent two days trekking up and down all over Jerusalem, Tiberias, Cappernaum, and Tabgha. Interesting places all of them and so full and rich with Christian history. Sometimes I just have to stop and take a breath at the sheer magnitude of what I've been experiencing and learning the past few days. Kaylan and I have been reading through Matthew on our trip. After visiting many Bible sites the Scriptures just come alive in a totally different way than they ever did before. Fascinating and so exciting!
I wish I had time for a more worthwhile post but my day has started so I must be up and doing. Pray for us that the Lord would send many more people our way who we can meet and talk to and spend time with. We want to serve and be a blessing to the people living here in Israel. Pray that Kaylan and I would be willing to do anything for Christ who has done so much for us.
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