Love Listens

I am learning so much about love, what it is, what it's not, and how much I don't understand the love that God intended us to have with someone. I thought that I understood what it was to love someone, sure it's like the movies right? You have butterflies when you're around them, just the sight of them sends your heart pounding, just hearing their voice makes it all better, isn't that the signs of love? Or is that what I have made love become just feelings, but.....can't those change? So I have immersed myself in studying the " Love Dare" and it's been so eye opening and something I was studying really touched me, "Love Listens"

Now many of you who have known me for years, or some of you I have just met in the last few years know that I am loud, energetic, always on the go, but sometimes I have a hard time listening to others. This verse impressed my heart, really stop and just read it and even place your name in the front of the verse.

" Understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger." James 1:19

I started to think about the relationships in my life with my family, friends, and my boyfriend I had to ask myself "Ruth, are you slow to anger?" Has there been a time that I responded in a short, angry way, or one that hurt someone I love? Many thoughts came to mind, situations I had faced, and I started thinking could I have handled them differently?

As I started this study I realized that how I respond reflects the condition of my heart. If I am angry because of unmet expectations or their hurtful words, I saw that I responded harshly. If I am to love then I must take time to listen patiently and give the other person consideration even if it is undeserved.

Love must become my motivation, few of us listen patiently and many it does not come naturally. It is however a necessary ingredient in a relationship. I started thinking how I can start to listen more? I thought I was a good listener, but I tend to just hear what I want to hear, and then it's my turn to speak my mind on the issue. So I have come up with a new way to approach it, I will listen patiently, not interrupt them, not talk over them, make sure they have said everything they wanted to share, and before I respond I need to let love lead.

This week I am going to challenge myself to show patience by saying nothing negative to my family, friends, and my boyfriend. It's better to hold my thoughts than to say something I will regret. Show me how to listen, that I may hear what the person is telling me and in my response let it be one of love.

Reminded that : "Love Listens"

"The Love Dare" Day 44

Love Examines the Heart

In studying and learning about what love is and how to love as God loves, has been a humbling experience. I am learning through this study that in order to truly love someone, I have to examine my heart in order to learn how to love unconditionally. This verse stuck out to me "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me me and know my concerns." Psalm 123:23

We choose how we respond in certain situations that occur in our relationships with family, friends, boyfriends etc. I started to think "do I respond in love?" or do I react in ways that hurt my relationship? 

It really made me think about the times I have acted in anger, versus taking the time to think before I speak so that I don't hurt someone that I care about. Acting in anger, is the first sign that we have a heart issue, it sounds weird but I have been thinking about this and how it affects my relationships. 

Here are some questions that you should ask yourself. Am I being selfish when I act out in anger? Would God be disappointed in the way I handled the situation? Is there something that from the past making me angry or upset that I already promised to forgive? By asking these questions I started to see that I am getting upset sometimes for no reason or I am bringing up things from the past. It is sometimes hard to examine yourself and see things that you might be doing to your relationships, but I am learning that in order for me to love others I must look at my heart and how I react to others. 

Consider the reason that is given why we should stop complaining and start a self examination instead.

Lamentations 3:39-40

Why should the living complain
   when punished for their sins?
 Let us examine our ways and test them,
   and let us return to the LORD.

May I learn to react in a way that always shows Your love,  show me Your ways that I may love as You love.

 

"The Love Dare" Day 23

" Love is Patient"
As I am studying today in "The Love Dare"  the topic is one that I know doesn't always come easy for me patience. Even before I can continue I have to stop and ask God to open my mind and heart to be open to what He has to show me regarding "patience". Many of you reading this may also struggle with this as well, I know it is not always easy for me to be patient. I will admit I'm a bit of  a control freak, I want things done a certain way, and yes I do lose my patience when things don't go as planned. I admit it's an area I must work on because as we all know it does effect the relationships we have with others.

Ephesians 4:2 " Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
As I have been studying I am learning so much about loving someone the way God intends us to, and when we love it is must be selfless and pure not expecting anything in return. I am seeking what God has for me and Jay and as I continue to study , I learned that the more I learn to love, then my patience will begin to grow.
"In fact, patience is one of the attributes that best defines what love is."

I started to think about how hectic my life can get , with work, traveling, other commitments, and on top of all that I have a relationship. Made me think of the times I haven't been so patient or had no patience at all and I didn't show love. I am learning that when I choose to be patient in a negative situation, it's a choice to slow down and just take it all in versus responding in a restless or demanding way. It was a wake up call for me, in the aspect that sometimes I don't show patience with Jay, also with my family, and friends. I choose how I will react and I must learn to patient and respond in a loving way. It's not always going to be easy I know, but in order to love as God loves it's an area in my life that I have to ask God to help me with.

"Bearing with one another in love" is the motto I have chosen to carry with me each day and in my relationship that in it all I respond in a loving manner no matter what the situation.
Think about how you can show love daily? Can you be more patient with others and the ones you love?

It's a great reminder that "Love is patient"

 My prayer:
"Thank you Lord for showing me an area that I need to work on, also may I be patient with my family, friends, and Jay. May I choose to react in every situation with love and remind me that love is patient. I want to lead a life of love, that others will see You are in my life."

"The Love Dare" Day 350

This is day 14 of the "Love Dare" devotional that I am studying with my sweetheart. Today's title is " Love Extends Itself" the verse that if focuses on is Genesis 2:18 "I will make a suitable helper for him." In this study it talk about how God created a help mate for man. It shows how we are not sufficient alone and that we need a partner.

As I try to relate this to my life, and my relationship with my boyfriend, I realize how important my role is. It's not always so easy for me to love my sweetheart when I don't agree with him, or I'm having a bad day etc. I saw how each one of our role's are dependent on the other 's help and it becomes impossible without God's provision for one to perform both jobs alone.

It really showed me that love is a selfless act one that you give with no expectations or expecting anything in return. As I learn how to love Jay the way God intends for me to love, I have to ask God to teach me to love the way He would love. I know many of you may be in a relationship, married, or some are single. Relationships are work and loving someone doesn't always come so easy, I think we all can agree, however if we ask God to show us to love as He would. It's a daily process, one that I am learning so much about, my prayer is that God would fill me life with love. That every day as I live, that my life shows love, in my words, and actions. This is a journey that is showing me so much about myself and how I love the one's who are very dear to me.

My prayer is that God continue to make me the woman He would have me be, and that I show love to others daily and that I will love as He loves me. This an amazing study and I encourage anyone to get this book.
This is my favorite quote that has impacted my relationship and one that always reminds me how I should love. 

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with
you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for
what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring
out."

... Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"The Love Dare" A journey 363 days to go

About a month ago, I was reading and something just touched my heart that I should start a devotional with my boyfriend Jay. A devotional is a study on a topic, where you study on your own and you can share with a person your  learning's and get the other persons perspective. You can also do a study independently and write in a journal all that you are learning or key points that can help you in your every day life. I just felt it so important that Jay and I really seek God's will in our relationship and what better way to grow as a couple than to study about Love and how God wants us to love others?

" The Love Dare" it is a year long study on Love and how God wants us to love in our relationship. So today day 2 so 363 days more to go on this journey, but already I am learning so much and seeing that I have a lot to learn when it comes to Love.

Day 2 Title: Love is Life's Motivation
2 Corinthians 5:14 "For Christ's love compels us..."
This spoke to me in the study it talked about, what if you allowed love to invade your life? your very being how your life would change? Think about it, if you really allowed love to take over you'd be able to see life totally different and also be able to endure things you never thought one could. What if you began to allow love to fuel all your decisions? what do you think would it drive you to change?

I had to really look at this and ask myself what do I allow to drive me and my life? My life is filled with so many things but I can see how I lack love. I fill it up with tasks for work, always keeping my plate full of things to do, but I am missing such a crucial piece, I am in need of true Love.

Can I truly say that I love others? Do I show love on a daily basis to those I come into contact with? Can they see love evident in my life? I sadly had to say to myself probably not. So my next thoughts are how can I truly love like God intended for me to? Is my love one of conditions?

I love my family, friends, my boyfriend, but how can  I show love to a perfect stranger? This study really got me thinking, and it's going to be a journey and I know not an easy one but one that I will have to be determined to learn more about myself and also as I am on the journey. I am not alone on this journey, I have my sweetheart and we will be discovering new things about love and about and how we are to love one another.
 
 I want to leave you with this, how can love the ones in our lives? How can we make it so our lives are full of love? What things can we change so others can see the love we have? Will you take this challenge or this "DARE" as the book says. Dare to allow love in and experience the love God wants for us in our lives.

1 Corinthians 13:2
" If I have all the faith, so that I can move mountains, but have not love I am nothing"

Pray for Jay and I as we study this together, that our hearts would be open to what God is going to show us. Also that God teaches me how to truly love. My hearts desire is to love as Christ loves us, may I see others as He sees, and love as He loves.

Breaking Free- A journey to FREEDOM Part 2

This is part 2 of a 9 part series I will be sharing with you on the book Breaking Free by Beth Moore. The first part talked about being a captive and what held me back was that I was unaware that I was even a captive. This second part is focusing on Experiencing Peace in God, the verse that I want to share is

2 Thessalonians 3:16 "No may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." This verse taught me so much while I was on the journey of Breaking Free and one that I will hold dear to.

When I am talking about being peace with God, many of you may ask what is she talking about? Peace comes in situations that are completely given to to God. Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever had a situation where you needed Him and you just cried out to Him, even if you haven't ever or maybe in a long time asked God for anything, but in that moment you needed Him. I know that I have been there many times, when I tried to do it all on my own without God's help, then when I am at my breaking point I call out to Him.

I had to let go of many things in my past in order to experience true peace, the hurts caused by people, the pain of losing friends and I longed to feel peace. I just never knew that I could just lay it all down, until I finally realized I had been carrying around years of baggage and in order to move forward in my life and also in my walk with God, I had to let go.

It was hard for me to face that I would have to forgive those who had caused me so much pain in order to truly have peace. I had to to pray that God would just take away the resentment I had towards them, and give me a heart of forgiveness. Trust me it wasn't easy, I wanted to hold the grudge since they had caused me so much pain, but God tugged at my heart saying " Ruth, you need to forgive them, forgive them and I will give you peace" in that moment I had tears running down my face and I just asked God to help me deal with the pain and give me a heart to forgive.

I can honestly say, that night and as each day passed I felt a calmness I had never felt. I could feel peace, I was letting go of the baggage that consumed my life and for the first time I felt peace. I can't describe how it all felt, but I will in the best way I can. How I felt is that this huge burden was lifted off me, I could actually smile again and it was genuine not a show, I had learn to let go and now I could look forward to what God was going to show me and do in my life.

I learned that in it all He was always there, in my darkest days He was there. God doesn't always calm  the trials that we are going through right away , but He does allow us to learn from it and to see His hand in it all. Don't worry if you're experiencing some trying times with your spouse, family, or friends. He will calm the storm and give you peace, but you have to seek Him. That was the one thing God showed me was that He was always there but I had just pushed Him aside and tried to handle it all on my own. One of my favorite sayings is from my mother she always says "This too shall pass" and she is so right when we give everything to God and learn to let GO we can experience peace that passes all understanding and we can be FREE.

I want to leave you with this verse Hebrews 13:5 " I will never leave you or forsake you" This is a great promise from God to us, and it is one that I cherish. He's always there, to comfort, provide always there right by your side. It took me a while to figure this out but I can't imagine my life without the Peace only He can give me, my life has been forever changed.
My prayer is that if you going through a challenging time or know someone who is give it all to God and in Him you can find true peace.

Breaking Free- A journey to FREEDOM Part 1

I wanted to share this experience that has transformed my life , I just completed the book by Beth Moore titled " Breaking Free". It was the most amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to really experience being "Free", I know that it may sound strange because you think" I am free", are you really "free"? but really are you? Do you hold onto things in your past, have you really given every portion of your life to Him? I want to share this with you in a 9 part series because I believe every step is crucial to learning how to be Free. I will reference to what the book taught me and provide my life experiences along with it, I want to share how I was set free.

I began this journey a year and a half ago first when I moved to Houston and then when I moved to the Pacific Northwest last year and I felt God calling to me to seek Him for everything, something I wasn't always doing. Houston was my "desert" I felt I was just wandering aimlessly trying to find my place and what God really wanted from me. I was searching in so many places but never finding what I was looking for. Desperately wanting to know what my life held and wanting to find that happiness I was searching for. I looked in all the wrong places and i could always here this small voice inside of me " stop looking for it, I am here I have always been here. seek me and you will find peace".

I would hold onto portions of my life and rationalize " i know best, so here's this portion God but I can't possibly give you the relationship piece I know what I need" funny right I thought I knew best? versus giving it all to Him. Little did I know that God would be showing me His plan for my life and the one key lesson I had to learn was to let go and get out of the captivity I was in, in order for Him to truly set me Free.

I was the worst kind of captive, I was a prisoner unaware. The kind of prisoner that was so vulnerable to anything and everything, and I had no clue. I wasn't free I was in this bondage that I was so blind to. Through this journey I had to learn that it wasn't going to just change overnight I had to put the work in, and I had to also allow God to work in me in order to make me new.  


Many of you may be struggling and I do too daily, but I wanted to share this learning I experienced through this book by Beth Moore "Breaking Free". 
 
I love this verse 2 Chronicles 32:17 
" In your love you kept me, from the pit of destruction" (v17) 

I learned that His love is constant no matter what, we have the  tendency to forget what God has done for us. What he brought us out of, when things aren't going our way. We start to complain, and ask why? How can we be so quick to forget all His goodness to us? I struggled with this the most in my journey. I had to learn to become humble and that involves discomfort because I wasn't used to it. I had to learn  some hard lessons and also experience failure. Countless times I failed and I knew I had to be set free in order to live life abundantly. 

There are 3 key things that Beth Moore talks about in this first lesson:

• He came to set the captive free- no matter what binds them.

• He came to heal the brokenhearted- no matter what has broken your heart.

•  He came to open the eyes of the blind- no matter what blinded their eyes.

These I hold onto because I was all 3: captive, brokenhearted, and blind. I was living a life that had no purpose, direction, and I was so lost. This journey wasn't easy because I had to finally be honest with myself and look at what my life had become and how did I get so far away. "How did I get here" was a question I found myself asking over and over. 

 This is a journey you have to be willing to take, and one that you give complete surrender. I can say that this study "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore has changed my life forever. My prayer is that you too will be encouraged and if you are ready to be set free I pray that you will seek Him with all your heart.

I want to leave you with this verse: " You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant in who I have chose, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He."
(Isaiah 43:10)

 

In the end It brought Me to You

  I was thinking about how do we learn to let someone in? We have all loved and lost and we know how deep the pain can go and why try again?  I am sure we have all had these thoughts and have at one time or another made excuses on why we choose to not let someone in. I have struggled with this for sometime, and many times I was trying to find love, because we all just want to be loved by someone, to feel needed by someone else. 


I had to first, learn to love myself and let go of the hurts and pains from the past because I can't move forward if I keep looking in the past. This was the hardest lesson for me to learn because so many memories from the past I would hold onto and ask questions why? I was living in the past and life was still moving forward.....but I was stuck not realizing that I wasn't living my life. I was literally stuck in the past, and I felt broken like I had nothing more to give, I had given my all to someone and they had hurt me but I was still holding onto the past.


 I started living again.....It was a year ago that I got reconnected with my friend Jay, and we would spend countless hours on the phone, laughing about the good ole times and just building our friendship. Every day was a new adventure, I learned so much about him daily and we always had plenty to talk about , we both shared our life stories with one another the good and the bad that we have been through. 


Many months had passed and our friendship was growing day by day, and I started to just pray about Jay and I, the relationship we had that if it was to grow into something more that some how it would. He is someone I could be myself with, the real "me", each day we shared I cherished, not only was he a great friend, I was starting to have feelings for him.

In the end all the hurt, and pain was worth it, because it brought me to you .Our friendship has grown into the most amazing relationship I have ever been in. I have the one who I can share all my hopes and dreams with, the one who is always by my side even though we are miles apart. I can honestly say for the first time in my life I am truly happy and content. He's an amazing man and I am so blessed to have him in my life, I look forward to the many memories we will share. Only time will tell where this will bring us  but I know that there is no other place I would rather be than with him. 


Thank you Jay for being the amazing person you are and know that you have my heart. Who would of known that we would be together, but through it all we were brought together and I couldn't ask for more.

This is my favorite poem and It is dedicated to my sweetheart Jay Rodriguez

i carry your heart with me 

by E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet) i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Introducing Baby Lily

On  Monday Sept 6th at 4:58pm we welcomed Lily Aaliyah De Luna into the world. How we have waited and prayed for you for as we awaited your birth, you have now changed our lives forever and I am so happy you're here. You're a gift from God and my prayer for you Lily is that you see the love that your mom and dad have for you and for you to know we all love you.

I am so excited to be your Aunt and I look forward to watching you grow up and the best part teaching you the art of "shopping" im sure your dad will thank me for that. Looking forward to seeing you grow, say your first words, and learn how to crawl all these moments will be so special. Thankful for you and know that I love you . Amazing how you can love someone so much you just met,

                                        Love you,
                                      Aunt Ruthie

Babies Prayer

I lay here getting ready for bed tonight.

I call for Mom and Dad with all my might.

I am afraid because the world is so new.

Here comes Mom and Dad they look tired to.

 

The world is new and so much to see.

Tomorrow is another day of learning for me.

Today I cried but not due to pain.

I heard my first storm and saw my first rain.

 

My mom would hold me and tell me it’s Ok

Dad would rock me to sleep at the end of each day.

Watch over them as you do over me.

I love my Mom and Dad, as you can see.

 

I know I am new but I have one thing to ask.

Nothing real big just one small task.

Watch over my Mommy and Daddy to.

There all I have accept for you.

 

By: Jim Organ

Learning How to Let Go

Last week I lost my grandmother De Luna, and i've never lost anyone close to me and dealing with the pain and seeing my family hurt during this time was hard to see. How do you let someone go that you love so much? You start to think did I say everything I needed to say, how many times did I miss the family trips to visit, and then you see in a moment you have lost someone so dear to you and you just ask "why?" How can someone we love so much be taken away? My grandmother was the one who just always showed us all love and always so caring and giving all that she can to her family, never asking for anything in return. 

 

She showed us unconditional love and her smile made it all better. As the week went on I was surrounded by my family and I could see the love that we all had for her and also countless stories of remember when Grandma De Luna cooked for us, corrected  us, and just always loved us no matter what.

 

I was a witness to a true love story between her and my  grandfather 70 years together and seeing that he stood by her side till the very end. Its amazing to see how two people fell in love and stood by one another and their love for one another was so pure and true. I can only imagine of what kind of love can be but I hope that one day I will be blessed with a love like that. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa De Luna for all the love you have shown the family and for showing us what love is.

I am still learning how to let go and I know that God will continue to comfort me, I know you are in a better place and I know that I will see you again, that's the hope I hold onto. I am so blessed to be a part of this family and to have had an amazing grandmother, I love you and you will be missed but know this isn't goodbye I will see you soon.

This poem has helped me deal with the loss and I wanted to share it.

I'M FREE
 
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free,
I'm following the path God has laid you see.
I took his hand when I heard his call.
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way
I found the peace at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void
Then fill it with remembered joys-
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full I savored much,
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief
Lift up your hearts, and peace to thee-
God wanted me now, he set me free.

Soon I will be an Auntie again !!!!!

I am excited to be a aunt again, especially since it's my Brother Jr. and Lorena's first baby! They have been married since July 4, 2008 and I have been blessed to have Lorena as my sister, God blessed my brother with her and I know that she was meant to complete my brother's life and now this New edition is just the beginning of our family continuing to grow. I know they can't wait till the baby is here and the due date is Sept 22nd ...it's Jr's birthday what a great gift right??  but I have a feeling the baby will be arriving sooner than that.

the soon to be parents

oh you want to know what the baby is? Well let me share......they will be blessed with a precious baby GIRL , we are all excited !!! She is going to be named Lily and I can't wait to meet her.  Pray for Lorena and Lily that God keep them healthy until her due date and if Lily wants to come earlier then .....

mommy still all smiles :)

we are all ready to welcome her into this world with all the love we can give her and to watch her grow up and I can't wait to meet you Baby Lily know that I am so excited you will be here soon and can't wait to hold you!!!!

See you soon Lily
Love you already- Aunt Ruthie

Life as I knew it- has changed

Well, this is my FIRST post and I am excited about sharing with you how my life as I knew it-has changed. I need to give you a little background so you can have a better understanding. My life has been one of constant change and one that I wouldn't trade for anything, I have  had my share of success and failures but in the end I always learned more about myself and became a stronger person . I relocated to Washington for work and in this last year I have met some incredible people that have welcomed me and made me feel right at home. Thanks  Along this adventure, I reconnected with a friend over year ago and since then we have shared laughs, advice, and the most important our friendship grew and now my life has changed once again once when I was somewhat getting used to it, but change is always good :) I welcome this change.

my sweetheart

So he traveled here last week to visit me for the weekend ..... and little did I know one weekend could change everything. We shared how we felt with one another and my friend now is my "special someone" and I couldn't ask for more. I am so excited about the journey that lies ahead and where this will take us? who knows? but the one thing I do know It will be an Adventure !