Learning from Ruth

This past year I have enjoyed reading through the book of Ruth several times. The book of Ruth is fun reading that inspires as well. I decided to step back and really take a look at why so many people enjoy reading the book of Ruth, what is it about the character of Ruth that we like?
When I started looking at her different good character traits I came up with quite an impressive list. I thought I would share them with you and also share some verses that should encourage you and I to strive to emulate Ruth in these areas.


· Ruth was courageous. She was willing to go with her mother-in-law to the land of Judah even though it would mean going away from her family and the land where she had always lived. She evidently went because she thought it was the right thing to do, not because it was easy.
We too need to be people of courage. God told Joshua (in Josh. 1:9) to “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” If we are Christians and are following God then that is still true for us today. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”


· Ruth was kind. Naomi said to her and Orpah, “ May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”(Ruth 1:8) Ruth’s kindness is displayed all throughout the book.
Ephesians 4:32 tells us “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Kindness doesn’t always come easily but it is something that is definitely worth working on. When we are kind it makes us feel better as well as making it more enjoyable for others to be around us.


· Ruth was loyal. In Ruth 1:16 is the famous verse “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” She was loyal to Naomi and remained that way throughout her life.
I don’t know that there is anything better to ask for in a friend than loyalty. Most of all we need to be loyal to our God and loyal to our spouse and family.


· Ruth was determined. Ruth 1:18 mentions here determination to go with Naomi, we see that determination more throughout the story as she goes out and works and then even in pursuing a husband. When she saw the right thing to do, she followed it through with determination.
Do we have that same determination? When we see something that needs to be done, that is the right thing to do, do we work at it with determination until the job is done or are we a quitter? One of my favorite verses is 1 Cor. 15:58 which says “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” I think that verse says a lot about the determination that we need to have.


· Ruth was a hard worker. She went out and worked hard all day in order that she and Naomi could eat. (Ruth 2:17)
Hard workers are also needed today and I know there are a lot of them out there. One of the verses that I find the most inspiring along this line is Eph. 5:16 which says: “Making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” We only have so much time given to us here and we need to make the most of it, being hard workers for our great God and Father. The woman in Proverbs 31 is another good example of a hard worker. Some other verses that are encouraging are: 2 Thess. 3:12, Eph. 4:28 and Prov. 14:23.


· Ruth was humble. When Boaz noticed Ruth working in the field, Ruth’s response was one of complete humility. She said, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10). Humility is one of the most endearing traits anyone can have and I think that is part of the reason many people enjoy the book of Ruth.
There are many verse that tell us how important it is to be humble but I thought I would chose this one to close with, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.

What do you enjoy in the book of Ruth? If you have never read it before I would really encourage you to and to look for ways to learn from the book.

Long time, no post

Wow, am I a bad blogger, I should have known this would happen given my lack of ability to keep an offline journal...oh well I just have to try harder i guess.

I have been reading a lot of knit blogs, (I am so addicted) and stumbled onto this---

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Eminence the Very Viscountess Eva the Ineffable of Chortling Chesterton Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Strange but fun, in other news I have completed the "first official socks"...they are not really socks, more like house slippers made in the way of socks, just to test the waters of sock knitting, and ya know what, the water is fine come on in! I know I have a long way to go til I can whip up a half-way decent pair but so far, so fun.

I also finished the back of my dh's vest... dratted thing...cheap yarn...you really should be careful what you say..."of course I'll knit you a vest dear and you can even pick the yarn"

Oh, and I also knitted a hat for my aunt, from knitty- a tam. It was so fun to work with the two colors and see the pattern appear that I finished very quickly. Now all thats left is to mail it to her...because we have moved! Or at least started the process of moving, we left nice sunny florida to visit my DH's cousin(Michigan of all places). then we are off to Boston to see my folks, then the big one, we hop on a plane and take a very long flight to Abu Dhabi where we will most likely stay on a semi permenant basis, to live with my DH's family.

To return to the subject of socks for a moment, I have discovered that there is a yarn store that is exactly 1.7 miles from where we are staying right now in Michigan and the DH has promised to take me there. I have never been to a yarn store, as the only ones near to us before the move were a good distance away. I am so excited!! I want to buy some nice sock yarn and make some matching socks for the DH and my adorable new son.

Well, that was a long post, and if I can stick to my resolution to be a better blogger then a new post will follw shortly and may also include pictures.

until next post,
Asalam Alaikum

A fun little trip

Ken and I just got back today from a quick little trip down to St. Paul. Ken had an insurance meeting to attend at a very ritzy hotel (The Saint Paul). The company paid for us to stay at the hotel and there also was a banquet for us to attend. Ken thought it would be fun for just the 2 of us to make the trip so my parents kept our kids and just Ken and I went. We had stayed at the hotel before and had enjoyed all of the glitz but it was fun to go back with my digital camera and take some pictures. I didn't get as many cool ones as I had hoped too but I included a few here.
Here is a not so great picture of a huge bouquet of fresh flowers that was at the entrance of the hotel.
This is the building across the street and it also shows the lights from the hotel and the park that is across the street.
This is a picture of part of the lobby that had numerous chandeliers, beautiful rugs and chairs, fireplaces and then nearby the gold and mirrored elevators.
They still had their Christmas decorations up which where very pretty and impressive.
We went down on Monday night, arriving just in time to go to bed. On Tuesday morning we were able to visit Ken's cousin Christy and here family and also we got to see her parents (Ken's aunt and uncle) who were in town from Nevada. They invited us for breakfast and then we enjoyed spending the morning visiting.

Ken's meeting took up the afternoon so while he was busy I went to visit my friend Becky. We had a fun time visiting together and I enjoyed getting to see where she lives as I had never been there before (We have so many people that we know in the cities - including my sister- that we don't have time to see as much as we would like when we go down.). I love having the time to visit with friends.

On Tuesday evening was the Banquet which was held at the Hotel. We didn't have to dress up for it very much but the setting was probably about the fanciest banquet that I had been to. We had numerous plates and lots of silverware. The wait staff were dressed in their fancy outfits complete with dress gloves, they acted very properly and even had an accent (an affected one I think!). I was thankful that we had recently read about fancy meals in our manners book so I felt pretty prepared but I felt sorry for the man on my left. He kept using the wrong silverware or setting his shrimp tails on the wrong plate. Which about that I would say "who cares!" but the wait staff felt differently. Every time he did something wrong they would come and take away the thing he had used wrong and then replace it with a brand new one. We ended up each of us having around 6 plates through the course of the meal. In one sense I think what a waste of time for the dishwashers but at the same time it was quite fun. We are actually thinking about trying a very formal meal here at home quite soon as the kids thought it would be fun. I thought the food was pretty good but Ken's opinion was that the fancier you get the more you sacrifice on taste.

Anyway that was our adventure for the week. It was fun to go but it is nice to be home and for all of us to be back together as a family. How is your week going?

Backwards Works-for-me-Wednesday

Today is backwards day for Work-for-me-Wednesday. That means that we get to ask questions instead of telling solutions.

My question is: How do you permanently get rid of mold that grows on wooden window frames? In the winter time the window frames get wet and then mold grows. I wash them off regularly but it comes back very quickly. I tried washing with bleach and then with rubbing alcohol but no success. Do you have any solutions?

For more questions (and hopefully answers in the comments) go to Works-for-me-Wednesday.

Organize your house day!

I just thought I would write a post quick to let everybody know that today (the 1st Monday in Jan.) is National organize your house day! So off we go to get very busy! Actually there is no way that we can organize our house all in one day (and if you can I am very impressed!) but at least we can work on it.
To give you a heads up, next Monday is National organize your desk day. I guess whoever created these days knew that I might need a whole day to work on my desk. :-)
Whatever you do today I hope you have fun and glorify our Great God and Father!