Quality vs. Quantity time with God

Since the beginning of the year of I have been reading three chapters of the Bible and my daily devotional and enjoying it. Not always taking in a whole lot though. Which I would argue is the point of spending time in God's word. Over the years people have suggested how much time we are to spend with God each day. So I've tried different timelines so see what worked best for me.

Recently I attended the Change Conference in Toronto for a class assignment. During one of the messages, I head that a lady would be speaking about hear the voice of God. I eagerly went to that session because (a) I felt the Lord lead me to it (little did I know what He had planned for me) and (b) I wanted some encouragement and verification that I, in fact, hear from God. Whenever the Holy Spirit talks to me I always say “I think God just told me...” I never wanted to take authority and say yes with certainty that God did and does talk to me. Along with realizing that I need to be more assertive in knowing that it is Him talking to me I was also reminded that our time with God is not about the quantity of time I spend with Him, it is about the quality of that time. Fifteen minutes can be much more beneficial then dragging yourself through forty-five minutes and watching the clock regularly. Yes, I am guilty of that. I do enjoy my time with the Lord and feel that my day is thrown way off when I do not start it with him but I will also admit that I have been a bit religious about how much time to spend with Him. 

When the speaker talked about quality verse quantity the Lord got my attention and said that I should just be doing my devotional. For half a second I thought, “But that will only take a few minutes, verse reading my Bible and doing the devotional.” The other part of me was happy that I didn't have to spend as much time in the Word when I really wasn't getting a whole lot of out it. (Yes, I know I sound sacrilegious, but at least I'm being honest). So I got home that night and because I did not have time early that morning to do my God time I did it when I got home and just did the devotional. For each day, my devotional has a theme, a verse/passage and then a description afterward. So I decided that I would read the passage in my Bible that the devotional instructed more carefully with a pen for marking when necessary and then reading the paragraph in the devotional book afterward, followed by prayer time. At first, it felt weird to only spend a few minutes in my devotional, but that soon changed.

Ever since that day God has been moving and teaching me so much. He is basically teaching me one new thing a week and I hear His voice so much more clearly now.

A side benefit to all this is that I do not have to get up as early now because I have gone from about thirty to forty-five minutes to fifteen to twenty minutes with Him in the morning.

Moral of the story, God is not impressed with the length of time you spend in His Word with Him, He just wants us to spend time with Him so that He can teach us the things He wants us to learn.

I also no longer feel bad about only giving God fifteen minutes of my day in the morning and a few minutes at bedtime because I know and have been reminded that He is not impressed with the amount of time as long as He comes first in our lives.

So, to those of you who have been dealing with the same issues I have been dealing with, take heart and know that you are not alone.

As always, I hope this blesses and encourages you.

God Bless

~Ruth

I'm a simple girl who loves pink.

I'm a simple girl who loves pink.

Since my mid-teen years, I have been wanting to change my wardrobe, to be prettier and not as simple and plain. Trying to create a new image, but too afraid to do anything about it and not knowing where to begin. The last few years since Pinterest has become a love of mine I have used it to try and create a new look for myself, all the while unknowingly fighting to stay the same. I like jeans and t-shirts or jeans and a tank top. I also like dresses and skirts and high heels, and as most people know I am obsessed with the colour pink. So after years of trying to create a new sophisticated look for myself and failing at it, I realized that I'm okay with how I dress. So I have come to the conclusion of this, so what if I don't dress up every day, so what if I like PJs and hoodies on cold days. I am me, and I like me. 

As I was writing a few thoughts down in my phone tonight about all this, before the rest of the post came together, this one sentence hit home and helped me accept myself, “I”m a simple girl who loves pink.”

It is relieving to know that I can finally start enjoying myself in the clothing that I like and be happy. This is how God made me.

So, to all those girls out there who are struggling with the same or similar issue just remember it's okay to be yourself. Stop trying to impress other people by how you dress. Only God's opinion matters and He says you are beautiful and loves you the way you are, if He did not he would not have made you the way he did.

For those who are trying to impress the world, I get it, but trying to please someone who will never be pleased is exhausting and a waste of time. Remember, the people who matter will love you and the way you dress and the ones who do not like how you dress, well their opinions do not have to matter. Each one of us decides who's opinions will matter to us. So pick and choose who's opinions really matter to you.

This has been one of the most eye-opening nights of my life. God has healed my heart and I pray you will allow Him to heal yours as well. I honestly feel so relaxed and relieved now that I can enjoy being the simple girl God created me to be.

So enjoy the days where you want to wear a dress, but also enjoy the days when you want to wear your hair in a ponytail or wear little to no makeup. Enjoy every outfit because God made you this way.

God Bless

~Ruth

Ps. This morning Chase and I had a few errands to run, so I put my hair in a ponytail, did my makeup, put on a pair of capri pants, a pink t-shirt, and sandals and for the first time in a long time I felt beautiful wearing a simple outfit.

Priorities.

Recently my mom told me that my great aunt moved into seniors home. Which is a good thing for a number of reasons. As mom was telling me about the whole ordeal, she mentioned that my great aunt can only have 40 things in her room. Now I'm not sure what all that includes but either way it got me thinking about what 40 things I would bring assuming that the list is about our personal stuff and not clothing, furniture, and other basic necessities. After talking to mom, I decided to write down a list of the 40 things I would take with me. My list included my Bible, devotional book, and journal. Then it went on to my electronics and some sentimental decorations from our wedding and family heirlooms.

Thinking through my list really made me examine my priorities and what matters most to me. My first priority being God, then my family, and finally school and my personal fitness. It's a list like this that makes us take a step back and examine our priorities, for better or worse.

I would like to challenge each one of you who is reading this to make a list of the top 40 things that you would want to take with you, on your next trip or move, or anywhere you are going that has a limited packing list.

Regardless of what you put your faith and trust in, for me, it is God and I hope and pray that it is the same for you as well if you are not following God then you have no idea what you are missing out on. Life with the Lord in the driver's seat is never a dull moment.

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 'but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be'"

God Bless
~Ruth

Home.

Home

(From Google) Noun. The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.

The other night I was fixing a decoration called “Stairway to Heaven.” It has been passed down to me from my sister at my wedding. She got it from my mother and mom got it from my grandmother. As I was finishing putting the final piece back on it I was thinking about the spot on the wall that it would stick to. Once I decided on the right spot I sat at my dining room table and look around my apartment at our furniture and decorations (its open concept from the kitchen, dining, and living room) and felt like I was at home. It has been just over a year and a half since I have felt like I had a home. Home for me was at my parent's place until I got married and moved out. After getting married my hubby and I lived with his grandparents for the summer and then we moved into our own place that September. We lived in that apartment for a year before moving to Cambridge to where we are now. Living with his grandparents was not home, don't get me wrong. I love them dearly and I am so grateful for them opening up their home to us that summer but it was not home. Our next apartment was not home either. We knew from the moment we signed the lease that it was going to be a temporary home until we could save up and move to Cambridge so I could return to school. God also had other plans for us while we were in our first apartment, but that will be for a different day. Never once did I call that place “home” I always referred to it as “our place.” We only put one decoration on the wall that whole year and simply arranged our furniture to work for us. Finally, after a year we were blessed to move to Cambridge and God gave us the apartment that we have now. Our very first day in our apartment we were unloading the Uhaul and unpacking boxes and I was excited to start decorating and I called it “home.” I started decorating right away and starting making it into our first home. Our apartment has its downsides, but what apartment doesn't? Yes, we do plan on moving at the end of our lease, but for now, it is home.

I never asked people what the atmosphere of our last place felt like but I have asked what our new place feels like and their response was “home”. I hope that this apartment continues to feel like home and that every other place we live in will also feel like home.

They say home is where the heart is. I believe that a) home is where the heart is and b) home is where my hubby is. As a couple we believe that God called us to move to Cambridge for my educational purposes and to start our family (in a few years). So my heart has been in Cambridge for quite some time now and now I am here with my hubby. So in every respect of the word “home”, I am now “home.” What a beautiful thing to be able to say “I'm home.”

I hope that all you who are reading this are either in your home or are working towards it. It doesn't have to be big or fancy. We live a simple life. It's all about where your heart is and who is in it.

Here is a picture of the wall decoration all finished and on display for all to see.

God Bless

~Ruth

I'm not a robot.

Strange title for a post I know. The truth of the matter is that I am not a robot. Now I know what you are thinking. “Of course your not a robot. You are a human being” and of course, I know that full well. I know that I am a human being created in the image of God.

Recently I have been treating myself like a robot. I look at the amount of time that I have and think that I can get everything done in that time, which I might be able to do depending on the day. The problem is that I forget to take my energy level into consideration. Hence the robot mindset. I will make a list like this, get all your homework done, get all the housework and laundry done and make a meal that Betty Crocker would be impressed with. These are all good things of course, but what the problem with them is that I am human and even I cannot get everything done in one day despite how hard I try, and believe me I have which only leads to exhaustion, feelings of a failure, and stress which leads to its own problems altogether. I've also learned to stop comparing myself to other. I have finally come to accept that we are all on our own paths in life and none of us are in the same chapter as each other therefore there is no point in comparing myself to others. I tend to forget that God made me unique with my own talents and abilities and that I need to rely on Him for strength and guidance rather than myself.

My problem is that I do not learn very fast, so I kept repeating the same pattern over and over again which lead to feeling sicker and sicker. Thankfully I have a wonderful hubby who has walked with me through all this and never tells me “I told you so” after the fact. He knows my limitations and encourages me to stay within them, my problem is that I do not listen very well.

Finally, after months of repeating the same process over and over, I have finally learned to balance it all, which is very happy about. I now put aside the homework on the weekends so that he and I can enjoy time together. I also try to get my homework done while I am at school or while he is at work. That way I can also separate my home life from my school life.

I have learned that it is okay to take a break, in fact, it is a good thing. If God wanted me to be able to operate like a robot then He would have made me that way, but he did not.

Growing up I was and am still blessed with two parents who worked very hard for all that we had. They instilled in me a good work ethic which I am very grateful for. My problem is that I have recently taken that to the extreme and think that if I am not busy doing something then I am not being productive and thus being lazy. Yes, work is important but so is rest.

All in all God, Chase and I make a great team and with help from both of them, I am able to enjoy life to the fullest with them both.

So to those of you who are in the same boat as me, remember, it is all about balance, priorities, and respecting your own abilities and working within them. What is the point of getting everything done and then being too tired to enjoy all your hard work? There is no point in making a cake if you cannot sit down with your loved one and enjoy eating it together.

God is good.

God is good. There are no words to describe how good God is. Since my husband Chase and I moved to Cambridge it has been a long uphill battle. From health problems, financial problems and the stress of a lifestyle change of going back to school, it has been a crazy 5 months.

This last month was the worst, though. My sweet hubby made a simple but dangerous mistake at work at the beginning of January which caused him to lose his job. Like many people, we live pay cheque to pay cheque. He had a handful of interviews over the course of the month but nothing was panning out. As you can imagine we were stressed out which was only making matters worse. Through it all though we knew God was taking care of us and would provide for us. It was through this trial that our devotional life started to grow and we grew together which we knew was from God. God also blessed us with our church family, immediate family and close friends through prayer and finances. I am so grateful for the body of Christ. This past Friday, February 3rd Chase received a phone call telling him that he got the job that he had recently applied to. What relief and joy we felt. Today (Saturday) we were our running errands while driving I was thinking about how good God is and of all the people he has brought into our lives since moving here. We have made some wonderful connections since moving to Cambridge and we are so grateful for all the Lord has done for us.

So, for those of you who are going through a rough time, I'm terribly sorry. I'm also grateful though because it is through the hard times that we learn to trust in the Lord even more.

The whole time we were going through this last trial the Lord kept reminding me of these two truths.
1. He will never change. (Hebrews 13:8)
2. He will always provide for you. (Matthew 6:26)
From these two truths I was comforted in knowing that God has provided for me in the past and because He is unchanging why would He stop providing for us now?

Over the years my mom has reminded me that when you honor God with your life, He honors you as well.

I hope this encourages you and blesses you. I know that reflecting on this past month and thinking of all that God has done has been and will continue to be a huge blessing to me.

God Bless
~Ruth