Ruthie’s Blog

I Am So Blessed With GREAT Family And Friends!!!!

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Over the past two months of being home in the states, I have realized over and over again that I am blessed with wonderful family and friends.  I was already a pretty relational girl before I moved to Ethiopia and now that I’ve been influenced by a more community-oriented culture, I am even more so that way.  My whole goal this summer has been to see and or talk to people who I know and love and who love and support me.  I can’t say what a huge blessing it’s been to connect with so many people and really feel and see their support of me in such tangible ways.  Everytime someone is just a bit interested in hearing about Ethiopia or thanks me for sending emails or posting on my blogs, I am reminded that I am not in this all by myself and I’m so grateful.  Thank you to all family and friends, whether I’ve seen you or not.  Your love is definitely being felt!!

My Quilt at an Art Show

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

My quilt and I @ the art show

This summer, as some of you know, I have been in the process of making a quilt for my grandparents.  I finally finished it about two weeks ago and got to show it at an art show.  Unfortunately, the artist statement I wrote, as well as the title, was not printed in the way I would have liked.  So, without further ado, here is my artist statement….

The Cross Makes All The Difference

“I know that the cross of Christ has made a huge difference in my life,

But when I think about the difference the cross has made in my family, it scares me to think of where we would be without it.”

-my mom

          I guess I will start by saying that this quilt was originally not intended to be in this art show.  It is intended to be a gift for my grandparents (my mom’s parents) which I will give them at the end of this month.  I also never intended for this quilt to have so many crosses, but sometimes in the creative process things happen that the artist wasn’t expecting. 

            The pictures were taken in front of my grandparents’ home when all of their grandchildren were kids.  My family and I usually celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom’s parents who always have lots of leaves to rake from their gingko tree at that time of year.  It is a tradition for all of my cousins and I to go outside and rake the leaves and play in them, which is where the pictures come from.

            My mom and her brother and sister grew up in a very dysfunctional home.  Their father, my grandfather, grew up in a home of nine children whose own father was an abusive alcoholic.  My grandfather, to this day, has never dealt with the issues surrounding his painful childhood.  Since he didn’t deal with these issues on his own, he took them out on his own wife and children.  

            I grew up with a mother who was processing this rather difficult childhood.  She sought lots of counseling, prayer, and anything to help her heal and make the pain go away.  I was always so thankful that she got help for her issues and sought God, unlike my grandfather.  This made all the difference in our family. 

            I have learned from my mother that the cross of Christ can make a huge difference in a family and that cross is the only reason that anyone can heal.  She has taught me that whenever you have issues, you should always go to God.  Without Him our family would probably not be intact and several of us would not be speaking to each other.  Actually, it probably would have come to a point when we would vow to never spend Thanksgiving with each other and not take these beautiful pictures of us being together.

            So, it seems rather appropriate that the cross of Christ and these hearts (I originally intended to make them leaves) made their way into this quilt.  Because of God’s great love through the cross of Christ, most of my cousins and I have been able to have much happier childhoods than our parents.  Because of the cross of Christ we have been able to forgive each other and love and accept each other for who we are.  Because of the cross of Christ in the midst of our pain, we have come to know God better in a way that we wouldn’t know Him otherwise.

            My grandfather now has Parkinson’s disease and miraculously has accepted Christ.  Thanks to the Holy Spirit and good medication, I have seen a lot more compassion and kindness in his heart in my last visit with him.  

Being Home–The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Ok, I hope you’re able to view these pictures better than you could on my last post.  So, these pics show you most of the GREAT things about being home in California—seeing good friends, seeing family members, spending time backpacking with my sister in the redwoods, seeing the Pacific Ocean which I’ve really missed, celebrating our freedoms on the 4th of July, eating good tasty food like cheesecake, IN-N-OUT hambugers, and Mexican food, etc. etc.  I’ve loved connecting with people and I’m so thankful for all of the wonderful people I have here in California who love me so much.  It has been great to be home in California!!!

THE BAD—Well, I still really miss my Ethiopia–my students, my roommate, my church, and all of the friends I’ve made there.  Sometimes I wish I could be there instead of here and that’s the truth.  I am way more used to being in Ethiopia than California.  California feels so very very individualistic at times and I miss the sense of community I had in Ethiopia.  It’s just not the same.  I’m just being honest.  And I knew this going into it.  I knew that moving to Ethiopia would mean that I would always be missing somebody and someplace.  It’s just par for the course when God calls you to be in another country for any given length of time.  These are the facts.  

THE (downright) UGLY–Oh, the comments people make can be so very very frustrating, but the top one was “Are there black people in Ethiopia??”  It makes me mad and sad that someone could be this ignorant, but then that leads me to pray for this person and hope that God will change their heart and open their mind which in turn builds my character.  (If you’re interested, other comments include “Is that friend you have in Ethiopia black?” “Africa is so unsafe.  Did you feel safe there?”  (Africa is a huge continent and it’s really inaccurate to say that an entire continent is unsafe.  Would it makes sense to say that the whole of Europe or North America is unsafe?))

I Miss My Roommate!!

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

celebrating the end of the school year

Cindy and I have been like family to each other this year.  We’ve helped each other when we were sick.  We’ve shared our frustrations, joys, pains, and tears with each other.  I said goodbye to her on Wednesday and I didn’t cry then, but now that I’m without her I realize just how much I miss her.  So, thank you Cindy for a great year of being roomies together.  Miss you and see you soon in The Netherlands and Ethiopia!

Ode to My Yosiyay (I Will Miss Him So Much!!!)

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

My Yosiyay and I at my students' Graduation

I know teachers aren’t supposed to have favorite students, or at least not show that they have a favorite, but….Eyosiyas is my favorite student from this year.  

I call Eyosiyas My Yosiyay.  Adding the ending “yay” to someone’s name is like saying that they belong to you.  For example, some of my friends in Ethiopia call me Ruthieyay as a term of love and endearment.   if I could have adopted only one of my students, Eyosiyas would have definitely been the one.  I just really really love this little boy.

I first noticed My Yosiyay when I accidentally got on the topic of love with my students.  Eyosiyas raised his hand and said “Jesus loves us!”  All I could do in my secular, private school was just smile and nod at that point.  Eyosiyas always struck me as a rather confident boy and now I knew why.  Eyosiyas knows that he is loved by God.  Later I went up to him by myself and told him that I believed that Jesus loves me and others as well.  He gave me this face as if to say “Well, of course He does!” I hope I can have this kind of confidence in God’s love as My Yosiyay does. 

On graduation day this woman came up to me and said “I’m Eyosiyas’ mother.”  All I could think to say to her was “You are one lucky woman.  And just between you and me, your son Eyosiyas is my favorite student.” She answered, “I know.  He told me.”  Eyosiyas has this confidence in the love of God and the love of others and I hope that I can have this same level of confidence too!  As his teacher, he has taught me a lot!!  I really miss him so much already!!

Closing Day at GYA

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

singing the national anthem in traditional clothesSome of my students getting ready to do some traditional dances