Ruth's Story

Most, if not all, of us would take summer over winter any day. I mean, be honest--summer's the best. No school, lazy days, golden sunshine--the perfect blend of beauty, right? Of course. And winter...well, we all know what winter's like. Long, gray, dull--like a blank slate without hope of change. And don't forget the school. That's the worst of it. If you're anything like me, school just sucks the life out of you.



But guess what? Over the next week, we, Ruth and Esther, are going to share our stories with you. Stories of how God has taken this dull, dead winter and transformed it into a kaleidoscope of wonder, beauty, and awe. So open up your eyes and soften your hearts. God's about to speak to you.

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Summer and fall are my two favorite seasons. Everything is vibrant and colorful, and relaxing outside in seventy-degree weather is the best. And summer means church camp. And church camp…well, that means God. Especially this summer.



On June 25, 2010, I was baptized at my church camp. It was amazing. I can’t really explain the feeling—it’s just something you have to feel for yourself. But breathtaking is a good word for it, I guess. I’d never felt so in love with God until that week. He revealed Himself to me and that’s when I knew—I had to get baptized.

So, for the rest of the summer I was on a spiritual high. It held through most of the fall as well, because I went to a fall retreat in October. But, starting at a new school and having to make new friends was very difficult. I thought it was going to be easy, but I was so, so wrong!
Thus, winter has been a real struggle because God has been testing my faith and patience.

One day, I’d had enough. I was sick of school, mad at God—I couldn’t stand it. I kept on asking, “Why me? God, why me?” I felt like I had no hope anymore, that no one loved me. Storming into my room sobbing, I noticed a letter on my bed. My sister had heard my outburst downstairs and had written me a quick note with James 1:2-4 written in it. “Consider it pure joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Notice how James wrote ‘when you encounter various trials,’ not ‘if you encounter various trials.’

Fall is a beautiful season, although everything is decaying. Dying—trials and tribulations—and becoming anew in Christ is a beautiful thing to our Heavenly Father. As Christians, we sometimes believe that we’re not allowed to have bad things happen to us. But troubles and hardships are actually blessings to mature us! Trials produce faith; without faith, we are nothing.



Well, you can imagine that this verse made me cry even more. But this time, I was crying tears of joy. For this verse reminded me that God loved me perfectly and I did have hope, amidst all the crazy and unfair things I was dealing with.



In January, I attended an all-day girls’ conference with my church. It was on a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and I have to admit, when I woke up and saw how nice it was for January, I wished I hadn’t signed up for this all-day excursion. I mean, come on, a Saturday? Really? Why was I doing this?



But I can’t even begin to tell you how much this beautiful Saturday in January changed my life. The theme of the conference was “what if there’s a bigger picture?” and, using a wonderful metaphor, the staff portrayed God as the Photographer and His children as the cameras. The pictures were the results of our lives. That, in itself, I thought was pretty darn awesome since I love photography. But the final message was even more incredible. The speaker challenged us to use our gifts that God blessed us with to further His Kingdom. He didn’t go to all the trouble of giving us gifts, only to have us turn around and bury them because of fear, selfishness, or incompetence. He gave them to us for His pleasure, to see us go out and do amazing things with them for His glory. Not ours.

So, later that night I asked God to reveal what He wanted me to do for with my gifts, how He wanted to use me to change others. I prayed and wrote and prayed some more. The next day, the idea came to me—start this blog! He wanted me to use my photography to spotlight His intricate creation to show teenage girls about inner beauty.

So, who would have thought? Winter, a beautiful thing? Well, I believe it, because this winter has matured and completed me and even made me beautiful in God’s eyes.