Live A Revolution... Every Day

I'm Excited

I get excited about the little things. Like stumbling across a post on Corey's blog bout this book. It's a book about the stories and places of Mexico - stories I know, stories that have changed my life. I'm running out to get it right after work and plan to dive into it as I drive home... literally... I can't wait... I'm that excited.

It's not me. It's you.

Ok. I'm gonna be shallowy honest with you. I say honest, because I'm gonna - um - be honest. I say shallowy, because it's well - fairly shallow.

I don't know about you, but I've had a few girlfriends in my time. I know what you're thinking, "Well, duh. You are so hot. Of course you've had a few hundred." That might be overstating it by - well - a few hundred. And I've noticed that Twitter and the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship has at least one thing in common.

Because of Twitter, I've got one relationship that I had back in the day when I was like nine years old on my mind. It developed fast during the bowling league me and my brothers participated in during the winter months (I know what you're thinking... "Really, I didn't think bowlers were cool enough to get girlfriends." Hey, we were cool... maybe.).

I forget the girl's name, but I do remember she was two years older than me - yaya mac daddy! This relationship was awesome. We dated for all of like a week. I thought everything was cool. Until after a week's time I tried calling her. No answer. I called again and left a message with her mom. No return call. I called again. Again no return call (again, I know what you're thinking, "STALKER.") Don't worry, I waited for a period of a few hours!

Then the day came, Saturday. The day me and my brothers bowled - the day I would see this girl, because she bowled too. We arrived at Chippewa Lanes on the south side of South Bend, Indiana. In between the first and second game, I made my move down to her lane. Her game was ending and I waited on the concourse to talk to her. She walked up to me, looked right - through me, and made her way past me to another dude. Speechless. Disappointed. Hurt. That discribed my feelings back then.

She broke up with me without actually breaking up with me. Is that really allowed? I thought we had something. I thought things were cool. I thought I was funny and personable. But for some reason, it didn't work out. And the killer was, she broke up with me without telling me, so I thought we were dating even when we really weren't. How cruel is that!? I didn't even get the, "It's not you. It's me." benefit.

Today, as I sit in front of my Twitter home page, I'm flashing back to the relationship above. I'm checking through my followers and have suddenly realized that a few of who I thought were friends are no longer following me. No warning. No explanation. It's like I was broken up with without being told. The feelings on that fateful day that described me back then, describes me now. I thought I had something. I thought things were cool. I thought I was funny and personable. But for some reason, it hasn't worked out. And the killer is today, like it was back in the day, I've been broken up with without being told, so I thought these peeps had been following me when they really weren't. And it's like THEY'RE telling ME,

"It's not me, it's you."

;)

Everyone Loves A Hug

 

Well, at least Mandy does - but not necessarily the typical kind that first comes to mind. Mandy has chosen to love Hug St. in Elkhart, Indiana. Wha what? Yup. Mandy has chosen to pray for Hug St. and the families and students that live there. Hug St. is one of the 78 or 79 streets that I am praying and asking others to join in praying for God to move - for Jesus to be made famous on - and for students and families to have their lives changed. One street. One person. One faith. And one movement of God that starts with his people. Mandy, thank you for signing up to fight and pray for Jesus to sweep through Hug St. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing stories in the days, weeks and months ahead. If you haven't seen Mandy's blog, check it out. Go to Hug St. on the right hand side of my page and click the link.

Thanks Mandy!

On the Righty

Just listed each street name on my right hand sidebar. If you are wondering why I have streets listed, click on this post. And let me know if you want to participate so I can link to your blog via street name.

Gracias.

Takin It to the Streets Update

Last month, I threw out 79 street names to pray over - 79 specific street names where students live.

Dana Ruth, a.k.a. mommy, took Harrison.

Jim Ruth took Monroe.

And AuntieB (not my aunt), said, "I'm just gonna print out the list and give it to our leaders and students as a way to be missionaries."

You guys are awesome. Thanks for jumping on board. Thanks for loving on students in a very special way.

Power in Popsicles

One of the things Matt and I want to do with Revolve, is to change students' view of society - to give them another window to look at life through. One way we are doing that is through different types of service projects once every couple months. So this past Sunday (yesterday), Matt and I got a few students together and headed out to our targeted neighborhoods to pass out some popsicles to whoever we came across - kids and adults - didn't matter. We just wanted to bless our peeps - no matter how small it seemed to us. It was amazing to see faces light up and walls drop as we handed out "free" (that was the key phrase of the day) popsicles to people in what some would call "the hood". In fact, as we rounded one corner, the popsicle had so much power that a group, or what I would call a posse (15 or so teens), stopped their pursuit of one lone kid who, from what I could tell, what about to get beat up. How did I know that, oh, I don't know, maybe the phrase, "I'm gonna beat his ass," gave it away. But just as they said that, I said, "Hey y'all want some "free" popsicles?" You could almost hear the sound of tires screeching to a hault. And their anger and hatred turned to facination, to the relief of the kid about to get his a - I mean, butt beat. Oh, and as we left, everyone sat talking and laughing as they chomped on some flavor ice... even the kid who almost lost his butt. How cool is that. I would say... so cool.

And my prayer throughout, God help us to meet the needs of these folks. Help us to gain favor so that you will be made famous.

Bucketfuls

Bucketfuls of what you might ask? Good question. It would be sweet if I was talking bucketfuls of money. Or bucketfuls of white chocolate chip cookies. But I'm not. The USA Today had an article about how the brown recluse spider is making its venomous presence known. According to the article, brown recluse bites are on the rise across the country, "especially in the MIDWEST and Southeast." Wha wha what? Did you say MIDWEST. Um, don't I live in the MIDWEST? And to make this article 1,000,000 (ya, that's ONE MILLION) times worse, the expert is quoted as saying, "There are probably bucketfuls of these spiders in your home," but we shouldn't freak out about them. Uh, you're telling an arachnophobe not to be scare about a DEADLY spider lurking in my home. Uh, too late. What's that on my leg... gotta go.

Carter = Twitter?

The Ruth's are going to do a little experiment. Our three year old Carter will begin twittering. What? A three year old that twitters? Ok, he won't be actually typing. But his parents will be passing along his nuggets of wisdom and funnies as he spews them from his pie hole. This will either be fun, or really dumb. Only time will tell. Check him out.

:)

Mixed Signals

Yes. This is where Jami and I have to place our phones to get a clear signal - in our kitchen window. In order to receive/send text messages, phone calls, this is what we have to do. This is literally the best spot - it's our "hotspot". So if you get a text from us or are speaking to us on our cells at home, you'll know exactly where we'll be.

I'm Still Alive

Well. I'm still alive. Just got back from my first SCUBA lesson. It. Was. Awesome. Strapped on the fins. Almost fell - multiple times. Got in the water. You really can't freak out easily and learn the skills you need to get certified. It was sweet. I can't wait till next Wednesday.