Scott and Ruth's Blog

Change of Plan

2011-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have decided for a fresh start, and to let this blog become more of a "family" blog for Ruth and I to talk about our adventures together as a family. I decided to branch off by myself and start my own blog Up In the Valley, I am hoping to make that blog a little more regular and talk on the topics: the outdoors, running, cycling, family, fatherhood, and anything else that comes to mind. Hopefully you stop in and check it out. I hope you enjoy.

1 Peter 4:12-13

2011-01-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how long that I will ever consider myself a new Christian. It has been a little over 4 years now since I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior but I feel like I have spent many of those years waiting for him to prove it.. I am not sure if that makes sense, but growing up in a family where God was not talked about because it was supposed to be your own personal thing has contributed to me wanted God to "prove" it to me. I am not sure if by any one act God has in fact proven to me his existence, but I can tell you that my faith has grown leaps and bounds in the last year. I have gone from apprehensive thoughts to being on fire for a God that I love. I still struggle, in fact I probably struggle more than I am successful but I have come to realize that because Jesus came to die for our sins that is ok. You don't have to be perfect and we are not judged on how good of a Christian we are based on how many times we struggle and come under fire.

If anything in fact we can look at those struggles as a sign that God is with us. 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." To me this means that when we come accross those trials in our lives, no matter how difficult, that God is there and should be glorified in it all. Not only that, but we should rejoice in the fact that we go through those things. That has always been difficult for me to follow, why would a loving God allow such bad things to happen. The answer has taken the slow route for me I suppose but to me it is simple. There is sin in this world, there has been every since Adam and Eve in the garden, because of that sin there will always be suffering. Regardless of the kind of suffering whether it come physically, mentally, spiritually, or even being persecuted for your faith, comes to you more almost because of your faith. It comes because God allows it, and he is giving us a taste of what it was like for him on this earth. So when hard times fall we can rejoice in knowing that God is with us and we are going through things that he himself may have had to go through when walking this earth.

The hardest thing to do....

2011-01-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I really think that the hardest thing to do for someone who is trying to do something new is getting in the habit of doing that thing they want to do. At least that is the case for me. I have often times tried to no avail to make life changing thoughts turn into my day to day way of life. I am inspired by my brother-in-law Simon who after many many years still can find time in his day to go for a run or lengthy bike ride. I am also inspired by my close friend Kieth who no matter the celebration or circumstance can control his portion sizes when he eats. Both of these men in particular are very close to me and after growing up in a family that didn't go to church or study the word of God or even talk about there being a God at all they are also my example of what being a Christian man means. Since becoming a Christian and having these men in my life I have tried to model some of their particular habits and implement them in my own life. For instance the habit of waking up early and going for a run, having quiet time with my wife, reading the word daily, or even just finding a way to eat less at all meals.

Recently I have felt that God is working in me in a way I have never felt before. I feel like he is telling me that it is time. It is time to become the Christian that I am supposed to be. The one that His will has in store for me.

To me, that means many things. It means being the responsible leader of this household, both physically, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually. I have rested too long on the idea that my wife who has been the Christian longer (much longer) is responsible for my walk with God.

So I am left trying to figure out what that means for me. I do feel like the Lord is showing me some things, and I think that they start very simply at the moment. I have felt Him more strongly in the last month or so than I have ever felt him in my life. It has me thinking that he is preparing me for something, or maybe he is just trying to shake me and get my attention to speed this process along. At this point it starts with prayer and responsibility. Two words that seem simple enough. Pray every day, how hard can that be right? Or be responsible, pick up after yourself, do the dishes, help out with Owen. Easy stuff right? For some reason it isn't easy stuff for me. It never has been and until I get it into habit, I am not sure if will be.

The good news is I have developed a plan (not the first time, nor the last I am sure). I am not sure what the key to my plan being successful this time vs. times in the past will be but I am sure that regardless of what comes of this, I will learn from it. In the simplest form I can think of it all comes down to one thing, choice. Choose to do the right thing, and if that is get my tail out of bed early in the morning, or not to eat seconds, or a handfull of this or that, or to pray out loud when I feel God is telling me to, or to read His word on a daily basis, it all comes down to choosing to do it the right way. The way that God wants from someone who calls themselves His son.

An afternoon in the sun..

2010-09-30T20:57:00.001-07:00

It is funny how life happens. Today during Ruth's volleyball game I took Owen outside to the softball field and we ran bases together. For some reason just those 15 minutes of my day have my heart overfilled with love and joy this evening. It takes me back to my days as a kid with my dad playing catch fielding ground balls and firing them back as hard as I could trying like crazy to make dad proud. Then today, I when I took Owen over to the field he spotted a swing set and he wanted to go over to it and swing but I started running to first base and just like me all of those years ago, he took off after me running as fast as he could trying to make daddy proud of him. Once he got started that is all he wanted to do, run around the bases. "Daddy, runnin, Daddy runnin" was all he could say, with a smile as big as I have ever seen on him. As the sun hit him on his cheek and his hair flapped in the wind I realized that I am my dad. God has blessed me with a son just like he did my dad, and just about the same time in my life as I entered his. I am so incredibly thankful for Owen.

I have never really sat down and thought about what it really means to be a father. I have just tried so very hard to stay one step ahead of the curve, and during those moments that I fall behind or aren't being the best dad possible for Owen I have always just loved on him and prayed for him. I have a feeling that God will bless that and as long as I stay in prayer and in His word He will get me through those spots where fatherhood gains on me..

Continuing search

2008-09-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

My last blog was one that started me on a journey into a search of faith. Seeking the Lord has been something I have been trying to do for a year and a half now more and more each day, but like everyone who has chosen to take up this search it seems like many times you come up empty handed, or you have great days followed by days that you aren't proud of. I will admit however that this search I have taken up hasn't gone the way I originally thought it would. I didn't attack it with the fever that I had at the moment of my last post. That is me in a nut shell however, I have big great ideas but they generally fade as the next morning's sun makes it way over the Eastern horizon. I will say though that I have found a few answers. Really today in Greg Laurie's daily devotional I came accross a quote that hit home hard with me on this very topic. "When people are true seekers of God and they are presented with the answers to their questions, they will believe." This seemed to rattle my cage a bit because as I go about my daily life I know I am a Christian, yet the enemy throws thoughts into my head, questioning thoughts over and over again that often take me away. The key to staying focussed I think is found in this quote. True seekers of God, that has been my problem all along, I have found myself wanting to seek the Lord, but I haven't fully, I have also wanted answers from the Lord expecting him to just present them to me without me really SEEKING Him and asking him with a fever pitch which was mentioned in yesterday's Greg Laurie. So as this journey continues for me I find myself needing to take a different approach, instead of observation of others in the way the Lord works in their lives, I should focus on my own relationship. Instead of looking for answers in other I need to go to the source. The answer so stinking obvious and has been hit over my head often for the last year or so that I am even embarassed to say it. So until the next time, God bless.

Long lost Blog

2008-08-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

I was laying in the basement of my in-law's house this evening realizing that I haven't updated this blog in quite some time. It is funny how I even I remember Ruth and my pledge to keep this updated only when I am away from home and the hustle and bustle of every day life. Since our last posting in February and the winter wonderland slowly melted away the Lord has blessed our budding family time and time again. We have purchased a house in the meantime. A fixer upper that we have been working tirelessly on for the last three months. It is funny, I always wanted something I could put my own touches on, well this is the place for me I suppose. Ruth and I took two weeks (at the end of school mind you, as if the kids weren't enough stress) to give our house a rebirth of such. We ripped out carpet, washed walls, primmed walls, painted walls, killed spiders, cleaned up spider webs and finally had carpet installed all within the span of a week or so. All during this time we were reveling in the fact that we had just found out we were pregnant. It was an amazing time. Since then our lives have continued to stay extremely busy. After school ended Legion baseball began for me. Ruth took up the duties of running the snack stand to help with our cash flow which I know at times she wished she hadn't of done but she was an amazing trooper and persevered. The projects continued at the house, starting with moving in and putting in laminate flooring, which included removing, repainting and replacing all the moulding in the living room and hallway. That was a project that tested my patience, home improvement skills and at times my sanity. With Ruth's help on the finishing touches we finished it a few weeks ago. Also during that time we cut down the jungle that we inherited that most would call a yard. If you have been to our house you will know it isn't a large yard, at least the grassed portion but it took 4 days to get through being that it was waste high in places.
Legion baseball for me had ups and downs, not something I am used to but I learned more than I have in any coaching experience to date. It was good in many ways and in many ways tested me. As a program I believe we took a step forward, at least in developing better men if not better baseball players.
Today what sparked this need in my heart to blog was a trip to a place over here on the Westside of Washington called Taproot church. A friend of Simon and myself has a brother that pastor's over here and we decided after talking about it for months to actually go and check it out. It was a good experience. I am not sure why to be honest however. I guess the Lord just gave me an extra nudge in His direction and has me wanting to talk. As a newer Christian I have just gone with the flow that I feel is the right flow to follow not really taking time to work on my own faith and walk. I was challenged today, I was challenged to find my own answers, tangible answers to the simplest of questions, Why? Why God? Why Jesus Christ? It is a question that if you are not a Christian you wonder whenever you are approached by someone who is a believer, or you may be wondering when you are all alone laying in the darkness of your room staring at your ceiling contemplating the meaning of life. If you are a Christian in my short lived experience you know the answer to the question but may struggle putting it into words, like me, or are gifted with the words to explain your feelings like Pastor Danny. It is funny because ultimately the answer is simple, Why God? because he died for my sins and was rose from the dead to show us he was more than just a nice guy. You see I always thought that it was because he died for my sins. The truth is it goes so much deeper than that. It goes deeper than a man who once walked the earth and preached of a God to those he came in contact with, and died for the sins of man. If it were that simple then we would worship so many others that have come since then and claimed to be someone special and died as martyrs. It is more than that and I guess I am going to try to, now given my track record of blogging please take this loosely, but I am going to try to chronicle my own personal experience here in the near to possibly distant future, my journey to answer the question Why? The easiest of questions, although at times may seem like a completely unsurmountable task. If any of you have children or nieces or nephews in that "why" stage you may know what I mean. Some of you who read this may be drug into this journey along with me, if you don't want to be there then I apologize beforehand, but I think this is going to be a great thing. Until the next time.

Winter Wonderland!!

2008-02-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

Over the last week or so we have been getting blasted with one snow shower after another. One week ago it all started off with the birth of our new nephew Ethan Daniel Ross. Ever since that fine day however we have been getting more and more snow. So much so that Kellogg not only had their first official "snow day" in 30 years, but it was followed up with two more yesterday and today. Which was awesome because Ruth had surgery on her foot on Tuesday so it has allowed her to hang out around the house and stay off of it as much as possible, as you can imagine she is very thankfull. The snow just keeps on coming even as I am writing this blog. The photo is my lovely bride standing on the sidewalk in front of our house. I would like to point out that all of this snow that is pilled up is from our sidewalk, which is only about 10 ft long, and a small single section of driveway. If there was anymore we might have been forced to go and get a snowblower. During the snow days like I said Ruth has been trying to rest up, but she has not been completely innactive, she has been working around the house a bit as much as she can at least which I am extrememly greatfull of, even with this small house things can stack up. She even helped with a small amount of shovelling and clearing off the car this morning so we could make it to her morning practice in time, she is one tough cookie I tell you what. I am very blessed to have her as my wife. I have been for the most part been trying to keep Ruth iced up and taking some time to relax. Yesterday I went outside and knocked down all of the icecicles off of the roof in hopes that I may save the gutters for they are completely iced up and I am not sure how much more weight they can take. I also have been kept busy of coarse by the constant snow fall. It seems like I have been outside shovelling every three hours or so when we have been home for the majority of this week. It is good though, it keeps me active during a time that it may be hard to get in excercise. Overall this week has been great. We are looking forward to going back to school however next week. We are normally very active, and because of what is now being called a state of emergency snow fall wise we have been grounded here at home. So it will be great to get back to everyday life.

2008-01-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home!! After a wonderful week in Tacoma Washington we returned to a WINTER WONDERLAND!!!! We missed not having a white Christmas over on the west side of Washington but we both had an incredible time. For me it was the first time that I have been away from home for Christmas which was an adjustment but it was a very good time. With the combination of the Peterson family, Miller family, Ross family, and Rowe family things were very crowded which was another adjustment for me but I found that I really enjoy having a lot of family around. Christmas day was much more than the standard morning presents, that was just the beginning. From presents we went into cool down mode which after watching the neices and nephew open presents was needed. From there we had a wonderful dinner made by the Peterson sisters which was followed by a cut-throat game of Bingo, officiated by Mr. Simon Miller, with his assistant referee Fern Lundberg. During the game I won the yearly gag gift, lucky me, with some promting from Aunt Barbara. Christmas was followed by my birthday, which the Peterson family threw me quite the bash, an amazing dinner which my lovely wife helped make was followed by desert at Casa Martha with entertainment provided by the dancing trio of G, A, and L. If you have the chance I highly suggest you look into hiring this wonderful group for entertainment at any function. It was a great trip one that I will never forget. A great way to kick off Ruth and my marriage!! I have been blessed in the year 07 by growing close and marrying my beautiful bride Ruth to the support and love of my immediate and now extended family!!! I am looking forward to the year to come and all that the Lord is going to bring our way.

2007-12-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

The happy couple, Oct. 20, 2007. A day that neither one of us will ever forget. One word: MAGIC!