If YOU Want Me To

God has been rocking my world lately, in numerous ways, but specifically through the life of Joshua as I've been reading the book of Joshua.  God told Joshua to do some crazy things as he led the Israelites, but Joshua obeyed immediately every time.  He NEVER questioned God or hesitated one bit, and God blessed him greatly because of this willingness to trust and obey.  I need to be more like Joshua!

Then the other night on my way home from Bedford, I heard Ginny Owen's song "If You Want Me To" on the radio, and I've always liked that song, but the words really go along with the book of Joshua, but with a suffering twist.  We are to obey even in the midst of pain and suffering, or if obeying may bring upon us suffering.  In the end, it will bring us closer to God.  I found the video of her singing this song and wanted to post it in case anyone hasn't heard it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q8pWgDsv1E

I'm back. :)

So, it has been quite a while since I have posted. 

Recap of my summer: 

• May - Counseling Intensive. Good but tiring!
• June - Trip to MN for camp - was AMAZING! Def. going back next summer! It is a priority!
• July - Trip to MN to surprise my dad for his 50th birthday.  Had sooo much fun spending time with family and seeing a ton of good friends!  We also moved to a new, amazing apartment.

That's about it.  August 2, I started working full time, and time has disappeared ever since then.  I can now say goodbye to any freetime I ever had.  My life consists of work, homework, housework, and Rob and I do fit a lot of fun and together time in too (gotta have that).  I just always feel that there is always more to do, but I think that will always be the case from here on out, so I just can't let myself become stressed over it.  However, working full time has also made me become much more disciplined in the time I do have, which I like.  I enjoy my job and my co-workers and I have learned a lot from what I am doing which will be reflected in my future, so I am very happy where I am, even if it takes my precious free time away.

And speaking of the future... some interesting and surprising events could be going down... but not sure yet, so just gotta wait and see.

So, we LOOOOOOOVE our new apartment! I'll put pics up once we get it painted.  And if anyone knows me, they know that when it comes to colors, I love BOLD BOLD BOLD.  I'm not going crazy though, since we don't own the place, but you had better believe that our living room will soon be RED (once we find the time to paint, reference above).  This whole move has been such a blessing! We were so wanting to just leave Lynchburg but felt that that is not what God wanted for us, but now we are so happy with where we are.  God definitely knew what He was doing.  Doesn't He always.

Traditional or Non-traditional?

Every morning as Rob and I drive to work we listen to the same morning radio show out of NYC.  It brightens up our mornings.  The other day I was listening to this show after dropping Rob off and heading to my office and they were talking about this woman who called into the show and was about to propose to her boyfriend because she wanted to get engaged and thought he was never going to ask her.  The next day she called back and said that her boyfriend said yes, but also told her that he wished she would have let him propose.  After that a number of women called in; some saying that they had proposed to their boyfriends, and others saying that after hearing the show they were now considering proposing to their boyfriend.

I read online that the only day where it is traditional for women to propose to men is on February 29th, Leap Year day.  Interesting little tidbit of information if you are ever on Jeopardy.

I am not a super traditional person, but the woman proposing to the man just seems weird to me.  Then I ask myself why it seems so weird.  Both people are part of the relationship and technically have equal rights to asking for the others' hand in marriage so why is the man the one who is expected to propose?  Perhaps it is connected with the man's role as the leader and initiator of the relationship....which if that is the case, then I definitely agree that the man should be the leader.  I am not all that traditional, but I never would have even thought about proposing to Rob, (although I did get him an engagement ring that I carried around for a while whenever we were together, "just in case" he were to pop the question).  I found it quite interesting that so many women were open to proposing to their boyfriend after hearing about this topic on the radio.  I think I kind of like things as they are, with the man doing the proposing.      

Funny Memory

Whenever I think back to when I was younger, I always think the same thing: Man was I a dumb kid! haha.  I think we all did things that we thought were "cool" at the time but later on realize that it was far from cool.  That's what being a kid is all about. 

Lately I've been thinking about this one time growing up that my brother, Matt and I always laugh about now that we are older (and wiser, of course....right).  This particular memory takes place when we were approximately 11 and 7.  We lived next to this man who had a large great dane.  We were scared to death of it.  This particular day we had our rollerblades on, and for some reason we were walking along the side of the house in the grass, in our rollerblades.  We always rollerbladed on the dead end street in front of the house.  I have no idea why we were in the grass, but we were. 

Right as we were pretty far into the yard, the neighbor's great dane bolts out of his garage and charges toward us at full speed, barking.  We both screamed like little ninnies, but we couldn't run or move because we had rollerblades on and were in the grass.  So we just stood there and held on to each other.  Fortunately, our neighbor heard the barking and our screaming and ran out and called the dog back before he got to us.  It was terrifying.  We both shuffled quickly on into the house and stayed inside rest of the afternoon.  We were now even more scared of that stupid dog.

I have always been terrified of dogs, and I am wondering if this was the initial incident that may have caused my fear.... I don't know.  But either way, it's a funny story.  One of many funny/dumb incidents that happened as we were growing up.  I'll post more in the future.

The Power of a Positive Attitude

School has been killing me lately.  It has been insane.  One thing that God has shown me lately, through my text books and class discussions (that's the great thing about being a counseling student, the majority of what you learn can easily be applied to your daily life, what math or business student can say that?) is that:

ALTHOUGH OFTEN YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE SITUATION, YOUR ATTITUDE HAS THE POWER TO INFLUENCE THE SITUATION

I love this and have been applying to my life and.... IT WORKS!

One example - this woman who works down the hall from me is a real debbie downer, and one of my biggest pet peeves is when people automatically see the negative in everything, because I am exactly the opposite.  I had begun to kind of just focus on my work and not say much to her when she would be in our office, because her negativity would frustrate me.  I decided to try out my new found approach on her one day.  When she came in, before she even had a chance to say anything, in a real upbeat tone of voice I gave her a complement and smiled at her real big.  She sat down in our office and did not say one negative thing the whole time she was there.  Her entire attitude was different.  It works!

I am now on the lookout to see what other situations I can influence with a good attitude, so watch out!

Tea Time

One thing I really love is tea.  I have always loved tea in the form of sweet tea. Around middle school I started drinking this one particular type of hot tea.  After I started college I started trying a few other hot teas, and now I am totally in love with all tea and have at least one cup of tea a day.  I love black tea, red tea, green tea, white tea.... all tea! haha.

In Fredricksburg, VA, there is this amazing tea store called Teavana.  It's a chain, so there are more than just this one, but this is the one nearest me.  It has looseleaf teas, and these have become my all-time favorite!  They take a little more work than bagged tea, but it's so worth it.  You can check out their website here. I HIGHLY recommend the Peach Cran-Tango looseleaf black tea. It's amazing! Here is what it looks like:

Tea is a fun hobby. It can be simple or extravagant, yet it is always yummy, whether hot or cold, green or black, looseleaf or bagged. It's a great drink to enjoy, and has great health benefits as well, unlike other drinks like coffee. This is making me thirsty, I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea! 

Change of Face

So tonight Rob told me that he might start his own blog, so that means that this blog is all mine now.  So, time for a change.

I named MY blog Ruby Red Perspective because I feel that I have a unique perspective to offer.  Red is my favorite color because it is bright, vibrant, and cheerful.  The Chinese view red as a sign of good fortune and many paint their front doors red as a way of wishing wellness on all who enter.  The Zen philosophy considers red a sign of positive energy and happiness.  I'm not a follower of the Zen religion, but some of their concepts are kind of neat.

I get told a lot that it seems like I am always happy, and yes, there are very few days where I don't have a smile on my face.  I can have joy through Christ and I truly desire to love people for who they are, not what they should be.  I have a very positive yet realistic view on life and love to share the joy God has given to me with others who need a breath of fresh year every now and then.

"Going green" is a big trend right now, and I'm all for it and want to do my part, but along with going green, I want to "live red." Studies show that positivity, laughing and smiling are therapeutic and are healthy for the body and mind.  Through Christ we are new creations, and even though life may send us through storms, Christ always guides us through them.  For that reason, we can smile freely without guilt!  I am excited to take this blog in a new direction and see where we go.  Yay for a change of face.

Bekah