Shenanigans, even during the photo shoot.

This month, we celebrate our third anniversary of The Ruth Experience.

An anniversary is the coming together of the past, present and future in a way that allows us to view all three at once. It's a moment to reflect, to regroup and then to cast the revised vision before us.

And that is exactly what we have been doing these past few months.

We are less starry-eyed and more seasoned after having had a few failures (most of which we now recall with chuckling and head shaking). We are more savvy and less swayed by fancy promises.

And, we are having more fun than we'd ever dare imagine those three short/long years ago!

We write because we love it, because it is compels us, because we are as passionate about our topics of faith and generosity and living intentionally as ever. We write because we've discovered a community of readers and fellow writers who feel the same - and whose same commitment is a breath of fresh air to us when life feels a little lackluster.

As we kick off our fourth journey around the sun, we've overhauled our website.  We're digging the simplicity and tranquility of our new look. And, we have a few other fun things in the pipeline!

As we reflect on the past and pray over the future, we are so very thankful to all our family and friends who have joined us in this space and in this community.  We are looking forward to another year of adventure, of learning new things and of journeying together.


 

Image by Nathan Troop via Flickr

This year, 2015, feels a bit heavy.

It is the tenth anniversary of the death of one of my dearest friends, who died at age 28 after a long battle with cancer.

I look back at myself ten short/long years ago -- so naive, such a beginner in so many ways, a young woman absolutely convinced that Katrina's legacy would be to conquer cancer and to share her amazing testimony with women the world over.

Her death was devastating, and it was the biggest test of my young faith -- until I prayed for God to show me her legacy, to show me that her life, cut short, still had an eternal impact.

He did, and he continues to do so even these ten years later.

10 years today. Exactly.

10 years ago that I said yes to this man. I said yes to a life lived together, instead of separate. A life of decisions to be made that benefit us, as a family, and not just me.

A decade of sacrifice and consideration of our life together. A decade of making decisions and choosing our family over personal advancement.

Marriage is many things. It's true. But as I've walked this married road, I've realized that this process of continuing to choose us over me is what keeps us going. This is the secret to our success. This is the choice we both continually make, sometimes on a daily basis.

Because when we're honest, most fights, arguments, and struggles we've had came when we wanted to put ourselves first. When we wanted to disregard what was best for us and simply choose what was best for me.