Ruth earned my respect. I admired her for many things, restraint requires me to remain mute on several, however allow me to mention three:
Physical Pain - I wouldn't last a day with the pain Ruth had every single day, and neither would you. The first thing I learned about Ruth was that she had been injured when a car smashed her against another car. Since I have known her there have been a series of ER visits, Hospital stays and surgeries and finally, cancer. But she also struggled with arthritis. You could see the pain in her eyes but never in her disposition. She would not volunteer a complaint, but if you asked her she would tell you how she was feeling. Her joints, her limbs, her back and her neck (I said I wouldn't mention the pain in her backside!). My favorite memory of Ruth is from Sunday school. She would always offer a Bible answer whether it was the one the teacher was looking for or not. We were discussing paradise and Ruth said to the class "My son said 'Mom don't you want to go to Hawaii some day?' and I said, 'Why would I want to go to Hawaii, I am going to Heaven'". Pain followed Ruth everywhere in this life, she looked forward to a land where the pain would cease. Heaven was a real place to her. She taught me that.
Emotional Pain - She taught me that life hurts sometimes. That it isn't always fair. As a lead into our evenings discussion, I asked our small group what their favorite food was. Ruth said (I am pretty confident I got this right) corn, tomatoes, broccoli and some other vegetables. I thought what a shame! This lady needs to have some KC BBQ! But what she said next really floored me, "But I can't have them because they make my arthritis flare-up." What? Your favorite food, that you can't eat because it makes you hurt all over, is vegetables? Ruth was such a sweet and humble lady. From my vantage point, she deserved better. Seldom got it. But what she had was fruit of the Spirit. Things that really satisfy that few of us ever really discover. Life isn't fair, that is why we need to stop seeking life from this world and start seeking the Way, the Truth and the Life. Like Ruth did.
Church Pain - How many know there is Church pain? Ruth longed for things a certain way but showed incredible grace in how things were. Ruth loved conventions, conferences, camp dinners, fellowship dinners, retreats, ladies meetings, prayer meetings even Sunday evening church! You could see the joy on her face during these times. I knew what she loved most, but she never let that disrupt her acceptance of things as they were. Here is a silly but true example. When I would wear a suit and tie, without fail, Ruth would say "You look nice today" and each time I would respond "Do I normally look like a slob?" And she would just laugh her laugh. It is not that I looked bad not wearing a suit and tie, it was just that she liked it better! I liked that about her. She taught me that things change and it is okay to like things a certain way, not apologize for it, but also not allow your attitude to get in the way of glorifying God. Some of us haven't learned how to properly manage our low threshold of church pain.
This tribute is more for me than you. I miss her. See made a difference in my life.
