Ruth Nieves

Okay, so the Christmas season is like here already and I am so ready. Well, sort of. I am totally in the Christmas spirit and have been since before Thanksgiving, so much so that Josiah is practically in tears whenever he sees me turn to the Hallmark Channel. "No more Christmas movies, mommy, pleeeaaasse!!!" I love everything about the season. The lights, the tinsel, the trees, the songs. It almost seems as if the world is a little nicer... or is it me that is being a little nicer? Hey, it can happen, it is the season of miracles, right? I love to see the innocence that I see in my children, expectancy. Their list for Santa. Yes, I still encourage imagination and dreaming. They know that Santa is a pretend figure but they like to pretend and I encourage it. We are planning on having a simpler Christmas this year. I hate when in years past, I am more exhausted than excited about Christmas Day. We aren't rushing around looking for the perfect gift. We are simply enjoying ...

No, I haven't grown up in the country. I actually grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but grew up in the greatest city on this earth...New York! Maybe because of the hustle and bustle and the taking of the buses and trains every single day, the constant going that as I grew older I wanted to retreat to a quieter, slower pace. I live not too far from NYC right now. So I do have the perks of Broadway, Rockefeller Center, amazing restaurants, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the list is endless. I absolutely love it! But when I have had quite enough of all the fabulousness, I love to go home to my little house on the prairie in the beautiful Hudson Valley. I live in between horse farms overlooking amazing mountains and lakes. My little house is just that, little. But it is the right place for this season. With the boys growing up we will need a bigger place before long. So pray that the right home becomes available soon. But for now our 160...

We are already at the end of September. Can you believe that?! I am in the dining room as the boys sleep and hubby is at the church watching the Giants game with the guys and I am listening in the quietness the ticking of the clock. When you think about it every tick is a second gone by. It can make you a little anxious when you know the laundry has to get done, and the week has already begun and you aren't quite ready. Listening to the ticking and the tocking makes me think of a couple of things. One, that I want to spend more time loving on my husband and boys. I want to spend more time with my parents and siblings. I don't want to waste a second being mad or frustrated. I don't want to harbor anger and resentment. I don't want to hang on to past hurts. I have one life to live and I want to live it free from toxins and poisons that can rob me of my peace and joy. Secondly, the ticking reminds me of the Lord's return. It is getting closer. I am not a scholar and ...

Enjoying life right now. Choosing not to dwell on all the negative and bad stuff from yesterday and beyond. Choosing to saturate myself in the love of my husband and sons, in the love of my family and friends and in the love of my heavenly Father. I can't change yesterday. But I can change me so that today and tomorrow my response would be different. I know that bad days will come. Storms will brew and the "suddenlies" of life will happen, but I pray that when those days come, though I will not be ready for them, I pray that I will handle them with grace and hope. I hope that today, despite your crazy life, you will remember all that God has done for you, all that He has brought you through, all that He has given you. Tomorrow isn't promised but you have now, so relish in it, love in it, dance in it, laugh with abandon in it. I hope that you will join me in loving today!

Last night I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. I am not even kidding a little bit. I have never had one before but I have known people who have described the experience of one and I think I was on the verge of one. There have been so many changes in the last few months, year. All natural, nothing crazy. I am one that loves change. I crave it. I look for it. I totally don't mind it. But lately it's beginning to affect me in not such a cool way. Sort of like last night. I knew exactly what brought this on. I was not unaware of the reasons for the heart palpitations and the feeling of wanting to stop the world while I caught my breath...you know, till I was able to process what was happening. But that was not the case. I had to pray through it and relax....trust. Not only are the changes occurring on my head (read previous blog...grays) but also in the lives of my family. First it was Joey last week. Can you believe he is starting middle school in the fall? Well, I a...

My conversation with God went something like this.. "You know, God, this whole aging thing is not cool! I really don't like it and I especially hate the gray hair and the little lines coming up around the eyes. And other gravity realities...." This whole not-liking-the-aging-thing started when I found my first gray hair. I yanked that sucker out. And I as I winced in pain and from the one half-opened eye I see this silver, shining looking strand of what I know is my hair. I could not believe it. It was actually happening. I was, I was really getting OLLLLDDDDDDD....waahhhhh!!! This was not supposed to happen to me. When did this all begin to happen. I guess in the middle of planting a church, having children, moving from city and state, having more children and having the dailiness of life it all crept up on me. I was supposed to be prepared for this. I always said that I would age "gracefully". I would do the natural look...all gray. No hair dyes. But that ...

There are days that I just feel, blah! Just. Plain....BLAH! Today isn't one of those days but not too long ago that was a totally different story. These blah days can last for weeks and sometimes longer. It goes something like this... I feel fat. I feel ugly, puffy and round. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm not hideous but I think as women we all feel a little of these things every once in a while. But wait, I'm not finished. I feel stupid and like a terrible mom and wife. I get really down on myself and feel like everyone else thinks these things too. Does this sound remotely familiar at all? Joe doesn't know exactly what to do with me when I am so nutty and screwy. He tries to "get it" but I can see by the look in his eyes that he is REALLY confused.  I can just see him now looking at the calendar to see if "Aunt Freida" is coming for a "visit." Just to let you all know that we don't have an Aunt Freida and I don't know many...