Inspire, Spring 2005

Inspire 19 The Lord also confirmed in my mind that He was leading me into a new career! Every time I spoke, I laid a challenge before my audience. I asked them how they were dealing with the crises in their lives. At some point, everyone has a crisis in his or her life. It could be financial, job-related, parenting-related, divorce, death of a loved one, etc. I stressed that without Jesus Christ, there is no way anyone can deal with a crisis. During the Christmas season of 2003, the Lord laid it on my heart to write a book. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I started arguing with Him. I told Him I was willing to work at Aultman Hospital. I told Him I was willing to work with cancer patients and their families. I told Him I was willing to speak. But writing a book was a stretch! I felt like Moses arguing with God. I remembered Gary mentioning to me years before that someday I should write a book and share about our experiences with his seizures. He stressed that I needed to share how the Lord worked in our lives in spite of the medical problems he continually faced. But now, after losing Gary, I wasn’t willing to do that. Within a week, several people mentioned to me that I should write a book about our experiences with cancer, grief, and some of the trials we had been through as a family, including our stressful basketball years. Finally, one night I got down on my knees and said, “Lord, here I am. If you want me to write a book, You are the Author, and I will follow.” In July 2004, Victory in the Valleys became a reality. There are three sections in the book. The first one deals with our early married years and the medical issues we went through with Gary, my father, and our oldest son, who suffered a skull fracture at the age of three. The second section deals with the basketball crisis at Ohio State and how the Lord helped us through that valley. Even as national and local media tore our family apart in the newspapers and on the air, the Lord carried our family through, and we became a stronger family unit. The last section deals with the sudden homegoing of Gary and the grieving process. After the book was published, I spent a couple of weeks on a speaking tour in the South. Again, God confirmed to me that He was calling me into a full-time speaking ministry. When I returned to Ohio, I had several requests for speaking. It has been exciting to see how the Lord has opened so many opportunities. At first, my topic was simply dealing with cancer and the grieving process. However, over the past few months, the topics have broadened. More groups are asking for topics such as sports parents, basic Christian living, dealing with chronic medical crises, raising godly children, etc. The Lord continues to lay Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 on my heart. I know He is gradually drawing me away from my career of teaching and children’s ministries into another season of my life — ministering to hurting people. The seasons of my life are changing very quickly. I always thought I would teach for 30 years and then be out of the classroom. But now I know the Lord is leading me out of the classroom and into a full-time speaking and writing ministry. At times it is scary, but the Lord continually gives me this verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. — Proverbs 3:5-6 Changing careers, from a secure position in the elementary classroom to the unknown world of speaking, is a stretch for someone like me, who thrives on security. But with God as my pilot, I know He will take care of me. Besides developing her speaking and writing ministries, Ruthann teaches second grade in the East Holmes School District in Mt. Hope, Ohio. She received her B.A. from Cedarville, her M.S. from Heritage University, and has studied school administration at Ashland University. Her oldest son, John, is a graduate of Ohio State and a police officer with the Canton City Police Department. Younger son James (Jami) is a graduate of the University of Akron and is co-owner/manager of NETS Ambulance Service in Akron. Ruthann’s Web site is www.ruthann.faithweb.com. Changing careers, from a secure position in the elementary classroom to the unknown world of speaking, is a stretch for someone like me, who thrives on security. But with God as my pilot, I know He will take care of me.