be // k i n d // a n d // c o m p a s s i o n a t e

t o // o n e // a n o t h e r,

f o r g i v i n g // e a c h // o t h e r

j u s t // a s // i n // C h r i s t,

G o d // f o r g a v e // y o u .

E p h e s i a n s // 4 : 3 2

Who are you!? Introduce yourself to our people!  

I'm the founder of GraceLaced.com, a blog turned e-commerce site that's allowed me to create artwork through GraceLaced—an art and gift brand shared around the world. I'm an author/artist of several books, including: GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart, Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship, and Foundations: 12 Biblical Truths To Shape a Family, which I wrote with my husband Troy. Troy and I have been married almost 23 years, and we are grateful parents to six boys, ranging from ages 8 to 19. My passion is to point to the Gospel through my artwork and the words I write. I'm grateful to do so in the unseen of home and everyday life, but also through social media, where I long to direct our gaze to God's faithfulness day by day.

If you had to tweet about this month's verse, what would you say?

"If your heart feels hardened toward someone today, stop and count up all the ways God has forgiven you and has shown kindness to you. Start there." 

What's one personal story from your life that speaks to the concepts of this verse? 

My husband and I found ourselves in a painful conflict years ago, and experienced a wounding we thought we'd never recover from. Our hearts felt hardened and jaded toward friendship, in ministry...betrayed and bruised. It could've been easy to justify that hardness of heart, but slowly, we experienced a softening of our own hearts even when the circumstances had not changed. The only thing that made a difference was our own focus on God's mercy and kindness toward us, sinners. It's impossible to withhold forgiveness when we recognize how much we've been forgiven. 

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What is your life verse, and why?

I've never been able to quite pick ONE life verse, but I regularly come back to Ephesians 2:8-10 as the grounding truth for my days—that my God rescues through redemption, God created us for His purposes, and that all that He has for me is found in Christ and not by my own strength and effort.

What thing are you most excited about right now that we should all give a try?

The Faithful Project album is on repeat right now. It's a collaborative project. I co-wrote songs alongside Ellie Holcomb, Ann Voskamp, Amy Grant, Trillia Newbell, Christy Nockels, Sally Lloyd Jones and more. It was one of the most special experiences of my career—to branch out and try something new and to collaborate with other authors and songwriters. It's about God's faithfulness in the unlikely stories of many women from the Bible. I didn't know how much I needed to remember those stories of His faithfulness through these songs.

Be sure to check out the Dwell podcast to hear more from Ruth this month! Thanks for reading!