Hello!
My name is Ruth Cortese and I am going on the World Race in July 2011! I am so excited as God has been moving me in this direction for some time. But let me share a little about myseld first.
I am 24 years old and am a Colorado native. I grew up in the small mountain town of Buena Vista which has one stop light and a population of roughly 3,000, I loved growing up in a small town. I am one of six children, 2 loving parents, and 2 sister-in-laws!
I was homeschooled(but am normal!) until 8th grade and then graduated from a small Christian school as Saluditorian….the graduating class was three people. (hehe). Currently I live in Colorado Springs-where I moved the summer after high school. I have been here six years now and have done three years of community college, worked three years in retail, and now work for Compassion International. In between I did a prayer internship through my church called The Furnace, volunteered with Young Life for 2 years, and am actively involved in leadership at my church's college/20-somethings ministry. I also have been on short term mission trips to Peru, Haiti, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Mexico. I love to travel!
I also take time to dance whenever I can! My favorites are swing and salsa, but I will pretty much dance to anything (even country music). Other things I love, and not necessarily in this order, are:
- My family
- Coffee shops and chai
- Cooking for lots of people
- The Broncos (even though they are 2-6) and Fantasy football
- Chick-fil-a
- Meeting new people
- Johnny Cash, Jon Foreman, and Jonny Lang
- Nertz
- Camping
I love my crazy life here and I love the community that God has connected me to. But I also feel like I have lived in a bubble. God has been poking at that bubble for some time now and I have tasted bits and peices of what else is out there. I do not want to settle for being "comfortable" my whole life. I live in a community where you can go months without interacting with a non-christian. There are people called to stay and invest in these types of places but I am not one of them. I finally came to this realization at the beginning of this summer after totally burning out. I was working full time, volunteering for young life, leading in two areas at my church, and also leading a missions trip. It was too much and finally took its toll. I no longer had the heart for all of these things because I was stretching myself too thin.
So after fulfilling my commitments at the beginning of the summer, I stopped doing all of those things I was involved in and took time to step back and re-focus. This has been a tough time of knowing God is moving me out of this season but not knowing where exactly He is moving me to. I am no longer comfortable but am excited about where it has led me. I think that the preparation and launching of the World Race may just be the beginning of where God is taking me next. I am so excited to just take a step at a time, hand-in-hand with my never-changing Father.
Proverbs 16:9
