Ruth Ann on life, motherhood, and the joyful pursuit of Christ

Christina and I feel so very blessed with the people God has placed in our lives. We truly believe our relationships reflect God's heart for community and affirm our unique role in displaying His glory. We are finally starting this series, where we will interview some of the special people in our lives. Let us know if you have a story that needs to get out - we would love to interview you as well!! Our first interview is with Ruth Ann Pometto- we hope you are blessed by her story.

Christina and Caroline (C&C) : Give a little background – who are you?
Ruth Ann (RA): Hello friends! My name is Ruth Ann Pometto. I am a stay at home wife and mom to my amazing husband, Joe, and my adorable son, Roman. Joe and I have been married for two and half years and Roman just turned one in June. We love our little family!

I guess, to go back a bit, I grew up in Iowa. Most of my life, I was raised by a single mom (my parents separated when I was 8 and my dad was killed in a tractor/train collision when I was 9). I have one brother who is now married – and recently I became a proud aunt to a beautiful nephew, Carter!!! I graduated from ISU in 2005 with a degree in Elementary Education.

A few things I love: JESUS, Joe, Roman, my family and friends (I seriously couldn’t have picked more incredible people for God to put in my life!), cooking, sweatpants, good conversation, coffee, hugs, chocolate, people who are nice when they don’t have to be, babies, getting notes, soft blankets, flowers, starting sentences with “I feel like…”, laughing, trying new foods/restaurants, traveling, JESUS.

C&C: How did you happen to read our blog?
(RA): Well, my freshman year of college, I lived in an apartment with three other girls. The summer before my sophomore year, one of the girls moved out, so we needed to find someone else to live with us. One of my roommates, Andrea, said she knew a girl from high school that needed somewhere to live, so Christina came over one day to look at the apartment, and a few weeks later, she moved in.

Let me tell you that Christina is one of the most fantastic people I have ever met in my life. Literally. She is the most amazing friend!! She is so thoughtful and always such an encouragement to me. We have been through a lot of stages in our lives together…what a blessing to have a friend who walks with you and prays for you all the way! Anyway, all of that just from a “random girl” moving into our apartment! God works in the little things.

Also, I just have to give you this quick story about the day that Christina moved into Apartment 123. So, we are helping her carry her things up to our 3rd floor apartment,(keep in mind I have known this girl about 10 minutes) and we sit down in the living room to take a break, when Christina decides now would be a good time to tell us the story about peeing her pants while riding in the car with Caroline. HILARIOUS. You need to have her tell the story in person sometime, because she is the best storyteller ever. Anyway, we all laughed hysterically, and that is where our long road of friendship began. Pee.

Needless to say, Christina is how I came to read this blog. I have met Caroline on a few occasions: her visiting our house, me visiting theirs. She is a sweetheart! I am praying for you while you are in Honduras, Caroline!

C&C: You recently became a wife and a mom. How is being a wife/mother different than you thought it would be when you were single?
RA: Big question! I love it. Having a family is such a journey. I always say it’s a good thing that God designed the family so that you get married (and adjust to living with and for someone else) before you have children (and adjust to giving even more of yourself to more people)!

I think that thing that surprised me the most (in a good way) was that I seriously didn’t know I had the capacity to love two people so much. If you think that you have really been committed to someone in prayer, or that you have loved someone so much you could really rejoice with them and mourn with them, or that you have been truly loyal to someone, just wait until you get married. Then double that when you have a child. I love being able to completely share my life with my husband – no insecurity involved. Two become one. And knowing that our love is rooted in Christ, I never have to doubt our relationship... not ever. Before we got married, we promised each other that we would never even say the word divorce. I have prayed for Roman more than I have prayed for anyone else in my life….and I have prayed for some people. What a blessing – what a beautiful way for God to share his love with us.

What surprised me the most (in a not-as-good, but realistic way) was that marriage is hard and parenting requires more selflessness than anything I have ever done. I know, what a revelation! But, it is. I heard a message one time that went something like this: Loving someone is easy when you feel in love. Like the day after your wedding, you wake up, and you can’t wait to do something wonderful for that person you are lying next to. But, true love, mature love, is when you wake up feeling like you don’t want to do anything for the person you’re lying next to. You don’t feel like doing something to show you love them, but you do it anyway.

There are those days. But, it’s good to know that Joe is doing that for me on some days and I am doing that for him on some days. It’s not always fun. There are hard decisions to be made, compromises that have to be worked out, there is give and take. There are times when we struggle in our walk with God. And when one person is struggling (and two became one, remember?) that is tough. It is our obligation to carry that other person if need be, to help them get back on their spiritual feet.

As for the parenting, I have never worked harder in my life. I have had some good jobs and some boring ones, and being a mom is, by far, the best, most exciting, most rewarding, most exhausting, most patience-requiring, job I have ever had! It takes 100% effort 24 hours a day. You don’t have the option to take a quick break when you are feeling overwhelmed. You don’t have the “go home to peace and quiet” option. But, when you hear a little voice call you mommy…priceless.

C&C: How has your relationship with God changed since having a baby?
RA: I think the best way to answer this question (since I have been so wordy on the other answers) is for you to go read my blog: www.rapometto.blogspot.com.

Having a child has radically changed my relationship with God – in almost every way. About every other post on my blog is a lesson I have learned from Roman, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find out that I have learned more about grace, patience, our selfishness, and God’s unconditional love, than I ever thought was possible.

C&C: Can you tell us a funny story about Roman?
RA: He is the most hilarious kid ever. I can’t wait until he can carry on a full conversation (he is also really smart, so it probably won’t be long!)

He is really funny about dogs. He talks about puppies all the time. My mom has a dog, Joe’s parents have a dog, my brother has a dog, the neighbors have a dog…you get the picture…he is exposed to them frequently. And, if you came to our house, you would see his stuffed dog, Murphy, who he loves. You would also hear him say “puppy” about every 15 minutes. Loves them. In theory.
When Roman gets close to a dog, he freaks out.

Example #1: The neighbors have a dog named Rocky. You can see him in his cage outside from our kitchen window. So, about once an hour, Roman says “Wah-kee?” and I lift him up so that he can look out the window, bark at Rocky, and talk about puppies. However, when we are drawing with sidewalk chalk on the walk in our back yard, and Rocky barks, Roman runs to me crying.

Example #2: We stayed the night at my brother and sister-in-law’s house a couple of months ago. Rom
an gets nervous around their 2 dogs, so they were in their kennels. He was crying because one of them barked, so I picked him up and was walking them into the kitchen to get him a drink, and as we walked by the dogs he says (through the sobs) “Hi puppies!!”. So funny. He just really loves them…but not in real life.

C&C: Are you an obsessive blog-checker? Which ones do you check daily?
RA: I can be pretty obsessive about the blogging. Joe makes fun of me about it all the time. You can find my favorites (I check them almost daily) on the left side of my blog – under “Blogs I Love”.

C&C: Are there any blogs that have especially inspired you lately?
RA: www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com

This blog is written by Angie Smith – her husband sings in the Christian band, Selah. They were pregnant with their fourth child when they found that the baby had several problems that would be fatal. They decided to carry her to term despite the doctors’ recommendations to terminate the pregnancy. They named her Audrey Caroline…she lived about two and a half hours and their blog is the beautiful story of her life and the life of their family.

I love it because Angie is so real about her suffering. She is honest about the struggles that she has giving it up to God. She is transparent about the pain that it is to lose a child. But, she is brave enough to offer it up to Christ…for HIS glory. It’s not about us. Nothing about our life is really about us. It’s all about bringing honor to the One who gives us everything we have ever had. It’s about knowing that God is enough. He is sufficient for us, despite our circumstances.

C&C: Thanks you, Ruth Ann, for being our first interviewee! We praise God for you and the life you are living for the Lord!
RA: Thanks so much for thinking my crazy little life worthy of your blog interview! So fun! I hope lots of other people do theirs soon!!

**If you have a story to share, let us know! Post a comment here and we'll get in touch for our next interview!**