The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 14/90 – Seeing Reverend Patrick

    ·

    Ruth Carter

    Day 14 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Getting to see Reverend Patrick Stout at Community Church of Hope!

    Photo courtesy of Community Church of Hope
    Photo courtesy of Community Church of Hope

    Now, I am not a religious person. I am definitely more agnostic than any other religious affiliation, despite being raised Catholic. So it may seem strange that I get excited about popping by a church on a Sunday morning to see the pastor.

    I used to be a parishioner at the community Church of Hope but it’s been years since I’ve attended services on a regular basis. Occasionally, Patrick still calls on me to help out at one of the events, like singing at the Christmas concert, and I’m always happy to do so. Although I’m not devoted to the biblical origins of many of Patrick’s sermons, I still find a value in listening to the message as a whole and so every few months I’ll popped by to listen to the sermon, say hello to Patrick, and disappear again, often without most people realizing I was there. (I like being stealthy like that.)

    Over the years, Patrick has become one of my closest confidants. He lovingly reads all my fucked up emails as I process the issues in my life, and offers suggestions and advice upon request.

    Sundays are usually my Susie Housewife day where I run errands and take care of house work. I knew I had a few errands to run in Central Phoenix, so I timed my travels so I could stop by the church and see Reverend Patrick between services. It’s always nice to catch up face-to-face, if only for a few minutes.

    In case you missed it: Day 13 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Campaigning with Kolby Granville!

  • Day 13/90 – Campaigning with Kolby Granville

    ·

    Ruth Carter

    Day 13 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to collect signatures with Kolby Granville!

    Photo fro KolbyGranville.com. Sorry I was too tired to remember to take a selfie how how we looked after gathering signatures for 2 hours.
    Photo from KolbyGranville.com. Sorry I was too tired to remember to take a selfie how how we looked after gathering signatures for 2 hours.

    Kolby is my friend and he’s on the Tempe City Council. Even though I’m not a resident of Tempe, I really appreciate his dedication to that community – listening to what residents want and focusing on improving the community. He’s up for re-election next March but just to get on the ballot, he has to get a certain number of signatures from registered Tempe voters. This number is based on how many people voted in the last election. The last election had a lot of state-level issues so turnout was higher (yay people are voting!) but the downside for Kolby is he has to get ~2000 signatures just to run. So he will be pounding pavement every Saturday and Sunday until November (when signature sheets are due), knocking on doors, to get the signatures he needs.

    I tagged along with Kolby for a morning of campaigning. Kolby is super organized – breaking the city down into manageable blocks to navigate. It was a toasty walk through this particular neighborhood, but it was fun – I got to see Kolby in action and we got to catch up as we walked between houses. It was cool to see how many people were already familiar with him. If someone was home, they usually signed the signature sheet.

    It was fun to walk a neighborhood of Tempe – seeing what made each house unique. It seemed like most of the time we knocked on a door we were met with the sound of a barking dog or dogs. That made me smile because as one of my law professors Andy Hessick says, “Every good American has a dog.”  I couple of dogs came bounding out at us when the owner opened the door – a few times I was afraid they might not be friendly, but there was one dog, a cavapoo named Penny, who was so sweet. She submissively sniffed around our feet hoping to be petted.

    I’m glad I got to have this experience. I’ve never been involved in any type of campaigning before. I suspect most people have no idea how much work it takes just to get on the ballot at the local level.

    In case you missed it: Day 12 of the 90 Days of Awesome – 26 Blocks!