Hi there. Thanks for listening to the Sister Circle podcast. My name is Crystal Evans-Hurst,

and I'm your host. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the podcast that's designed to help you

live your life well and to make it a life you love. Listen, you get to choose.

Y'all, so you know that if I'm talking with someone on the couch, it's because I want to be

with them on the couch because they're a friend or they're interesting or I've known them for quite some time. And my guest today fits all of those categories, checks all those boxes. I'm glad to welcome Ms. Ruth Joe Simons to the show. It's so fun to be here. We literally have had, this is like show three. We're just going to show you this one, because we've been sitting here talking for a hot second.

It's our excuse to have conversations that are way overdue. I know. I mean, it's really the best. Every time I'm with you, I'm like, oh, my goodness, we could go on forever. We can. We can. We can. can. So for those who don't know you, you are an artist who is an author, who is a speaker, who is a mother of a million children, and also constantly pointing us towards what we observe in beautiful spaces and places, nature included, to learn more about God. But just a quick rewind for those who don't know who you are,

why are you here? Why are you here in this space doing what you're doing in such a unique way?

Why do you think God has drawn you into this space, as my mother would say, for such a time as this?

Wow, that is so well said and really just such a good question, Crystal.

You know, I think my mission has always been to discover how God's grace intersects my daily life

because I always thought that my life was going to look a certain way.

And when it started to not look that way, I was like, well,

how do I find that God's grace and who he really is matters in any season? And as I was on that exploration, I realized that, oh, I didn't think my art skills were going to ever be

useful. I didn't think that my lack of this kind of personality trait or this or that, I thought,

oh, God can't use a girl like me.

And yet, somehow he saw fit to cause me to be able to bring my love for God's word and art

together in whether it's products or through books, but also just that, you know, my heart

is for discipling women. And ultimately, through books, but also just that, you know, my heart is for discipling women. And ultimately,

through books, I can pass on some of the life lessons I've learned through different seasons

of life because we really need to help us sister out. Right? We do. We do. Okay, so you said,

you weren't sure that God could use someone like you, like you, dot, dot, dot. What are the words that follow that? What are the words that describe like you? Well, I'll just start at the beginning, somebody who English is my second language. And so it's always, there's always some level of feeling like, ooh, this is, I don't know if I can communicate well. I'm not totally

sure if I'm relatable. I feel like I had a late start in all the things. And then in order

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