Gabrielle F.

Today, Gabrielle speaks to us about her remarkable story of faith that emerged from a tragic night, and about Ruach Wellness.

Tell us a bit about how you grew up and your childhood: I grew up in a suburban town in the middle of Oklahoma. I have two brothers, one older and one younger. I spent my childhood playing outside till the street lights came on with friends. I went to public school and pursued many hobbies such as ballet, jazz, soccer, piano playing, swimming and gymnastics, but never stuck with any of them. The household that I was raised in, was one that consisted of generosity, acceptance, hospitality, love and grace, however we were not church goers. My father was raised Baptist and my mother Catholic; they were not devout in their beliefs, though. The only time I remember going to a church was either with friends or for a funeral but later into my teens that eventually changed after I accepted Christ, we started to attend church as a family and my mother also accepted Christ.

Inspiring biblical passage of the moment: It’s hard to choose but I would pick Psalm 16:11, “You make me know the path of life; in your presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight.”

Tell us about Ruach Wellness. What inspired it? Ruach Wellness is me living out my divine purpose and calling of serving the body of the Messiah in a way that helps them find root cause answers to aliments that have been plaguing their lives, which hinders them from thriving in their divine callings. I stepped into the Holistic Wellness sphere as a believer to guide others towards restoring their temples. Ruach as in Roo’-ack is Hebrew for: Spirit (of God) Wind (of Heaven) Breath (of God). Our Heavenly Father is the one that gave me this dream and passion to bring health education to His body of believers.

If you wrote a memoir, what would the title be? Overcoming by Gabrielle Falks

When did you first encounter God and how did you encounter Him? If you’re asking, when did I recognize and believe I was encountering the One True Living God, I would have to say the night I accepted Him into my heart. I was 16 years old at the time, and it occurred on a Wednesday. I had just left the funeral of burying a friend of mine. You see, five days prior to her funeral I was with this particular friend along with some other girls at her apartment on a Friday evening. While I was visiting her, my friend’s estranged and deranged ex-boyfriend showed up with a vengeance against her, since she had previously filed a restraining order against him. He busted through her locked front door, pulled a double barrel shotgun out of his pant leg, held it up to my head and told all of us to get against the wall that was in the living room. So that night, I was held hostage along with four other girls.

During this time he kept making threats of tying us up to stab us or to kill us by shooting us one by one in a line. I sat there in a state of shock believing that my life was ending at 16, that it would take a while for people to find our bodies and what my parents’ faces would look like when they found out in the morning that their only daughter had been murdered by a lunatic. I was not a believer at the time, and I had fully accepted the fact that I was dying that night. However, the night ended with my friend agreeing to go with her ex, which he then put her in a car, drove off which went into going on a highspeed chase into the next town. He killed her in the car before cops could stop him, in which the cops ended up killing him on the scene as well. The day of her funeral I was invited to attend a Youth Service that evening. I was reluctant to go, while I was there I wept the whole time through the worship songs, I realized that night that my heart was full of holes and our Heavenly Father was knocking, with tears pouring down I encountered the One True Living God and humbly accepted him as my Lord and Savior.

“I was not a believer at the time, and I had fully accepted the fact that I was dying that night.”

How would you describe Jesus? I would describe Yeshua as a loving and just King.

How has your relationship with Him changed you? Speaking honestly here, He is continually changing and shaping my life. Prior to becoming a believer, I was fully immersed in the world, I had a cocaine addiction; I struggled with drinking, suicidal thoughts, premarital sex, vanity, pride, arrogance, selfishness and more, after coming to know him I still had some struggles of the flesh, but it has become less and less over the years. Through His strength, I have triumphed and overcome many obstacles and struggles of the flesh. Now, although I may still stumble with a few small things I feel completely grounded and transformed through Him. I know the One in whom I trust, and I have built Him as my strong foundation.

What has been the darkest time in your life, and how did you see God in it? I’ve had several dark seasons in my life, but one of the darkest times came in the season right after I accepted Christ. After going through the experience of being held hostage that ended with my friend being murdered, I struggled a lot mentally. I had PTSD, anxiety attacks, Obsessive Compulsive Thinking Disorder and ultimately wanted to know the “WHY” this all had to happen. I was heavily attacked, spiritually speaking, I was such a new believer, but The Deceiver was relentless. I would have night terrors, nightmares, I stopped sleeping and eating and felt that I was completely unworthy to not only have Jesus die for me so that I might be set free from sin and death but also the fact that my friend died for me in order to save my life. It was a few hard years, I went to therapists but the only thing that helped was immersing myself into the Lord and casting every worry, fear, doubt, and unanswered question to Him. I let him have complete control over my life and thoughts, and He pulled me out of the darkness by His strength alone.

“I let him have complete control over my life and thoughts, and He pulled me out of the darkness by His strength alone.”

What has helped you grow spiritually in this season? In this current season, I would say studying out the Living Word through its original Hebrew and Greek definitions as well as understanding the historical background and happenings at the time a certain book was written. There is a lot of richness to uncover when you look into The Word through this lens.

Just read/currently reading (and what has it taught you?): I have just completed reading through all the minor prophets and have now begun to read the major prophets, starting in Isaiah. What I have gleaned from this is that our Heavenly Father is just and merciful. He desires us to live out our lives and worship Him in a way that He has ordained and established for us, to keep us set apart and Holy for Him. He always gives us the opportunity to ask for forgiveness and to turn from fleshly ways. He desires us to choose His path that leads to life and when he does bring judgement to this earth, we can trust Him in that.

Top three essentials: If you are asking what are my top three essentials to life, they would be: 1.) Offer forgiveness as quickly as you expect our Heavenly Father to forgive you; 2.) Lean into and develop the talents that our Heavenly Father has gifted you and use those to bless the body of the Messiah; and 3.) Extend grace and mercy to the fullest to those around you.

How did God speak to you recently? I’m always receiving understanding from Him when I read His Living Word.

Hobby: A hobby? Who has time for those now? Haha, mostly joking, but I wouldn’t say I have any true hobbies. I enjoy educating the body of the Messiah and helping them steward their health, other than that, you can find me living a life that strives to bring honor and glory to The Father.

Top three practical tips for staying spiritually strong: 1.) You cannot truly be spiritually strong if you do not read the full word of God FOR YOURSELF, Genesis to Revelation; it’s all applicable to our lives and understanding the Heart of the Father; 2.) You must be willing to recognize and limit or cut out toxic exposures that lead you into temptation, whether that be people, TV shows, music, certain books, the gym, etc.; and 3.) Find a community that will truly help keep you accountable.

Favorite person in scripture? Aside from Yeshua, I would say King David. I can identify with him in many ways, and I love the way he pours his heart out to The Lord.

What do you want people to learn about God when they look at you? Hmmmm, that’s a really good question, I would say that I hope when others see me they see God’s ability to forgive and to make something beautiful out of a bad situation, and that He is humble and kind but also stern and does not bow to the ways of the world.

How do you engage with your community? I mostly engage with my community through going to church on Sabbath, but most of my outreach is through social media currently but my dream is to host workshops and events for believers where they can come and listen and learn from different individuals speaking on a diversity of spiritual topics.

Favorite holiday? It’ll probably be different than what most others say, but my favorite holiday is the Feast of Sukkot. It is a beautiful rememberance of how God provided for Israel while he lead them through the wilderness as they lived temporarily in tents or rather booths and how once again God will come back and make his tabernacle among men again!

A goal you have? I kind of hinted at this in an earlier question, but a large goal that I have would be to host Biblical Conferences where believers can come to listen and learn from several different speakers about many different topics ranging from, biblical health principles, nutrition, home-making, understanding prophecy and so much more! That is the ultimate dream for me.

A special tradition you and your family engage in or keep: Really, the only traditions that we hold onto or keep are those that were given to us by our Heavenly Father in Leviticus 23.

Question you will ask when you get to heaven? When I come face to face with our Creator, I honestly don’t think I will be wanting to speak anything other than eternal praise to Him. I might eventually ask questions, but truthfully, nothing pertinent comes to my mind as of right now.

Thing you want to raise awareness about: My passion is to raise awareness about biblical principles that apply to us today that allow us to live in a way that not only brings about restoration and harmony within our temples but also glorifies and edifies our Heavenly Father. Brining awareness to other believers about living in sustainable ways that help us to be good stewards of our bodies, the land and the animals that God has given us dominion over. I am also passionate about bringing awareness to holistic new age practices that we as believers should not be partaking in. The Deceiver masquerades as an angel of light and so do many of these holistic new age practices which are stumbling blocks and traps for all that partake in them.

What does your morning routine consist of? I would like to say I have the perfect morning routine that I stick to daily, but that just isn’t so. However, whenever I am in a really good rhythm, I typically wake up around 6:30 am, put together an adrenal mocktail to sip on, go outside and sit on my back patio and watch the sun come up while reading The Word.

What is on your nightstand? On my nightstand I have: a plant, a vintage green tin that has jewelry in it, a tray with my wedding ring and others in in, I typically keep my blue-light blocking glasses there, my basal body thermometer to take my temps each morning for cycle tracking and typically my current book that I’m reading.

Define Christianity in a sentence: The assured hope of obtaining eternal salvation through the Messiah Yeshua by the grace of God.

For more Gabrielle:

Instagram: @ruach_wellness

Website & Blog: http://www.ruachwellness.com

Until next time, keep witnessing!

XX