Hidden Rules

Have you noticed that any place where you spend a lot of time - work, marriage, church - there are hidden rules that take a while to learn?  With the beginning of school for many, I've been thinking about Emerald Park first opening.  I miss the staff, students, parents, culture. 

When we were preparing for the opening of the school, we had a workshop with part of the focus on hidden rules that we'd be carrying from previous schools.  Our wise principal and Connie, the workshop leader, had us rate characteristics that were important to each of us.  WE purposely set up the culture that we wanted.  It was a great experience that taught me a lot.

But, what about Ruth?  Did this brave, compassionate, hard working lady know this?  She was thrown into a new culture that she had only experienced a small piece of during her short marriage.  Naomi walked this journey with her, giving her insight as to their cultures' rules.  She told her about the expectations while harvesting barley.  Thankfully, she was given information as to what was expected.

When we experience new circumstances to our journey, whether it be a new job, a new home, a new school, a marriage, there are hidden rules that each of us need to learn.  We may have "a Naomi" in this new step or we may have to learn them through our observations, but we need to be aware of the expectations and adjust. 

One part to make the transition run smoothly is to remember that we also have hidden rules that are brought to the table.  So, what did Ruth bring to the table?  I'll have to think about that further.