Naomi and Ruth

What a blessing Ruth was!  When Naomi decided to return to her native country, her daughters-in-law started out with her.  Then this wise woman explained to them that they needed to go back to Moab with their families.  That way they would have the possibility of marriage.  Orpah listened and did what Naomi asked.  Ruth continued with Naomi and stated:

“Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back.

Wherever you go, I will go;

wherever you live, I will live.

Your people will be my people,

and your God will be my God.

Wherever you die, I will die,

and there I will be buried.

May the Lord punish me severely

if I allow anything but death to separate us!”

Ruth 1:16 - 17

What devotion Ruth had to her deceased husband's mother.  She had become more than a mother-in-law; Naomi was her friend and Ruth was a loyal friend.  She gave up her family, the possibility of marrying again, her god, and even the possibility of becoming a mother.  Wow!  She was willing to give up her past for her aging mother-in-law.  This loving, brave lady must have known that she would have to take care of Naomi in the years to come.

I can relate to this part of the lives of these two courageous ladies.  In my life at the present, I am Naomi and my loving brother, sister-in-law, niece, and family are represented by Ruth.  We have no idea what is ahead in our new journey but we do know that I will not be this healthy forever.  (Every time I have seen my new oncologist I ask her about my life expectancy.  No one knows - except our loving Lord - but as more information comes in from my tests, I still ask.)  

Knowing that my living with them was going to require more responsibilities for each of them, they still asked me to move in here.  They prayed and knew that this was their new journey as well.  What a blessing they are!  God's gift to me.  Knowing that Naomi was growing older and would require more assistance with each year, Ruth was willing to step up and accept this new journey into a strange country.  

  Wherever you go...weaker, in pain, nauseous,

We will go...

Wherever you live...memory issues, childlike,

We will live...

Each of us is asked by God to give, to change situations, to grow.  What Ruth already had learned was that God, the living, loving Lord, would be with them.  Let's live in that reality together.