The story of Ruth is about a mother, Naomi, and her daughter in law, Ruth. It is a great story of love and should be the example of how MIL relationships work. Naomi and her husband left Bethlehem during the time of famine and went to Moab. Living in a foreign land, Ruth’s two sons marry women who are Moabites. The family’s story is tragic; Naomi’s husband and two sons die leaving their widows with empty hearts and arms. Naomi decides to return home and encourages her sons’ widows to return to their mothers’ home for she has nothing for them. Remarkably, both women wish to stay with Naomi, but only Ruth persists in the journey.

Her declaration of faith to Naomi:

“Do not press me to go back and abandon you!

Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge.

Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.

Where you die I will die, and there be buried.

May the LORD do thus to me, and more,

if even death separates me from you!” [Ruth 1:16-17]

Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God! What an example Naomi must have been, to inspire such love and dedication while facing an unknown future. The trust Ruth places in God is justified and God watches over and provides for Naomi and Ruth in an extraordinary way. Ruth becomes the grandmother of Jesse, the great-grandmother of David, chosen by God to be King of Israel.

Please consider taking some time to read the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It is a very short story and worth reading, time and time again. The story can offer strength in the face of adversity but the book should be celebrated in that the story of Ruth is found in the Bible. I love it that Ruth, as a woman, should have been historically irrelevant; yet, The Book of Ruth is! Her story was recorded.

God loves the stories of women. Never does God consider women to be mere possessions. That was not God’s plan. Never was that His view. The life and story of each person is precious to God. The story of Ruth demonstrates how a little girl, born in Moab more than a thousand years ago, was critical to the plan of God. She was not one of Abraham’s descendants, but her children would be. Just as Abraham believed God's promise, that he would be the father of nations and his descendants would number as the stars in the sky; Abraham gazed into a blue sky, at noon, and believed. God’s plan required Abraham’s faith in God’s goodness. Did Ruth have that same faith gazing into Naomi’s face? Yes!

Ruth’s choice to follow Naomi and be a member of God’s chosen people resulted in her name being listed in the genealogy of Jesus,

“Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.

Obed became the father of Jesse” [Matthew 1:5]

God loves his people! He loves you. He loves me. Our story and our grandmother's stories are written on His Heart. He desires that each one of us is woven into His Most Holy Will because we are precious to Him!

May God bless us in our journey!