Church at Home

This week, we woke up Sunday morning with three out of the four of us feeling a little under the weather. So, we decided to have church at home. We sang some songs, which is really different with toddlers. Jesus Loves Me, I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart and other children's songs are favorites with Brianna, so that is what we sang. Then for our Bible lesson, we read the story of Ruth. Now, we chose this because we knew it would hold Brianna's attention because her middle name is Ruth (especially when you change all the pronouns to Ruth!). But, I also LOVE the story of Ruth. Three things stick out to me about this extraordinary woman. First, her faithfulness.

"But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." Ruth 1:16-17

WOW! How hard would that be? To be given the chance to go home to all that is familiar, but instead beg to move on with your mother-in-law with no hope of having another husband. Ruth basically gave her life over to Naomi. But, reading the rest of the story, we know that she was really giving her life over to the Lord and His plan for her life.

The second thing that I admire about Ruth is her industry. Ruth took the initiative to go seek out work to provide for herself and for Naomi. And, my understanding is that the gathering of wheat and preparing it is not an easy task.

"And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, 'Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.' And she (Naomi) said to her, 'Go my daughter.' " Ruth 2:2

The third thing is Ruth's obedience to Naomi, and ultimately to the Lord.

"Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, 'My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you should do.' She (Ruth) said to her, 'All that you say I will do." Ruth 3:1-5

You know, I think I would find it a little difficult to do something like that. But, I find this to be a great encouragement to be obedient to the Lord, no matter what the circumstances. Sometimes life just does not make a lot of sense, or we just don't like what is happening. But, when we surrender ourselves to God's plan, we will be blessed beyond our own comprehension.

"So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son." Ruth 4:13

And, we know that it is through this lineage that King David was born, and through his lineage, Christ our Savior was born. What a blessing!

So, we named our little girl Brianna Ruth. Together, those names mean strong, faithful friend. My grandmother's name is Ruth, and she is one of the most godly, faithful women that I know. She is an incredible blessing not only to my life, but to the lives of everyone she meets. We pray that our Brianna Ruth will be a strong, faithful friend and that she will be, in some way, like her great-grandmother. This picture was taken on our vacation this summer at the beach at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL.