A Ruth Friend

Today at church the pastor talked about Ruth and her commitment to Naomi.  I've heard this story a million (seemingly) times and yet it is still a very good story.  Ruth's husband dies and Naomi's husband dies and Ruth chooses to stay with her mother-in-law even though she is free to leave and find a new husband.  Ruth's stand to stay with Naomi through hunger and poverty is rewarded when God brings Boaz.  He buys their land and takes Ruth as his wife and Naomi lives with them for the rest of her life.  Obed is their son and if you follow history, Obed has a son named Jesse and Jesse has a son named David(of the David and Goliath story and later King David).  What is important here is not necessarily lineage, but favor.  God poured out favor upon Ruth for her obedience and for being a friend to Naomi.   By law, she was free to go, but her heart (and I suspect the Holy Spirit) spoke to her heart and urged her to remain at Naomi's side.  Click here to read the story.

The dog has since gotten a haircut,
but this is his best friend.  

What kind of friend are you?  Do you stay by your friends when it gets tough?  Do you step aside and close your eyes to their suffering?  Do you stick with them?  I'm sure in my life I've been a little of all of these things.  I deeply value friendship, almost so much so, that I often blame myself when anything goes wrong and fiercely work to make it right.  I am certainly NOT PERFECT and I count on the grace of my Heavenly Father to help me through the rough stuff, but I hope and pray I am considered a good friend to the people whom I call FRIEND.  A Ruth Friend.

On Wednesdays, I volunteer with a group who speaks to at-risk student populations about Teen Dating Violence and Bullying.  I get to talk about relationships.  Truth be told, I've learned much of how to be a friend from the people I call friend and also how not to be a friend from a few that I left behind.  That sounds terrible.  Maybe they left me behind.  No need to worry about who wins here, but I want you to think about something very important:  A friend builds you up and DOES NOT tear you down.  If you feel torn down every time you part ways, the relationship is toxic.  If you feel like a better person with a brighter day because of time shared with a friend, you are in the right place.  This blog post is not going to tell you how to sever the toxic relationship TODAY, but know that blog post will follow shortly.  First I need to figure it out.

Read the link I attached in the first paragraph and think about how you will be a better friend and be a Ruth Friend.  I know I will be trying to figure out how I can be a good friend, too.  I am so thankful for the people in my life who have truly shown me HOW to be a true friend.  Three of the most prominent friend teachers are my husband, my sister in law, and my special college friend(who is nearly perfect in every way).  These three people have invested heavily in my life for many, many years.  I am so very thankful for the Ruth Friends in my life(Day 82).  Goodnight Friends.