Ruth and Naomi

This assignment answers questions about the story of Ruth and Naomi found in the Old Testament book, Ruth.  I focused on chapters 1 and 2 for it, but 3 and 4 (it's only 4 chapters) have a follow-up that is good too! 

Summary and Personal Application:

Judah was facing a climate that made it hard for crops to grow successfully.  Previous to Naomi’s family traveling to Moab, there was a famine in Judah because the people were struggling to provide by the crop. 

In Ruth 1 Ruth lost her husband, and was facing a decision to stay in her homeland without her new family or go with her mother-in-law to a different land. 

Currently, I face a decision that doesn't necessarily mean a trial but in my case of feeling an urge to go, I feel like preparing to serve a mission is a trial kind of like that.  To prepare to go and go, I would have to say good-bye to all the people I know now and leave them for a time to serve the Lord and get to know new people.

I think that Ruth was very close to Naomi and felt bonded but she also felt compassion for Naomi having lost her husband and two sons all in a relatively short amount of time.  It would have been hard for Ruth to go live with her mother-in-law that might have reminded her of her deceased husband, go to a new and different land, leave her own family of origin behind, and not know exactly how she would be provided for or what kind of future she would have.

Boaz was impressed with Ruth’s meekness and faith in accompanying her mother-in-law back to Judah even though it was unfamiliar and she didn't have any of her own family with her.  She showed great compassion.

I can exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to follow his example and have compassion on my family and neighbors.  Not fearing the world is significant part of this and I think it takes special trust in him to do what’s right today.  Both choices seemed good, but Ruth chose the better part so in addition to making good choices I can try to choose the better, and best choices in a situation.   

  I have made lots of sacrifices that relate to a serious commandment of Chastity.  It’s been difficult at certain times in my life to live virtuously and I have had restraint sometimes and still made poor choices other times, but overall, I would say that my collective righteous choices in effort to stay chaste are huge.  This has become a strength and blessing to me because the more I strive to be chaste, the easier it can be and there is power that comes from consistently trying to do what’s best.  I also recognize that the Lord has helped me realize the blessings ahead and appreciate more of his plan better through the spirit.  This really helps.

 I think Boaz was kind to Ruth because he respected her for her dedication to the Lord and through her actions set a good example. 

Extra:  Hannah and Prayer

 I also ready about Hannah and her devastation over not having a son before she was blessed with a son.  

I was really touched by Hannah’s faith in Heavenly Father when she was sad about not having any children.  She was truly heart-sick and made an effort to call upon Heavenly Father and tell Him how she felt.  I thought that sometimes when I am afflicted I hesitate too much to communicate with Heavenly Father with faith and probably lose potential blessings because I fail to exercise my faith in him.  I think this must be done humbly but I also think my willingness to trust him to bless me can be slacking.  When I am sad or discouraged and I open up to my mom or dad or someone else close to me and tell them how I really feel, I usually feel better and they are in a position to help me more.  I think that Heavenly Father also wants to bless us more than we think sometimes but we have to tell him how we feel and exercise our faith.  I wonder if Hannah would have been blessed with all the children she later had if she had not prayed fervently.