For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to Ruth from the Bible. I’ve been thinking about what qualities I admire so much about her. And I think it is that despite the hard, unexpected circumstances that happened in her life, she determined to put one foot in front of the other and honor God and her family, no matter what it took.
Ruth honored her family and God despite her grief
When Ruth’s husband died, she could have been consumed by grief, wallowed in self-pity, thought the world and God owed her more than she had gotten. And while she did grieve, she also decided to remain faithful to God and to the family she married into. She decided to follow her mother-in-law, even if it meant leaving behind her biological family, her culture, her friends, the religion she had grown up with and everything that was familiar to her.
And so they journeyed together. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy journey, two women alone without an air-conditioned vehicle to drive and a GPS. But they put one foot in front of the other, and traveled onward. And when they finally got to their destination, the place where Ruth and Naomi felt sure things would get better, Naomi was reminded of all that she had lost. She became depressed. She asked to be renamed Mara, which means “bitter.”
Our childrens’ diagnoses and challenges bring grief, anger, bitterness, and/or sadness into our lives. Grief is natural, healthy, and necessary. Even Jesus wept. As it says in Ecclesiastes 3, there are different seasons we go through: seasons to grieve and seasons to find joy. We can get angry and cry and grieve, but at some point, we have to wipe our tears and move forward in faith with the life we have been given. We are not made to get stuck in a place of grief and bitterness. We can choose to be bitter like Naomi, or to step forward in faith and perseverance like Ruth. We step into a new land full of appointments and accommodations, and learn a new language with medical terms and acronyms, so we can best support our children.
Ruth persevered and trusted God
Ruth woke up every morning to provide for herself and Naomi. She worked harder than the other workers, gleaning wheat. She persevered and maintained a positive attitude, and people noticed her character.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
