A Promise With A Purpose

I can see the day.

Gorgeous skies ahead.

Not even a breeze to wash over her face.

Only a calm to meet her where she is that morning.

And then the clouds roll in.  The storm comes!

And she is left alone….a widow.

I can see Naomi crumble under the loss.

A heap of an broken soul in a barley field.

One day planting seeds.

And the next day reaping what she did not deserve.

Laughter & dreams washed away by the steady stream of tears & confusion.

And then love sweeps in.

In the form of a mirrored image of sweet Naomi in her younger years.

Ruth….widowed at a young age & losing both of her children.

Suffering incredible loss also.

Playing the ‘same-storm, different-day’ card.

And in that field, both gathered up their dreams…TOGETHER!

There was something about Naomi that Ruth loved.

Was it her wisdom?  Her spirit? 

Was it the fact that she was planting beauty in a field that was void of it for so long?

Whatever it was, it was worth hanging on to.

So…she…did!

Naomi encouraged Ruth to move on.

She didn’t want to hold Ruth back from what her life could possibly hold.

And Ruth…was going nowhere!!

She stayed!

Taking hold of Naomi’s hand.  Maybe because it’s the only thing she could find to hold onto at the moment. 

Maybe…it’s because she just plain loved her!

And in her loving voice, committing to her that she would not leave her!

Can’t you hear her?  Strength in her words with a bold touch of beauty as she spoke.

‘Until your heart finds a home I won’t let you feel alone Naomi!!’

‘Even if it takes us into FOREVER’

‘I am not going anywhere’.

‘Where you go I will go!’  And, ‘where you stay, I will stay!’.

Promise with purpose is unbreakable you see!!!!

In my opinion, Naomi allowed her to stay because she was an example of God’s love.  Strong & bold.  Beautiful & unfailing.    And with that, comes nothing else needed!

And Ruth didn't want to leave because that’s not what friends do.  If love abides here, why would she need to go somewhere else?

Their friendship triumphed over adverse circumstances & blessings reigned down on them because of it.

It’s easy to call someone a friend but so much more of a blessing to actually be one! 

Holding hands.  Through the storms. Where heaps of rubble lay.  Fractured lives rebuilding themselves....with the help of one another.

In those times that it’s hard to stand, isn’t it always better to have that friend to hang on to.  To hear those words, ‘I’m not going anywhere!...EVER!’ and to know that promise has met purpose in that moment.