Our bible study is in the 2nd week of Kelly Minter's Ruth– Loss, Love and Legacy. It is a wonderful study. Today I studied day 3 of week 2, and it was on Ruth 2:1-3. Kelly had us spend a few minutes on the words "As it turned out" from verse 3 of chapter 2 "So she (Ruth) went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech." So the conversation, was this a struck of luck or God's orchestration? My first thought is exactly God's plan. But do you always see things as God's plan or just luck? It made me think of an instance just a few short months ago, and as it happened I thanked God for putting it together because I knew that it would lead to something real soon.
I was sitting at church talking to a friend on Easter Sunday, when a woman came up to us and introduced herself to us and then asked where we were from and we found at that she lived within a few minutes from me. You see my daughter and I have been going to a church where right now we are moving all over Atlanta to meet. My heart has been attached to this place of worship since the very first time that I attended over 1 ½ years ago yet we really knew no one except the people that would go with us. And trying to figure out how to make this church our home was causing me some concern. My heart was attached but what about my daughter and what she needed with the opportunities for youth and friends. The Lord kept leading me to believe that this was for me but what about her. And I know that you are thinking that God already knew about her and how it would work if this is where He wanted us to be. I know that thought also but I couldn't "see" it working out with my own eyes so the concern took the place of "seeing". So back to Easter, I talked to this woman and besides finding out where we were from she pointed out a couple of families from the same area as I lived and told us about a couple more. I was so excited about what could be the possibilities and within a couple of weeks I was contacted through Facebook about a small group that was going to be meeting during the summer with all the families from our area. I started reading about the other families and there were kids my daughter's age and a few older and younger. My eyes were starting to "see". So over the week prior to meeting, I started praying very specifically about what I wanted from this small group. The first night we met 6 families and before I left I felt like I knew these people for a long time. My daughter within a few minutes could be heard laughing and talking. On the way home my daughter used the word pursued. She said "Mom, the kids pursued me and welcomed me into the group. I felt like I belonged there. When do we meet again?" I was praying thanks from that moment. She started telling about the things that happened. She laughed so hard trying to retell me some things. I hit the "I guess you had to be there" because I didn't understand or it just wasn't funny to me.
So that was the last of the "things" that needed to take place to call this our home church. Easter Sunday was God's design for my daughter and I to make the finishing touches to our new church home and family. I still thank God for making that divine moment "seen" so as I didn't miss the burning bush and just cook s'mores on it.
