Naomi: Going Home

Journal for Christa—

Today in the “godly girls” class, we finished up the Book of Ruth—that story of Boaz and Ruth—that, it seems to me, is far too romanticized for what appears to be basically a marriage of convenience.

Sometimes, it seems to me that the real story—or at least a significant one, isn’t so much about Ruth as it is Naomi. Naomi, the woman who feels like she’s lost everything—who slowly drags her feet back into her home country and proclaims, “Just call me Mara”—bitter.

As we kind of recapped the book as a whole, I asked the girls, “Do you think there are times when you just need to put yourself in a different place?” When I’d asked the question, I’d thought of Cindy, and I was glad when she raised her hand and shared.

Cindy, an international student, has gone to school in the States the last three years. Her intent was to receive her degree from an American high school and to continue her college work here in the States; however, Cindy has decided to go home. It’s not been an easy decision, and it’s one many may have advised her against. But, Cindy feels like she needs to go home.

Sometimes, we just need to go back. It might be home. It might be to the beginning of a relationship or even an event. Wherever it is, we know—we just know—that we must go back—back to the familiar—back to the foundation, where we can once more feel our feet on secure ground, that place we find our bearings.

We go when we’re weary; we go when we’re confused; we go with no expectations. Yet, once there, not so unlike Naomi, we often find joy.