Unthinkable, Unimaginable Favor! Ruth 2

Transcription

1 Unthinkable, Unimaginable Favor! Ruth 2 Last week in Ruth 1 we encountered a family of four in the town of Bethlehem a father by the name of Elimilech, a mother with the name Naomi, and two sons Mahlon and Chilion. It was the time of the judges and there was a famine in the land of Israel. The town of Bethlehem ( and Bethlehem in Hebrew means House of Bread ) was running low on bread. And so the family of four left the Promised Land to go to Moab. In the course of time, the father Elimelech died and the two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, married Moabite wives, Ruth and Orpah, respectively. They lived there about ten years and both Mahlon and Chilion died. And so Naomi, the mother, was left with her two Moabite daughters-in-law. In her own words she went out full and had been emptied. Well God is faithful to his people ould e sa that e ough? God is faithful to his people and word came to Naomi while she was in Moab that Yahweh had visited his people in Israel with bread. The House of Bread was being restocked! And so Naomi and her daughters-in-law began the long journey back to Bethlehem. At some point Naomi realized that there was no reason for her daughters-in-law to return with her to Bethlehem and she urged them to turn back. Orpah followed her mother-in-la s ad i e. uth did ot. uth i fa t e alized some the ost eautiful o ds of o it e t e e spoke. Where you go, I will go Where you lodge, I will lodge Your people shall be my people Your God, my God. Where you die, I will die and there will I be buried. We raised the question last week, Is this moment when Ruth verbalized these words of commitment, the point when Ruth converted to Yahweh? And we answered that some think so. At a minimum Ruth declared her allegiance to the God of Israel. So then a different but related question comes to mind. Why did Ruth commit to return to Bethlehem with Naomi? One autho ites this A down-to-earth explanation suggests that the ten-year relationship between Ruth and Naomi ha(d) knitted their spirits together in friendship. So she committed to give up everything and travel with Naomi because she had a friend. A more lofty explanation suggests that a seed of faith ha(d) taken root inside of Ruth. Both may very well be true. 1 1 Fleenor, R., & Ziese, M. S. (2008). Judges-Ruth (p. 339). Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company. 1

2 It does seem to me and admittedly we have to read between the lines here--that a seed of faith had taken root inside of Ruth. And that raises even another question. How did Old Testament characters come over to Yah eh s side? Have you ever wondered that? How would your run-of-the-mill Philistine or Canaanite express faith and become a convert to Judaism? Well in Joshua 2 we just happen to have the experience of Rahab the Canaanite who lived in the city of Jericho. How did she come o e to Yah eh s side? Well she hea d a out Yah eh s ight a ts, the thi gs he had do e for his people, and she began to trust in Him. Listen to what she said to the spies who came to Jericho to spy out the city: I know that Yah eh has gi e ou the la d a d e are terrified that s a paraphrase. We e heard ho Yah eh dried up the ater of the ed ea. We e heard hat ou e do e to the t o ki gs of the Amorites, to Sihon and Og whom you devoted to destruction. Yahweh your God, He is God in the heavens above and the earth below So what had happened? Rahab heard the mighty acts of God, she heard of His power, she heard of all that He had done to deliver His people and she put her trust in him. Well in the same way we can imagine that Ruth, in the ten years that she lived with Mahlon in Moab, heard about the mighty acts of Yahweh for his people. Inevitably she heard about the Exodus. If the extended family celebrated the Passover each year, she would have heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of fire and cloud that led the Israelites by night and by day. Inevitably she would have heard some of the stories about the patriarchs-- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph--and how Yahweh fulfilled his purposes in their lives. We could imagine she heard about the conquest of the land under Joshua and how the walls of Jericho came down. o it s ot ha d to i agi e that Ruth probably heard about the acts of Yahweh and put her faith in him. {And with that said, let s step aside a d ake a ote a out the o ti uit et ee ou Old Testament and New Testament. When someone shares the gospel with us that Christ died and that he was buried and that He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven where He reigns today a e t the telling us about the mighty acts of God done by God on our behalf? And so we hear what God has done in Christ, and what he will do for His people, and God opens our hearts and we put our faith in Him. So there is some continuity between an Old Testament conversion and a New Testament conversion.} But the e s a othe poi t that a e ade. The fact that Ruth may have the seeds of faith growing in her helps us understand the beauty of her character as seen throughout the book. It s easie to i agi e that the f uit of ha a te i he life as Yahweh fruit rather than Chemosh fruit Chemosh being the god of the Moabites. 2

3 Having pursued those extracurricular questions, we pick up in Ruth 2. Follow with me as I read verses No Nao i had a relati e of her hus a d s, a orthy a of the la of Eli ele h, hose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, The LORD be with you! And they answered, The LORD bless you. In verse 1 the all-knowing narrator introduces us to a man named Boaz who is a relative of Nao i s hus a d Eli ele h. He s i the sa e la as Eli ele h. He s a worthy man the text says and the word there includes ot o l ealth a d status but a ilit, apa ilit, a d ho o. 2 Gideon was described with this same word 3 but in his case it was all about military prowess and courage. Used here, the word emphasizes that Boaz was a man of character. And as we learned last week in the overview, Ruth will be described by the same word in chapter 3. 4 Now by introducing us to Boaz up front here the narrator is basically saying, Keep our e e o Boaz. He s a sig ifi a t figure i the stor. He might be the one who God will sovereignly use to help Naomi and Ruth. He might be a relative that will bring them rest. He might be the redeemer they need. Keep our e e o Boaz 5 Verse 4, somewhat indirectly, tells us something else about Boaz. He s a a of God. He s a God-centered man. Look at the little snippet of a conversation there with his workers. What are we to make of that? The covenant God,Yahweh, be with you!, Boaz says to his workers. The covenant God bless you they reply. You know as I efle ted o this little o e satio, I got to thi ki g that ou eall a t ish fo a thi g ette tha hat Boaz ishes: Wishi g fo God s p ese e i so eo e s life is the ulti ate lessi g, is t it? The book of Genesis repeatedly tells us that the Lord was with Joseph. Whereever the Lord is, is blessing. We would expect an employer to say, You re doi g a good job!, Keep working hard! o e e Thank you for your hard work! But Boaz s greeting reminded them what mattered most God and his presence. Boaz was a man of God. 2 Younger, page Judges 6:12 4 Ruth 3:11 5 This idea from a Sinclair Ferguson sermon 3

4 We also learn something very important about Ruth. In these opening verses of Ruth 2, she s a o a of i dust a d i itiati e. he s o itted to a e fo Nao i a d she takes i itiati e to try to make it happen. Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. No hat s ehi d he desi e to glea? A d hat is glea i g a a? Let s i t odu e all the ha esti g te s ith this slide. When a crop was ready to be harvested--and it was the barley harvest in this case the men would go through the field and cut the barley stalks with a large knife. This was called reaping. After reaping the women would come through and gather the stalks into sheaves. You can see a picture of a way to pretty to be real sheave in the far right top corner of the slide. I do t think they really looked that nice but you get the point. The sheaves would be transported to the threshing floor to be threshed. At the threshing floor something like a sled or an animal would be used to separate the husks and the straw from the grains of barley. And then, after sunset when the breezes began, everything would be winnowed-tossed up in the air to separate the good from the useless. o that s the p o ess reaping, gathering into sheaves, transporting to the threshing floor, threshing, and winnowing. But what is gleaning? Gleaning was picking up ears of grain that the harvesters had inadvertently left behind. And gleaning was God s safet et fo alie s, ido s a d the poo. Let s look at Le iti us 9:9-10 on the screen. 4

5 So at the end of verse 2, Ruth went out to glean quote after him in whose sight I shall find favor. Now why was Ruth concerned about finding favor? Well what she was about to do was quite isk. e e e it s the ti e of the judges when every man did what was right in his own eyes. Most people e e t follo i g the la. Ma did t e e k o the la. Ruth could easily have been rejected and mistreated. She faced potential abuse and rejection. There are even clues in our text that Ruth may have run into trouble: Verse 9, Boaz says, Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? Verse 15 and 16 Boaz gives Ruth some incredible privileges and then he has to warn the young men to be kind to Ruth Verse Ruth, in recounting what happened, mentions the protection she received in the field. And Naomi chimes in that she could be assaulted in another field. But added to all of that, the e s a othe issue. uth as a despised Moa ite. The people of Israel were not to seek the welfare of a Moabite, Deuteronomy 23:6. A law abiding Israelite could throw her off his land and argue that he was following the law! So as Ruth stepped out the door that morning, she exhibited a lot of courage and shall we say faith? Look at the end of verse 3 and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. The He e sa s, he ha e ha ed upon the part of the field belonging to Boaz a d o e e phasizi g the o d ha e her chance chanced upon-- the author is ironically highlighting 5

6 the opposite the hole idea of p o ide e, the idea that God was powerfully involved in where Ruth happened to glean that day. Let s look at a defi itio of p o ide e o the s ee. The o d p o ide e o igi all ea t to see efo e pro (before) video (to see) something like foreknowledge. But the word came to take on a more expanded meaning as reflected on the slide. So he e s the poi t in the story. Ruth decides to go out and glean. She wakes up and she says, I think I need to go provide for my mother-in-law. She has no idea what God is doi g. he s just doing what she thinks is right. But God is using the definition on the screen-- intimately involved directing and disposi g to i g a out good pu poses i uth s life. One way of illustrating this idea of providence is ith the o ept of the split s ee something that we see so eti es he e e at hi g athleti e e ts or other events on television. 6 6 This idea comes from a Sinclair Ferguson sermon 6

7 No up f o t let s sa the o ious we never get to see the split screen in our lives. We only see one screen. But the point is there are two screens what we are doing at any one time and what God is doing at the same time. So in the case of Ruth, Ruth went out and gleaned and she came to a field. She had no idea what God was doing on the other screen. She just did what she knew to be right. She was trying to be faithful to her mother-in-law and care for her. Often our hu a screen is filled with mundane things that occur in our lives we mow a yard and talk with our neighbor, we travel to the grocery store and have conversations with others that we meet there, we go to meetings, we attend church, we attend class. Sometimes we feel like e e in the dark. Often we a t see e fa ahead. A d a ti es e do t k o the full sig ifi a e of hat e e doi g. And e e making decisions all the time. But by faith we believe there is another screen for our lives. Why? Because we see this played out in the bible all the time. We see the split screen illustrated time after time. We see, for example, A aha s se a t i Ge esis having arrived at a well in the land he was to travel to praying, Send a woman to me for Isaac, my masters son, who will give me a drink and water my camels And before he had finished praying, behold, Rebekah shows up ready to give him a drink and water his camels. The se a t is p a i g. That s hat he s doi g. e ekah has started toward the well lo g efo e he e e egi s to p a. That s hat God is doi g. We see the split screen in action. And so we see the kinds of things God does. And we know the kind of God that he is. And we trust that he works the same way in our lives. And so we can trust him, as we plan our ways, to direct our steps. 7

8 O the a k of ou se o otes, ou ll fi d se e al p o ide e sto ies. 7 thi k ou ll fi d the to e a e ou age e t to ou. The e g eat. I Well back to our text. In verses 5-, Boaz asks his fo e a ho as i ha ge of the eape s what he knew about Ruth. And the foreman recounted what he knew about her and what had happened up that point. And then in verse 8, Boaz speaks directly to Ruth for the first time. 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, No, liste, y daughter notice the kindness with which Boaz add esses uth. do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. If someone were gleaning, I suppose eventually they would have to move on because the field they had been gleaning in had been picked through. But Boaz basically says, Do t o e o! ta ith ou g o e And what were the young women doing? I think they were gathering the stalks into sheaves. Stay close to the women bringing in the sheaves. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. You have all my permission to draw close and not fear rejection. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. Normally foreigners would draw water for Israelites and women would draw water for men. o Boaz s p o isio fo Ruth is incredible. We would expect Boaz to overwhelmed and she is, verse 10. She fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner? 11 But Boaz answered her, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! Ve se is lea l the high poi t of Boaz s espo se to uth. He i okes Yah eh to i te e e o he ehalf Yahweh repay you for what you have done. The bible does speak of God repaying people for good deeds. Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Yahweh repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! 7 See below, the last page of the manuscript. 8

9 Boaz pictures Yahweh as a mother bird who offers her wings to protect her defenseless young. And defenseless Ruth and Naomi have sought refuge under His wings. Thinking about this image of seeki g efuge u de God s i gs, a sto ies f o the Ne Testament come to mind? 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 13 Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants. Well Boaz s fa o is t o e et. Ve se 14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine. This is an exceptional privilege being welcomed into the intimacy of the noon meal. So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her. Verses more privilege and favor: Let her glean among the sheaves. And do more than that, You men pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Nailing down how much barley Ruth ended up with is a bit difficult. We just know that it was a lot e ough to lo uth a d Nao i s i ds. If ou ha e the E V tud i le ou ll see a note that says an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters. So think of Ruth receiving eleven two liter bottles of grain that s a lot is t it? I ead othe u e s i othe sou es an ephah is liters 8 (still an enormous amount), an ephah is 6 gallons 9 (again imagine Ruth carrying home 6 gallon containers of grain), an ephah is about 35 pounds of barley Youngerpage Block, page Sinclair Ferguson sermon 9

10 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. (So Ruth sho ed he the pou ds of a le, the gallo s of a le AND he dogg ag f o lu h. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you. So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, The a s a e ith ho I orked today is Boaz. 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead! May Boaz be blessed by Yahweh, whose kindness, hose hesed has ot fo sake the li i g o the dead! Noti e Nao i sees this eautiful character quality hesed God s faithful lo al lo e i Boaz a d his a tio s. Naomi also said to her, The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers. Now in making the point that Boaz is one of their redeemers, Naomi is surfacing another aspect of the Law that will come into play in the next chapters the role of what are called kinsmen redeemers in the family. Kinsmen redeemers were near relatives who were responsible for the economic well-being of the other clan members. The Old Testa e t otes i u sta es that e ui ed the i te e tio of a ki s e edee e 10

11 If you know the end of the story you know that Boaz, as kinsmen redeemer, takes Ruth as a wife. Well surprisingly, and this is a new thought to me, none of the Old Testament texts involve a kinsmen redeemer marrying the widow of a deceased person to produce an heir for the de eased. We ll esol e that issue late. 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, Besides, he said to e, You shall keep lose y y you g en u til they ha e fi ished all y har est. 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted. 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. As we think back over the chapter, let me highlight three takeaways First of all, let s highlight the fa o hi h uth e ei ed from Boaz in this chapter. To be sure, Ruth encountered Unthinkable, Unimaginable Favor f o Boaz. In the very first conversation they had, vs. 8, he called her daughte ; to everyone else she was the Moabitess. But Boaz treated her differently. And he repeatedly comforted her and spoke kindly to her, something she would have never expected. Also in verse 8, Boaz invited Ruth to glean in his fields only, close to his young women and he commanded his male servants not to harass her. He offered her provision and protection. In verse 9, he gave her permission to drink from the water jars that the workers drank from. Again unthinkable favor! 11

12 In verse 14, he invited Ruth to eat with him and the workers and dip her bread into his sauce. Ruth ate until she was satisfied. (Listen to this line from the Feeding of the 5000 story in Mark: And remember Jesus is present with the 5000.they all ate and were satisfied (Mark 6:42) In verse 15 Boaz commanded his men to let Ruth even glean among the sheaves (so Ruth was free to go up to the sheaves and to pull out stalks of barley In verse 16, Boaz commanded his men to even pull out stalks of barley from the bundles for her to glean. I the e d she left the field that da ith he dogg ag f o lu h a d gallo s of barley, some 35 pounds of barley. A tremendous amount! Unthinkable, Unimaginable Favor! It s ha d fo e to ead Ruth chapter 2 without pitching it forward to the times in which we live. Just as Ruth received unthinkable, unimaginable favor from Boaz, you and I who have put our trust in Christ, you and I who have flown u de God s i gs fo efuge, have received unthinkable, unimaginable favor from our redeemer. Do t ou feel sad he people li e the Ch istia life as if the o l got fi e i surance, deliverance from hell? The fa o e e e ei ed from our redeemer goes way beyond deliverance from hell. Let s po de the fa o e ha e e ei ed f o ou edee e Our sins have been forgiven 11 our past, present and future sins have been fo gi e. We e been declared innocent before our holy God 12. I do t k o a out ou, ut the lo ge I live in my skin and see my constant tendency to be self-obsessed, this is stunning fa o. othe s a d siste s e ho ha e put ou faith i Ch ist we are innocent before our thrice holy God. We e ee gi e e e spi itual lessi g i the hea e l pla es 13. We e ee gi e i sight i to the ste of God s ill i the p ese t ti e 14. Our salvation is expansive beyond measure we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world 15. Once far off we e now been brought near to God 16 We e ee adopted i to God s fa il 17 We are His chosen 18 people, the sheep of his pasture Colossians 1:14 12 Romans 8:30 13 Ephesians 1:3 14 Ephesians 1:9 15 Ephesians 1:4 16 Ephesians 2:13 17 Galatians 4:5 12

13 We are the ones he rejoices over with gladness, the ones he quiets by his love, the ones he exults over with loud singing. 20 We e ee gi e a High p iest who has paid for our sins and has sat down at the right hand of God 21. He is a high priest who intercedes for us 22, who understands us, who is merciful with us, who speaks kindly to us, and who gives us all the grace we need 23. We e ee gi e a resident comforter, counselor 24 the lessed Hol pi it We are no longer slaves but sons, and if sons then heirs through God 25 We e ee p o ised a i he ita e that a t e take a a 26 We e ee sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of that inheritance 27 One day we will be resurrected from the sleeping places where we inevitably will be laid in weakness, and we will be given imperishable, powerful, spiritual, glorified bodies 28 and taken to an evil-free 29, death-free, pain-free, grief-free 30, curse-free 31, joy immersed, happiness unending, Savior attending place where we will live with our God forever and ever and ever. Unthinkable, unimaginable favor! Secondly, our story in Ruth 2 this morning gives us opportunity to reflect on the fact that we are to be different people because of our relationship with the covenant keeping God. As e e jou e ed th ough uth e e highlighted the al ost-too-good-to-be-true character quality of Yahweh his hesed, his lo i g loyalty, his covenant ki d ess. A d i uth e e been privileged to see that character quality of Yahweh on display in his people. It s shown up in the flesh and blood characters of Boaz and Ruth in the time of the judges no less. A d that s what God would want. God s pla is ei g a o plished he his people begin to be flesh and blood reflections of who He is! Ruth displayed Yah eh s hesed in chapter 1 as she committed to return to Bethlehem with Naomi. What sacrifice and loyalty she exhibited! What commitment she displayed all for Nao i s e efit! And at the start of chapter 2, as she sacrificially set out to glean so that they would have enough food for the winter, she exhibited it again. She put Yahweh s hesed on 18 Ephesians 1:4 19 Psalm 100:3 20 Zephaniah 3:17 21 Hebrews 10:12 22 Romans 8 23 Hebrews 4: John 16:7 25 Galatians 4: Peter 1:4 27 Ephesians 1: Cor. 15: Rev. 21:8 30 Rev. 21:4 31 E V tud Bi le ote, God ill e o e the u se that e te ed the o ld th ough hu a si 13

14 display. And Boaz, throughout chapter 2, displayed Yah eh s hesed as he treated Ruth with compassion and kindness even though she was an outsider. He displayed it as he generously went beyond the requirements of the Law in his attempt to bless Ruth. And he displayed it in the way he related to his workers. Think about that. We have the privilege of being billboards e hi iti g the eautiful-beyond- easu e ha a te of God When Ruth came home and told Naomi all that had transpired on that first day out gleaning, Naomi responded, verse 20, May he ( Boaz) be blessed by Yahweh, whose kindness (whose hesed) has not forsaken the living and the dead. We could imagine Naomi asking Ruth do you know what you experienced today out there gleaning?. You e perie ed Yah eh s hesed i a flesh a d lood perso. Naomi do you still want to change your name to Mara? God saved us to change us. God saved us to make us like his dear son. Christlikeness is our destination. A d so let s do all e a to oope ate ith God as he seeks to bring the change He wants in ou li es. Let s o fess ou si s. Let s alk the pi it. Let s seek to ake Ch ist fi st i ou lives. And let us trust him to make us different. Well the third take away f o uth is this idea of p o ide e. uth just happe ed to ake her way to the fields of Boaz. She had no idea what was going on. But on the split screen we could see that God all along was totally in control. The mind of man plans his way but Yahweh directs his steps. I the idst of the o fusio of life, the happe sta es of life, the su p ises of life, e eed to remember the split screen-- that there is a sovereign God in heaven whose hand is upon every moment of our lives and who reigns over every inch of the universe in which we live. 32 E e thi g that happe s.e e thi g that happe s, happe s u de the so e eig isdo a d purpose of our heavenly father. And therefore we can be confident not because we know exactly what God is doing-- but because we know that He is totall i o t ol what is totally unpredictable to us is utterly predictable to Him who reigns and rules in heaven. And he has numbered our days. Let us pray. 32 These ideas and thoughts come from a Sinclair Ferguson sermon 14

15 Tom Beets: Stories of Providence Just before my high school graduation I was wrestling with a friend and broke my ankle. I ended up being in a cast for eight weeks but during that time I really came to appreciate the way my family physician was able to take care of me. It instilled in me a desire to want to do the same thing and try to help people as a family physician. As I look back, this happened at a perfect time as it was just before I started college. So even though I started off in engineering, which is what I had originally planned to major in, the desire to pursue Medicine persisted and so my second semester I was able to change to premed. I am thankful for God placing an event at a specific time that guided the direction of my life but I realize things are not always as clear. ************************************************************************************************************ Charley & Terri Colvin: Last September, Terri's mom went on vacation with Terri's sister, Peggy, and some of her family. While traveling in the car along a highway in Tennessee, she suffered a visible, obvious stroke. Peggy immediately called 911 (thank the Lord for cell phones!) and they were directed to take the next exit where an ambulance met them. Mom was whisked off and in just 15 minutes was admitted to a major hospital that had a certified stroke center! There she received the specialized care she needed. We were grateful to have seen God's gracious hand of providence in timing, location, cell reception, and facilities! ************************************************************************************************************ Gail Easling: Once again it was necessary for me to go gleaning. This time I set out with our three small children. It was the bean harvest. I knew if I could locate a trail of bean leaves on the roadway I could enter the fields that had been recently harvested and ask for permission to glean. Often the mammoth harvesting machines were too big to execute the corners of the field. That meant there were many bushes full of beans. By this time of the morning the children were beginning to grow weary of our wanderings and were hungry besides. I knew I needed to locate my source quickly. Turning a corner, there it was, the longed for trail. Locating the harvester I turned into the field and approached the man mounted high on the harvester. I asked if it would be possible for me to glean the field. Thoughtfully he observed our little car and the crying children. He asked how much we were hoping to pick. I responded, Two to three bushels. He then kindly asked me to open the trunk of our car. Leaving off dumping the remainder of his harvest into the awaiting hopper truck he wheeled his harvester into alignment with the back of our car and dumped his hopper into our trunk to overflowing. Once again I bowed my head in humble acknowledgement of a mighty God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond anything that we can ever ask or think or even imagine. Oh Lord God, my heart is full of your loving kindness toward us. Forgive me for my lack of faith in your ability to bless us. Allow the generations that follow to bow their knee in humble acknowledgement of your mighty power and stretched out arm. May we acknowledge your mightiness and bless your Holy name! ************************************************************************************************************ Nancy Erskine: I can remember that before we went off to Trinity a family from our church owned a farm. We had six children and Jim was a salesman. Not much money, but this farmer let us come and glean in their fields. Good corn, tomatoes etc. Thanked God for His provisions. ************************************************************************************************************ Bill & Linda Owens: For a while we had felt like our son Andrew was struggling with something more than minor developmental delays. After finally getting on a course to look into things further, we had him assessed in December at a place in Delhi called, Children First. The Senior Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist diagnosed Andrew with Sensory Processing Disorder. This was totally new for us but, when we looked into it, it seemed to explain his struggles incredibly well. Dr. Sen recommended that Andrew go to Occupational Therapy 3x/week, and referred us to an excellent Occupational Therapist in our city (we live in a city that neighbors Delhi). We were thankful to know there was one in our city!! When we looked up the address to find it the first time we were shocked to discover it was within a couple miles of our home! We left America, and I thought much of what we needed was left there too. However, God provided specially and specifically in India for A dre s eeds! Assess e t a d diag osis, check. Occupatio al Therapy available? Check. 5 i utes fro ho e? CHECK! We ould t ha e dared to ask for so uch. Tha k you God for lo i g us ore tha e ca even grasp!