Ruth

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Ruth 2:11-12

In just two days it will have been nine years since I packed up what I could and left an old life behind. I was a starving young Christian with some mixed up and confused views of God and life, a scared young woman, a disowned daughter, trying as best as I could to follow God and survive. Ruth always comes to mind when I think of those days where I left behind almost everything familiar to settle in the church. These verses, and simply the story of how the Lord provided for Ruth, comforted me many times as I also desired to come under those wings and trust the Lord as she had. And I hoped and prayed He would provide for me as I waited on Him. He did, my needs were met, I had work to do, I met with God's people every week.....but the biggest thing that I didn't even realize I needed was sanctification, growth in the Christian life, learning to wait and trust. Looking back I realize the need to simply trust the Lord to know what I need most and to do what is best. There are challenges, scars, difficulties, questions I don't have answers to in regard to this "anniversary," but one thing I do know is that Christ, his church, have become so very precious to me through everything and I am so thankful.