So Naomi returned from the country of Moab, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law.

And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. (Ruth 1:22)



Maybe you can personally connect with how Naomi must have felt as she came back home to

Bethlehem after living ten years in Moab. When you came back home, maybe you found that many

things had changed – new streets, unfamiliar faces, old friends busy with their new lives, trees you

planted now grown tall and full, old buildings torn down and replaced by skyscrapers, farmland replaced

by subdivisions. But more than all that, maybe you realized that YOU had changed.

Naomi had changed too; she expressed it this way, “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home

again empty” (Ruth 1:21). When she left Bethlehem, her heart was full of family – she had a husband

and two sons. Although they were leaving their homeland, they had each other, and they had hope –

hope for food and survival in the land of Moab. However, after a time, the people that filled her life with

joy died – first Elimelech, and then her two sons. With their deaths, Naomi changed – her hope died

right along with her family members. She felt empty -- her hope was gone forever; but God, the giver of

hope for the hopeless, had plans to make her hopelessness only temporary. It was the beginning of the

barley harvest, and God’s perfect plan would soon unfold.

Perhaps coming home for Christmas has you reflecting on how things have changed from the

Christmases of your childhood. Perhaps you’re reflecting on how much you have changed from the

sparkly-eyed toddler squealing in delight with the lights and colors and gifts of Christmas. Whether your

youthful dreams have come true or not, I do hope YOU have changed – I hope you now delight in the

true meaning of Christmas and actually find it leaving you breathless.

But at this moment in our story, Naomi is returning to Bethlehem – a changed woman – no longer living

into the meaning of her name (pleasant), feeling empty, sad, alone, and bitter.

Please join me as we go back to Bethlehem this Christmas – perhaps, like Naomi, offering God only our

emptiness – and let Him fill that emptiness with love, joy, peace, and hope – the hope of Christmas – the

One whose name is the hope of all the world (Matthew 12:21).

By Judy Shrout

Judy is the wife of Tom, mother of Heather, mother-in-law of Jim, grandmom to T.J., Ainsley, and

Maggie, and grandmother-in-law to Piper.