Twelfth Symbol of the Jesse tree: Ruth's wheat

Jesse Tree Symbol #12: Ruth, shaft of wheat
In the days of the Judges, famine left an Israelite woman named Naomi widowed and without both her sons. As she moved back to her hometown, one daughter-in-law (Ruth) stayed with her. This penniless foreigner--this outsider--Ruth was cared for and brought in to the Israelite family tree... the roots of Christ

 Ruth 1:6-9,15-18; 2:1-12 and 16

Matthew 1:1-5

"From Outsider and Stranger to part of the Family of Christ"

Testimonial by Gealean Murray

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound… At once I was lost, but now I'm found…  These words pulled from perhaps the most recognizable hymn in history.  However, these are perhaps the most recognizable to my own heart.  For a long time I found myself wandering through life without Christ in my daily life.  The all-consuming solitude was astounding to say the least.  While I was raised in the church and attended on the holidays, a regular part of the Easter and Christmas crowd, I failed to make the connection in both my church and my heart.  I was brought home by the mission of Margaret's Memories.  The faith and strength that I saw Nicole Remo both exude and endure during her pregnancy with sweet Margaret resonated with me.  I faithfully came to volunteer for the cause. 

Meanwhile, my own life lay in shambles.  A marriage crumbling.  Two small and beautiful children.  Once a homemaker, now struggling to provide for the family.  It was through the church--through the bonds made in Circle of Grace while assembling boxes on behalf of the Margaret's Memories mission--and through church family who looked past me being a foreigner, and happily accepted me in as a worker bee in the buzzing, productive hive of the Church, that I felt whole again.  And this resonates with me.  With each new visitor, each member, each person who enters our doors… We as a church can provide them a sanctuary--both figuratively and literally--in which they can feel Christ's love.  Sometimes this is as simple as extending a greeting.  Other times it's as complex as sharing a deep pain.  Regardless, it's our calling as Christians to see people as potential buzzing bees that fit into our hive, and to invite them inward.