God Chooses Ruth to Be Part of His Family

The story of God grafting Ruth the Moabitess into the Hebrew family tree is one of the sweetest in the Bible, reminding us how we too have been chosen and grafted into His family. We opened class by finding Post-It notes with the words of Psalm 121:7 on them. I had hidden the Post-Its around our table and the children found them, then had to put them in order. (Each Post-It also had a number, since we have many non-readers.) This activity was intended to teach the verse, as well as to illustrate how God seeks His people out no matter where they are.

Before our story, I gave each child a handful of plastic letter beads. They had to choose the letters that make up their name, just as God chooses His people. With the help of Mrs. Fleishman, we were able to find all their names and tie their necklaces around their necks.

I began to tell them the story of Ruth, but when I mentioned Naomi, Mia began to cry because she missed her sister Naomi. I'm so thankful for the strong, strong glue God puts in our families and for His design to use families to make disciples.

We went outside for our snacktime, and I summed up the story again, asking the children some questions. I emphasized the well-known quote from Boaz: "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." I showed them some pictures of eagles and showed what their wings looked like, then explained that the verse didn't mean that God has wings, but that God protects His people like a bird protects her babies, by covering them with her strong, yet soft, wings.

As we went inside, my doorholder had an unfortunate accident in which her finger got smashed in the door. (Melanie, I hope your finger is feeling better.) We were all sad, and went in the bathroom to put it under cold water and wrap it in a wet napkin. We went back to our classroom and prayed for Melanie to feel better and for her to feel that God was caring for her, like that mother bird with her outspread wing. We tried to work on our pictures for our books, adding heart stickers to show how God made Naomi's relative Boaz admire Ruth for her devotion to the one true God and her care for Naomi. We also glued down a head covering for Boaz.


As we waited for parents to arrive, the children chose feathers (again, to remind them of the wings of refuge and of God's sovereign choosing of His people)and we played "Wear A Feather," a silly game where the children put the feather on different parts of their body. "I can wear it on my head... I can wear it on my knee..." Then the little birds flew off home. So much of this night was not what I had planned, but I'm trusting God to use it as He will in the hearts of your children.