Ruth (Expecting Jesus)

This part of the story-line gets fun. Yesterday we learned about Rahab. Rahab and her Israelite husband had a son named Boaz. Boaz was known as a kind, God-fearing man. Far away in Moab lived an Israelite named Naomi. When Naomi and her husband moved to Moab they had two sons who married Moabite women. However, before they had any children, Naomi's husband and both sons died. Naomi decided she would go back home to Israel. Her daughter-in-law Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi, to care for her.

Once back in Israel, Naomi and Ruth were left with no way to feed themselves. It was actually Jewish law that when a farmer was harvesting grain, they were to let any leftover grain remain in the field so poor people could come gather it and feed their families. So, Ruth went to gather the leftover grain from the field of... Boaz, Rahab's son! Eventually Ruth and Boaz marry and have a baby son named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David! Read it out of a children's Bible or from Ruth chapter 1-4. I love that God chose to put Rahab and Ruth (non-Israelites) in the line of Jesus. He truly came for all who believe in his name!

For our Christmas activity we wanted to make candy coated pretzels. I bought the "white candy coating" in the baking section that had directions on the back of the package. I added ground up peppermints. However, either I used the wrong kind of peppermints or too many of them because the mixture ended up very thick. The kids still dipped the pretzels in it but they came out a glob. As we were making it though, Alyse had the perfect lead-in to the connection with our story. She said "I hope there is some of the candy coating left over that we can just eat." We used the leftover coating to spread on a plate. After it cooled and hardened we broke it up. Just like Ruth gathered the leftovers form the field of Boaz. The leftovers were as tasty as the original candy plan.