Becoming a woman of excellence

Patrick finished up his first 30 day assignment in Buffalo on Wednesday and was able to come home for 24 hours before returning for another 30 day tour that began on Friday. Saying goodbye to him each time he has to leave is becoming harder and harder. The kids are missing their father more and more by the day and I myself am missing my husband, my partner and my friend. We know that there is a handful of loving friends and family that are just a phone call away if ever we need anything...and that certainly is a comfort. But at the same time, there are days that we honestly just need him! As I sit here many nights feeling sorry for myself in this somewhat of a single parenthood I have found myself in, I am reminded of the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. Ruth's story is quite frankly very different than mine...her husband, Mahlon, actually dies and she leaves her country, family and future to forage for leftover grain in the fields in order to support her mother-in-law and herself. But Ruth was known as a "...woman of excellence" (Ruth 3:11) in that through all that she was faced with, she trusted God with her life and did not allow her circumstances to dictate her behavior or responses. As I contemplate the qualities that made her a woman of noble character, I am reminded of the importance of these years for my own daughters and how the way I chose to deal with our own circumstances will shape and influence the women that they become.