Real Life by Peggi Tustan

Welcome to Real Life . Hope often arrives in the smallest of packages—like a newborn babe.      _____ When I returned to Bethlehem, my old friends asked, “Could this be Naomi?” “ Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara (bitter)… I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty…the Almighty has brought misfortune on me.” My troubles began in the years of famine. As food grew scarce in Israel, my husband Elimelech heard of a bountiful harvest in Moab. So, he moved our family there. Initially, we prospered. However, within a decade, both my husband and our two sons had died.  Oh, Elimelech, why did we think God would bless us in a pagan land?  I decided it was time to go home. My sons left no children, but they did leave two Moabite widows, Orpah and Ruth. When I kissed my daughters-in-law goodbye, Ruth clung to me. She had been the curious one. Why is that blood on your doorposts? Why can’t you eat pork? Why is Israel the Promised Land? Shortly after marrying my son Mahlon,

Welcome to Real Life . Meet Barry Brophy! When Peggi invited me write a guest post, I prayed and spent time listening to the Holy Spirit. He reminded me of the earlier calling He had placed on my life, “Write what you know.” These verses from 1 Corinthians illustrate God’s work in my life: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing— and the things that are not— to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God— that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-31) While delving into the vast contextual riches of this passage would take many weeks, I wish to transcribe the meaning into a simple focal point:   God chooses