Ruth settles into a strange culture

Welcome back move-hers (women whose lives have them on the move whether it be a corporate or military transfer, or a mission field reassignment).

The holidays have a way of side tracking us. I look back to the last time I blogged about moving and it was in November. For those of you who have been following the moving saga—remember I began with Adam and Eve in the garden,

the first recorded move in the Bible, -- and have been blogging about all the major characters and how they dealt with their reassignments when God gave them their relocation orders.

I made my first blog entry about moving last February

And have been posting on Mondays, off and on…

I got as far as Naomi and Ruth in November and took a break.

So Ruth followed Naomi and The Message translation of the Bible relates the arrival in Ruth’s new home like this:

“Naomi was back, and Ruth the foreigner with her, back from the country of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.” The Book of Ruth

I see two kinds of moves in this one verse.

1- Sometimes we “move back.” Have you ever moved back? I hear it is not always easy to come home or to return to a place you have lived before. I know from experience, when I go back for visits, life has gone on WITHOUT ME! It is hard to get into the groove of things.

2- Most of us feel like “foreigners” when we move into a town. Even moves within the U.S. can be difficult. There are different customs. Strange traditions. Funny sayings…

Last night as I sat around the table at a dinner party with three other ladies – husbands were watching the football playoffs- we discussed the challenges of moving in and fitting into Charlotte when we moved here. Four of us had each moved from California, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Texas.

California said she was not a football lover and felt out of place in Charlotte because she didn’t much care for sports.

Wisconsin didn’t have any real issues with Charlotte, she just missed the genuine and warm hearts of the Midwesterners she had left behind.

Virginia is a straight to the point kind of gal and she felt she had been misunderstood at times when all she was doing was being was honest, you know "telling it like it is!"

Texas fit right in because Texan women like Charlottean women have a high sense of fashion and love to wear it out on the town. "BUT" she added, "If I hear one more waitress or clerk adrress me as 'sweetheart' or 'honey' I promise I am going to blow!"

I know I am being kind of general here, but I hope you get the point. Moving takes us out of our comfort zone. When we look around and see life being lived differently from what we have been used to, we feel like foreigners.

Ruth was definitely a foreigner. If she was going to fit into life in Bethlehem, she would have to learn and practice new customs, traditions, and religious rites or she and her mother-in-law might not survive.

What about you? Have you moved back or have you felt like a foreigner in your new surroundings? Did you buck the system or did you humbly adjust to a new way in order to survive?

I would love to hear your story and I am sure others would too.