The Old Testament Book of Ruth tells a great story about three women who lost their husbands and had to decide whether to serve God, or take the easier road. Two of them took the more difficult choice, and served God. It was the harder way, but God honored them and sent a redeemer that would give them a new hope at life.
The story starts with a woman named Naomi, and her husband, Elimelech. They lived in Bethlehem-judah with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. A great famine came to the land, and to escape it, the family moved to the land of Moab. While in Moab, Elimelech died. Naomi was left with her two sons and their Moabite wives, Ruth and Orpah.
Then trouble struck the family again, and both of Naomi's sons died too. It must have been devastating for Naomi. All she had left were Ruth and Orpah, the wives of her two sons.
Naomi decided that she must return to Bethlehem. Her daughters-in-law were sad about Naomi leaving, but she told them to stay there in Moab while she went back to Bethlehem. Orpah was sad but she couldn't give up the things she loved in Moab, so she kissed Naomi goodbye and let her return to her home. Ruth, on the other hand, would not leave Naomi. She said, "for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Ruth wanted to live for God, so she gave up all that she had and followed Naomi to Bethlehem.
Back in Bethlehem, Ruth and Naomi had it pretty hard. Neither one of them had a husband to work and earn money for food, so Ruth would go to the fields and gather grains and corn that the harvesters had missed. One day, while she was looking for food, the owner of the fields, a man named Boaz, noticed her and asked who she was. Boaz was actually related to Naomi's husband who had died years earlier.
Soon, Boaz was paying special attention to Ruth, and giving her special treatment. He made sure that she and Naomi had plenty to eat, and he told all the other men not to touch her. It became clear that Boaz was interested in this girl from Moab.
There were many complicated Jewish laws and customs at that time, but one very important law was that if a woman's husband died, it would take a relative (or kinsman) of her husband to marry her, and give her a chance for a good life with many children. Boaz was a kinsman; he had the ability to redeem Ruth!
Naomi recognized what was going on, and she gave instructions to Ruth on what to do. Ruth followed her instructions perfectly, and soon Ruth and Boaz were married! God had provided Ruth with a redeemer that would give her a second chance at life!
It wasn't long before Boaz and Ruth had a son whom they named Obed. Obed later had a son named Jesse, who grew up and had a very famous son who you have definitely heard of before: David, the same David who killed a giant with a sling and a stone, and later became the King of Israel! So King David's great grandma and grandpa were Ruth and Boaz. They would have been proud to know that their great grandson would be God's chosen king!