There was a
man from North Dakota named Eli. He was
a German from Russia. He had a cousin
named Boaz. Eli was ambitious and
adventurous. Boaz was a home body. Both Eli and Boaz worked hard and were
strong. Eli married his high school
sweetheart named Naomi. She too wanted
to see the world. While Eli and Naomi were
the life of the party when they were young, Boaz was a geek. Boaz was a computer nerd when nerds were not
cool. Though Boaz was honest and liked
by everyone he could not get a date for the life of him.
A long
drought hit North Dakota. Eli and Naomi
lost interest in life on the farm, packed up their bags, and moved to southern
California. While in California they
did very well. They had two boys, Mike
and Chad who also did well. Their boys
married California girls, Ruth, and Oprah.
Eli came down with skin cancer and it quickly spread all over his
body. He died in California, was
cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. His boys decided to gamble big on the latest
tech opportunity. They mortgaged all
the family property, neglected to keep it insured, and then were killed in an
earthquake that demolished their possessions before the investment
matured. Naomi, Ruth, and Oprah were
left penniless.
Naomi was at
the end of her end. She heard stories of
God’s grace in North Dakota. There was a
new oil boom. It was even raining, and
the crop forecast looked good. She
decided to go home to North Dakota. Her
daughters-in-law wanted to come with her.
She was like a mother to them.
However, Naomi knew what they were getting into.
“My
daughters,” she said, “I am not having any more sons. You girls are
beautiful. You are well educated. You have your life before you. Go back to your southern California friends
and family. Meet a boy. Please start over without me. God will be kind to you. However, you cannot follow me back to North
Dakota. You will not have a future.”
Oprah
decided to leave Naomi. They wept in
departure. Naomi blessed Oprah.
Ruth refused
to leave. Naomi decided to tell her
like it is and held nothing back.
“My people
are stubborn and independent. They will
not let anyone tell them what to do,” she said.
“And let me
tell you about the weather. Every
winter it is below forty for weeks. You
might have two blizzards in April.
Droughts can last years.
Sometimes it is in the nineties for weeks in the summer. You never know when a hailstorm or tornado
will come out of nowhere. Most people cannot
handle it. Those that do will still
drive eighty miles per hour on the interstate on icy roads. It is nuts.”
Ruth refused
to leave.
“With God as
my witness I will stay with you the rest of my life. I will eat Fleischkuechle and
sauerkraut. I will go to church with
your relatives no matter whether its Lutheran, Catholic, or Evangelical. I will be buried with you on a lonely
prairie cemetery.”
Naomi gave
up. They gathered their remaining
belongings, got on a train, and went home to North Dakota. When they got home Naomi’s extended family
came to meet her. They could not believe
what had happened. Naomi no longer was
the life of the party. She was bitter
and angry. Naomi got a job as a Walmart
greeter. Ruth flipped burgers at
Wendy’s. Then Ruth heard a rumor that a
wealthy farmer needed a gopher for the harvest.
She quickly got in touch and was hired on the spot.
As luck
would have it the wealthy farmer was Boaz.
Financially life had gone well for Boaz while Eli and Naomi were in
California. The North Dakota economy
shifted where technology and finance skills were essential for
agriculture. Boaz made the right
choices time after time. Being a
computer geek was to his advantage. As
others struggled Boaz expanded time after time.
Boaz
changed. He went from being awkward to
just shy and soft spoken. When he did
speak people listened. He never married. Time altered his body. Though still remarkably strong from his
labor he was a bit overweight. The sun
had prematurely wrinkled his skin. He
wore bifocals. His hair went gray and
then started balding and he never got a decent haircut. He wore a hearing aid. His cholesterol and blood pressure ticked
up. His doctor told him he would get
healthier if he married, and then they both giggled at that unlikely
outcome.
Ruth arrived
at work early and left late. She did all
that was asked and found what was not getting done and did that too. She was out of her element and naïve; but
asked questions, read voraciously when she was not at work and began mastering
both the culture and business details.
Boaz noticed
Ruth and spoke kindly to her like if she was his own daughter. Somehow God’s name naturally flowed from his
lips as he wished her well. He was
thankful his cousin’s wife had such a daughter-in-law. At the end of the day, Boaz occasionally
gave Ruth a box of steaks, a bag of sweet corn, or fresh vegetables from the
garden to take home to Naomi. Boaz
noticed Ruth’s beauty and the eyes of his crew watching her. His men worked hard, but he knew their
failings. When Ruth was out, he pulled
his men together and gave them a lecture.
“Boys if you
give this girl any ________ I will kick your _______”
Ruth came
home each evening dirty and tired, but with cash in her pocket, healthy food,
and Boaz’ encouragement. Naomi had an
idea. There was a twinkle in her eye
with a twinge of hope. What if Boaz and
Ruth were to get married? Yes, they
were kind of related; but it was distant and not through blood. Yes, there was an age difference; but Boaz was
not as old as he looked. Yes, there were
cultural differences, but the churches they grew up in spoke German just a
generation ago. And at church they heard
stories every Sunday about God’s love for all people. Why not try?
Naomi coached Ruth through how to make an audacious proposal that might
be heard.
At the end
of a long day of harvest Boaz and his crew tidied machines up in a distant
shop. They had a cold beer. The old farmhouse on this spot had
collapsed. Boaz drug an old RV out to
this site for him to sleep, but everyone else drove home or to a cheap
hotel.
As the sun
set Boaz stepped into the RV and there was Ruth. She had left work a bit early and cleaned
up. Wow!
In front of Boaz was a candlelight steak dinner with fresh North Dakota
vegetables. Naomi and Ruth still had several
bottles of good California wine, and the glasses were filled.
Boaz thought
this must be some big misunderstanding and tried to make a gracious exit.
“I didn’t
realize you were dating one of my men,” he said. “This is where I am sleeping. You must have got lost finding his place on
these roads. GPS never works right out
here. Who is it? I will drive you to where he is staying.”
Ruth
responded, “Nope this is for you. You
know my mother-in-law can be difficult to live with, but sometimes she has clever
ideas. I know this must look impulsive
or crazy, but when I walked through the history museum and checked dates this is
not unheard of. Let’s get married. You are the kindest man I have ever
known. Naomi thinks our pastor will be
supportive.”
Boaz sat
down, ate his meal, and pondered these matters.
He spoke.
“Wow. What can I say? May the Lord richly bless
you. I did not expect this. Yet, Naomi had promising ideas when we were
kids. You are stunning, smart, and hard
working. You are incredibly loyal. Everyone speaks well of you. You are right this is crazy for our days, but
our grandparents lived like this. Please
do not be afraid. Why not, let us get married.
Yet, there
are some unresolved family matters. There
is a section of land that Naomi seems to have an inheritance claim on. Our cousins are squabbling. If we get married without that matter resolved,
it will escalate family tension. If
people find out, you spent the night here gossip will get out of hand. Here is what we will do. You sleep in the bed tonight. I will sleep on the couch. You get up and be gone by 4 am. Do not let anyone see you. Do not show up until 6 am at this shop. Do not say a thing to anyone but
Naomi. I will call my lawyer and banker
in the morning and start talking to my cousin about that section. I
will write a gracious check for that section of land. With God as my witness, I
will get this matter resolved ASAP.
Now, before
you leave grab a pack of walleye out of the freezer for Naomi. I have more in the freezer than I can eat.”
When Ruth
got home Naomi was eagerly waiting for her.
Ruth told Naomi all that had happened.
Naomi giggled. Naomi said,
“My family
can argue over land for years. I bet
this matter will be cleared up by the end of the week. This is going to be interesting.”
The next
day, Boaz called his lawyer and banker.
He found a way to meet both at a small café far enough away that his
relatives would not know they were talking.
After crunching numbers and playing with ideas he started making phone
calls to his cousins. Though there was
family tension there were still enough good childhood memories and shared
interests that they would pick up the phone.
He invited all the concerned ones to meet for breakfast at the
conference room of a local restaurant.
The next morning,
they all arrived with a few surprised looks at who all was in the room.
Boaz started
the conversation, “This is a bit complicated, but I wanted all of you to hear
this news from me and see if we can work this out without a squabble and paying
too much money to lawyers. You have probably
noticed that cute California girl, Ruth, who came home with Naomi. We have dated a bit and plan to get married.”
Before Boaz
could get to the part of his speech where he discussed the land, his cousins started
laughing and poking fun at him.
One cousin
exclaimed, “I was raised Catholic, but I am going to have to become
Pentecostal. Miracles do still happen
today.”
Another hopped
in, “Well I am going to stay Lutheran until a doctor certifies that Ruth is not
blind. Come on guys, have you honestly looked
at Boaz. No way.”
After the
laughter ended, Boaz continued.
“Ok. Here is the difficult part – We all know
there is a section of land our family has squabbling over. It is complicated with lost documents and
unclear wills. One of you has a claim
on it. So does Naomi. So, do I.
If Ruth and I have children instead of them growing up playing with all
your grandchildren those kids will be rivals.
I cannot let that happen. I am
willing to buy the section outright today and put this all behind us. Name your price.”
The
concerned cousin was a bit embarrassed and muttered a bit. He tried to delay and make a phone call to a
banker and lawyer. Before he could get
on the phone, another cousin hopped in.
“Come on man,
we all know you have talked to your lawyer about this a multiple of times. You know what the land is worth. Give Boaz a number. Besides, my wife got me taking dance lessons
and I am ready for a wedding dance. No
more delays.”
The concerned
cousin scratched a number on a napkin and handed it to Boaz.
Boaz shifted
the conversation, “By the way guys, I am buying breakfast. Do not even worry about the tip. I have it all. I am still old fashioned and want to add
15%, but it seems today the going rate is 20%.”
Then Boaz wrote
a check for 20% more than his cousin had asked and pushed the check with the napkin
back to the concerned cousin.
“Wow! I accept,”
proclaimed the concerned cousin.
“Great,”
Boaz said, “After we leave, I will call my lawyer and draw up the papers. You will have documents to sign by the end of
the day.”
The room
clapped and laughed.
Then Boaz
pulled out a box with brand new cowboy boots and handed them to his concerned
cousin. “It seems your wife did keep
the secret,” Boaz said, “I called to ask what size you wear and if she had seen
you eyeing any new boots the last few months.
These should fit you just fine.”
When the
laughter had died down the oldest cousin spoke up,
“Cousins I cannot
believe this. Yes, there really is a
God out here on the prairie. Boaz, May
God richly bless you and Ruth. May you
have scads of kids. May abundant rain
fall upon our lands. May the cattle
calve with ease. May your wealth
increase. May all these old stories we
heard from our grandparents repeat in our times. May God’s name be glorified through this
breakfast, your upcoming marriage, and the abundance of the land.”
Everyone
said, “Amen,” and then dismissed.
Boaz and
Ruth married. Within a year they had a
son. They named him Obed which means, “The
servant of God.”
Naomi quit
her Walmart greeter job. She moved into
the old homestead house that had been sitting empty but was just next door to
Boaz and Ruth’s home. Every day, Naomi
came over to Ruth’s place and played with Obed. She held his hand and walked with him on the
farm. She told Obed stories her grandparents
had told her plus about her days in California and return to North Dakota.
Besides
going to church Naomi once a week went to town to quilt with her friends. There was always some local gossip to
share. The wise women at the quilting
group directed the gossip to sharing recent good news with hope for a better
future. Naomi’s journey sometimes was
the topic of quilting gossip. The
quilters proclaimed,
“Naomi, you
have been blessed. The Lord did not
leave you alone. We would trade seven
of our sons for one daughter-in-law like your Ruth. We trust your old age will be full of joy.
Enjoy that dear little, Obed. This story
is not over yet.”