FHE Bible Heros

Since Mother's Day is approaching, I decided I'd start my Bible Heros Family Home Evenings with a woman from the Bible. This month, I've picked Ruth.

Advance Prep: Make sure to have all ingredients for the treat as well as for any activity you have planned.

Opening Prayer:

Scripture: And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; they people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. Ruth 1:16-17
17.

Song: I Love Feel My Savior’s Love (Children’s Songbook pg. 74)

Poem/Thought:
I think of loyalty in terms of being true to ourselves. I think of it in terms of being absolutely loyal to the Church and its many facets of activity. I think of it in terms of being unequivocally true to the God of heaven, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ...Be loyal to the best that is in you.”
Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2003, © 2006 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lesson:
Ruth’s Reward
Elimelech lived with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons in Judea. Because of a famine, they moved to Moab, an idolatrous country. There Elimelech died and his two sons married Orpah and Ruth, young women of Moab. Before long, however, both sons also died.
Naomi had been away from Judea for ten years and yearned for her own land and people. She decided to go back home to live, and she asked her daughters-in-law to return to the homes of their mothers. In Moab they could find husbands among their own people.
Orpah and Ruth wept when Naomi kissed them goodbye. Orpah went back to her own family, but Ruth had been converted to the religion and God of Israel. She clung to Naomi and pleaded, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: 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 1:16.)
Naomi and Ruth reached Naomi’s old home in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth, according to custom, gleaned the barley left by the reapers so she and Naomi might have food to eat. (What it means to reap and to glean? To reap means to cut and gather the crops. The Lord instructed the land owners to leave some of their crops for the poor. These are called the gleanings. The poor would then go to the fields and glen (gather) what was left in the fields.)
The field where Ruth was gleaning belonged to Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi’s husband. When Boaz came to the barley field, he noticed Ruth and asked the reapers who she was. They told him that she was the Moabite, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, and that she had worked diligently.
Boaz told Ruth to glean in no other fields but his. She would not be molested in any way, and she was to eat the food and drink the water provided for his reapers.
Ruth bowed herself before Boaz and asked why he was so kind to her, a stranger. Boaz answered her, “It hath fully been shewed me … how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
“The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” (Ruth 2:11–12.)
The Lord did reward Ruth for her sacrifices; she later married Boaz, and they had a son, Obed. Through Obed, Ruth became the great-grandmother of David, king of Israel, and she was an ancestor of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Discussion/Q&A:
What gift did Ruth give to Naomi? The gift of loyalty.
What does it mean to be loyal? Being faithful and true.
How did Ruth show her loyalty to Naomi? Instead of returning to her own family, Ruth went to Bethlehem with Naomi. She cared and provided for her by gleaning in the fields.
What great blessings came from Ruth’s love and loyalty to Naomi?
Because of Ruth’s love and loyalty to Naomi she was able to meet and marry Boaz. Ruth and Boaz were blessed with a son, Obed and Obed’s son Jesse was the father of David, a great Israelite king..
What has the Lord asked us to do for the poor that compares to His instruction to the land owners in Ruth’s time? To give a generous fast offering.
What can our family do to loyally serve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
Some of the things we can do to show our loyalty to the Lord are being obedient, respectful, following our Church leaders, fulfilling our stewardships, and keeping the commandments. We can also show our loyalty to the Lord by the way we treat others “...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17.)
“We show our loyalty to the Lord by being obedient to parents, being respectful of our brothers and sisters, following Church leaders, and fulfilling our church callings and priesthood responsibilities. Loyalty includes being obedient to the laws of the land and the commandments of God. Loyalty to employer and employee, demonstrated by an honest day’s work and an honest day’s pay, is part of our loyalty to the Lord, for what we do unto each other we do unto Him. It means standing up for that which is right when our associates would persuade us to do wrong. Rex D. Pinegar, New Era, July 1976 © 2006 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Activity: Categories http://lds.about.com/od/familyhomeeveninggames/a/fheg_categories.htm

Closing Prayer: (including blessing on the food)

Refreshments:
Banana Chocolate Chip CookiesIngredients:
1/3 c. butter, softened1/2 c sugar1 egg1/2 c mashed ripe bananas1/2 t. vanilla1 c. flour1 t baking powder1/4 t salt1/8 t baking soda1 c chocolate chips (I prefer Milk Chocolate Chips)In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, banana and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to the wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. The dough is very stick so refrigerate for 1 hour. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 9 - 11 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. DONT OVER BAKE!!