Ruth Haley Barton

The biblical character of Ruth was striking in her capacity to bring life to her relationships. Even in the midst of tragedy and difficulty, her presence blessed and influenced friends and strangers in her community, the man she grew to love, her children, and her in-laws. This six-week Fisherman Bible Study guide uses Ruth's story to help you reflect on your own relationships and the ways in which God might be inviting you to move different ways--ways that will lead you into life-giving patterns of relating with others.

Although women have unprecedented opportunities and options today, their lives are still often filled with the mundane, the difficult, the downright tragic. And the challenges of life become even more difficult when there doesn't seem to be any purpose for them. These studies will help you discover God's purposes in your life - in your creation, your salvation, and your giftedness - and will give you a framework for making wise choices. 8 studies for individuals or groups. Includes Leader's notes.

Contemporary women face numerous challenging and often painful issues, including infertility, caring for aging parents, singleness, the generation gap, the role of women in marriage and ministry, materialism, and difficult marriages. We're not alone. All of these issues were faced by women in the Bible, and it's God's desire that we learn from, and find encouragement in, their stories. Learn how you can make a difference in your family, your church, and your community by studying the examples of scriptural women who in so many ways were just like us.