The Story of Ruth: Finding Hope In Our Redeemer

Laura Piraino:
“When I sit around a table and the Word of God is opened and the women at the table start sharing what God is doing in their lives or their stories, I want more of Jesus. Like, I just want more of Jesus because of what God is doing in their lives.

And so I deeply want that for other women—the hunger and thirst for righteousness, more of Jesus, more of the Word of God—when they come around the table together. That is where we’re going to find the source and the things that we need to make it through all the different seasons that we encounter in our lives.”

Ellen:
“Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. I’m Ellen, your host, and I am so glad that you have joined us today. We are diving into one of the most beautiful and hope-filled stories in all of Scripture—the story of Ruth. It’s a story of famine and fulfillment, loss and loyalty, redemption and restoration. And our guest today has found a truly creative way to bring it to life. We are sitting down with Laura Piraino, a mother, author, speaker, and Bible teacher with a heart for helping women truly experience the Bible in their friendships, communities, and even around the dinner table. So join us as we discuss what Ruth’s journey teaches you about the spiritual seasons we all walk through and how God’s redemptive work is often unfolding right where we least expect it. Laura, welcome to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.”

Laura Piraino:
“Thank you so much, Ellen. It is a joy to be here. I am so excited about what God’s doing and love talking about the Word of God, so I am really excited to be with you today. Thank you.”

Ellen:
“Well, it’s our honor, and you’re exactly in the right place because this is what we love to talk about. And let’s start with the table. You emphasize that the table is such a powerful image of welcome and connection. What made you decide to use it as the centerpiece—so to speak—for telling Ruth’s story?”

Laura Piraino:
“I was thinking about all of the years that I have had the joy of teaching God’s Word to women, and every one of them has been centered on a table. And I was reflecting on the fact that when women are gathered around a table, something beautiful happens. Women—we crave beauty, right? We want to create beauty and we crave beauty.

And when we’re seated around the table, you see these beautiful connections happening. When I’ve been invited into people’s homes to teach God’s Word around the table, the way women decorate their table and the food that they present—I just started to think, beautiful things happen around the table, and there is nothing more beautiful than the Word of God.

And so if we can bring the Word of God to the table and create a beautiful space with beautifully created women, it’s just a win all around. And so I was really reflecting on that and thought, this is just an idea—let’s do this. So that’s really how it all got started.”

Ellen:
“Yes. And I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’ll tell you this: more than 20 years ago, I walked into my very first ever women’s Bible study, and we all sat around a beautifully decorated table. It was at church, but there was a tablecloth and just a nice centerpiece that was beautiful, and it felt just so warm and welcoming.”

Laura Piraino:
“Mm-hmm.”

Ellen:
“And so I love that you do that. And I love, too, that over the years I’ve seen people—some have the gift of doing that and some don’t. And I love when you suggested in your book just sort of creating a collaboration of people bringing different things to decorate the table. I thought that was a clever idea.”

Laura Piraino:
“Well, it’s a big piece of the book as well because God’s given us all gifts for the journey that we’re on. And while I do love to decorate a table, I know that that is not necessarily my first gifting. And so I actually had a friend come and create the tables for me for the Bible study. And then my daughter, who loves all things culinary, came and created the recipes. So it was a collaboration of women coming together to create something.

And that’s the way it can be in Bible study as well. Use your gifts, bring what you have to the table, and create something amazing.”

Ellen:
“And it’s so beautiful. Well, in At the Table with Ruth, which is your book, you highlight four distinct spiritual seasons: the desert, gleaning field, threshing floor, and fulfillment. For those who may not know Ruth’s story very well, can you walk us through those four movements and how they mirror the spiritual seasons that we experience today?”

Laura Piraino:
“Absolutely. When I was studying the book of Ruth and I realized these seasons that Ruth was walking, I realized that I have been in every one of these seasons—and some of them, even at the same time.

Ruth finds herself in Moab—that’s where she’s from originally—and she’s a foreigner, we would call her, to the people of God. She gets married to a man whose family originated in Bethlehem. And we know that there’s been a famine in Bethlehem, and that’s why this family has moved to Moab.

Through a season of heartbreak, Ruth’s husband passes, as do her brother-in-law and her father-in-law, and she and her mother-in-law make their way to Bethlehem because the famine is over and they’re ready to live in Bethlehem. Naomi wants to go back.

But they walk through chapter one in this story in the desert, and it’s dry and it’s hard and it’s long. And the Ruth who lived in Moab didn’t think that her journey would ever lead her to a place where she was walking through a desert with a woman named Naomi, who decided to change her name to ‘Bitter.’ This is not where she saw her journey going.

So she’s in a really hard season, a dry season. Chapter two, we find her on the gleaning field. And this is a place she didn’t see coming as well. It’s a place where she’s in a different position in life than she had been originally.

She’s at the end of the line, and we’ve all felt that—we’ve been there at some season in our lives as well.

The third one is the threshing floor. And this is the place where she has to lay down everything that she ever thought her journey would be about—put herself in a place where it’s full surrender, let go of her desires, trust God, and see what He was going to do. It’s a place of full surrender on the threshing floor.

And the last season is this wedding—it’s a celebration. It’s where we see everything come to fulfillment. And so as I was watching Ruth in chapters one, two, three, and four walk these very specific seasons, it is exactly what happens with us as we come into relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s such a beautiful picture as we watch Ruth walk this story. But in the first one, Ruth comes into the desert. It’s a hard place, and in chapter one she makes this commitment that Yahweh will be her God and that God’s people will be her people. So how often in our hard seasons do we come into this place where we’re like, I am in a really hard place and this is where I’m going to find Jesus? That is so many of our stories. He meets us in those hard places.

And then the second chapter—chapter two—we come into that place where we want to have a relationship with Jesus. We want to follow Him, we want to walk with Him, and chapter two happens and sometimes we’re like, whoa. This is not where I thought I was going to be. This is not what I thought my story was going to look like. But it’s in this place that we hear Him call our name. Boaz calls her name in chapter two, and we’re invited to this new place with Him. We see these glimmers of hope on the horizon, and that’s what happens to us spiritually as well.

And in chapter three, this place where she had to lay down all of her desires—that’s really the next step in the journey of our faith, right? We come to this relationship with God and we realize that the journey with Jesus is one of full surrender. Everything that we held onto in the past just needs to be laid down because our Redeemer is going to come in and do the thing that we need Him to do in order for us to be fully redeemed.

And then in chapter four—I mean, we get to celebrate every single day, whether we feel like we’re in a desert, a gleaning, or a threshing season—regardless of what it is, our Redeemer made a way. And we can celebrate the fact that we are in relationship with Him. And that’s what we see in Ruth chapter four.

So I was reading through the book of Ruth and I was like, this is us. This is what Jesus did for us. And every single time I even open up the book of Ruth now, Ellen, I still see it, and it just causes me such joy and really such gratitude that this is what our Redeemer did for us.”

Ellen:
“That parallel is just so beautiful. And I love that you’ve pulled that out and you share that in the study and that people could come to know that, because I think a lot of people who are studying the Bible for the first time might not get that—right? That parallel, if you don’t understand the overarching storyline of the Bible and how the Old Testament points to Christ. You might get that. And so you’ve laid that out so beautifully. Well, let’s take a look at their relationships in Ruth. The book of Ruth captures such a beautiful picture of loyalty and faith. And as you studied Ruth and Naomi’s journey, what insights stood out to you from their faith and relationship?”

Laura Piraino:
“I saw this beautiful relationship with Ruth and Naomi that I don’t think I had fully understood before. But the connection between women from different generations walking hard roads together is what God really highlighted for me.

And it’s talked about in the book because there is something significant to walking life out with a mentor or a parent or somebody—let’s say a few years ahead of us—in the relationship with Jesus on that road.

And I watched chapters one, two, three, and four and this relationship between these two women and saw how important it is for women my age to be connected to the generation behind me, and how important it is for that generation to be connected to our generation as well.

So Ruth and Naomi’s story to me was an encouragement to make sure that I am, let’s say, looking behind me to see who is coming behind me. And also, in humility, look ahead of me, because regardless of where we are in our spiritual journey or in the age bracket, there is always somebody in front of us and there’s somebody behind us.

And humility is so important for us to recognize that we have something to learn and we have something to give. And that’s what I see in Ruth’s story. Naomi started out calling herself ‘bitter.’ She thought she had nothing to give, but she is the very woman who God gave wisdom to in order to open doors for Ruth to step into her next.

So it’s really whatever season you find yourself in, or if you think you have anything to give—if you are here, you have something to give. And in every season of our country, our world, the church, God uses generational connections. We see it in the Old Testament, we see it in the New Testament, in order to build his church and strengthen his kingdom.

So that was my—I think that was my biggest takeaway from the relationships between Ruth and Naomi, is I want to be the woman who is constantly saying, ‘Who can I learn from?’ And I want to be the woman who can say, ‘God, what are you asking me to give? How can I share what you’ve given me? Like, we are never empty. Even if we feel empty, God’s given us something to share.

Ellen:
“I completely concur. You know, that’s one of the things at Coffee and Bible Time that has just inspired me, kind of being the mentor of our community and my two daughters who do Coffee and Bible Time together with me.

And what I find so fascinating is exactly what you said. There’s always someone older or younger—not necessarily older year-wise, but maturity in their Christian walk. And I saw this in my daughters when they were just like in high school, maybe their upper years of high school, and they were mentoring middle schoolers. Like, you’re never too young or too old, right? And I know for me personally…”

Laura Piraino:
“Mm. That’s amazing. That’s right.”

Ellen:
“…in my 20 years—over 20 years—of doing this moms ministry that I was in, we had a mentor in our group every year. And I can’t tell you how inspirational those women were in my life—how they knew their Bibles, how they had the encouraging words when you need them.”

Ellen:
“And in this story of Ruth and Naomi, I love in the very beginning when it said that Ruth clung to Naomi. Just that word, I thought, was such a beautiful image of we’re in this together.”

Laura Piraino:
“That’s right, that’s right. It is a beautiful image. I love that.”

Ellen:
“Let’s talk a little bit about hospitality and Ruth. Your study includes recipes and tablescapes that inspired Ruth’s time. How did these tangible elements deepen the whole experience, would you say, of studying Scripture?”

Laura Piraino:
“Well, one of the things we tried to create in the study was that the tablescapes and the recipes would grow as Ruth’s story grew. And so, when Ruth was in the desert, it was dry, it was broken—let’s say there wasn’t a lot of color. And so the tablescape is very dry. It represents famine. It represents a season of being in the desert.

And when you look at the book, the first tablescape—or the second tablescape for Ruth chapter one—is actually vessels, clay pots that are empty, right? It’s a picture of Ruth’s story at that time and of us when we’re in those seasons. And the recipes for that chapter are hummus—it’s one color, right? And then also there’s a second recipe, which is a muffin. Not a lot of color in this muffin that’s made with barley.

And so I love the fact that as we go through this journey, we are tasting, right? And we are seeing a representation of what we are reading. And so that’s really where it all came together. I love the fact that while we are sitting around the table looking at Ruth chapter one, we are actually seeing a visual and reflecting on the visual. Because as we look at the empty, dry table in front of us, we can’t help but reflect on our own story—where are the places that are empty and dry right now?”

And as we’re even tasting these flavors and anticipating that next week, when we come back, the flavors will be a little bit bolder—they’ll be a little bit different—until we get to this wedding feast where the flavors are all in, right? Full flavor in chapter four of Ruth.

And then, side note, the last chapter in the book is called an epilogue, and it’s actually Luke chapter two, where we see the fulfillment of everything that was started in Ruth, and we have a Christmas chapter at the end. So there’s this anticipation that as the story grows—like, I can’t wait to come back next week and see what the table’s going to look like. How can I contribute to it? And I can’t wait to taste what it’s going to taste like to be on the threshing floor or on the gleaning field.

So I just feel like it’s this great image where you’re using so many senses and being led by the Spirit as we open up the Word of God. And the three of these things—the Word of God, the table decor, and the recipes—I just feel like they speak so boldly to God’s goodness as we taste and see.”

Ellen:
“They most certainly do. And I think being a visual learner myself, that visual image of sitting in the Bible study around that table with a group of women and talking each week about what that tablescape looked like—just helping provide the context—I think is going to be incredibly memorable.”

Laura Piraino:
“Yeah, yeah. Praise God.”

Ellen:
“So I love how you’ve tied that in together. Can you share one of your favorite recipes or table design moments from the study and how it connects to a specific part?”

Laura Piraino:
“Yes, I love all of the recipes, I have to say, and all of the tables. So as I was reflecting on my favorite one—chapter three in the book has a barley and mushroom, it’s almost like a risotto. Instead of using rice, my daughter chose to use barley, pearl barley. And that is my favorite because I’m a big risotto fan. But that’s my favorite recipe, I would say, as you go through the story.

My favorite table setting is the final chapter, where it is the story in Luke chapter two. And the reason I love that table setting so much is in Ruth chapter one, God’s people are in a really hard time, right? There’s been a famine. Now fast forward to Luke chapter two—God’s people are again in a really hard time. They are under the authority and rule of Rome. So we see God’s people in a hard time in both places.

In Ruth chapter one, our table is these empty vessels that are dry, and they’re waiting to be filled with what God would have for them next. And we use a very similar table design in the epilogue, Luke chapter two, because again, you see the very same vessels on the table. So the table looks very similar except for it’s Luke chapter two—and the light of the world has come.

And so interspersed with these broken, empty vessels, there are candles with flames and light, because the light of the world has come and it has changed everything. And so while the table may look exactly the same, nothing is the same anymore.

So when I think about that last table—I do have to say, I had somebody create runners for the tables too. In Luke chapter two, the runner actually has the Christmas story written on it. And in Ruth chapter one, the runner has Ruth chapter one written on it.

So it’s like the foundation is the Word of God. It’s the same empty vessels. But now in the New Testament, something’s changed. So that gets me excited because it’s a broken place, but man—the light pierces the darkness, right? And the darkness can’t overcome it. So that to me is a real wow, and my favorite table just because of that hope we have in Jesus Christ.”

Ellen:
“That is just so cool. You know, I think that this study would be so awesome to do leading up to Christmas. You know, if you could get this book now, ladies, or anyone that’s listening, really, it would just be—I love how you’ve described that, and just tying it in with the time of the year would be really awesome, but not necessary.”

Laura Piraino:
“Yes, yes. Thank you.”

Ellen:
“In a world that often feels disconnected, especially across generations, what lessons in particular from Ruth and Naomi’s relationship can help women today build meaningful cross-generational connections?”

Laura Piraino:
“The word humility just comes to my mind when I think about Ruth and Naomi and the way they connected in their relationship. I feel that they both recognized that they didn’t have it all together on their own and that they were going to have to, in surrendering to God’s will, surrender to each other for the gifts that the other brought to the table.

And I feel like that is a big piece of our connection with other women. Is walking in humility, being willing to take, let’s call it instruction or guidance or counsel from another woman in the kingdom who wants nothing but our best and wants to see the kingdom grow, to be humble enough to receive instruction and follow it and not think that we know it all. And then also be humble enough to give instruction.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like when I have something I want to share with somebody, so often I think to myself, well, what will they say? What will they think about me? Will they receive that? And so sometimes thinking about me too much keeps me from saying the thing that perhaps God has given me to say. And taking thinking about me too much out of the equation actually puts us both in position for what God wants to accomplish.

So I really think in Ruth’s story with Naomi, everything that God gave Naomi to share with Ruth, Ruth didn’t question it. She trusted it as an authority who was looking out for her best interest. And she walked in it. And it’s what opened the door for her to her next.

It would have been really easy for Ruth to say, listen, Naomi, you are going through a really hard time. I’m not really sure that you know what I’m going through. And I don’t know that I want to follow exactly what you said, the way you said to do it. But humbly Ruth was like, no, I’m going to submit to this and I’m going to do what she said.

She was told to go to the threshing floor and she didn’t question it. She just went. So that act of humbly receiving instruction and humbly giving encouragement, I feel like that is key when we’re walking in relationship cross-generationally or in the same generation together.”

Ellen:
“Mm-hmm.”

Laura Piraino:
“Yeah, I feel like that’s huge. I’m trying to walk in it better because of Ruth and Naomi’s example. It’s really beautiful.”

Ellen:
“Absolutely. You know, what came to my mind in talking about this was the fact that, you know, during those days, you would have expected that Naomi, know, husband passing away being the older couple, if you will, and her being a widow, but Ruth was a young widow.

And unfortunately, like I’ve had some friends in my life who’ve become young widows. It, just thinking about this and building up relationships and connections and having those in place for times like those when they come.

Has been so essential in these women’s lives for getting through these circumstances. And I love that that can happen cross generationally as well.”

Laura Piraino:
“Yes, yes, that’s really true. Very beautiful. And I love the fact that God allows us these relationships before we come into the time of heartache or crisis. That is a gift. And that’s why we want them prior to the events that we would need them for.”

Ellen:
“Yeah. Well, At The Table is such a powerful image of community when women gather around these tables. What do you hope they experience both in their relationships with one another and in their walk with God?”

Laura Piraino:
“Deeper connection—that is my word when I think about these tables—for women to have deeper connection with each other and most importantly deeper connection with God.

When I sit around a table and the Word of God is opened and the women at the table start sharing what God is doing in their lives or their stories, I want more of Jesus. Like I just want more of Jesus because of what God is doing in their lives.

And so I deeply want that for other women, the hunger and thirst for righteousness, more of Jesus, more of the word of God, when they come around the table together. That is where we’re gonna find the source and the things that we need to make it through all the different seasons that we encounter in our lives.

So deeper connection. One of the things that we have alongside the book, we’ve created conversation cards. And those conversation cards give the opportunity for you to go deeper in your conversation around the table, which I really love that too. Starts great conversation, also a great opportunity for, let’s say, mentoring one another or encouraging each other in what you’re going through.”

Ellen:
“And that is so, so helpful. I saw that when I was reading that I’m like, I need to download those. We’ll make sure we include the link in our website.

No, you mentioned the deeper connection to each other and to God. And I can tell you that’s exactly what I experienced. And because my mom’s group was actually at a church, so we always had tables, like I said, know, women sitting around them and I have years and years and years of that.

And although that ministry has subsequently come to an end, I was meeting with a friend recently and we were talking and we were like, you know what, all of my really, really good friends are somebody that I met through one of those Bible studies.

And it is, it’s because you’re going to a different level. I love how God just brings all kinds of random people together with the only thing in common is wanting to know him more. And then you end up doing life together and getting deeper. So it is such a powerful, powerful thing.”

Laura Piraino:
“So true.”

Ellen:
“Well, Laura, as we wrap things up here, where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your new study At the Table with Ruth?”

Laura Piraino:
“I have a website and it is laraparino.com. In addition to information about the book, we also have a blog there and twice a month a blog comes out with a devotional in addition to either a recipe or a table decor.

So you can follow along there and set your table according to the theme of the month that we’re writing about. In addition to that, Facebook is laraparino and Instagram is laraamparino. And YouTube is Laura Perino. So I’d love to join with other women in those spaces and see what God’s going to do.”

Ellen:
“Thank you so much. Well, we will make sure we include those links in our show notes. But before I let you go, I have to ask our favorite questions here of our guests. What Bible is your go to Bible and what translation is it?”

Laura Piraino:
“On a regular basis, I read the NLT, the New Living Translation, but I always go back to NIV because as a Sunday school girl and Christian school girl, I memorized the word NIV and that it’s always close to my heart.

But I honestly do love going through all the translations. think it gives a really great deep meaning.”

Ellen:
“Yes, absolutely. Do you have any favorite Bible journaling supplies?”

Laura Piraino:
“My favorite journal is a large spiral ringed notebook. That’s what I do. I go to Marshall’s Home Goods TJ Maxx and I look for the most beautiful notebook, but it has to be a spiral.

I like to turn it over and I always use a pen by a company called Zebra. I always use the Zebra pen that I just think it doesn’t bleed through in my Bible. It writes well and so I always have that pen by my side.”

Ellen:
“Okay, yeah, those are good ones. Lastly, what is your favorite app or website for Bible study tools?”

Laura Piraino:
“My favorite app for Bible study tools is Biblehub.com. It has the cross-reference section. It has the concordances. It’s very easy to use. That’s my first go-to when I want to see what does this word mean?

Where else can I find that word in the scriptures or to find some kind of commentary as well? That is my go-to every time I’m studying the word.”

Ellen:
“Awesome. Okay, excellent resource.

Well, Laura, thank you so much for joining us today and just for sharing your heart behind At the Table with Ruth. I just love how you’ve reminded us that God’s Word isn’t just meant to be studied, it’s meant to be savored, lived, and shared in community. So thank you for being here.”

Laura Piraino:
“Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you. I’ve really enjoyed it, Ellen. Thanks for having me.”

Ellen:
“You’re most welcome. And to our listeners, I hope today’s conversation inspires you to pull up a seat at the table. And if you don’t have one to go to, start one yourself and open your Bible, gather with others and experience the goodness of God in new and tangible ways.

We’ll see you next time right here on the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.”