Dare to Dream: A Search for Conditions of Hope from the Book of Ruth

By Annette M. Brown

The book looks into the lives of the Bible characters Ruth, Naomi (her mother-in-law), and Boaz (Ruths future husband), as they overcome challenging situations and struggle not to allow their hidden hopes and dreams to die without trying to achieve them. The characters purposefully searched for conditions of hope in things they saw, heard about, or perceived to have potential of being beneficial and by accepting wise advice and kindness from other people. The book is encouraging for anyone struggling with situations in life that leave them feeling discouraged and forces them to search for conditions of hope and ways to make their hopes and dreams come true by becoming proactive and working on a plan of action.

Their story is also about relationships, in the natural and spiritual sense, as demonstrated by the connection between them and a kinsman-redeemer who serves to make another persons life restored and complete. As one reads through the book, he or she gains a sense that more than simply human effort was at work, but it was the hand of God orchestrating every detailed move, and as a result, each character realized and accredited it all to God as being their kinsman-redeemer. Although Boaz assisted in helping Ruths family overcome challenges, it was leading them to find a relationship with the true kinsman-redeemer, Jesus the Messiah.

So the questions for the reader are: What is preventing you to Dare to Dream? Why not search for conditions of hope in your situation and make every attempt to fulfill them, because without trying, your hopes and dreams will die? Everyone has hopes and dreams that they hold in their minds and keep silently to themselves. Therefore, when people apply themselves, it becomes possible to move forward to experience at least four types of dreams, such as addressed in the chapters: Shattered Dreams, Working the Dream, Rebirth of a Dream, and Fulfilled Dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512728118

Annette M. Brown

Annette M Brown is a native of Savannah, Georgia. She and her husband, Jeremiah, now resides in Guyton, Georgia. They have been married for forty-three years. They have three grown young adults and two granddaughters. She is an ordained minister of the gospel and serves as associate minister in her local church, serving in many ministerial capacities. She is an inspirational speaker and uses her spiritual gifts of encouragement, teaching, administration, and preaching to help others. She holds a certificate in Biblical Studies from Evan Smith Institute an extension of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Virginia. She is a graduate of St Leo University, St Leo, Florida, with a B.A. in Human Resource Administration and a 2013 graduate of Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, with an M.A. in Transformational Leadership. She is the founder and teacher of a women’s leadership training group affectionately named, “The Daughter’s Ministry”.

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Copyright © 2016 Annette M. Brown.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Good News Translation® (Today's English Version, Second Edition) Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-2812-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2811-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901137

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/16/2016

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Introduction

Author's Personal Prayer

Chapter 1 Shattered Dreams

Chapter 2 Working the Dream

Chapter 3 Rebirth of a Dream

Chapter 4 Fulfilled Dreams

Works Cited

Acknowledgments

THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE TO thank. I cannot name you all, but you know who you are. Each of you has inspired and encouraged me, and you all have allowed me to encourage you by simply sharing poems, Scripture, words of encouragement, prayers, acts of kindness, counseling, just quietly listening, and preaching the Word of God. Thanks.

I am forever grateful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for putting the thoughts in my mind and giving me the strength to write them. His grace gives me the wisdom to write and use the gifts of encouragement to help others see the conditions of hope in their situations, especially when there seems to be none.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my dear husband Jeremiah for giving me his love and support and allowing me to dedicate time to this project and other ministries I have started and worked in over the years. I appreciate you for standing beside me and sharing ministry with me. Thanks, sweetie!

Special thanks to my children Stephanie, Kevin (Crystal), and Jeremiah (Cecile) and granddaughter Andrea for allowing me to teach you. Thank you for being good listeners and recipients of my encouragement and prayers for you. I love you.

To my family, my mother Clara Brown, mother-in-law Margaret Brown, and father Elder James Goldwire, I thank you for everything you have done. I especially want to give honor to my deceased maternal grandparents James and Marie Brown for their years of love and words of encouragement that were embedded in my heart and mind, which gave me the desire to work toward my dreams.

I just want to thank each of you for sharing in my life. Over the years, you have been supportive with your words, laughs, and prayers. To my aunts Ora Gordon, Dorothy Isaac, Clematine Felton and Brenda B. Brown and her deceased husband, my dear uncle, James Man Brown, Jr.---thank you for the words of encouragement that you both gave me as a teenager and through the years. Thanks to my cousin Evelyn Grace Jason Young and husband Horace for encouraging me as a teenager. Thanks to my sisters Rev. Elizabeth Roney, Amy Taylor, Karen Brownlee, Angel Brown, Patricia Thomas, Antoinette Burrows, Pastor Elizabeth Dell Goldwire-Beckett, and Celeste Rogers and to my brothers Lawrence Sadler, Derrick Brown, Phillip Brown, and Adrian Goldwire. Thanks to my brothers-in-law Sidney Brown, Earnest Brown, Steven Brown, and Nathaniel Brown and cousin Christopher Brown. My extended family of sisters, Helen World-Bailey, Bernadette Allen, and Swanzellar Byrd, thank you all for your supportive words, laughter, and prayers.

I thank some of my lifelong friends who have spent time talking and encouraging each other over the years and have given me so much inspiration: Deacon Willie L. and Theresa Wright, David and Diane Haynes, Pastors Earnest and Donna Burden, Elder Kevin and Emma Brown, Deacon Kevin and Shirley Martin, and Bishop George and Pastor Phyllis Coleman.

To all my pastors and church family at the Lynn Haven Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Bishop Kim W. Brown at Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Virginia, and Pastor Roger D. Green at First New Light Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia. I have been thoroughly encouraged by the words of wisdom, kindness, preached messages, and prayers over the years. These have strengthen my faith in God and helped me grow spiritually.

All the friends at the former HRSC East personnel office in Portsmouth, Virginia and Savannah District USACE, CHRA-Civilian Personnel Advisory Center, Savannah, Georgia---thanks for sharing many hours of work, days of inspirational thoughts, and laughter.

To my manuscript editor Jeremiah L. Brown, Jr.---I could not have gotten to this day without all your hours of reading, revisions, and words of encouragement that this project was worth all the effort and time it took to get it from thought to paper. Thanks so much, son.

To the West Bow Press publishing team of experts---thanks for being my publisher and getting this project out to the world to help encourage others.

Thank you all!

Prologue

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK is to inspire anyone who feels that his or her inner dreams and heart's desires cannot be achieved due to negative situations, obstacles, setbacks, financial depletion, relationship failures, deep heartfelt hurts, death, or seemingly unending life circumstances that feel difficult or impossible to rise above. It is to inspire them to not give up hope but remain positive by holding on to the possibilities of what dreaming for better things can offer. However, you must have a dream, something to strive for in life. Dreams are essential to overcoming the bad times in life. Dreams are achievable when fueled by strong determination, a positive attitude, inner strength, the support of family and friends, and faith in Almighty God.

The Old Testament book of Ruth has four chapters and identifies the conditions that gave all the main characters hope as they dared to dream about things they secretly wanted. In the heart and mind of everyone lies hopes and dreams, something she or he desires and longs for but does not have. In those moments of wanting, a person actively envisions his or her dream and fantasizes about its benefits and enjoyment, although he or she does not physically possess it. By looking through Ruth's eyes, I will tell her story.

Ruth's life was filled with challenges that could have pulled her down and kept her in a place of defeat. However, her inner strength and will motivated her to search for something outside of herself and her situation. She looked for conditions of hope in everyone and everything. She dreamed of attaining a better location in life. Her story inspires all of us to dare to dream and search for conditions of hope!

Everyone can get inspiration from the things they see or hear, from the kindness others show toward them, and by their perceptions and beliefs that certain things would be beneficial. Throughout the book, we will identify those conditions that offered hope for Ruth, her future husband Boaz, and her beloved mother-in-law Naomi. This young woman demonstrated qualities that encourage and give an example of overcoming many challenges in order to live through and experience dreams coming true. She clearly demonstrated a positive attitude that was useful in keeping her mentally strong to go through everything she encountered. This allowed her not to let her circumstances kill her dreams and hopes of living a better life.

Because Ruth kept her hope and dreams the first and most important thing, they became reality. Ruth's dreams placed her and her family in a better social status that earned her the respect of many and pushed her toward strong, meaningful development and a lasting relationship with Almighty God. Ruth's dreams of wanting more from life, faith in family, and trust in Almighty God caused her to rekindle her strong determination to never give up or settle for less than what she felt she deserved.

I want every reader to be encouraged in his or her circumstance and realize that the Almighty God of the Holy Scriptures has a plan for everyone's life. Not everyone who has deep aspirations verbalizes them. Some silently keep those aspirations close to their hearts, waiting for their plans to become reality. It is everyone's responsibility to not give up trying or striving but to