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Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores
Redeeming Ruth is the inspirational, true story of an abandoned baby, a devastating diagnosis, and the way God loves broken, hurting people through us even though we may be broken and hurt, too.
When Meadow met her, Ruth was a sixteen-month-old child that some church friends were hosting from an orphanage in Uganda. She had cerebral palsy and was so weak she couldn t lift her head. Meadow had always felt a call to adopt, but was this what God meant? Part family drama, part travel adventure, and part spiritual memoir, Redeeming Ruth is a heartwarming, against-all-odds story about the most unlikely pairing of a small-town New England family and their adventure in adopting Ruth, an abandoned baby from Uganda. Much more than an adoption story, this book explores what happens when we sacrificially reach out and share God's love with others.
Ruth's story will inspire families considering adoption, people raising or teaching children with special needs, caregivers, and those grieving the loss of a loved one, ministering to people with disabilities, or striving to serve God despite their own wounded hearts and broken dreams.
Features:
Includes a Reader's Guide at the end of the book for each chapter for group discussion or personal reflection.
An eight-page insert with personal photos.
All personal proceeds from this book benefit orphans and people with disabilities in Uganda.
When Meadow met her, Ruth was a sixteen-month-old child that some church friends were hosting from an orphanage in Uganda. She had cerebral palsy and was so weak she couldn t lift her head. Meadow had always felt a call to adopt, but was this what God meant? Part family drama, part travel adventure, and part spiritual memoir, Redeeming Ruth is a heartwarming, against-all-odds story about the most unlikely pairing of a small-town New England family and their adventure in adopting Ruth, an abandoned baby from Uganda. Much more than an adoption story, this book explores what happens when we sacrificially reach out and share God's love with others.
Ruth's story will inspire families considering adoption, people raising or teaching children with special needs, caregivers, and those grieving the loss of a loved one, ministering to people with disabilities, or striving to serve God despite their own wounded hearts and broken dreams.
Features:
Includes a Reader's Guide at the end of the book for each chapter for group discussion or personal reflection.
An eight-page insert with personal photos.
All personal proceeds from this book benefit orphans and people with disabilities in Uganda.
- GenresChristian Living
225 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Meadow Rue Merrill
5 books5 followersMeadow Rue Merrill is an award-winning Maine journalist and the author of the inspirational memoir "Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores." Meadow began her career as a reporter for The Times Record, a daily newspaper in Brunswick, Maine, covering shipbuilding, small-town politics, and education. Over the following eight years, she regularly corresponded for The Boston Globe, while raising kids, mentoring young moms, and folding mountains of laundry. In 2006, she and her family adopted Ruth, an abandoned baby with profound disabilities from Uganda--an experience that changed her family and opened their hearts to other people with disabilities. Most recently, Meadow has written for The New York Times, Harvard University, and The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine. She also has regular columns with The Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest newspaper, and Down East magazine, where she is a contributing editor. Every week her inspirational blog and newspaper column "Faith Notes," reaches 25,000 readers. Meadow writes for children and adults from a little house in the big woods of midcoast Maine. All personal proceeds from "Redeeming Ruth" benefit orphans and people with disabilities in Uganda.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 15, 2017
A holy antidote to the strain of Christianity that demands happiness and success as the outward and visible signs of our God’s inward and spiritual graces. Meadow Rue Merrill dreams big and lives where God puts her. She hopes to serve God among African orphans, but finds herself a small-town wife and mother to a growing family. Then God presents an opportunity. Would the Merrills adopt a disabled orphaned infant from Uganda?
The prospect seems impossible. But the costs of the adoption appear, piece by faith-filling piece, just at the moments they are required. Visas and other travel documents are completed literally moments after they are required – and are accepted despite being late. These are the “miracle” stories that build faith.
Then comes the rest of the story. Making Ruth part of their family requires overwhelming levels of effort, as every special needs parent knows and no one else can truly imagine. Merrill gives an outstanding picture of both the challenges and rewards, for herself, her husband, and Ruth’s three siblings. She draws the reader along as she alternately spirals into hope and collapses into doubt.
In the long run, adopting Ruth requires the Merrills to live through the heartbreak of finding their much loved, much wanted daughter dead in her sleep – a not uncommon result of her disability. Merrill is transparent about her long struggle with self-accusation and guilt after Ruth’s death.
“Remembering Ruth” is a beautifully written contribution to our collective remembering that Jesus calls us to suffer, and that our greatest acts of love can produce suffering bigger than we thought our hearts could hold. I recommend this book to everyone who is in grief. It is full of God’s truth without simplistic moralizing or demanding that the reader accept instant comfort from set Biblical texts. Meadow Rue Merrill lets us walk with her beside dark and tumultuous waters, and in so doing reminds us that in our own tumults, God is with us as well.
The prospect seems impossible. But the costs of the adoption appear, piece by faith-filling piece, just at the moments they are required. Visas and other travel documents are completed literally moments after they are required – and are accepted despite being late. These are the “miracle” stories that build faith.
Then comes the rest of the story. Making Ruth part of their family requires overwhelming levels of effort, as every special needs parent knows and no one else can truly imagine. Merrill gives an outstanding picture of both the challenges and rewards, for herself, her husband, and Ruth’s three siblings. She draws the reader along as she alternately spirals into hope and collapses into doubt.
In the long run, adopting Ruth requires the Merrills to live through the heartbreak of finding their much loved, much wanted daughter dead in her sleep – a not uncommon result of her disability. Merrill is transparent about her long struggle with self-accusation and guilt after Ruth’s death.
“Remembering Ruth” is a beautifully written contribution to our collective remembering that Jesus calls us to suffer, and that our greatest acts of love can produce suffering bigger than we thought our hearts could hold. I recommend this book to everyone who is in grief. It is full of God’s truth without simplistic moralizing or demanding that the reader accept instant comfort from set Biblical texts. Meadow Rue Merrill lets us walk with her beside dark and tumultuous waters, and in so doing reminds us that in our own tumults, God is with us as well.
April 11, 2017
As a writer, I loved this book because of its fluid style, powerful construction, and wonderful storytelling.
As a person, I loved this book because of its honesty, amazing story, and powerful insight.
Highly, highly recommended if you want to read a story of profound love that comes to life because of trust and devotion.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As a person, I loved this book because of its honesty, amazing story, and powerful insight.
Highly, highly recommended if you want to read a story of profound love that comes to life because of trust and devotion.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 20, 2017
When God Says "Yes"
From her earliest days, Meadow Rue Merrill dreamed of adopting a child, and she longed to travel to Africa, even wrestling a promise from her husband that if she promised to marry him, he would not stand in the way of her going. Redeeming Ruth is Meadow’s record of God’s “yes” to her dreams — and it stands as powerful evidence that the unfolding of our dreams may not look exactly as we imagined.
International adoption is complicated even without a large family and economic limitations. The Merrill family had both, but when they met tiny Ruth, she captured their hearts. Ruth had traveled from Uganda through Welcome Home Ministries, Africa, to stay with a family in Maine (friends of the Merrils) where she could receive physical therapy. When Meadow and her husband Dana held Ruth’s limp body for the first time, they were astonished at her level of disability from cerebral palsy — and at the way their hearts responded to her.
Desire warred against ambivalence as Meadow and Dana weighed the wisdom of bringing a profoundly disabled African child into their already-full-and-busy home located in the whitest state in America. Yielding to what Meadow described as Dana’s “annoying habit of believing that God will take care of us,” (22) they took one tentative step after another, weathered countless setbacks, and put thousands of miles on their vehicle until one momentous day, Meadow and Ruth boarded a plane for Uganda to finalize Ruth’s adoption.
Time to Walk
In the spirit of “leaving the 99 to save one,” Meadow spent nearly a month in Uganda chasing paperwork, caring for Ruth in primitive surroundings, living among the other orphans and workers at Welcome Home. There, she gained insight to the hopelessness of Ruth’s future, forever trapped in a body with the skill set of a two-month-old infant, if she did not gain entrance to the United States and the privilege of hope that comes with education, health care, and rehabilitation.
Together, the Merrill family prayed for healing and trusted for progress, but what would healing look like? Her big brothers and sister prayed specifically that Ruth would walk and talk. Would a cochlear implant restore Ruth’s hearing? Meadow pondered theological implications of her daughter’s fragility:
“[P]erhaps God’s purpose was higher than ours. Perhaps instead of healing Ruth, he intended to heal us of our selfishness and pride. Wouldn’t that be a miracle?”
A Faith Journey into God’s Yes
Redeeming Ruth reminded me of why memoir is my favorite genre. Not everyone who reads Meadow’s descriptive prose will be able to appreciate her references to Brunswick area landmarks or have memories of sunny days at Popham Beach and walks around the trails of Mackworth Island that heightened my appreciation for the setting. However, it will be a rare reader who does not identify with the struggle to hold onto a dream that keeps slipping away or to continue in faith when sight is alarmingly out of sync with expected outcomes.
The Merrill family’s unique story is a valuable resource for anyone who is learning to trust God’s motives and struggling to live well in the tension of pursuing a dream while holding it loosely, for within the flow of story, priceless principles emerge:
Close the door on worries.
“I can believe what my mind is telling me, which is ‘Panic!’ Or I can believe what the Bible tells me, which is that children are a blessing. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I close my eyes and picture myself physically putting my trust in God the way I’d put something in a cupboard. I give my worries to him. Then I close the door.” (149)
Love like a fool.
“Even if you love and lose, keep sharing God’s love anyway. Love in the face of suffering and grief and heartache and loss. Love beyond racial and religious and physical borders and barriers. . . You won’t have to look far to find someone who is hurting, someone without a voice, someone waiting to know they are loved.” (203)
There is nothing of value that may be lost here that will not be redeemed in heaven.
“Everything life takes, love restores. Everything. Broken bodies. Broken hearts. Broken dreams. No matter how painful. No matter how devastating. God can transform even our greatest sorrow into something good.” (201)
The unfolding of Ruth’s story rebukes the notion that God is made visible only in happy endings. Loving and caring for Ruth became Meadow’s offering to God, “one small piece of this broken, pain-pierced world that [she] could redeem.” It will surprise no one who has read the New Testament that redemption is a costly process. In the midst of grinding fatigue and great joy, discouragement and soaring faith, mourning and soul-deep comfort, the Merrill family continues to live their way into God’s high purpose for bringing Ruth into their family.
//
This book was provided by Hendrickson Publishers in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
From her earliest days, Meadow Rue Merrill dreamed of adopting a child, and she longed to travel to Africa, even wrestling a promise from her husband that if she promised to marry him, he would not stand in the way of her going. Redeeming Ruth is Meadow’s record of God’s “yes” to her dreams — and it stands as powerful evidence that the unfolding of our dreams may not look exactly as we imagined.
International adoption is complicated even without a large family and economic limitations. The Merrill family had both, but when they met tiny Ruth, she captured their hearts. Ruth had traveled from Uganda through Welcome Home Ministries, Africa, to stay with a family in Maine (friends of the Merrils) where she could receive physical therapy. When Meadow and her husband Dana held Ruth’s limp body for the first time, they were astonished at her level of disability from cerebral palsy — and at the way their hearts responded to her.
Desire warred against ambivalence as Meadow and Dana weighed the wisdom of bringing a profoundly disabled African child into their already-full-and-busy home located in the whitest state in America. Yielding to what Meadow described as Dana’s “annoying habit of believing that God will take care of us,” (22) they took one tentative step after another, weathered countless setbacks, and put thousands of miles on their vehicle until one momentous day, Meadow and Ruth boarded a plane for Uganda to finalize Ruth’s adoption.
Time to Walk
In the spirit of “leaving the 99 to save one,” Meadow spent nearly a month in Uganda chasing paperwork, caring for Ruth in primitive surroundings, living among the other orphans and workers at Welcome Home. There, she gained insight to the hopelessness of Ruth’s future, forever trapped in a body with the skill set of a two-month-old infant, if she did not gain entrance to the United States and the privilege of hope that comes with education, health care, and rehabilitation.
Together, the Merrill family prayed for healing and trusted for progress, but what would healing look like? Her big brothers and sister prayed specifically that Ruth would walk and talk. Would a cochlear implant restore Ruth’s hearing? Meadow pondered theological implications of her daughter’s fragility:
“[P]erhaps God’s purpose was higher than ours. Perhaps instead of healing Ruth, he intended to heal us of our selfishness and pride. Wouldn’t that be a miracle?”
A Faith Journey into God’s Yes
Redeeming Ruth reminded me of why memoir is my favorite genre. Not everyone who reads Meadow’s descriptive prose will be able to appreciate her references to Brunswick area landmarks or have memories of sunny days at Popham Beach and walks around the trails of Mackworth Island that heightened my appreciation for the setting. However, it will be a rare reader who does not identify with the struggle to hold onto a dream that keeps slipping away or to continue in faith when sight is alarmingly out of sync with expected outcomes.
The Merrill family’s unique story is a valuable resource for anyone who is learning to trust God’s motives and struggling to live well in the tension of pursuing a dream while holding it loosely, for within the flow of story, priceless principles emerge:
Close the door on worries.
“I can believe what my mind is telling me, which is ‘Panic!’ Or I can believe what the Bible tells me, which is that children are a blessing. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I close my eyes and picture myself physically putting my trust in God the way I’d put something in a cupboard. I give my worries to him. Then I close the door.” (149)
Love like a fool.
“Even if you love and lose, keep sharing God’s love anyway. Love in the face of suffering and grief and heartache and loss. Love beyond racial and religious and physical borders and barriers. . . You won’t have to look far to find someone who is hurting, someone without a voice, someone waiting to know they are loved.” (203)
There is nothing of value that may be lost here that will not be redeemed in heaven.
“Everything life takes, love restores. Everything. Broken bodies. Broken hearts. Broken dreams. No matter how painful. No matter how devastating. God can transform even our greatest sorrow into something good.” (201)
The unfolding of Ruth’s story rebukes the notion that God is made visible only in happy endings. Loving and caring for Ruth became Meadow’s offering to God, “one small piece of this broken, pain-pierced world that [she] could redeem.” It will surprise no one who has read the New Testament that redemption is a costly process. In the midst of grinding fatigue and great joy, discouragement and soaring faith, mourning and soul-deep comfort, the Merrill family continues to live their way into God’s high purpose for bringing Ruth into their family.
//
This book was provided by Hendrickson Publishers in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
August 3, 2018
Riveting and life-changing storytelling
Beautiful and powerful. Inspiring and heartbreaking. Meadow writes of willing surrender, difficult challenges, exceeding joy, searing loss and deep redemption. All revealed within exquisite storytelling.
Beautiful and powerful. Inspiring and heartbreaking. Meadow writes of willing surrender, difficult challenges, exceeding joy, searing loss and deep redemption. All revealed within exquisite storytelling.
April 27, 2017
Redeeming Ruth is a fresh, clear, beautifully written memoir about adoption, courage, special needs, provision, faith, hope, and suffering.
One day a beautiful toddler with cerebral palsy is put into Ruth’s arms at church. This orphan was sent to the States for medical treatment, and hopefully might even be adopted. Meadow and her family fall in love with Ruth, long to spend more time with her, begin to take care of her, and then begin a lengthy, costly, adventure (including a long, perilous trip to Uganda) to finally adopt her. Doors close and open. Financial gifts come at just the right time. Favor is granted. Ruth learns to hear and communicate. It’s beautiful and victorious, over and over again. As a devoted adoption advocate I was cheering the Merrill Family every step of the way. I wanted the love and courage they poured out.
From the beginning, though, we know Redeeming Ruth is going to be a hard story. The subtitle “Everything Life Takes, Love Restores” makes that clear. We see clearly in the prologue that Ruth is gone, and Meadow is grieving. We know we'll be getting the whole story of her joy, memories, and suffering.
In Redeeming Ruth, we are shown the full reality of the kind of grief that comes from loving so fully. We get glimpses of Meadow's deep sorrow at the beginning of every chapter through dreams, memories, and songs. When we later read the story of Ruth’s death it's awful. We witness Meadow's raw and real grief--the anger, second-guessing, self-blame, and despair. We understand, and we join in, because we've fallen in love with Ruth now, too.
I strongly recommend this book for adoptive family, adoption advocates, grieving mothers, parents of children with special needs, and book clubs.
[I contrast Redeeming Ruth with the 2016 movie, Arrival here: familycompassionfocus.com ]
One day a beautiful toddler with cerebral palsy is put into Ruth’s arms at church. This orphan was sent to the States for medical treatment, and hopefully might even be adopted. Meadow and her family fall in love with Ruth, long to spend more time with her, begin to take care of her, and then begin a lengthy, costly, adventure (including a long, perilous trip to Uganda) to finally adopt her. Doors close and open. Financial gifts come at just the right time. Favor is granted. Ruth learns to hear and communicate. It’s beautiful and victorious, over and over again. As a devoted adoption advocate I was cheering the Merrill Family every step of the way. I wanted the love and courage they poured out.
From the beginning, though, we know Redeeming Ruth is going to be a hard story. The subtitle “Everything Life Takes, Love Restores” makes that clear. We see clearly in the prologue that Ruth is gone, and Meadow is grieving. We know we'll be getting the whole story of her joy, memories, and suffering.
In Redeeming Ruth, we are shown the full reality of the kind of grief that comes from loving so fully. We get glimpses of Meadow's deep sorrow at the beginning of every chapter through dreams, memories, and songs. When we later read the story of Ruth’s death it's awful. We witness Meadow's raw and real grief--the anger, second-guessing, self-blame, and despair. We understand, and we join in, because we've fallen in love with Ruth now, too.
I strongly recommend this book for adoptive family, adoption advocates, grieving mothers, parents of children with special needs, and book clubs.
[I contrast Redeeming Ruth with the 2016 movie, Arrival here: familycompassionfocus.com ]
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2017
Meadow Merrill has crafted a memoir of her and her family’s short life with their adopted Ugandan daughter that is powerful in itself, lovely in its writing, grippingly intimate and vulnerable. I love Meadow’s testimony and read it the first time in two sittings, though I am normally a slow reader. Since then, I’ve read it again, more slowly, and I recommend it highly to others.
The Merrill’s is a deeply human story, written with such clarity, honesty, fullness, and attractiveness that any reader will feel he or she deeply knows its author Meadow, her husband Dana, and all of their children at their various ages during the years Ruth was with them.
If your heart beats for broken children, your heart will be flooded with joy while you witness what the Merrill family did for Ruth and, more deeply, witness what Ruth did for them. As a family, they were deeply affected by their years together. The whole family was led toward a variety of lovingkindness that shines.
And it was not easy. There is nothing sentimental or precious about Meadow’s tale. The events were hard sometimes, the questions difficult, some of the solutions incomplete, as solutions can be in the real world. But the Merrills pressed on nonetheless.
The Merrill family is Christian. Meadow does not slam the reader with God language, but the sense of the deity shaping her family like clay on a wheel is palpable as one reads through to the end. There are other good books out there—but this one is truly fine.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Dikkon Eberhart
The Merrill’s is a deeply human story, written with such clarity, honesty, fullness, and attractiveness that any reader will feel he or she deeply knows its author Meadow, her husband Dana, and all of their children at their various ages during the years Ruth was with them.
If your heart beats for broken children, your heart will be flooded with joy while you witness what the Merrill family did for Ruth and, more deeply, witness what Ruth did for them. As a family, they were deeply affected by their years together. The whole family was led toward a variety of lovingkindness that shines.
And it was not easy. There is nothing sentimental or precious about Meadow’s tale. The events were hard sometimes, the questions difficult, some of the solutions incomplete, as solutions can be in the real world. But the Merrills pressed on nonetheless.
The Merrill family is Christian. Meadow does not slam the reader with God language, but the sense of the deity shaping her family like clay on a wheel is palpable as one reads through to the end. There are other good books out there—but this one is truly fine.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Dikkon Eberhart
January 9, 2018
Ok I am going to do something that I don't normally do but I have just finish reading "Redeeming Ruth" by Meadow Rue Merrill and I am asking all my reader friends to buy this book because all the proceeds will benefit orphans and people with disabilities in Uganda. This book is a really inspiring story. This statement is what I posted on my Facebook as soon as I finished reading the book. I wanted to read this book because I have four adopted grandsons, though none of them was adopted from another country. This book made the tears fall while reading about the issues Ruth had.
The pictures are an added bonus. There are questions at the end of the book to help you discover your own story as you share God's love with others.
I think everyone should read this book and discover how wonderful love can be.
I received a complimentary copy from Christian Women Affiliate and the author. These opinions are mine.
The pictures are an added bonus. There are questions at the end of the book to help you discover your own story as you share God's love with others.
I think everyone should read this book and discover how wonderful love can be.
I received a complimentary copy from Christian Women Affiliate and the author. These opinions are mine.
April 25, 2017
Redeeming Ruth was one of the most heartwarming yet heartbreaking stories I have read in a long time. Meadow Rue Merrill bravely and openly shares the story of her adopted Ugandan daughter and what her life meant to so many. Her descriptions of her strife-filled trip to Uganda made my heart race and her poignant retelling of her own struggles to open her heart to this amazing little girl put her readers right in the center of the drama.
For anyone raising a special-needs child, especially one adopted from overseas, Meadow's story will bring you hope and broaden your perspective of what love and redemption really mean.
But even for those readers who don't face those particular situations, the Merrill family's story will touch your heart.
For anyone raising a special-needs child, especially one adopted from overseas, Meadow's story will bring you hope and broaden your perspective of what love and redemption really mean.
But even for those readers who don't face those particular situations, the Merrill family's story will touch your heart.
August 15, 2017
Meadow Rue Merrill has a great capacity as a writer to bring you into her world of family and faith and adoption. She brings us back and forth through the joy and pain of dreaming of adoption, the readiness of her family to welcome another life into their home and then loosing that dream. The raw places from which she tells her story places you right there alongside her and her family. You can just see their faces, their struggle, their mountain top highs, and low on the floor days calling you to come and lie with them. I’ve heard adoption is not for the faint of heart, and indeed it is not. Meadow tells the story of Ruth with determination and courage. You won’t be able to put it down.
February 11, 2018
Redeeming Ruth was hard to read, to say the least! This is a story any mom would understand and weep over. This book highlights problems this world has struggled to fix for generations. For many, adoption is not feasible but help is! This book offers a portion to the children who need it most! Buy this book and share this link with others.
We cant bring all these children here, but resources can go there with the help of moms all over the world. I want to personally challenge you to give by purchasing this book and learning how we can make a difference in the life of a sick child today!
May 9, 2017
This is one of my favorite new books. Meadow is an amazing writer and her story challenges me to the core. I tend toward selfishness and doubt. It's beyond my imagination how anyone could choose to adopt a special needs child, particularly when they are not of means. But Meadow's family leaned into God and in so doing, allowed Ruth to change them. In fact, this little girl changed the entire town. If you read Redeeming Ruth, it will change you too.
November 22, 2017
Honestly, this is both one of the most rewarding and one of the hardest books I have ever read. My son has Kernicterus and nothing tears the heart of a mother like the suffering of your children. I felt every struggle, every pain, and every triumph. Beautifully written, wonderfully human and completely honest, Meadow writes with heart and passion only a mother can have. Bless you, sister for inspiring us as we walk along the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. It is such a story of courage, persistence, faith and miracles. The writing is amazing, and the story just miraculous. This is a great read for anyone who has faced problems which seem insurmountable and proof that of just what the subtitle says, "love does restore everything life takes."
May 12, 2017
This story of one family's adoption journey grabbed me from the beginning. I finished the book in three days because I couldn't put it down. I needed to know how Ruth's story would end. Every family considering adoption should read this book, as well as anyone interested in being touched by a true story of unconditional love.
November 7, 2018
Compelling read. If "Be the change you want to see in the world" is something you are drawn to then this is a story of someone who embodies this motto. WOW! It will inspire you to rethink your priorities and get on with living!
May 21, 2017
Wonderful, inspiring book!
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a blessing to learn from Meadow's testimony on God's faithfulness through her trials.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a blessing to learn from Meadow's testimony on God's faithfulness through her trials.
May 26, 2017
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What an amazing book! I couldn't put it down. A wonderful little girl blessed by a brilliant family. God is so good!
What an amazing book! I couldn't put it down. A wonderful little girl blessed by a brilliant family. God is so good!
September 15, 2018
Beautiful story! It's a page turner! Loved the pictures in the end!
May 29, 2017
Redeeming Ruth by Meadow Rue Merrill is the true story of a fight to adopt Ugandan baby Ruth who has cerebral palsy. It is both a beautiful and heartbreaking read. It will inspire you. It will fill you with hope. Tears will fall. And it will leave you overwhelmed by the love, courage, faith and dedication of the Merrill family.
Meadow Rue Merrill is an ordinary American housewife with an extraordinary story. As a girl she thought her life was all mapped out. "From childhood I'd planned out my life." God however had other plans, far greater than Meadow could have imagined.
The Merrills made themselves available to be used by God. "If not us, who?" They realised they could not change the whole world but they could change the whole world for a baby called Ruth.
The book documents their struggles to adopt Ruth. Man kept erecting roadblocks which God demolished. God proved that what is impossible with man, is possible with God. As we reach the end of ourselves, that's when God steps in.
There is a huge amount of faith in the novel. As Meadow Rue Merrill travelled to Uganda, she saw both poverty and riches but the riches were in the form of faith. "These abandoned and destitute children possessed a faith for which I grasped... that God would take care of them no matter what." Meadow had her faith boosted by those around her. "The faith of those I met...challenged me to believe more than ever that God was in control... Not just sometimes... But all the time." Did Meadow ever doubt? Of course, but God sent people alongside her to help draw her back to Him. At times the way seemed unclear but "We... had to feel our way with faith... trusting God to guide us."
It is far easier to trust God in the good times than the bad. "For months I had been begging God to remove our difficulties. Instead He blessed us right there in the middle of them." God's ways are not our ways but His hand is always on our lives. We have to trust Him even when we cannot see Him. "Unseen is not the same as absent."
Baby Ruth impacted the lives of all who saw her. Her sunny nature drew others to her. Her disabilities did not hold her back. Her love of learning shone throughout.
The book is bathed in love. The love of a family. The love of friends. The love of God. We are all called to love above all else. Perfect love casts out all fear. We all have a basic need to be loved.
Meadow Rue Merrill was a busy wife and mother. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. Meadow Rue Merrill was called by God to open her heart and her home to Ruth. Her twenty four hour days became busier. At times she felt like crumbling but God provided all she needed.
Redeeming Ruth is a powerful read about an ordinary family who loved. The Merrills are united in their love not only for each other and for God, but for the lost, the hurting and the needy. Their love has no boundaries.
Redeeming Ruth spoke to my heart. Redeeming Ruth made me cry. Redeeming Ruth is a story that needs to be read. Redeeming Ruth shows the wonderful riches of faith to be found if you just let go of self and grasp on to God.
Thank you Meadow Rue Merrill for your honesty. For your love. And for your faith. May your family be richly blessed. May you fly high Ruth.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Meadow Rue Merrill is an ordinary American housewife with an extraordinary story. As a girl she thought her life was all mapped out. "From childhood I'd planned out my life." God however had other plans, far greater than Meadow could have imagined.
The Merrills made themselves available to be used by God. "If not us, who?" They realised they could not change the whole world but they could change the whole world for a baby called Ruth.
The book documents their struggles to adopt Ruth. Man kept erecting roadblocks which God demolished. God proved that what is impossible with man, is possible with God. As we reach the end of ourselves, that's when God steps in.
There is a huge amount of faith in the novel. As Meadow Rue Merrill travelled to Uganda, she saw both poverty and riches but the riches were in the form of faith. "These abandoned and destitute children possessed a faith for which I grasped... that God would take care of them no matter what." Meadow had her faith boosted by those around her. "The faith of those I met...challenged me to believe more than ever that God was in control... Not just sometimes... But all the time." Did Meadow ever doubt? Of course, but God sent people alongside her to help draw her back to Him. At times the way seemed unclear but "We... had to feel our way with faith... trusting God to guide us."
It is far easier to trust God in the good times than the bad. "For months I had been begging God to remove our difficulties. Instead He blessed us right there in the middle of them." God's ways are not our ways but His hand is always on our lives. We have to trust Him even when we cannot see Him. "Unseen is not the same as absent."
Baby Ruth impacted the lives of all who saw her. Her sunny nature drew others to her. Her disabilities did not hold her back. Her love of learning shone throughout.
The book is bathed in love. The love of a family. The love of friends. The love of God. We are all called to love above all else. Perfect love casts out all fear. We all have a basic need to be loved.
Meadow Rue Merrill was a busy wife and mother. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. Meadow Rue Merrill was called by God to open her heart and her home to Ruth. Her twenty four hour days became busier. At times she felt like crumbling but God provided all she needed.
Redeeming Ruth is a powerful read about an ordinary family who loved. The Merrills are united in their love not only for each other and for God, but for the lost, the hurting and the needy. Their love has no boundaries.
Redeeming Ruth spoke to my heart. Redeeming Ruth made me cry. Redeeming Ruth is a story that needs to be read. Redeeming Ruth shows the wonderful riches of faith to be found if you just let go of self and grasp on to God.
Thank you Meadow Rue Merrill for your honesty. For your love. And for your faith. May your family be richly blessed. May you fly high Ruth.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
August 12, 2017
Has God ever put a calling in your heart? He did for Meadow Merrill, He put a desire in her heart to help African orphans and in Redeeming Ruth, you will see the lengths she and her family will go to make this a reality.
Meadow and her husband Dana are a typical American family. They have two boys, Judah and Gabriel and one on the way, a baby girl they will name Lydia. They had put their desire of helping out African children on the back burner for a time, with Meadow even telling God that if He wants them to help, He will need to bring the child to them.
Wouldn’t you know, God would answer that request? One day they learn about a baby girl, Ruth, who is in America to see if she can get treatment for her cerebral palsy. She is from Uganda, she is orphaned and currently staying in a foster care/sponsor family while she gets treatment. Meadow and Dana meet Ruth when their friend Theresa, brings Ruth to church one Sunday.
From there you will go on a journey with the Merrill family as they first begin as foster parents, to becoming adoptive parents. The journey is slow and sometimes very painful but you see how they come together as a family, with even Judah and Gabriel donating their savings towards the adoption fees.
You will also see how faithful God is when you are in His will. He moved people and obstacles to help get Ruth the family she needed. Her medical needs were draining on the family emotionally as well as financially but God always provided and the family stuck together.
The Merrill’s story is one of obedience, dedication and pure heart. I found it completely heartbreaking to know that a simple one dollar test could have prevented the development of cerebral palsy in Ruth. I’m sorry to say the story does not end in a happily ever after, and I shed many tears at thought of the heartbreak this family has had to endure but they seem hopefully and from the book you gather that they have grown as Christians, grown as a family and are better off for their experience of knowing Ruth.
I received this book from, Hendrickson Publishers for my honest review. Blessings N Bloggings
Meadow and her husband Dana are a typical American family. They have two boys, Judah and Gabriel and one on the way, a baby girl they will name Lydia. They had put their desire of helping out African children on the back burner for a time, with Meadow even telling God that if He wants them to help, He will need to bring the child to them.
Wouldn’t you know, God would answer that request? One day they learn about a baby girl, Ruth, who is in America to see if she can get treatment for her cerebral palsy. She is from Uganda, she is orphaned and currently staying in a foster care/sponsor family while she gets treatment. Meadow and Dana meet Ruth when their friend Theresa, brings Ruth to church one Sunday.
From there you will go on a journey with the Merrill family as they first begin as foster parents, to becoming adoptive parents. The journey is slow and sometimes very painful but you see how they come together as a family, with even Judah and Gabriel donating their savings towards the adoption fees.
You will also see how faithful God is when you are in His will. He moved people and obstacles to help get Ruth the family she needed. Her medical needs were draining on the family emotionally as well as financially but God always provided and the family stuck together.
The Merrill’s story is one of obedience, dedication and pure heart. I found it completely heartbreaking to know that a simple one dollar test could have prevented the development of cerebral palsy in Ruth. I’m sorry to say the story does not end in a happily ever after, and I shed many tears at thought of the heartbreak this family has had to endure but they seem hopefully and from the book you gather that they have grown as Christians, grown as a family and are better off for their experience of knowing Ruth.
I received this book from, Hendrickson Publishers for my honest review. Blessings N Bloggings
May 12, 2018
`Redeeming Ruth` is a Christian living/Inspirational book on relationships by author Meadow Rue Merrill. This is a true story of one family's decision to adopt, what they went through to adopt, and the amazing love of God.
Ruth is a young orphan from Uganda, she was abandoned shortly after birth, she has a devastating diagnosis, and is visiting a family in North America. If she goes back to Uganda as an orphan with physical problems she has a high chance of dying. If she stays in America she has a higher rate of survival. But the odds are against her. Who will want to adopt an African child with Cerebral Palsy and other problems?
Meadow and her family decide they want to adopt her but they had to go through several channels for the adoption to go through. Meadow and Ruth had to fly to Uganda to stand before the deciding judge, Ruth needed her Visa and a physical within one month's time while in Uganda.
Before they went to Uganda they went through several snags here in America. Ruth needed her British Transit Visa. Even though this is a big book and the reader may be inclined to think Meadow and Ruth had plenty of time they were really on limited time from the family's decision to adopt and for the adoption to be finalized. Meadow went through a very difficult time while adopting Ruth. The reader learns how God is in control whether the problem is minute or huge.
A favorite quote from the book is on page 89. It reads, `Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.`(Bob Pierce ~ World Vision)
I recommend this book to readers who are thinking about adopting, and fans of inspirational books.
This would also make a great book club choice because of the Reader's Guide at the back of the book.
Disclaimer: "I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own."
Ruth is a young orphan from Uganda, she was abandoned shortly after birth, she has a devastating diagnosis, and is visiting a family in North America. If she goes back to Uganda as an orphan with physical problems she has a high chance of dying. If she stays in America she has a higher rate of survival. But the odds are against her. Who will want to adopt an African child with Cerebral Palsy and other problems?
Meadow and her family decide they want to adopt her but they had to go through several channels for the adoption to go through. Meadow and Ruth had to fly to Uganda to stand before the deciding judge, Ruth needed her Visa and a physical within one month's time while in Uganda.
Before they went to Uganda they went through several snags here in America. Ruth needed her British Transit Visa. Even though this is a big book and the reader may be inclined to think Meadow and Ruth had plenty of time they were really on limited time from the family's decision to adopt and for the adoption to be finalized. Meadow went through a very difficult time while adopting Ruth. The reader learns how God is in control whether the problem is minute or huge.
A favorite quote from the book is on page 89. It reads, `Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.`(Bob Pierce ~ World Vision)
I recommend this book to readers who are thinking about adopting, and fans of inspirational books.
This would also make a great book club choice because of the Reader's Guide at the back of the book.
Disclaimer: "I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own."
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April 28, 2017I first met Ruth when she arrived on the plane at Logan Airport from a long cross continent flight from Uganda. She had cried much of the way and had been walked up and down the aisle of the plane tied to the back of a missionary. We loaded her in the car to maine wondering what her future would be, completely enthralled with her beauty and her smile. She stayed with us for a few weeks and then was adopted by a local family. This is the story of her arrival, life, and loss. My friend Meadow and her growing family embraced Ruth, her needs and her love and created a home for her that brought her great joy in her short time here. Ruth's smile touched hundreds if not thousands of people and the process of writing about her and her loss must have been so difficult for Meadow but the result is a wonderful, uplifting, and joyful memoir. All proceeds will be donated to Ruthie's sending orphanage in Uganda.
April 29, 2017
This is one of the most powerful, moving books I've ever read. Meadow beautifully tells the story of the adoption and life of her daughter, Ruth. The honesty with which she writes is both gut-wrenching and inspiring. I highly recommend this book.
May 1, 2017
An inspiring story, recommended for those interested in adoption, for parents dealing with grief, for anyone interested in a beautifully written true story of faith, hope, and love. Five stars! See Faith in a God Who is Bigger Than Our Fears .
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