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face whatever comes. You taught me that.”
    “Keep reminding me.”

          
    They crossed the Jordan River with the caravan late the next afternoon. Naomi wilted beneath the trees on the other side. “I can’t go any farther.”
    Ruth settled her comfortably and brought some water. “Rest here while I thank Ashir Ben Hadar.” The last of the camels were crossing the river when Ruth approached the caravan owner and bowed her face to the ground. “Thank you for allowing us to travel in your company.”
    “You’re leaving the caravan so soon?”
    “My mother-in-law has gone as far as her strength can carry her. We’ll camp here by the river and continue on in the morning.”
    “A pity. We’ll be camping for the night at the oasis. You’d be safer with us.”
    “May the Lord bring you safely to your destination and bless you for your kindness toward two widows.”
    He frowned heavily. “May the Lord protect you.” Turning away, he mounted his camel, whacked the animal’s neck with a stick, and shouted orders in Egyptian to one of his servants. The camel rocked forward and then back as it came to its feet. Ruth bowed again as the man rode toward the front of his caravan. She’d almost reached the trees by the river when one of Ashir Ben Hadar’s servants ran up to her and thrust a sack and a bulging skin into her hands. “Gifts from the master,” he rasped and raced off again.
    Smiling, Ruth knelt down by Naomi. “Taste and see how the Lord provides for those who love Him.”
    Tipping the skin cautiously, Naomi took a small sip. Her eyes grew wide. “Fresh goat’s milk!”
    Ruth laughed and opened the leather, displaying the fullness of their bounty. “And raisin cakes, Mother. Enough for several days. With the grain we have left, we have enough to sustain us until we reach Bethlehem.”
    They ate and then rested as the sun slipped over the mountains behind Jericho. “It wasn’t far from here that the Lord rolled back the water of the Jordan so that Joshua could bring our people across,” Naomi said, replete and relaxed. “My mother told me when Moses went up Mount Nebo to Pisgah Peak and died, the people mourned for thirty days. Joshua was filled with the Spirit of God and led the people over there,” she said and pointed from Nebo along the way they had come, “to Acacia. He waited there until the Lord told him what to do. Joshua brought the people to the banks of the Jordan. The Lord rolled back the water, and the people crossed on dry land. My mother and father were among the people who came into Canaan that day. They camped at Gilgal and celebrated the Passover.”
    Ruth was standing beneath the shade following with her eyes the course Naomi said her people had taken. “What are the stones over there?”
    “The standing stones?” Naomi rose. “Everyone who passes by them will remember what the Lord did for His people. There are twelve, each stone carried by a member of one of the tribes who descended from our father, Jacob. Do you see where the water ripples over there? There are twelve more stones on the spot where the priests stood with the Ark of the Covenant while our people crossed over.” She stood beside Ruth, pointing back the way they had come. “Over there is the altar the sons of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh built. The tribes on this side almost went to war over it.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the tribes on the west bank thought it to be an altar for burnt offerings and sacrifices to other gods. But it stands as witness that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh have an inheritance in the Lord; it is a monument to remind us that we are brothers.”
    Naomi repeated the stories her father and mother had told her, until the sun went down and the stars shone. Ruth listened hungrily to everything Naomi said about the years in the desert and the mighty deeds the Lord had done to save and discipline His people. When Naomi fell asleep, Ruth looked up into the heavens and