Naomi was a foreigner in Moab. She and her husband Elimelek took their sons and left their home in Bethlehem in an effort to survive a severe famine (Ruth 1:1). But then  Naomi’s husband Elimelek died, leaving Naomi as a widow in a foreign land (Ruth 1:3). In time, her sons took Moabite wives: Orpah and Ruth (Ruth 1:4). Naomi's family lived in Moab for about ten years. Then her sons Mahlon and Kilion also died. So now Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth 1:6-7 

When Naomi heard that in Moab the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Ruth 1:8-9 “Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Ruth 1:14 “Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her (Naomi). Ruth decided to

Ruth and Naomi traveled 50 miles of rugged and steep terrain from Moab to Jerusalem. Although it is a short trip today, it would have taken Ruth and Naomi 7-10 days on foot. We know from the Book of Ruth that they took this trip 2 times. Once in haste with their husbands, to find bread in Moab and once alone in Naomi’s bitterness, after both of their husbands died in Moab (along with Naomi’s other son). Ruth and Naomi were starting over as widows in a culture that didn't really provide well for the needs of a poor widow or foreigner.

Both Ruth and Naomi were now faced with realities that would require them to make decisions for their present state and the security of their future. What realities and circumstances in your life that require you to make decisions, choices and take steps of righteousness and steps of faith?