The Transforming Power Of God's Word: Unpacked with Beth Runkle

In this episode, host Ruth Hovsepian speaks with Beth Runkle, a former military wife and author, about the power of God's word to transform lives. Beth shares her personal story of how she went from being bitter and struggling in her role as a military wife to finding purpose and joy through studying the Bible. She emphasizes the importance of studying the word of God for ourselves and understanding its cultural context. Beth also encourages listeners to share the transformative power of God's word with others, whether through hosting Bible studies or simply being a light in their communities.

Takeaways:
✔ Studying the word of God can transform our lives and help us find purpose and joy.
✔ It's important to study the Bible for ourselves and understand its cultural context.
✔ Hospitality is about connection, not perfection. Opening our homes and sharing the word of God with others can have a transformative impact.
✔ We should prioritize sharing the gospel and the transformative power of God's word with those around us.
✔ The word of God is living and active, and it has the power to penetrate hearts and bring about transformation.

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Transcript

Ruth Hovsepian (00:01.294)
Welcome to Out of the Darkness and this is a podcast that... Did it again. Sorry.

Beth Runkle (00:07.934)
It's okay.

Ruth Hovsepian (00:10.936)
Welcome to another episode of Out of the Darkness, the podcast where we explore faith, transformation, and the journey to finding light in the darkest moments. I'm your host, Ruth Hovsepian Today, we have a great episode for you. We are discussing the power of God's word to transform your life and also to transform the lives of those around you. Joining us

Beth Runkle a former military wife, and Beth disciples and conducts Bible studies for female cadets and young military spouses. She has led small groups for military couples and taught Bible studies for 23 years. And Beth holds a master of theological studies and brand new author of the upcoming book, Another Move God.

30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife. Beth, welcome to the show.

Beth Runkle (01:13.266)
Thank you, Ruth. It's such an honor to be with you. Appreciate the invitation.

Ruth Hovsepian (01:17.342)
I'm glad to have you on. is a, you know, your background is different than most of the guests that I have interviewed. So I'm excited to hear about that world, especially those of us here in Canada where we don't have as many, or we don't hear about as many military families and spouses in the situations that are going on.

To start us off, can you share a specific story of how God's Word transformed a difficult situation in your life as a military wife?

Beth Runkle (01:56.274)
Yeah, well, to tell you that story, I have to give you a little bit of background. So I met my husband at a wedding. I was a bridesmaid. He was a groomsman. So yes, it does actually happen. And we dated long distance for two years. He was already serving in the military. And he had not really felt it necessary to tell me what the military life would be like if I married him. So I married him. And we moved three times our first year of marriage.

And then we showed up at that location that we had to stay at for a few years. We unpacked our boxes and he deployed to the Middle East. And I really just found myself thinking, what in the world have I gotten into? I was not a believer at the time. It just really found myself struggling. I became bitter, selfish, and reluctant to embrace my husband's serving.

all the challenges and really opportunities that I did not yet see that come with being in the military and serving the military. Marriage was beginning to get really difficult. know, this is not what my dream was. You know, that I was really going to be alone a lot and having to be independent. And, you know, we were stationed on the coast, on the East Coast, and my husband deployed four times during two and a half years, but also

several times, hurricanes came through. So he would leave me with the house, with the flooding, with no electricity, because they had to evacuate the airplanes. So we began going to church during that assignment. And it was really a lot. I was going by myself because he was gone. Because I kind of thought that's what a married couple should do. I had grown up in a very loving family. And we did go to church every Sunday.

but I did not understand really walking with Jesus or really even understanding that I needed a savior. My standard before I started studying the word of God was just like, I'm a pretty good person. But that's not at all what God's word says, right? His word says, if we have sinned even once, that separates us from God and we deserve.

Beth Runkle (04:16.188)
you know, that eternal separation from Him. But Jesus came and died on our behalf. And if we accept Him and place our faith in Him, then He takes that penalty for us. But we moved again. And I consider us seekers at this point. We were trying to figure out Christianity, but we had not yet figured it out. And my husband ran into some people who had gone to college with and they'd become believers and they invited us to get involved in their Bible study.

And we did, we were eager. And it was a Bible study on Genesis. And we actually started in the story of Abraham. It was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And it was a very in -depth Bible study. It's by Precept Ministries, which is K. Arthur's ministry. And my husband and I were doing it together. And the Word of God just came alive for us. It really helped us to understand our need for a Savior.

and that Jesus wants to be in personal relationship with us, you know, and he wants us to be a part of our everyday. But part of the reason that I really am so in love with the Lord now is the way he met me in that study. This is the first time I had ever picked up the scriptures and read them for myself. And God, in his sovereignty and really just his abundant love for me, he placed me in the story of Sarah and Abraham.

And right away, I saw parallels in their life, which to my life as a military spouse, which made me feel that the God of the universe really personally cared about me, that he would place me in a story where I could see myself and then I could understand that he understood my struggles. know, Sarah and Abraham, when God called them to go to a land that he would show them, that's what I did 14 times in the military. We call it a permanent change of station or PCS.

Only I was at least getting help from moving bands and movers. know, Sarah and Abraham were doing it like on their camels and their donkeys. So I kind of felt like, wow, I can't feel so sorry for myself now. But also Abraham went off and he went into combat deployment. And your listeners might not see that right away because they don't have the lenses that I do. But Abraham went off to rescue his nephew Lot.

Beth Runkle (06:42.174)
with his 318 trained men and he fought against four kings and all of their armies. And they did brutal hand -to -hand combat. So he was definitely a warrior going off and I imagined that Sarah was back in her tent and worried. at that point, they had seen that God was the only true God and so I really believed she was praying. Also, I saw Sarah as a person who created community.

and had to transition often, know, God moved them to Canaan and then they went to Bethel and they went to Egypt and they went back to Bethel and they went to the Oaks of the Marm. So there was all this transitioning and resettling. so I just wanted to know this God more intimately because he was placing me in this story that was really similar to mine. And on top of that, I was struggling with infertility. I'm an infertile woman. And

you know, again, God and His love and His mercy and grace placed me in a story to say, I see you. I see your struggles and I really care about you. So that's really like the largest story of transformation. But the Word of God continues to transform me, you know, daily. Surrendering my life to Christ and, you know, spending time in His Word and understanding His sovereignty, I was

I've got to share this with other people. I need to share this with the other military spouses around me who are also struggling with this life. So I began leading Bible studies for military wives in my home. Often we were sitting on the floor of my living room, know, and on all the different places that we lived. And then my husband and I went to a marriage conference hosted by Family Life, which is a ministry of crew, which is who I work for now as a missionary.

In that marriage conference, they laid out what I like to call the biblical blueprint for marriage. And it was God's plan for marriage, know, talking about the roles and explaining that it's you know, a sacred covenant between husband and wife with the Lord and that, you know, the wife should respect and the husband is to love the wife sacrificially. And this is not at all the way we were doing marriage. I had been educated on marriage kind of from the romantic comedies.

Beth Runkle (09:05.822)
that I had watched, you know, and they're fun to watch, but they're not really realistic. And, you know, I think that my view of marriage at that point was like it was a contract. And so this dramatically transformed our marriage. We realized we had been doing everything all wrong. And at that conference, the last session, they said, hey, if you've learned some concepts here that you want to share with others, we've got these small group guides that you can take back with you and you could host couples in

house and share these principles with others. And my husband and I looked at each other and we said, we have to do this because this is just such great information that we didn't know and we want to share it with others. And marriage is hard, know, divorce statistics are not good, but I would say it's not, it's actually worse for military marriages. Our divorce statistics are higher, but on top of that, even veterans.

they get more divorces than the rest of the community. So overall, divorce is just really bad for military marriages. So we began using these small group guides, which were based on the Word of God in our home. And we did it every one of those locations that we lived, just investing in others and, you know, pointing them to the truth of God's Word and really the power that is found in it. You know, I really believe.

that the word of God transforms our mind and renews us and helps us to dispel those lies. So those are some big examples, but I could give you others as

Ruth Hovsepian (10:38.148)
You know, I think that you are coming at it from the viewpoint of a military wife and a military couple. And, but there are so many things that you said that apply to, you know, just any woman getting into a marriage or being married and having predefined viewpoints of what it should look like or, you know, what

think it should be. you know, it's just incredible how we base what our expectations are of our, you know, marriages and family situations by what we base the viewpoint of the world.

It's the viewpoint of the world rather than scriptural, especially those of us that are, you know, following the Lord. And, and we have this messed up view of what marriage is and, and what it means to be in a relationship because it's hard enough being in a relationship, but having that extra piece that you had

you know, deploying or your husband deploying and you moving around and rebuilding a new community. But one of the things that you said that really stood out to me and spoke to me, and this was part of my experience as well, was when I also started to walk out my faith and not those of say my family when I was younger.

And the more I have gotten into the word of God, the more I am excited about sharing what I learned from it. And it's not, and you know, I have this misconception about Bible study and I would take the Bible study sort of, you know, let me dissect this and see how I can use this in my life. Sort of that kind

Ruth Hovsepian (12:55.402)
an approach to it, whereas again, the more you get into it, you understand it very differently. To me now, a Bible study, and this is over and above, and I really want to iterate, reiterate this point over and over again to my listeners. There is a difference between Bible study, doing a devotional, and reading your Bible. And I think each one of those

things have a very clear and distinct place in your faith journey and the journey that we are on because doing a devotional, whether it's five minutes, 15 minutes is not enough, not enough for us reading, just reading, you know, opening up and reading or following, you know, the a year's reading plan is not enough. need to study the word

God for ourselves. And I love the fact that you said you looked at Sarah and Abraham and the more you studied it, you understood the story more. And I think that that is what Bible study is. It's there for us. We don't have to think of ways that it can apply to us. It's just understanding the story.

and why certain details are told to us and certain details are not. And I think that's the crux of it, right? You need to understand why these details, why not those details? And looking at what I am studying as a whole with the verses around it, with the chapter, with context.

Beth Runkle (14:39.421)
Right.

Beth Runkle (14:49.094)
Right, context.

Ruth Hovsepian (14:51.992)
And we've talked about this now quite a bit on out of the darkness because that's what I want people to focus in on. It's great to use Bible study guides and it's great to use someone's book, but you need more, know, take a study for the length that it is. It's not a day or two or one sitting.

There's so much that you can understand, you know, the sociopolitical, the geographical, you know, traditions of the time, what was happening, you know, historically, I think you really, you know, that that is the best example you could have given of how Sarah and Abraham, as you studied it, you saw it unfold in front of you.

and how it can help you.

Beth Runkle (15:51.314)
Yeah, and I think one of the things that we here in the West maybe get wrong about Bible study is that I think we go to Bible study with, does this give me? What is this about me? And God's Word does definitely give us things for us, but our focus really should be, what does this teach me about God and His character?

And then, you know, the Holy Spirit can give us a response to that. But yeah, just the more we know God, the more we're going to trust Him and the smaller our circumstances are going to be, the more we press into Him and understand His character, His attributes. Yeah, and you know, one of my favorite scriptures is, you know, do not be trans… it's Romans 12, 2, do not

Ruth Hovsepian (16:34.212)
Yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (16:39.29)
I agree. Yeah, I agree with you 100%.

Beth Runkle (16:47.048)
conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you may be able to test and approve what is God's perfect will, perfect and pleasing will. know, the world does, it wants us to conform. It wants us to look more like us, and that is our natural tendency. But we need the power of God's word to transform us. But we're not going to God's word with like, what does this say about me? It's just...

Ruth Hovsepian (16:48.068)
Yes.

Beth Runkle (17:13.564)
being in it, God's word is living and active and sharper than a double -edged sword, able to penetrate hearts. That's why I believe it's the most popular book of all times. It's not just a book, it's living. And it can speak to any of our circumstances, but the more we study, the more we see the beauty. I'm sure this happens to you, right? You can come across a verse of scripture, maybe you even have it memorized.

but there's just something new you see in it and it, you know, illuminates it. And one of the things I am really passionate about that you mentioned briefly was I love to do cultural, what I call cultural contextualization, is really doing study, research, and understanding the culture at the time of when the scripture was written. It adds so much to our understanding because there are words they use

Ruth Hovsepian (17:55.449)
Mm -hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (18:06.872)
Yes.

Beth Runkle (18:09.726)
that have much greater meaning in the original language, but there's also traditions and things that they would have understood that we don't understand. And unfortunately, as 21st century Americans and Canadians, we can really misapply it if we don't understand it. And I did do a good bit of that in my book on Sarah and Abraham.

because it adds so much to our understanding of what the scripture is really saying and the challenges that they had. know, for example, I never really understood the whole situation with Sarah and Abraham when, you know, God tells Abraham, take your son, your only son whom you love, and, you know, you're going to take him and sacrifice him. That seems so incredibly weird to us in the Western world, you know? I mean, the first time I read that, you're just like, how could God ask

Ruth Hovsepian (19:02.21)
Right.

Beth Runkle (19:02.93)
But when you understand that culturally, Abraham is the very first believer in God as Yahweh, as the special God of the people Israel. All of the other gods around him that he and Sarah have grown up around and been a part of, all those gods, they have multiple gods they worships and gods of locations. They all required human sacrifices. And

Ruth Hovsepian (19:11.204)
Mm -hmm.

Beth Runkle (19:29.148)
When God asked Abraham to do that, think one of the things that God was teaching Abraham, I'm sure Abraham thought, I thought God was different. I thought he was the real true God of the universe, but I guess he's just like these other gods and is going to require this of me. And he's testing Abraham's obedience, but God shows him a sacrifice is required, but it's not your son.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:46.143)
Mm.

Beth Runkle (19:57.83)
It's my son, it's Jesus. And he comes in and he provides the substitute sacrifice so that he doesn't have to sacrifice his son Isaac. But I just think understanding that magnifies it for me because for Abraham, that was an absolutely defining moment. He says, my God, the God of the universe is not like these other gods and he will take the penalty for me. And he is the only true God.

But know, when you don't understand that, just seems weird. So I love understanding their culture better to understand why God would even ask that of him. But it was a test.

Ruth Hovsepian (20:38.318)
Yeah, no, it was. And, you know, it's interesting you said that because there are many instances where we just read something in the word of God and we just sort of like glaze over it because it is what it is. That's the word, you know, like, and maybe we'll question the translation of the word because it doesn't make sense to us. Does it really mean that? Is that what he meant for us? But again, it's not about us. It's

what we were to understand of what our Heavenly Father is trying to get through to us, right, about Himself, about the situation. And that is what I've experienced. So let me tell you a little funny anecdote here. I've been reading through the Bible every month. So in 30 days, I read the whole thing. But that was that was something, a challenge I gave to myself in December because

Beth Runkle (21:29.408)
Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing.

Ruth Hovsepian (21:36.524)
I'm a reader, I love to read. And I found myself saying, why can I spend so much time reading through a book? And sometimes within a few days I finished a book and I've been able to focus in on that without issue. Well, I wanna do the same thing with the word of God. That was my intention, right? Because.

Beth Runkle (21:59.447)
Love

Ruth Hovsepian (22:03.102)
Ruth, you can do this. Why can't you do that? What is wrong with you? Kind of that conversation that I have. Well, honestly, the first month was very hard because that's not a muscle memory I have. It's hard to do. But I'm, so this is the end of July that we were recording this and I have to tell you I'm done early for my July because

Beth Runkle (22:26.624)
yeah, you have one more day.

Ruth Hovsepian (22:29.74)
I have one more day, but I was done. are we, whatever day it is, I was done several days ago, but I have found this, all of that to say this, that every time I read it, I'm like, did I read this the last time? And because I read it in different versions now, and I have a bookshelf of different types of Bibles and different versions, I'm like, okay, wait a minute.

Beth Runkle (22:47.905)
that's great.

Beth Runkle (22:52.541)
Mm -hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (22:55.364)
Did I miss it because it wasn't in the previous, you know, and I'm researching it, but it's always there. It's just when I'm reading it over, I catch something new, whether it's the way it's phrased, whether it's a word, whether all of a sudden the story that I'm reading has a, has a whole different, like I have a viewpoint of it differently. doesn't matter.

That's what I found that the more time we spend in his word, the more we see it and the more we are open to see it. And there's nothing wrong about questioning things. know, like this doesn't make sense. God, why? Why? Just like, why? Why did this have to happen? Or why all of

Beth Runkle (23:52.99)
And there's a lot of weird things in Genesis as a whole.

Ruth Hovsepian (23:57.272)
I don't know, you know, like when I stopped to think about things really like, and then, but why, you know, and some of it, you know, stems from what we have been taught in Sunday schools or in Bible studies, but you know, I encourage everyone to yes, be in a community Bible study, you know, part of a larger group.

But take the time to study the word of God for yourself.

Beth Runkle (24:31.038)
Absolutely. That's something I'm really passionate about is just, yeah, teaching, you know, other women, especially younger women, like, we don't have to be reliant upon other people to lead us through the Word of God. Like, I want to help empower them to study it for themselves and, you know, to be equipped to...

Ruth Hovsepian (24:38.318)
Mm.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:44.036)
That's right.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:48.506)
right And there's no right or wrong way of doing it except use the word of God Use your discernment to do it and you know, encourage people use books around you use Listen, we're in 2024 use the internet do your research You don't have to buy, you know hundreds of dollars worth of books thousands of dollars. Everything is available to you Yes

Beth Runkle (24:53.374)
That's right.

Beth Runkle (25:15.772)
Yeah, Blue Letter Bible is a great resource as well as Bible Hub and they both have apps. You can look up the original language. You can look at commentaries. Yeah, I used to carry around the lexicon, you know, big thick book. It's so nice that you don't have to do that anymore. Yeah, so there's, mean, and honestly, Google can be a good source for studying the Bible. You just have to say, what is this?

Ruth Hovsepian (25:29.784)
You don't have to do that. I agree with

Ruth Hovsepian (25:39.566)
Yes!

Beth Runkle (25:44.982)
source, right? What is their background? What do they believe? But yeah, I use it myself, you know, and I definitely have some more sources. I really love also the website GotQuestions. They have a ton of great information and it's usually honestly the first place that I go when I have a question about something, but then that will inspire me to do more research and you know, go to theologians or

Ruth Hovsepian (25:58.424)
Yes, I use that too.

Beth Runkle (26:14.302)
pastors that I trust and respect, but I've been really pleased with the theology of GotQuestions. I've used it for a number of years and just completed seminary myself and I just really believe they're solid. So that's a great resource and they have answers on questions. mean, probably million questions. There's so much content up

Ruth Hovsepian (26:29.486)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (26:35.118)
Yeah. And I think as you journey and as you get closer and as you allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, you will develop this discernment, this knowing of is this something this person has decided or is this what the scriptures really say? Is this the intention of, you know, if it was, if you're studying the New Testament, this or

Beth Runkle (26:49.619)
Yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:04.406)
Is this what God wanted to tell me or telling us? But I agree with you. There is so much out there and it becomes easier. The more you do it, the easier. And I also say, don't get discouraged when you start and all of sudden go down a rabbit hole because I do all the time. I don't know about you. I don't know about you, but.

Beth Runkle (27:27.058)
yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:30.21)
If I start doing the background study on something, like I've been working on a Bible study on Ruth. And it's a small book. It really is. And the story, my, yeah, it is. And I thought I would be done because I'm writing a book on it and I'm like, easy. The more I've gotten into

Beth Runkle (27:40.51)
But there's a lot in there, very rich.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:54.49)
The more I go down those proverbial rabbit holes and, you know, I'm looking at all of this stuff, but, you know, I'm joking. It is. It is.

Beth Runkle (28:03.368)
Well, and there is so much interesting cultural things in there, you know, the roof laying at his feet and lifting up the garment, the cloak, you know, that's some really interesting stuff that's weird to Westerners.

Ruth Hovsepian (28:11.2)
yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (28:15.714)
Yeah, it is, it is. And even the fact, you know, I know that, you know, women's rights groups will talk about how, you know, women are, are looked down on. I'm, as I'm going through these studies, whether it's Ruth or something else, I don't see women as being second class citizens in the Bible. What I have been discovering in my studies are that, my goodness, the women,

Beth Runkle (28:33.222)
Mm -hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (28:45.252)
had a lot of say and a lot of power. Yes, there were circumstances in culture. For example, Ruth being left alone with her mother -in -law coming back home, they didn't have a man in those days to care for them and widows were, yes, exactly. So those are societal things. It's not

Beth Runkle (29:07.208)
Lowest of lowest society, yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (29:13.454)
God or how God saw these women. was the way society did in that time, but it's so awesome on how these two women were so intelligent where when they came, they knew what the law was. knew what they're exactly, exactly. And they knew what their rights were.

Beth Runkle (29:16.466)
Mm -hmm.

Beth Runkle (29:34.258)
Right, that tells you they knew the Word of God because that law was in the Word of

Ruth Hovsepian (29:42.926)
The fact that Ruth and Naomi knew that Ruth could go and glean in the field meant they knew the law. They knew what was rightfully theirs. And she went knowing that and doing, I think the whole thing is just incredible. But we don't know these things unless we take the time. And I started off saying,

Beth Runkle (29:50.45)
Mm -hmm. Yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (30:11.236)
how God's word transforms our lives. And I think that this is part of it. It is exciting to me. The more I become a student of the Bible,

Beth Runkle (30:25.402)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, well, and I mean, in my life, mean, the word of God completely, utterly transformed me from this bitter woman. And I would tell my husband all the time how much I hated the military. And when could he get out to I saw that God had a plan for me. Like my husband was called to serve his country, but I was called by God to serve those people around the military, the wives, the families.

Ruth Hovsepian (30:55.032)
Hmm.

Beth Runkle (30:55.472)
and be on mission for God in that unique mission field. And I actually, I came to love the military lifestyle and the military people. I'm in full -time ministry now to them because they're the people group that God has called me to.

Ruth Hovsepian (31:11.578)
And that's the same thing for any wife, right? Who gets into a marriage and suddenly says, my goodness, is this all it is? I don't understand it. You know, I'm miserable. My husband works all the time or he, whatever he does, or maybe a wife of someone in ministry who feels isolated. I think that we need to step outside of ourselves. This is a me generation, right? And we hear it all the time.

Take care of yourself, take the me. Yes, it's great, but make sure that that me time is me time with God because that will reenergize you. That will give purpose. And that's part of my ministry is in Christ, you will find purpose. You will find your, your, your, who you are in there and hope.

And I think that what you, you've said this now a couple of times, and I agree with you. It is transformative. It transformed you from someone who was better and, know, didn't enjoy your life to wow, serving the Lord in such an amazing capacity. But that's for all of us, right? That is doable. Whether you are in the U S as you know, a military wife or here in Canada, just, you know, normal.

whether you're married or

Beth Runkle (32:38.876)
Well, I think, yeah, I I want to encourage your listeners. We all have neighbors, right? our neighbors, they need this too. Like the gospel is the greatest thing we've ever heard. But I think sometimes we look at the world that looks down on Christians and we are almost ashamed of it. It is the greatest news in the world. And it isn't just where we're going to spend eternity.

You know, when Jesus came and he said that you might have life and life abundantly, that is what we get when we are walking with Jesus abundant life, joy, no matter our circumstances, right? Because maybe we don't rejoice over hard circumstances, but we know that God remains in control and he is sovereign. yeah, mean, anybody sitting in a neighborhood or an apartment complex, wherever you live, you can start a Bible study on your living room floor.

You know, one of the things that I quickly learned as I was hosting people in my home twice a week is that I had to change my expectations of hospitality so that I could host people with joy. Right. God's word tells us to show hospitality to one another without grumbling. And I was grumbling. So I had to modify my expectations and just kind of say, hey, I'm going to open my home and it's not going to be perfect.

Ruth Hovsepian (34:00.943)
Mm.

Beth Runkle (34:06.294)
Because I really believe that hospitality is about connection, not perfection. But we get that wrong and we think that everything has to be perfect and like we have to have our house like look like no one lives there. And I actually believe that that is a pathway even to people getting into God's Word of being transformed. If they can come to your house and see, wow, Beth is not all perfect. There's toys all over the

I'm going to do the best to move them out of the way. Maybe the toilet has not been perfectly spick and span just cleaned. I had to figure out how to welcome people into my home because I wanted to welcome them into my heart. So I had to lower my expectations of hospitality. It doesn't mean I'm a slob and it's really dirty, but I don't make it perfect. And I also don't go overboard with the hospitality that I show them there.

Ruth Hovsepian (34:42.511)
Yes.

Beth Runkle (34:57.994)
When you come to my house for Bible study, you're going to be offered coffee, maybe some Country Time lemonade if I had time to stir it up, and maybe occasionally a cookie, but most of the time you're getting coffee. I'll say, hey, does anybody want to volunteer to organize a snack list? But I had to make it doable.

Ruth Hovsepian (35:11.919)
Bye.

Beth Runkle (35:21.778)
because I wanted to invite people into relationship with the Lord Jesus because that is what transformed them and God's word is what transforms them. you know, I just, I couldn't be, you know, totally Pinterest worthy every time I was going to open my home. And I think that's a misconception that we have maybe that we think our lives are so busy and we say like, I don't have time for that.

Ruth Hovsepian (35:21.87)
Yeah.

Beth Runkle (35:47.202)
but we have to prioritize it and we have to care about our neighbors and our friends and the people around us. They need to hear. And you are offering them, you know, uncountable riches by helping them engage in the word of God and know the Lord themselves.

Ruth Hovsepian (36:05.594)
I agree with you. I agree with you 100%. We have let the expectations of the world and society to dictate to us what is nor a norm for us. And I think we've lost sight of what it is. And to me, it is the great commission of telling others about this amazing gift that has been given to us. Beth, I want to thank you so much for being here today. I could just keep

talking with you. is a passion for me and thank you so much for sharing your journey, your experience and the insights that you have had. It's really been enlightening to hear about this transformative power of God's Word in your life and in the lives of those you minister to. And honestly,

I'd love to be in a room with you and have a Bible study with you. So thank you so much for being here today.

Beth Runkle (37:07.218)
Thank you. It's an honor to be with you. And I just want to mention to your listeners too, again, about the book coming out. It is based on the life of Sarah and Abraham. So a good bit what we talked about. But it is written for military wives. Those are my favorite people in the world. But I would think anybody who has to transition often or has a husband who travels a lot for work, it could really speak to. And I did do a bunch of that cultural contextualization studies.

And also your listeners can follow me on social, Beth Runkle writes, my name is R -U -N -K -L -E. And also I have a website where I blog and offer lots of free content for military families. And that is bethrunkle .com. That's B -T -H -R -U -N -K -L -E. And if you're not serving in the military, but maybe you know somebody who is, a cousin, a niece, a nephew.

a grandchild, you know, I'd love for you to point them because I am in full -time ministry. This is what I do as I serve military families because ultimately I want to point them to the Lord into relationship with Him because that is really what brings us joy and abundant

Ruth Hovsepian (38:19.332)
Thank you, Beth. And to all the listeners, all of this information that Beth gave you is also in the description below, including the pre -order on her book. So don't forget to subscribe to Out of the Darkness for more inspiring conversations and stories. Until next time, keep seeking the light and sharing it with others.