Naomi Again

I am reading this book for a small group Bible study.  I am reading about Ruth now; however, I am indentifying more with Naomi.  Naomi means "pleasant", and the author surmises that that is exactly what Naomi was when she lived in Israel-pleasant and gregarious.  Due to a severe famine in Israel, she moved with her husband and sons to Moab.  In Moab, Naomi's husband and her sons died, leaving her alone with the two Moabite women her sons had married.  Naomi returned to Israel with one daughter-in-law.  Naomi was returning to her homeland, to her friends and family who had known her before she left.  Everyone welcomed her home.  She told them all that it would be more fitting for them to call her "Mara", which means "bitter" for the Lord had dealt bitterly with her.  Many of you are familiar with the story, and that God greatly blesses Naomi, and she is feels once again like the pleasant Naomi she once was.
That is a bit how I've felt the past few years.  Once careless and gregarious, the Lord dealt bitterly with me for some time, but He has now restored to me the joy that I felt formerly.