Today, November 12th, I cooked the last of my ripening tomatoes from my garden and made a lovely roasted sauce for some cabbage rolls I had in the freezer. Last fruits of the season always seem particularly sweet, and bring a bit of sadness that we wait for the next season to taste that freshness again.
This last week has been tinged with sadness and joy… for many I believe. The US election sparked many emotions and left me drained. I know I am not alone, because choices made will affect not only our American friends and all of us around the world.
It was ironic that we found ourselves in a spectacular place this past week, in the Rocky Mountains for a retreat and conference, and I found myself in a prayer room … praying for many things. How appropriate!!
Life goes on. Today there was much joy in attending a tea with my daughter and granddaughter, who was dressed to the nines as only a three year old can. It is so fun to be with her, to view the world from a child’s eyes.
And I want to model attributes in a troubled world, attributes that speak to my grandchildren. The last address we heard on Thursday, before we traveled home, focused on one of my favourite passages from Galatians 5, in fact in was my special verse when I was baptized so many years ago, and publicly shared my love for Christ.
My hubby had already suggested I “doodle” this particular verse, and I became inspired to do that this weekend. If you want a really good read, I would recommend you read these verses in “The Message”, a brilliant paraphrase by Eugene Peterson. Just look up Galatians 5:22-23, The Message, and you should find it.
These verses sank into my soul this week, helping me to refocus. What am I known by? Can I ask God to fill me with these gifts, breathe into me the very spirit of the Creator? It is an awe-inspiring thought, to think that God desires to indwell us through the Holy Spirit.
And the fruit of the Spirit IS Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control!
I don’t always find these fruits on my news-feed on Facebook, or elsewhere. I don’t always see them demonstrated by those who call themselves Christians either. I too can be blamed for this, it is easy to enter the fray…and I need to keep coming back to love, to choosing my words and actions thoughtfully and prayerfully.
Can I choose to live life with this focus, to choose my words with these attributes? There are some things we are powerless to do anything about. But we can always choose our reactions, our words, our focus. I believe we can ask God to fill us… and to give us these gifts of love, joy, peace…good fruits!
Thanks, always, for stopping by and reading my musings!
<3 Grace
