To Grow Fruit.

My second grade play was a skew of seven year old children, all bumped together trying to sing and recite and stay upright on the bleachers in the old gymnasium, full of parents and grandparents watching on cold metal chairs.  I remember very little of it, but I remember I had one line, and it was the closing line, the important line.  So I memorized and memorized and memorized my line to make sure I had it right, and that I could deliver it slowly, correctly, proudly.  So I could speak with great pomp and circumstance and let my quiet little heart say what it had been rehearsing for weeks:

"The fruits of the Spirit are: 

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."  

Galatians 5:22-23

Over the years, this Scripture has stuck with me and never had I needed to memorize it again.  My little Byron Center Christian School play had trained me in the Word, etched it on my mind, and embedded it in my heart.  And all these years later it continues to come to the forefront of my mind.

Over the past few weeks I've had this Scripture, this calling, this emotion, this Truth lingering within me.   It's been mulling....

And as you read, I pray it mulls over and in you.  I pray its words work like Hebrews 4:2 speaks:  "the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword.  It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

I've known women who seem to elude Galatians 5:22-23 through every word and motion.  Who emulate patience and goodness.  Who know and live self-control.

Today, scan your heart with these words.  Plant them deeply in the soil of your soul that the Spirit may do good work amidst your branches.  That He may reveal and prune, in order to grow fruit from the seeds of his Scripture.

 

Women Friends

I liked this...  Its  a video from Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson...

Desperate Chapter 2

Makes me think of my mom's quote:  "You'll love your husband, but you'll need your girlfriends."