Listen to Year of the Fruit Playlist

Day 5: January 21, 2011 KINDNESS

What is kindness? Well, kindness in my house is when Big Brother scoots over so Little Sister can sit beside him on the couch...usually this occurs after much fussing and whining by Little Sister and Mom or Dad encouraging Big Brother to share his seat. :) But I'm pretty sure that's not what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Church at Ephesus. Paul instructed the Ephesians, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you." (Eph 4:31-32)

Wow...let ALL bitterness...anger...evil speaking....be put away from you...I know I need to work at this daily and thankfully I have God to help me with this. We hear so much on the topic of Random Acts of Kindness and these are great! But let's face it, they are infrequent, at best, and many times for strangers. Today, I challenge you to practice DELIBERATE Acts of Kindness to EVERYBODY you come in contact with...including friends, family, and strangers. Give a simple smile...they are free and make people feel good. Hold a door for open for somebody when you go into the station. Whatever you do, please, do it with kindness...kindness in your actions, in your voice, and in your eyes will reflect Jesus in your heart.

Day 4: Jan 17, 2011 Patience

I love the song Everlasting God by Chris Tomlin. It starts out, "Strength will rise when we wait upon the Lord, when we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord." That simple thought has spoken volumes to me in the last three or four years. Isaiah 40:31 tells us

"But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

God is promising that if we have Patience and wait on Him, He will give us strength and endurance! That's an amazing promise! I am constantly trying to teach my children about patience, but if you are a parent, you know how difficult that process can be. I think that, in order to be able to TEACH patience, I must first be able to practice waiting on the Lord...being still...listening to the still, small voice.

Day 3: Jan 5, 2011 PEACE

My six year old daughter came home from school one day practically in tears. When we went shopping for school clothes before school started, she wanted peace signs, so many of her shirts had peace sign designs on them. Apparently, one of the little girls in her class had told her that peace signs were bad. I did some research, because it really upset my daughter. She didn't want to wear something that was bad...I found many, MANY articles on what people throughout history think that the peace sign might symbolize...I asked my daughter what Peace was, and she said, "It's what Jesus gives us, Mommy". She is still wearing her peace sign clothing.

"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." Ps 4:8

Jesus brings us peace...how can you NOT be at peace with living forever through Him?

Day 2: Jan 4, 2011 JOY

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart! I LOVED singing this song when I was a little girl…I could sing it at the top of my lungs, and it ALWAYS made me feel happy. As an adult, I really should sing it more often. I’m sure I would sing it just as loudly, today.

The dictionary defines JOY as:

1a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires :delight

b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3: a source or cause of delight

If any of you watch professional football, you may understand where I am going with this…My husband really gets annoyed when the officials say, “BY RULE”. Well, I kind of feel the same way about “BY DEFINITION”. By definition, the first says that wealth, health and possessions bring us an emotion defined as JOY. I am thankful for those things, but in my opinion, they are blessings from the Father. I like definition three…the source and cause for my delight is in the Father, and the Son. When I sing I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, today, I can know that it’s the source of my delight that is “down in my heart, to stay!”

Psalm 126:3 says, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with JOY”.

My kids laughing until it hurts; watching somebody overcome an obstacle that only God could have brought them through, AND recognizing it as such; seeing my kids, or anybody for that matter, give absolutely everything that they’ve got and letting God do the rest; the stick turning blue; campfires with friends; late night cuddles with loved ones (be it Mike or the kids); movie night with the family; game night with friends; an amazing praise and worship service when you KNOW that you know that you know that you know that the Holy Spirit is present; and our small group. These things really bring me great joy…I also take great joy in the fact that the Father provided Grace through Jesus…I can truly be free. What brings you great joy?

Day 1: Jan 3, 2011 LOVE

Just coming out of the Christmas season, we have watched a lot of the movie, ELF. We love all of the little “elfisms” from the movie, and quote them, often. Elf says, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” I came up with my own little “fruitism” for LOVE. “The best way to spread love and grow, is serve all so that they may know.”

I truly believe that the best way to show love is by serving. One of my favorite things to do for my husband to show him that I love him is to serve him his meals. I hate to admit it, but we are terrible about eating at the table. We normally eat as a family, but seldom at the dinner table. But I always fix my husband’s plate and serve him his meal. When we have company over, I usually get comments about their husband expecting the same thing, but I don’t do it because Mike expects it…he never has EXPECTED it. I do it because I love him and I enjoy serving my husband…his meals are just part of it. Now that my boys are getting older, I don’t serve their meals to them, as much…this is mostly because they are so picky and I get tired of listening to them complain about what we are having…but realizing why I enjoy serving my husband has made me decide to start serving them, again. After all, I love them, too.

This Christmas, I let my boys (9 & 10) pick a name from the tree at church. They picked a 7 year old boy and together, we shopped for this little guy. On Christmas morning, after opening gifts, my three youngest kids and I helped out at the homeless shelter. We helped prepare and deliver meals to those who were in need. I want them to learn that we show love by serving others, not so much by hugs and high-fives. I want to continue, all year, serving others, and not just at Christmas. I’d love to hear how you and your family make time to serve others.

Galatians 5:13-14 NKJV says, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve on another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

I like the way that the Message Bible puts it…^"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. "