Under Attack!

This is my new desktop image for my computer.

Several weeks ago, my Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Mary, used Galatians 5:22 (Fruits of the Spirit) as an additional scripture to make a point in our lesson. Something about what she said really grabbed me.

I began thinking about how we rear our children. We often tell them the areas of their life that we think they need to improve. "Sit up straight." "Don't chew with your mouth open." "Pay attention." "Do your best." "Be diligent." "Did you study for this quiz?" "Why is there toothpaste in the sink?" We spend our time correcting their path. Well, who's doing this for us? Like Paul, we "have not attained." There's still a lot of work to do in most of us.

I can flick III if he's not paying attention during the sermon. But, who's going to flick me if I start drifting? If Rosy is rude to her brother, I can put her in timeout and make her apologize. If I talk badly about my brother (not that I do - he's a remarkably great guy), who's going to make me apologize. For most of us, the only voice speaking to us on these matters is the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, most of us aren't listening very well.

After Mrs. Mary talked about the Fruits of the Spirit, I started evaluating my life. Are the fruits (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control) more abundant or less abundant than they were a year ago? two years ago? three years ago? I determined that I've been so busy improving the behavior of my children the last few years that I haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to improve my behavior.

This might would have been a passing notion with no real commitment, but the next week we unpacked our Christmas ornaments. A dear friend of ours passed away unexpectedly in January 2008. Each year she gave us Hallmark ornaments to celebrate Christmas. As I unpacked our ornaments, I found the ornament that Mrs. Mickey had given me last year. It was a gold pear that said "Fruits of the Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace". I was so amazed that God sent me the same scripture twice, and so I've chosen it for my 2009 verse. I can think of no better tribute to Mrs. Mickey than to improve my walk with the Lord and to be a better wife, mother, and servant to the Lord.

I say all this to let you know that I am under attack! School started this morning, and I knew this would be a terrible test of my new commitment to nurturing the Fruits in my life. Yep, Satan was ready for us. Hubby overslept! So, therefore, III started his computer lessons an hour late! III's printer no longer works! We've got a lot to do and we are already an hour behind!!!!! But, I did well with this first challenge. I prayed about it (and, now, I'm blogging it to release my frustration) and I didn't lose my cool with anybody.

Please pray for me as I work on my Fruits this year!