Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles

[Note:  My daughter-in-law, Lynn, is doing really well with her pregnancy health problems so the doctor wants to wait until next week to possibly induce labor for Kayci Lynn.  So please keep them in your prayers that all will go well.]

Spring is coming and you and I are all going to plant a garden today.

I'm serious.  And it's not only going to be fun, but very rewarding.

Here's what you each need:

1.  One or two small clay or ceramic or plastic or whatever pots or containers you may have.  (I'm starting with a coffee mug.)

2.  A sheet of paper (or a printed out copy of this post) and a pen.

3.  A pair of scissors.

Very simple, hunh?!  And you're wondering exactly what is going on, right?  How on earth do you plant and cultivate a spring garden with a pot, paper, pen and scissors?  And I'm talking about really planting and cultivating, too.

You see, we're going to plant the seeds for the fruits of the Spirit and then cultivate them day by day.  I thought up this idea several years ago when working with a young couple who were having serious marital problems.  Here's what I did for them (I followed the directions below and gave them each their little clay pots full of slips of paper to choose from) and encouraged them to do every day after I was gone.

I'm going to give you a list of qualities to emulate on a daily basis, one at a time, for you to write down on your sheet of paper.  After you have them all listed you are going to cut each one into a smaller piece of paper that you can fold up and place in your pot.  (Or just print out this post, cut out each of the 20 fruits - qualities - listed below, fold it up and put it in your little container.)

If you are married, then either do one for your spouse or get them to do one with you following the same instructions.  Or maybe you have children who can participate.

Cut out every item on your list, fold it up and add it to your little pot.  Then this is what you're going to do.  Each of you will every morning draw out a piece of paper at random, look at it and that will be your individual word or phrase for the day to follow.  Don't tell anyone else what your word is, but merely (okay, maybe not "merely" - let's try deliberately) try to emulate that quality in your life for that day and see what happens.  At the end of the day, talk with the other participants and try to guess each other's word for the day and talk about your own experience with your word for that day.

Do this day after day until you've run out of pieces of paper, at which time you should start again with your discarded piles that you've kept somewhere.  (Or else start a new list from your study or from coming back here to this post or however you want to do it.)

At the end of your list, see if you can detect any noticeable differences either in your own life or those of your spouse and children.  Encourage each other in the practice of cultivating their fruits of the Spirit.  This is a very real challenge that takes some commitment, but then, don't all gardens.

Okay - here's your list of 20 items to emulate and/or exhibit one at a time on a daily basis.  (If you want to be really lazy print out this post and just cut out the listed items and put them folded up in your little pot or container):

1.  Love - Gal. 5:22

2.  Joy - Gal. 5:22

3.  Peace - Gal. 5:22

4.  Patience - Gal. 5:22

5.  Kindness - Gal. 5:22

6.  Goodness - Gal. 5:22

7.  Faithfulness (be Faithful) - Gal. 5:22

8.  Gentleness (be Gentle) - Gal. 5:22

9.  Self-control - Gal. 5:22

10.  Hopefulness (be Hopeful) - I Cor. 13:13

11.  Graceful - Be full of Grace - Eph. 4:7

12.  Humble (practice Humility) - Eph. 4:2

13.  Bear all others in love - Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3 & 4

14.   Sing (and make music in your Heart) - Eph. 5:19

15.  Submit to one another (all others) - Eph. 5:21

16.  Devote yourself to prayer - Col. 4:2

17.  Be Quiet; lead a quiet life - I Thess. 3:11

18.  Encourage the Timid (including children) - I Thess. 5:14

19.  Help the Weak (including children) - I Thess. 5:14

20.  Give Thanks in all circumstances - I Thess. 5:18

Tell you what - I'll do this along with you and see what happens in my own life.  I'm going to be lazy and print out this post so I can just cut out my 20 items to put in my own little container (an extra coffee mug in my case until I can get out to buy a little "flower" pot). 

I'm going to start right now this minute and choose my word at random for today.   Okay - I've got it.  Wow - I'm going to have to think about this to figure out how exactly I can emulate this quality.  I've got some work for the day! 

That's it.  Simple, but effective if put into practice.  God says so and I believe him.  BTW - this would be a great exercise to do with your kids and/or in kids' Bible classes or for VBS.  Churches do still have VBS, don't they?

Well - I don't know about you, but I've got to get busy gardening.  I sure hope you will, too, along with me.  I'll report back as I garden and y'all do the same, you hear?  I'm going to be asking you how your garden is growing and I don't want to hear any stories of slacking off or quiting.  Failure is okay once in a while or often as long as you're working on it, okay?  You can share your failures here and we'll support you and encourage you to get back on track.

And you guys have to do this, too, btw!  This is not a "girlie man" thing at all and I think even AH-nold would approve and participate - maybe with Maria and his kids. 

Cheers & Blessing to you all today!  Dee

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