Family and Fruits of the Spirit

Ron and I certainly got our fill of family time this weekend with his brother and his wife, their two kids, his mom and his grandmother all visiting from out of town to celebrate his birthday and to see Ellie.  My parents, sister and husband and their son also spent time with us on Saturday for Ron's birthday, followed by a visit to the Henry Doorly Zoo for their "Spooktacular" evening.  It was wonderful to get to spend time with everyone, and to celebrate with Ron. 
But I would be lying if I didn't say it was also a little stressful - for example, corralling a three and one year old, six-and four-month old to get to the zoo on time was slightly hectic, and I would imagine even more difficult than herding cats. (We were only an hour late from what I had planned!)   Our home looked like a tornado had blown through at the end of the evening, and kids were a little cranky returning home as we had clearly been out WAY past bedtimes.  And in the midst of some of the stress and anxiety, I confess that sometimes my mind is clouded from just the pure joy of being with and spending time with our loved ones. I think that I'm likely not alone in feeling this way, but as I reflect on this, God continues to draw me back to the book of Galatians and the verses about the Fruits of the Spirit.  Frankly, that little voice inside my head has been reminding me of these verses since shortly after Ellie was born, and I feel the Spirit calling me to work on these things: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
When I am able to focus on these fruits of the spirit, suddenly, the anxiety and stress start to fade away, and I am left with a much better attitude and less worry about things that frankly, in the grand scheme of things, don't really matter as much.  In the end, we had a wonderful time at the zoo, our children still got to bed and got a full night's rest, and after getting Ellie to bed that evening, I came downstairs to find everything picked up and back and order, thanks to my wonderful brother and sister-in-law.
In this new chapter of our life, it's easy to start worrying and stressing about the little things. But I'll enjoy our "new normal" much more if I focus on what God is calling me to do - being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, gentle, kind, good, faithful, and self controlled.
What has God been calling you to work on lately?


From left: Ron's brother Ray, mother Shirley, nephew Porter, sister-in-law Amanda, their daughter Natalie, me and Ellie, Grandma Porter and Ron.