The Fruits of the Spirit...

The Fruits of the Spirit are something we all want to live by. Instilling this is hard because every personality is different. We talk about them a lot in church...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Sometimes it is not something we talk about enough at home. My grandfather, I believe, lived by every one of these. He was one of the kindest, gentlest, patient, loving men I have ever known. I wanted to break each one of these down a little. I am sure this is not very interesting reading for most but it is something I want to work hard on with my boys and myself.


Love, Agape Love, selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. We should love everyone unconditionally as Jesus loves us. We may not agree with everyone. We may not like everyone. We may not agree with others decisions. But, according the Bible we should love them anyway. This is hard to explain to kids also. Someone might be mean to you and you might not like it or them but God says we are to love unconditionally. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. love never fails.





Next is Joy. Let's just face it, it is impossible to by joyful all the time and to constantly be happy right? I would agree, and I believe God understands how hard it is for us here and that it is hard to be happy 24/7! I do believe he wants us to have a joyful heart though. We should work joyfully, live joyfully, worship joyfully, etc...We will not always be 100% happy but we can be joyful in whatever we do and give the glory and praise to Him. John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full.





Peace...how do we practice peace in our lives? This is probably one of the hardest for me. How do I live peacefully and know that God is in control...NO MATTER WHAT. It is hard to not worry about what the future holds but with God I have to believe and have faith that good or bad he will sustain me and my family. John 14:7 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through Faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are so many verses that I could quote for each of these!

Patience...OH MY! This is my downfall! I am not a patient person! I am better than I have been in the past but only because I have asked for help and guidance from my Savior in this area. I remind myself how Patient Christ has been with all of us in this earthly world. I know that the things of this world are part of his plan and we are here to endure whatever his plan is for us PATIENTLY. Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel. A hot temper is not something I want to be known for. When you don't have patience it is hard to obtain it...BUT, I promise with a little work and help from our Heavenly Father...it CAN happen.

Kindness...Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Well, that pretty much sums it up, huh! We are to be kind to one another in EVERY situation... that is hard! It is a challenge! But, it is something I want to try very hard to do. Even in situations within our own family these past few weeks...I vow to be kind and to be as Christ would expect me to be! I will not give in to the devil and I will be kind! In my kids this is also hard...not necessarily with other people but with each other. Of course, brothers will be brothers but imagine how much more smoothly the day would go if we would all show a little kindness and compassion!

Goodness...2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This covers them all I believe! In every aspect of our life we should general be good. I feel like goodness incorporates this whole list.

Faithfulness...Provers 3:3 let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Let love and faithfulness NEVER leave me Lord! I want to stay faithful to our heavenly Father! On a daily basis stay faithful to the Lord in what I do, say, the way I act, in every part of my being.

Gentleness...Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. I love this next verse. 1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks to you give the reason for hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. We are to show gentleness to everyone. Gentleness to our children, parents, strangers on the street!

and Self-Control...We are to show restraint in areas of our life. Self control with our mouths (speaking only good), self-control sexually, self-control with money...etc...We should, as Christians, be set apart from others and they should see that there is something different about us. All of these aspects fall under self-control. If we have self-control we will be loving, we will be joyful, we will be patient, we will be kind, we will be good, we will be faithful, we will be gentle!

It is no secret that Satan attacks those that are doing good and living in God's desired path. He has attacked our family on different occasions. Have we always acted as God would intend...no! But, we have learned and grown from these mistakes. I want to teach my children these attributes! I want my kids to make this their lifestyle from the beginning so that it is not so hard to learn in their old age! I want to live these myself! How about you?

Contentment...

Something we have been trying to work on in our family is to be content. The definition of content is "happy enough with what one has or is; not desiring something more or different; satisfied; willing". This is a tough one to say the least! The human part of us is always wanting something more or different and we are rarely satisfied. I am guilty of this more than anyone. Always wishing we had this or that or we need to do this to the house or that to the house or buy this or that. I want to just be content with what God has given me. To be satisfied with what has been provided and to enjoy God's blessings and not always want MORE MORE MORE! Philippians 4:12 tell us I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I want to live this verse! I want my kids to live this verse and to learn to be satisfied! How do you teach this...how do you accomplish this from the human aspect of it. Someone is always coming in with something, young or old and we think "ooohhh I wish I had that" or "where can I get myself one of those" or "so and so has this and I want one too". I know it is impossible to completely erase those thoughts from our mind. After all, as I said before, we are human! What I am hoping is that we can say "you know that is really nice and that would be great to have but you know I already have a ___ and I am grateful that I have what I have". It is okay to buy something I am not saying that but to constantly think we need more is what I want to work on. We don't always have to have more more more. As the old saying goes "sometimes less is more". It is training yourself to look with the eyes and say that is nice but with my mind say "I just don't need it"! Controlling the wants from the needs. Sometimes it is easy to talk ourselves into making something we want into something we need. Anyways, just something we are working on here Where Four Boys Grow...

Memories...

So we are in Florida. Trying to enjoy the vacation we were supposed to leave for on Tuesday but it just isn't that easy. It has been a rough week to say the least. I think that today was even a little harder for me than some days earlier in the week. I am not sad for Poppy because I know he is in a better place. I think what I am struggling with most is all the family times and events he was always there for that he won't be at now. My heart breaks for my daddy. They spent so much time together and I know that he will feel lost without him. I hated to even leave to come down here feeling like we needed to be home with family! I know that it will get easier with time but he was such a big part of our lives and we were all close to Poppy. You can't help but have all those memories from childhood and even adulthood come flooding back. You see, I spent many summers at Poppy and Grangran's house while mom and dad were working. I would watch TV, follow Poppy around to the basement or the barn. He was always working on something. He might be working on a car or just piddlin' making something. I would play with all his tools and look at all the things he had made. He is the one who taught me how to ride horses. We spent many a day riding around the fields at his house! He was the best! Grangran would always be piddlin' around the house and would always make sure we had something good to eat for lunch! If I got tired of piddlin' with Poppy and Grangran I could always walk across the field over to Uncle Jo and Aunt Edna's house and aggravate them for a while. Every, did I say EVERY Saturday night memory that I have growing up was spent with the whole family going out to eat. In those days about all we had was Quincy's, Shoney's and Cracker Barrel. It was always Poppy, Grangran, Uncle Jo and Aunt Edna, us and whoever else would tag along. We would end up at either Poppy and Grangran's house or Uncle Jo and Aunt Edna's house afterwards. Looking back these were some special times! I would always stay with Poppy and Grangran the week of VBS at Poplar Grove. The bus from church would come by and pick me up! The church was only a mile down the road! Christmas Eve's at Poppy and Grangran's house until Grangran got sick. Poppy then came to my house every Christmas morning since Dylan was born and would watch the boys open their presents. I don't think he missed a single year! Poppy was always at our Christmas with mom and dad. He was always at the boys birthday parties and everyone else's birthday dinners we had. We were always having supper at mom and dad's...mom always makes sure we are well fed. She always made sure Poppy had enough food to take home for a few days of meals also! His morning breakfasts with dad and his Saturday spent working on the building the hot rod with dad or restoring the old '48 Ford. Too many memories to share and ones that will never be forgotten. I am so thankful that Dylan Mason and Jack got to know Poppy. Poppy was a very special person in their lives! I am also glad that Poppy got to meet Noah...sad that Noah won't remember what a special person he was, but we will have lots of stories to share with him as he grows!

Today we lost a GREAT one...

Our morning started out with exciting conversation over breakfast!  We were leaving for the beach today for a few days of R&R over fall break.  Then we got the call that you always dread!  We lost my Poppy this morning.  Our excitement and joy soon turned to tears and sadness as we had to tell the boys about their great grandpa.  What a special man he was to all of us!  Our sadness turned to rejoicing that he did not suffer.  He never wanted to be sick or in the nursing home.  He was 93 years old but still driving, living at home alone, doing his own laundry, buying his own groceries, he ate breakfast with my daddy every morning at Made With Love or Cracker Barrel.  What a life this man has lived.  All the things that he saw in his lifetime.  He joined the National Guard in 1938 and was in the Cavalry...yes the horse cavalry!  When bombs hit Pearl Harbor his unit was activated and he was sent to California to prepare to go oversees.  He was in Okinawa when a bomb hit the tent he was staying in. Sixteen men in his unit died that night but he was saved.  Why?  He asked himself that same question!  He knew at that moment that God had a plan for him and he accepted Christ as his Savior.  What a testimony!  He married my grandmother in Rossville, Georgia by a Justice of the Peace at midnight.  He and his buddies all got leave one weekend from Camp Forest, Tennessee and realized they had no way to make it home.  Three men rode a motorcycle back to Cookeville!  I love these stories!  After the Army he was a mechanic for the state!  He loved to work on, well, just about anything!  He rode horses, trained horses, was a member of the Upper Cumberland Horeseback Riders Club for years, he loved woodworking and was a great craftsman!  He loved his family, his children, his grandchildren, his great grandchildren!  Oh, the memories we all have!  He love to get together and eat...anytime!  As a matter of fact last Friday night we all had supper together at mom and dads! He was at my house every Christmas morning for the last ten years since Dylan was born!  My boys loved Poppy so much!  It is so hard to realize how much you love them also until they are gone!    We will miss his company, we will miss his smile, we will miss his happy spirit, we will miss his presence BUT we know that he is well taken care of! 

Forever After

Words cannot say what my hear truly feels
A sadness, a loss, that only time will heal.
But today my Poppy is in a new place
Where life after death really does exist.
No sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no tears.
For today is a celebration of his happy years.
(Ninety-three to be exact)
What a wondrous life, what a wondrous day
To know that he no longer has to say,
"I Can Only Imagine!"
He sits before our King, our Maker, our Redeemer
Holding the hand of his beautiful bride.
She has waited for him and she knew the day.
Their celebration of being reunited.
They are Poppy and Grangran
How we know them best.
Without them
Our lives would have have been so blessed.

Thank you Lord
For the time we had them.
Now they are yours...for forever after!