Fall Colors

It's here! The cool nights we've had for the last two weeks have caused some leaves to change color in our neighborhood! Of course, most of the trees in our neighborhood are Spanish oak and they don't change color. So when I walked up to the house this morning and saw the brilliant golden leaves on my Chinese Date tree, I got all excited. This is the most "color" I'll get.


Another indicator that Fall has arrived is the ripening of the berries on my holly bushes. The migrating birds are going to find these soon, and then they'll be gone. But they sure do bring some bright color into the flower beds.

As I looked around, though, I saw signs of confusion. After a long, hot and very dry summer, the rains came in September and October and caused much of the flora to think it was spring. So we have more flowers blooming now than we had all summer. I have several pink Gerbera daisies blooming by the mailbox.

Speaking of pink, this salvia has sweet, delicate little flowers dancing on the tips of its branches. I guess it really appreciates the warmth of the sun during the day, as well as all the rain we've been blessed with since September.

The orange lantana is also in bloom, right along side the crepe myrtles which have dropped their leaves already. It's been a very perplexing predicament for my plants.

Gentleness, the Eighth Quality

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

I have so enjoyed getting deep into the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit over the last eight weeks. I feel as though we have walked through the catacombs of God's Word to discover and broaden the definitions of each of these words. Beyond definitions, though, I have discovered the source of the power to unleash these qualities in my life.

This week we looked at gentleness and examined three aspects found there: submission, humility, and teachability. We learned that gentleness, or meekness, is not the same as weakness. Rather, it is the power and strength created from submitting to God's will. One of the greatest examples of this kind of submission is found in the Apostle Paul, who changed from one who persecuted the church to a man who suffered persecution for his Savior.

We discovered that humility, according to examples from Scripture, is the "correct estimation of ourselves which results from a correct estimation of our God." John the Baptist was a great example of a man familiar with humility. From before his birth until his death at the hands of Herod, John knew that his ministry would never eclipse that of Jesus. His own assessment of himself is found in John 3:30 in which he says, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Finally, we learned the third aspect of gentleness, which is teachability. One who had a teachable spirit was Apollos, a fervent disciple who was taught correct doctrine by Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18. Another was David, who learned the hard way to read God's instructions before setting out to transport the holy ark of God. You can read about his experience in 1 Chron. 13. Sometimes we must face severe hardship when we resist constructive teaching.

Jesus presents us with the most valuable picture of gentleness as He washed the feet of His disciples the night before His death. His answer to Peter's boasting was gentle. And please note that He also washed the feet of His betrayer. At the end of the washing He said to them (and to us), "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (Italics are mine.) John 13:16-17.

Go forth and do likewise.

More Cuteness

Adrian was full of cuteness this morning. He watches Sesame Street every day and one of the programs was all about wearing hats. So Adrian was showing us how he puts on this hat and then just as quickly tears it off his head and slings it to the floor!

He was having a ball and had his Grandpa, especially, in stitches over his antics.

Look closely and you'll see he has just enjoyed a blueberry muffin. When he says "muffin" it sounds like he's saying "Murphy", so we told Graham he was saying "uh-hah muffin!"

(Uh-hah is his word for uncle.)

Oh, my goodness. How much cuteness can you take? I was snapping pictures so fast my camera finally said "busy" and told me to slow down! It was very hard to pick just three of the more than forty that I took. What fun!

Three Weeks Old Today

This face is a reflection of happiness and satisfaction!

Translated, that means a full tummy and a clean diaper.

Andrew is three weeks old today.

Some Thoughts about Faithfulness

The seventh quality of the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. In our study this week we observed God's faithfulness, then the faithfulness of man. We learned that keeping the faith is sometimes hard and that Satan desires to destroy our faith through fear and doubt.

One of my favorite pictures from the gospels is that of the father of the demon-possessed son. He was brought to Jesus and told Him the problem and said, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." To which Jesus answered, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." My favorite part is the father's tearfully honest answer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief."

The more we know God, the more we can truly believe Him and His ability to act on our behalf. But just because God can, that doesn't mean He always will. Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of His company, not for His results.

Here are a couple more thoughts that I gleaned from Beth's study this week:

• Why did God put His Holy Spirit in us? God expressed His faithfulness to us in Christ, and Christ expressed His faithfulness to us in the Holy Spirit. And only through His Spirit can we, in turn, express our faithfulness to Him.
• Revelation 4:11 proclaims (in the old King James) "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Our calling is to please Him, and without faith it is impossible to please God.
• Our entire lives are lent to change. But who He is will never change. (see Heb. 13:8) As He reveals Himself to you, His heart remains the same. His faithfulness flows from who He is. To please Him, our faithfulness must do the same.

This whole study has been such a blessing. One thing I have grasped from it is that all nine of these qualities must flow through me from the Holy Spirit. I no longer have to work at being loving or kind or faithful. It's not up to me. I am just an earthen vessel, indwelt by God's treasure (the Holy Spirit) so that the "excellence of the power" may be of God and not me. (2 Cor. 4:7) Praise Him!

(Living Beyond Yourself, Beth Moore)

Snuggie

Have you seen these?

Snuggies are all the rage these days. I noticed that this year's "model" even comes in your favorite football team logo! But that's not what caught my eye this year.

No, Snuggie has come out with a Snuggie wrap for dogs!

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to conspire with my doggie-loving, more-over-the-top-than-I friend, Lois, to get Snuggies for our dogs. Her poodle, Jefferson, and Treasure go to Bible study every week and enjoy being loved and petted by all the ladies there. Jeffie is a clothes horse and comes dressed in wonderful costume every week. Treasure, on the other hand, prefers the au-naturale apparel, counting on her good looks to catch Jeffie's eye.

Now, I ask you, is this a happy dog?

Bless her heart, this was the sixth try at a happy picture. And I think this is as much "happy" as I'm going to get. But I'll take my camera to Bible study this week and maybe Jefferson can lift her spirits enough for me to catch them both in their Snuggies with happy faces!

Happy Halloween

Adrian is only two this Halloween and not in the least interested in giving out or gathering in candy. He and his Mommy, Daddy and little baby brother came to our house to have dinner and avoid the tricksters on their street. I was hoping that one or two trick-or-treaters would come by while he was here, just to give him an idea of the children's holiday fun.

Alas, this is the weekend for the time change and it didn't get dark until around 7:00, just after the Moza's went home. So I guess I'll just have to wait another year to see if this Halloween thing excites him or not. Maybe his parents will let us take him to our church Fun Fest.

Treasure let me put on her fancy Halloween collar and even allowed a picture or two - not a very happy moment. Then she went back to the TV room and settled on to the sofa for a nap. She missed all the ringing of the doorbell and the little trick-or-treaters. I bought one large bag of packaged M & M's and gave them all out.

Halloween is officially over at our house tonight. The lights are out, the clocks have been moved back an hour, and I can safely sleep till 8:00 tomorrow morning and get to church on time. It will feel normal to wake up with a little more light in the morning and sit down for supper as the sun goes down. So... Happy Halloween, and don't forget to change your clocks!