Fruit

Every day, I remind my clan that as children of God, we have access to the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, we have the fruit of the spirit, and with the fruit of the Spirit, we have no excuses.

And sometimes, God lovingly taps me on the shoulder and reminds me that the same goes for me.

So when I say, "I'm running out of patience", its a lie. I have all the patience I need, I just must choose to accept it, use it, and refuse to play a victim.

Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Gentleness Faithfulness Self Control

As I've mentioned, I would never go camping on my own will, but my family thinks otherwise. I love campfires, fishing, being away from home, and nature.... but I do not like a lack of plumbing and a cozy bed or sharing small spaces to sleep with my entire family.

The children were extremely excited, except for the threat of ticks and asthma. As we drove, we said a prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit, healing for allergies and asthma, and NO TICKS.

That night, I was the last to go to sleep. Because I had forgotten a pile of pillows and blankets amidst the chaos of packing in the morning, and even though my friend had lent me two extra blankets, all bedding was being used by my family, who were sound asleep.

I didn't want to disrupt the sleep, so I first tried to go to sleep without any. I thought I was tired enough, it just might work. Nope. I tried using a very small sweatshirt for my head and a baby blanket for my body. What seemed like forever later, I decided I would risk waking Brooke. I ripped off her large blanket that she had wrapped around herself like a cocoon, then covered both of us, and laid on her pillow. Brooke never noticed. I got some sleep.

However, when it started raining, I woke up in terror. What if my children woke up to this in the middle of the night??? What if they had to go to the bathroom??? What if they started screaming and woke up the entire campsite??? I looked around several times. I was freezing. Weren't they? How are they sleeping through this? And the thunder rolled.

At home, they would be awake and screaming in my bed. Yet, they lay still.

No coughing, wheezing, screaming, or need-to-potty-ing.

Max woke up and wanted to sleep with me. I held him as he whimpered a little. As I touched the back of his neck, there was a tick sized bump, but I didn't want to rip off a tick in the dark. So I let it be.

And in the thunder and rain and threat of terrified children with a husband that may just sleep through it all while I held my precious boy that had a tick infestation, I prayed for day to hurry up and come... which I knew was a selfish and silly prayer because some people in this world were enjoying their sleep.

Then, my spirit sang.."I will praise you in this storm..." So I did. I thanked God for the peace he gives. Max went back to sleep, and so did I.

I woke up a few more times, and the rain kept coming. The tent stayed mostly dry, the children kept sleeping, and the morning was nearing. As we arose, there was a break in the rain. I immediately looked at the back of Max's neck. It was goo from roasted marshmallows.

Peace.

I laughed to myself as I was reminded of God's faithfulness, and how my fears are conquerable. (And sometimes comical.)  We would have missed out if I would have chosen a comfy stay-at-home weekend.

Thank you, God for the fruit of your Spirit.