Galatians 5:22-23
Growing up, one thing that remained constant was my mothers trips to the farmers market every Saturday morning. Now for most people going to the farmers market is a relaxing Saturday morning activity. For my mom on the other hand, the farmers market was serious business; most Saturday mornings she would be out the door by 7 at the latest. A few hours later (usually as I was rolling out of bed) she would walk through the door with her basket full of fresh veggies, beautiful flowers and if I was lucky, a coconut pie.
Yall, this pie is no joke. Crunchy graham cracker crust filled with a sweet (I'm talking rot your teeth, coat your throat kind of sweet) ooey gooey middle with coconut shreds. Man oh man my mouth is watering just thinking of it.
On some (rare) mornings I would wake up early enough to go with mom to the market. I remember the smell of fresh country ham biscuits that would hit you as soon as you walked through the door. Hundreds of people walking in every possible direction, arms overflowing with this week's produce. The sweet old ladies selling their cakes and pies and the sweeter old men tending to their green beans and tomatoes. My favorite stands were the jewelry ladies. I would sit and watch their tiny fingers string bead after bead for hours while my mom shopped around. The farmers market was a safe place with friendly faces. Nothing bad ever happened there.
This morning I woke up around 8 (more like 9ish, clearly not a competitive marketer), had a nice cup of coffee and made my usual walk down to Horn in The West where the Watauga County Farmers Market was held every week. Familiar smells of coffee and ham biscuits hit me before I could even see the tents. Familiar views of orange carrots, purple beets and red tomatoes filled the stands. I stood back just to breathe in all the commotion-it felt like home, it felt like Saturday morning with my mommy.
As I walked through the tents filled with produce I couldn't help but think of Paul's letter to the Galatians. In an attempt to avert disaster, Paul reminds them that it is through grace, not the law, that righteousness is obtained.
Galatians 5:22-23 [But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these things there is no law.]
The fruit of the spirit is something that only the Holy Spirit can produce in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ- it is something we receive by faith, a gift given to us when we accept the Lord as our savior. As we live as Christians our gifts grow and develop in our lives.
One of these 9 gifts that has been so abundant in my life lately is joy. A few months ago when I returned to the church and once again accepted Christ into my life everything changed. All of these gifts were so present in my life and I was once again overflowing with joy. I think one of the greatest things in life is being happy for no apparent reason; and yall, in the midst of summer classes, busy season at work and life in general, I have every reason to be stressed and bummed out but I haven't been this happy in a long time.
Do you ever find yourself just walking along smiling ear to ear? Or maybe just singing out loud when there is no music. Sometimes I just giggle to myself because life is so SO good.
These are all gifts from the Lord. When we decide to love Christ and live as He tells us to, he grants us these gifts and yall, that's so freaking cool.
Jesus loves us so well and gives us places like the farmers market to share our own fruits (lol, get it?). I left the market an hour later, no coconut pie but coffee in one hand, a dozen peaches in the other, and 14 sunflowers balanced on top; making my own Saturday morning traditions & thankful for my morning at the farmers market.
This morning my heart was filled, my cup runneth over, and my life is oh so fruitful.
