FRUITFUL

At a vineyard in Oregon June ‘04

A notable pastor I know preached a pretty good sermon this Mother’s Day Sunday about life on the vine. My favorite nuggets were:
* Being fruitful, adding to the kingdom continually.
* We are to be on the vine, because without the vine we can do nothing, without Jesus we can do nothing.
* The fruit of the spirit is produced IN the disciple, not BY the disciple.
* People will see the disciple way before they see Jesus.
* Being on the vine is deeply relational.
* What would it be like to truly say, “I’m just dependent on Jesus to lead me through”?

What about all this? Well, I’m sure God has seen it all. What can this world do to us if he is with us? 'If God is for us, who can be against us?' If we are truly dependent on him, and also fruitfully adding to the kingdom continually, then this is where true life begins. Hard to do in times of struggle, times of frustration, but always a good place to reach for. It has been over a year since the referral of Koko to us, when we were officially matched. I remember last Mother’s Day clearly, still on that high of seeing her face for the first time…But then, we keep going, clinging to all things good in our lives, working hard at being fruitful, trusting that, even though forward movement seems foggy at best, in time we will see her face in person. Some day.

Some day when it’s time…

Happy Mother’s Day,
smj