Love Because?

The clock is approaching midnight and I am still lost in thought on the message our lead pastor delivered during service this morning.  First of all, kudos to Pastor Greg for a great delivery of a necessary Truth!  Some messages resonate more than others, and today's was one of those that will stay with me for a long time.  Today's sermon was about LOVE.  

While I won't get into the drawn out details, the premise was this: do you love someone because they bring some benefit to you?  Do you love because that person makes you happy, brings you status, looks good on your arm?  Do you love because it fills a void in your life?  Do you act loving to someone because they make you laugh, bring fun to your life, they challenge you to think differently?  Do you LOVE BECAUSE?  

Or do you love in spite of the pain that befalls every human being?  Do you love in spite of the struggles and difficulties in relationships?  Do you love someone although they hurt you?  Do you love although they don't meet your expectations?  Do you love although they make bad choices?  Do you LOVE IN SPITE OF?

I'm not as articulate as our pastor was this morning, but I hope you can see the difference in those two paragraphs.  One is very selfish and not truly loving at all.  The other is the love we are created for.  It's the love given freely to us by our Heavenly Father each and every moment of every day.  It's the love we should be striving for every moment of our lives!  It sure as heaven isn't going to be easy.  

The idea of love is distorted in our American culture.  We're told love is an emotion and you can fall in & out of it.  We're told it equates to romance and happily every after.

I disagree.  

Love is a verb.  It is an action.  It is a CHOICE.  To love is to give of oneself when it actually costs you something.  We can't do it on our own...but when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we can call upon that strength and we can choose to love in spite of any/every reason we might be able to list as to why not to love someone.

Maybe you've never known what it means to be loved unconditionally.  If that's the case, I would encourage you to pray and ask God to show you His Almighty love for you.  Only once you experience that love can you come to comprehend the level to which we are called to love others.  Once you've experienced it, I challenge you to embrace each new day as an opportunity to act out LOVE, IN SPITE OF.  It won't always be easy...but it will be totally worth it!

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for his friends.  ~John 15:13

Welcome to the Orchard

Welcome to Living Fruits!  This blog is a new adventure for me as I try to chronicle my life as a child of the Most High God, seeking (and struggling) to live a life of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  Some of these I live out with ease.  Some take conscious decision-making.  Others are a daily battle (talking about you PATIENCE, gentleness & self-control!!!).

A little about me: I have been married to my high school sweetheart for over 14 years and we have 4 incredible children together - two who joined our family the old fashioned way, and two who came to us through the miracle of adoption.  I love being a stay at home mom and doing what I can to advocate for orphans and vulnerable children around the world.  I dream of having a large family and moving somewhere so far south that I never have to see snow again.

I hope you'll follow along as I share about my life and adventures in faith, family and fruit.


"I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing."  ~John 15:5