Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness.
Every few days, Ruth ran into Wendy. The little girl's friendliness and good cheer only served to
irritate Ruth. One day, Ruth completely lost her temper with Wendy. Weeks passed before Ruth
returned to the beach. Wendy was nowhere to be found. Ruth went to Wendy's house to
apologize
for her outburst. But when Ruth asked about the little girl, the mother said, "Wendy died last
week,
Mrs. Peterson. She had leukemia." But she had left something behind for Ruth. It was a crayon
drawing of the beach, with a lopsided, brown bird. The caption underneath the picture read, A
SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY. Today, that simple picture hangs in Ruth Peterson's study.
She put it there to remind her of the true nature of courage, love, and joy.
(Galatians 5:22
NRSV)
When Ruth Peterson's mother died, Ruth worked out her grief by taking long walks on the beach
near her house. There she met a cheerful little six-year-old named Wendy. As they talked, a
sandpiper flew by. "That's a joy," Wendy exclaimed. "My mama says sandpipers come to bring
us joy."
Dear God, I receive your joy. Now may I pass it on. Amen.
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