So, I realized my grand idea of writing nine posts in a row about the Fruits of the Spirit was actually more than I could do!  The spirit moved me, and then he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Hey – ummmm….wait a minute.  You have a bit more to learn about this!  You aren’t ready.”

Let me back up a bit.

Yesterday I actually struggled in a big way trying to write a post about Joy.  Imagine that -considering the super stage of life I’m in, it wasn’t making any sense to me why this would be so difficult. Went to our Wednesday night study at church and it became crystal clear – in an ah ha moment – that I truly did have a lot to learn.  I had gotten happiness confused with joy…..

Nine posts on the nine Fruits of the Spirit in nine months is the new goal.  January will be on Self Control. Yep, The Holy Spirit does indeed have a sense of humor!! 😂 That led me to the post I really do want to do (and I’m very excited about) – this one!

My last post was about Love, written on Mother’s Day. The day after I  journeyed to just outside of Boston and spent a most marvelous three days with my two brothers and their wives (who I refer to as my sisters by other mothers).  The visit was such a blessing to me in more ways than I can count. I felt showered in Love the whole time I was there.

It turns out there’s a very sweet poetry contest going on there right now.  We decided to enter!!! We picked the Haiku category because it sounded pretty exotic.  None of us could remember just what a haiku was….so we had to be cool old people and jump right on our smart phones to find out!

This marvelous poem I can take only a speck of credit for….I tweaked it for form after researching what a Haiku actually is….three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables, with contrasting concepts that refer to the same idea, and a reference to a season or nature.  My sister Joan dreamed up using fire and ice and the moon, and got her creative stuff rocking for this piece.   I then discovered the next full moon is called Strawberry Moon.  It honestly only took a few minutes to draft it, and then a few more to tweak.

Cudos to Joan for right away getting inspired!!!  This just may be the best haiku ever written, but, in the words of my brother Lin, “I hate to brag”.

Dedicated to our beloved sister, Grace.   The poem is titled “June Moon”.

Full moon on fire.

Blazing high Strawberry Moon

Melts the ice within.

Head outside on June 9th when the moon rises, look up and think about the love of family and friends – those both near and far, here and there.