Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A Reflection

Tonight in Stephanie's confirmation class we talked about what the Holy Spirit is and how we see it in our lives. According to Galatians 5:22-23, the Holy Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." We talked about what aspects of the Holy Spirit we saw in our lives and what we needed to work on.

Whether or not you believe in the Holy Spirit, the above traits are good ones to have in your life and I'm sure we can all stand to work on some of these traits.

Sidebar: I got called on in the class to read from the Bible and share my thoughts and I turned bright, bright tomato red. I do not know why I turn so bright red when I get called on, it's embarrassing. I mean, I'm a lawyer, I talk in front of people for a living and yet I can't read two lines without gallons of blood rushing to my face.

Ok, back to my original thought, here is my breakdown of the above-described traits, the ones I see in my life and the ones I need to work on. Call them traits of the Holy Spirit, traits of a happy life, important traits, whatever you want:

Love: I've got a lot of this in my life. I love my husband, my family (even though they drive me consistently crazy), my bullies, Baby Brady, my friends, my job, the $1.99 piece of carrot cake I got from Albertsons, my maternity yoga pants. I love lots of things in my life. I think the thing that I would need to work on is making sure all my loved ones know that I love them.

Joy: I am very joyful about being pregnant. Even though my back hurts and my heartburn is about to sear a hole in my chest, this is a very joyous occasion. I think with joy it is important to remember to find the joy in the little things in life when you are having a bad day. That is what I need to work on.

Peace: This is one that needs work. I often question my decisions even when I know I am making the best, informed decision I can make. I need to find peace with my decisions and trust myself.

Patience: Ok, this one needs a lot of work. I have zero patience for stupid people, people who come to a complete stop before making a turn while driving, people who stand in front of the Redbox machine at the grocery store forever choosing a movie, bad service at restaurants, and for my husband when he doesn't do what I ask right when I ask it. I definitely need to work on being more patient.

Kindness: I would like to think that I am kind to others around me. I try to be as kind as possible (unless you are one of the people that I have no patience for). I definitely have a lot of people in my life who are kind to me and for that I am very grateful. I think that we could all stand to be a little kinder in our daily lives.


Goodness: Oh goodness, sometimes it is just so hard to be good. I try to be a good wife, sister, daughter, friend, employee. I try to be good when eating. Goodness is present in my life and I'm always trying to be better.

Faithfulness: I have lots of faith in my life. I am faithful in my religous beliefs, to my husband, family and all my loved ones.


Gentleness: Ok, this is another one I can work on. I don't know that anyone would describe me as gentle. I can be very demanding and have high expectations of those around me. I am typically not afraid to tell people what I think and not always in the most gentle of terms. I probably could stand to be a little more gentle in my life.


Self-Control: This one is both present in my life and needs to be worked on. I have demonstrated massive self-control lately with spending. I have been budgeting and saving and spending money wisely. That is definitely new for me. I didn't even have a savings account until I got married in 2008. Now I have one and it even has money in it! I could use a little more self-control when it comes to desserts. Although after I am done typing this I'm going to go eat some of that carrot cake, but I think that counts as a vegetable.

So there you have it, the things I see in my life and the things I need to work on. I feel good after that little reflection. Sometimes it just feels good to take a hard look at the important things in life and whether you have those present in your life.

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