Annual Reviews

            I just finished writing my annual report for my work here in Windom and I'm exhausted!  It's not that writing the report was so taxing, it's just that as I wrote I was reminded of all the things we had accomplished in ministry this year and the sheer volume of our accomplishments and the memory of all the hours that it took to make them happen just overwhelmed me.

            Just when I was thinking about how little we had done, I was reminded that we have done so much and come so far - it's truly amazing.

            I was reminded of our upcoming Lenten preaching series on the Fruits of the Spirit. Wow! What a lead in to thoughts about that.

            Each year I plant a garden and then fuss over it endlessly.  Watching every day for things to grow, coming away everyday not sure that anything is really happening.  Of course as the weeks (and months) go by I realize that a lot has been happening - it was just too subtle, to gradual, to see on a day-by-day basis.

            The Fruits of the Spirit in us are like that: subtle and gradual, but real and growing.  The Fruits of the Spirit include love, joy and peace a host of other worthy attributes ( Ephesians 5:22-26).  But none of us will ever wake up one morning to find we have them all in abundance.  They have to grow - and they have to be cultivated which means we have to work at it.

            And even though we work at it, it may seem that we are making no progress, no growth, at all.  I think when that happens we should all do an annual review to look back and see how far we've come and this will give us the enthusiasm we need to keep looking to God as we continue on.

Grace and Peace.  Sarah