FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

The iris plants are blooming, the bluebird is nesting, and my husband is taking pictures of bluebonnets – spring has sprung!  It is the time of year when nature rejoices with its Creator recognizing that everything under the sun has a season and God is ever faithful year after year to bless us with His care and direction.  “Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; and hastening to its place it rises there again.” 

It was 8:00 on a Saturday morning and three generations of Campbell men were on the road making their way to east Texas.  The property is about a three hour drive from the house so they planned to spend the night in the trailer and return on Sunday.  It was a “working” trip which meant there were chores to do when they arrived at their destination.

They were planting fruit trees this time and hauling a small orchard in the bed of the truck.  It was their intentions to strategically place the apple, pear and peach trees along the fence line with expectations of enjoying fresh produce in a few years. My father-in-law is in his eighties, my husband is fifty-something and our son is mid-twenties.  It seemed only right to commemorate their heritage this spring by planting trees to mark each man’s place on the land.  Their toil and sweat testified of the tradition passed from father to son to work the land and thank God for the increase.

It was the youngest member of the Campbell team that decided to plant trees.  Our son has been interested in sustainable farming and looking for opportunities to invest in items that produce less dependency on the truck to grocery store living.  He is energetic about the future prospects of the property and smart enough to encourage his Dad and Grandfather to combine their efforts and cultivate the land.

My husband and I, our son and BDIL, took classes in beekeeping and raising chickens last fall.  It was fascinating to see how a few investments in nature can help balance our environment and thrilling to see my son so receptive to the idea of planting, sowing and reaping.  Understandably, we will have to move to the farm before we can totally fulfill our “green acres” dream.  To quote an old television song “Green acres is the place to be.  Farm living is life for me!”  Although, we might be similar to the green acres couple and find living on the farm to be much more difficult than we imagined!

However for now, we substantiate our dreams with a few trees to refresh us with shade and fruit, but more importantly the trees represent one generation passing the baton to the next generation.  We rejoice in knowing – “There is an appointed time for everything.  And there is a time for every event under heaven.”