FRUIT!!!!!!!
I see fruit all around me. But mainly in my friends.
I’ve been noticing how full my life feels lately. It’s not an overwhelming full, it’s a gentle and nourishing one. The kind of fullness that doesn’t come from achievement or business, but from people. From friendship.
There was a season when I was pruned.
Things I thought defined me were cut away. Plans, dreams, and versions of myself I wanted were taken. I remember waiting for fruit to appear as proof that the pruning had purpose.
I kept waiting to be in a season where I was bearing fruit.
But pruning is not the absence of life. It is preparation for it. And sometimes, it is also an invitation to receive instead of produce.
When the Bible talks about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it’s not so we can admire our own growth. It is not personal achievement. It’s so others can taste it. Be nourished by it. Be changed by it.
I see this in my friends.
I see love that pours out freely.
Joy that spills over into everyone nearby, making the whole room laugh.
Peace that settles a soul.
Patience that slows a hurried spirit.
Kindness and goodness that expect nothing in return.
Faithfulness that stirs up the Holy Spirit.
Gentleness that heals and restores.
Self-control that chooses grace and forgiveness.
I thought fruit would mean doing, producing, becoming. But sometimes fruit looks like being sustained. Like allowing yourself to be fed by the faithfulness and obedience of others.
Fruit is not grown for itself. It is a gift.
And I am surrounded by it.
I am blessed by friends who are nourishment in a world that is starving.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
John 15:7-9
For those who are still waiting for community, waiting for friendship, waiting to feel full again, know this: God is not late. Seasons of pruning are often where future relationships are prepared. Even now, He is preparing places for you to be known, loved, and fed in ways you cannot yet see. Rest where you are and receive what is offered!