Toe Socks!

When Fiver and I stepped out the front door this morning, we walked right out into a blustery, cold and crisp winter day here in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma!  When Fiver stopped to add his mark to the neighborhood doggie 411 light pole directly in front of our house, his leash went behind his front paws, so I had to bend over to untangle it. 

With me being long-waisted, that also meant the customary tug on the back loop of my pants in order to adjust my jeans into proper positioning… (enough said?).  But this morning held a hidden surprise for me… as soon as I lifted up my coat to get to the loop, a gust of the 13 mph winds blew an icy rush of 34-degree air right up my back!  And needless to say, it was a shock, and I immediately hollered out a resounding WHOOOOOO!

That icy, cold touch reminded me of my sweet Piper’s hands.  They were always cold… in fact, when I used to get terrible migraines, she would put her cold hand on my forehead with results very similar to that of a chilly, wet washcloth!  And speaking of Piper…

When I first sat down in my study for my daily Bible time early today, I leaned back in my chair and let my eyes peruse the myriad of family pictorial history on the wall in front of me.  My eyes came to rest on a picture of Piper and a young Joshua sitting on a log in a Redwood grove where we were camping at the time.  What caught my attention was not only the joyous smiles on both of their faces, but also the very colorful socks that Piper had on!

As I looked at the brightly striped socks, it dawned on me that she really enjoyed wearing bright colored socks the whole time we were together.  I remembered that she had a pair of striped, knee-high toe socks when we were dating that she’d wear with her jeans and occasionally with shorts.  I also recalled when I had to begin dressing her during her illness, that a few of her once bright socks had faded.  

I specifically remember this because I had to put out a lot of effort in visiting numerous stores in order to find her brightly colored crew socks.   As it was, I ended up finding a source online.  I guess gals nowadays don’t care for brightly colored, thick crew socks!  Bright ankle socks were easy to find, but I needed to keep more of her warm as she became less mobile.

When I finally got to opening up my Bible, I felt the urge to take a look at the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  I began in the familiar King James Version where it declares. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  Then I decided to take a peek in The Passion Translation and immediately understood why I had the urge to check out these verses. 

To me, this modern translation puts a different twist on this Biblical favorite saying, “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” 

The thought that the fruit of the Spirit are varied expressions of God’s divine LOVE expressed in us through the characteristics of JOY, PEACE, PATINENCE, KINDNESS, VIRTUE, FAITH, GENTLENESS and STRENGTH of SPIRIT really got me to thinking about the way I act on a daily basis… and specifically, if my ACTIONS consistently match the words that I SPEAK…

And then I was drawn back to the picture of Piper’s socks!  Bright colored socks are like the actions we take in correlation to what comes out of our mouths!  Brightly colored socks catch your attention!  Let me just say, that if Piper had on her brightly colored, knee-high, striped toes socks with a pair of shorts… you would notice those socks!  Colorful socks draw eyes to them… at least they do for me… (maybe I’m a little strange here… although I do also recall other people commenting on Piper’s choice of socks!)  I had a lady that worked for me at Hewlett Packard years ago who always made sure that her socks matched the shirt that she wore each day… bright or subdued, pink or blue… they always matched!

So, what am I trying to say here?  In the book of James, LOVE is called “The Royal Law” (James 2:8 KJV) and we are told that if we fulfill it, that we will do well in life.  And while I may not wear brightly colored socks like my wife did… although I did buy a pair of almost fluorescent yellow ankle socks at the end of last summer… I do want the LOVE of GOD to shine brightly off of me!  Which according to our scripture in Galatians 5:22-23, means that I need to have eight characteristics of His LOVE working in me, working for me, and also working through me unto others!

I always thought that Piper’s brightly colored socks looked good on her.  They matched her bubbly, uplifting, joy-filled, caring and warm personality… And that’s exactly the God-kind of LOVE that I desire for people to see in me… How about you?

Which characteristics of God’s LOVE is your life brightly demonstrating today?