Fruitful Fridays

***in which we reflect each week on one of the fruits of the holy spirit***

In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law.
~Galatians 5:22-23

This week I am focusing on generosity. It has been shown to me in so many ways over the past week. I have wonderful, amazing friends who were willing to patiently listen to me and gave of their time to do so. I have one friend who created a Mr. Linky to help drive traffic over to my blog. She has many followers and was generous enough to share!

I also have been thinking of the death of Farrah Fawcett and how in her final days she was so generous with the public in letting them see her through the ups and downs and trials of cancer. It taught so many about suffering and dying.

In the death of Michael Jackson I have seen the tragedy of his life but also the generosity he showed in sharing his music and talent with the world.

Mostly, though, I have been focused on the generosity of my husband. We don't often remember that our spouses are incredibly generous in the fact that they are willing to share their lives with us. Their families. Their careers. Their hopes and their dreams. My husband is working toward becoming a teacher and has been generous in the burden of attaining that dream. I know, that kind of sounds like an insult but it's not. You see, my husband is a fiercely independent man. He likes acheivement and he likes to say he did it alone. So when he started on this journey to teach just over 3 years ago, I offered to help and he was initially quick to say thanks, but no thanks. That started to change slowly once he started into his course work. To me, his coming to me and saying, I can't do this alone, I need your help was generous because I needed to be needed in that way, although I didn't realize it all at once. It allowed me to share some of my strengths with him and feel appreciated for them. I know he doesn't realize it as generosity, but I do and I think that makes a difference in our marriage.

So, what about you? Has anyone been generous to you in a memorable way?