I don’t know how we got on the subject of delayed gratification. But we were in the bathroom fixing our hair like girls do and you never know where bathroom conversations are going to go.

            I ran the flat iron through her soft, fine baby girl hair and we began to talk about delayed gratification. “Do you know what delayed gratification is baby girl?”

            We looked at each other through the mirror in front of us. She shook her head. I explained to her the concept. Her response. “I don’t think I’ve got that.”

            I laughed. “It’s kind of like self-control.”

            “That’s a fruit of the spirit.” She offered as she broke out in a song covering all the fruits of the spirit that she had learned at some point in Sunday school.

            “Oh Wow! That’s good. Do you know what the fruits of the Spirit are?”

            She shook her head again. “Well, say you had a lemon tree in front of you, but it didn’t have any lemons just the leaves of a lemon tree, would you know what kind of tree it was?”

            She shook her head.

            “But if you walked up to it and it had lemons on it would you know then?”

            “Yes.”

            “Well, that is what the fruits of the spirit are. If someone gives people love and is gentle with them and has self-control, then that is the fruit in their lives that helps other people recognize that they are a Christian. So if you meet people that have the opposite of those things, then it is usually a good indicator that they aren’t Christians. Because Jesus said, ‘you will know them by their fruits.”

            I saw the wheels turning. She was thinking this one through. Then out came the revelation. “You mean like _________.” She quickly offered the name of one of her siblings who she apparently hasn’t seen any fruit on recently. Though few things afford as much lack of fruit as sibling conflict I let her know that I didn’t show my younger brother many fruits until I moved away to Nashville.

            I brought us back to where we had begun. “So, delayed gratification helps us with our self-control.”

            “Well, I’m not very good at that one.”

            “You know, some of the fruits will always be easier for us than others, so that is why we do things that try to help the other fruits grow in our lives. That is one of the reasons I fast, because fasting helps with self-control. In fact, one time, I felt like The Lord asked me to fast for one whole year buying clothes. I used to give clothes away to people all the time and no one had ever given me clothes, and then here The Lord goes and tugs on my heart to not buy clothes for one whole year. And do you know what happened?” I asked.

            By this time her eyes were wide, her hair was beautiful and I had her undivided attention. She likes clothes.

            I said, “I had all kinds of people give me clothes that year. One of my friends gave me like five pairs of jeans, five t-shirts and the coolest jacket. Another friend gave me like six pairs of jeans. My mother bought me all kinds of things and so did another friend of mine. It was unbelievable what God did for me that year.”

            “Can I see your jacket?” She asked.

            I took her into the closet and pulled out the crinkly white jacket that still reminded me of God’s detailed love.

            “I love that.” She said.

            “Me too.”

            As we left the bathroom and the lesson on the fruits of the spirit I wondered if people can pull fruit off of me? Can people tell what kind of tree I am? I’m sure there are days the answer is doubtful. But my prayer is that this year the fruit would be bigger, fuller, and more available to those who need it. What about you? Would people know what kind of tree you are?