A Lenten Devotion by Dawn Sorensen
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
“What Bible story do you think of when you think of Miss Ellie?” I ask Jacob. “Something about giving gifts because she gave me my blanket and she gave Olivia a blanket, and she’s always giving. She sends me cards even when we are not in church. That’s how we stay connected.”
I wanted to highlight here the friendship between my son, Jacob, and Ellie Kell. Jacob and Ellie were brought up in very different worlds, born over 60 years apart, and yet they are the best of friends. It’s a friendship that seems special, both to them and to me, and to many others from the perspective of someone on the outside looking in.
Jacob tells me that Ellie is “like a church grandma…she took care of me when I was little and in the nursery, we share hugs, and she listens to my stories.”
When I ask Jacob to describe their connection, he tells me that they have a lot of things in common. “We both like telling stories, we like giving and receiving hugs, we’re both happy but we also worry a lot.”
I asked Jacob when he first figured out that he and Ellie were buddies. “It seems like it’s always been that way,” he said. I guess he’s probably right about that, who am I to say anything different?
God, thank you for putting the right people in our path. Thank you for givers and receivers, for young and old and all that’s in between. Amen