"But the fruit of the Spirit is...JOY"

The second fruit of the Spirit talked about in Galatians is...JOY. I am excited to introduce to you the writer of this week's fruit...Cindy Moyers. She is not only the wife of a preacher, she also just happens to be my aunt. You can call her Cindy, but I refer to her as "Aunt Slenders". She has become very fond of that name!

I really can't say enough about Aunt Cindy. She has become one of my favorite people. I have obviously known her for as long as my husband Matt and I have been together. It seems she's always been one that I can talk to very easily. Even though Aunt Cindy is Matt's aunt, she and I are a lot alike. She is outgoing, cares deeply about people, loves to laugh, loves her family, and loves being a part of the ministry God has called her to. Oh, and she kinda likes to talk too...like me. :) I can relate to her.
Over the past few years, Matt and I have grown a lot closer to Aunt Cindy and her family. They have truly been a God-send and a blessing to our family! More specifically, Aunt Cindy has really been there for me. There have been some things over the past couple of years, that I have turned to Aunt Cindy for encouragement, support, advice, or even just a listening ear. The admirable thing about Aunt Cindy is that she gives biblical advice...not just words based on feeling, and not just words that she thinks I'd like to hear to make me feel better. Nope, it's all based on what the Bible says. We've laughed together, and we've cried together. If there was a fruit of prayer, she would definitely be the one that could write about that too. She truly is a woman of prayer. It's easy to say to someone, "prayin' for ya". It's another to pray WITH someone. She has prayed with me in person, on the phone, and through writing out prayers via email. This has brought me more encouragement than she probably realizes. More importantly though, she has challenged me to be a better Christian in many ways. I have found strength in my own life simply knowing the different things she has had to go through. She's not only my aunt, but she's become my friend and one of my mentors as well. I just really love her!


Name: Cindy Moyers
Hometown: Coffeyville, KS
Married to: Kevin Moyers
Family: 3 children. Jonathan, 23, will be marrying Shauncey on June 5th. Abbie, 21, will be marrying Logan on June 19th. Rebekah, 18, graduates from high school on May 15th, and will be attending Ozark Christian College in the fall.
Current living: Ft. Scott, KS. Kevin is the senior minister and we have been serving with Community Christian Church for 22 1/2 years now. Overall, we have been in ministry and married for 27 years. We love being in the ministry and believe this is where God wants us.
Hobbies: I love doing things with my family, reading, and flowers. With the two weddings coming up, I have been scrapbooking and being creative for the weddings.

Cindy adds, "I am very thankful for the legacy of Christianity that is in my family. My parents, Melvin and Irene Betts, raised me in a Christian home in the Tyro, Kansas area. I have three siblings who are Kathy, Karen, and Lon. All three are very involved in the church there at Tyro, as well as my parents, with Kathy being married to the Senior Minister there, David Bycroft."

And now, words from my "Aunt Slenders"...


"Joy. When I think of joy, the first verse that comes to my mind is, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” God is my strength and I find joy in knowing He is in control and not me.

I grew up enjoying life and finding joy in people and the things around me. I believe this joy is from the Lord. I find joy in the ministry. I love to serve and help others. This brings joy to my heart. I enjoy bringing a smile to someone’s face by little gifts of service: opening the door for someone, carrying a bag of groceries for an elderly person, picking up something that has dropped to the floor for someone…really seemingly small things, but things that can make a person feel like you care about them.

Joy. God can give us joy in all things. I find joy in my family. It doesn’t mean that everything that happens in my family is always how I would picture it, but God has been there to strengthen me in the sad times and heart breaking times. When I couldn’t get pregnant, I continued to find strength and joy in the Lord through the song and scripture, “You are my hiding place, You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You”; when Jonathan was diagnosed with heart problems at 4 ½ months old and we didn’t know if he would live, God brought me strength through the Psalms and I could rejoice that God had brought Jonathan into our lives and that God was in control; and when I was arrested three years ago (yes, you heard that right. That is a long story in and of itself so I will need to share that later), the stress and worry of the future was overtaken with God and I was able to allow Him to give me joy in knowing He was in control AGAIN!

As I have just shared these thoughts, I am reminded of the verses in James 1 that says, 2“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I am thankful for the joy that the Lord gives me in my church family. They have stood by me in thick and thin; they have believed in me and held my arms up when I couldn’t. That brings much joy to my heart! I am leading a women’s Bible study on Wednesday nights and we have had such a blessed time together. I find joy in these ladies. We are growing in our individual relationship with God and also growing in our relationship together as sisters in the Lord. Some verses we studied earlier in our group were from Habakkuk 3 which says, 17 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” I love those verses. We are learning in our Bible study to be intentional about our relationship with God. I truly believe that by purposely thinking about Him and dwelling in His presence every day brings much joy to my life. That doesn’t mean I have it all together, but I am working on my relationship with God every day.

JOY. It is an important part of the fruit of the spirit. God wants us to have joy in Him. He wants us to show joy to others."