Courtney spun the colorful beads on her new bracelet as she sent up a prayer. “God, as I begin this day, please help me practice the fruits of the Spirit. Help me love all those with whom I come in contact today. Thank you for showing me this bracelet to remind me of my promise to You.”

“What’s that, dear?” Rick entered the room, rubbing his hair with a towel.

Courtney startled. “Oh, I was just praying.”

“What about?”

“Well, you know how much I love fruit.”

Rick laughed. “Yes, more than anyone I know.”

“The other night I was reading about the fruit of the Spirit, and deep in my heart, I felt God was calling me to embrace them in my life. And then yesterday, I saw this in the thrift shop.” She moved close to Rick to show him the colorful bracelet. “Each bead reminds me of a different fruit. I was just praying for God to remind me of the fruits of the Spirit as I go through my day.”

Rick nodded. “I hope that works out for you. I look forward to hearing all about it tonight. But now it’s getting late, and we’d better get the kids moving.”

Courtney glanced at her watch and straightened her dress. “You’re right. I’ll see you downstairs in a minute.”

When Rick left the room, she finished her prayer. “God, after love, the next fruit is joy. Thank you so much for my life. It’s a beautiful day, I have a wonderful family, and I’m grateful for my job. Please help me live my life with the joy you’ve given me.”

With a spring in her step, she made her way downstairs, but the joy was short-lived. Carter spilled his milk all over Maya’s homework, and Rick tripped over the dog and whacked his head on the kitchen cabinet. Amid the chaos, Courtney’s eyes fell on the bunch of bananas on the counter, and suddenly, her mind fixed on God, and she was filled with peace. She couldn’t help smiling.

“Mom–why are you smiling right now?” Maya threw up her hands. “This family is crazy.” She grabbed her backpack and stormed out the door.

30 minutes later, after dropping Carter at school, Courtney sat in an enormous traffic jam. She glanced at the clock for the dozenth time. As she reached up to push her hair back from her face, the bracelet caught her eye. Patience. She sent up another prayer. “God, I’m going to be late for work, but I need you to grant me patience.”

When she finally arrived at the office, she hurried to the door, but turned when she heard footsteps behind her. One word echoed through her head. Kindness. Instead of rushing into the office, she stopped and held the door for a young woman carrying a large package.

“Thank you so much,” the woman said. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Warmth filled Courtney’s heart. She should try to practice kindness more often. “Happy to help.” As the woman turned in the opposite direction from Courtney’s office, Courtney glanced at her watch again. She had exactly 5 minutes before her first meeting.

After dropping her bag at her desk, she grabbed her laptop and headed to the conference room. What was next on her list? She stared at her bracelet until she remembered. Goodness. How could she practice goodness in her team meeting? The answer came to her quickly. Throughout the meeting, she took every opportunity to give credit to her team members in front of her boss and publicly thanked them. The warm feeling spread.

After the meeting, she returned to her office. She had a few minutes before one of her team members was due to meet with her. Just as she opened her email, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. It was her dermatologist.

“Hello?”

“Hi Courtney. It’s Dr. Peterson. We got the results back on the suspicious mole we biopsied. I’m sorry to tell you, it turned out to be melanoma.”

Courtney’s heart sank. “Oh, no.”

“We caught it early, so that’s good news. I’ll need to schedule you for a wider excision, however, and we’ll determine next steps after that. How soon can you come in?”

Courtney scheduled another appointment and hung up the phone, dizzy with shock. She stared down at her hands, and the bright colors of her bracelet caught her eye. Faith. That’s what she needed right now. She whispered a prayer. “God, I don’t know what this road will look like, but You do. This is a scary diagnosis, but You’ve got the whole world in Your hands. I have faith You will walk beside me on this journey and carry me through it if I need You to.” Within moments, the initial panic subsided. God would take care of her.

Shortly after she got off the phone, Jonathan entered her office, ready for his mid-year review. Jonathan had been struggling this year. Once again, Courtney sent up a prayer, this time for gentleness. She had some difficult feedback for him, and she needed to use a gentle tone to convey it. After he left her office, she sat, astounded at how well the interaction had gone. God truly was helping her get through her day.

She spent the next hour putting the last-minute touches on her upcoming presentation. Before entering the conference room, she sent up one more prayer. Rick would be in the room, and he had a tendency to drive her crazy with his continual interruptions and demeaning attitude. As she fingered the last bead on her bracelet, she prayed for self-control.

An hour later, Courtney stood in line in the cafeteria with her coworker, Jamie. Jamie spooned salad into her bowl. “I couldn’t believe how controlled you were in that presentation. If Rick had interrupted me that many times, I think I would have thrown the laser pointer at him.”

Courtney laughed. “Now that would have livened up the meeting.”

Jamie grinned. “Seriously, though. What’s your secret?”

Courtney spooned a hearty serving of fruit salad onto her plate and grinned. “Believe it or not, fruit.”

Galatians 5:22-23

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Lord God, thank You for sending Your Spirit to live inside us. If we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we will bear beautiful fruit. Please help us remember to pray continually, no matter what the day brings, for we can only handle the trials with Your help. Help us practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in our daily lives. And thank You for the blessings we receive when we do.