The Fruit of the Spirit Printable [Galatians 5:22-23]

I’ve been feeling on edge lately.  The items on my to-do list and stress have been piling up.  And my reactions haven’t been exactly what you’d call pretty.  I’ve been short-tempered, frazzled, and I’ve yelled on a few occasions.

On Friday night while talking through everything I need to do in the next few weeks my husband assured me that I was more than capable of getting it all done and that I need to relax some.  We took some time as a family Saturday and I set some of my responsibilities and thoughts of them aside so I could fully enjoy our time together.  It was a glorious day.

I realized this weekend that I needed to take a deep breath, sit, and quiet myself.  Every night after my husband and I say goodnight to each other I get on my phone and I write myself an email.  I know, my husband has explained over and over again that I can just write myself a note on my phone but I always check my emails at some point in the morning so I know I’ll see it there.  In the notes section on my phone, not so much.  In that nightly email I type out my to-do list for the next day.  It allows me to dump it all out of my brain and then I can relax.

This weekend instead of rolling over after my email dump, I decided to read through a few Bible verses.  I have my real devotional in the morning but I’m finding that these brief moments of meditating on some of God’s word is helping to calm my heart even more before bed.

I’m hoping that as I push through these next few stressful weeks that I’ll be showing a little more of the fruit of the spirit in my actions and a little less fruit of my anxiety and stress.

What helps you when you’re stressed?