Tag Archives: Stress

If Only

 

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I’ve got a ton of things to do.  There is not enough time in the day. I’m sleep deprived. I’m stressed out and overwhelmed and want to just crawl into a corner and suck my thumb. Okay, maybe it isn’t really that bad. I won’t revert back to childhood, although I have to say it was a lot less busy and a whole lot less stressful.

Life has a way of making me feel like I am constantly running on a never-ending treadmill. Sigh. If only I can make it through the day. If only I can make it through the week. If only I could make it through the year. If only, if only, if only…….

The “if only’s” zap me of the here and now. I overlook the current moments, if I’m always fixated on the “if only”. I don’t want to be that way. Life will still remain busy and honestly, it can get stressful. With that said, if I will slow down and take a moment to thank God for all the good, the mood changes. Yeah, I’ll still be busy, but my perspective will have changed.

My focus will be in the right place.

1 Chronicles 16:8 – Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.

Lord, thank You!

Thank you for……..

*sunshine

*the fresh start to a new week

*hugging my son before he leaves for the morning

*a job interview for son

*soft pillows

*warm socks

*dinner with my husband

*conversation with my husband who tells me “I’m always on your side”

*God who chose me

*living in His unending grace

 

 

Don’t Worry, I’ve Got This

Sometimes I feel so weighed down by the calendar and clock. My schedule gets busier and busier. The urgent pulls at me, clawing, ripping. I diligently pen in yet another thing that I need to do now, so I can check it off my to do list later. Keeping up with a marriage, a family, a life….is time consuming and not always easy. In fact most of the time it is definitely not easy, and I am tired. It isn’t even 8 in the morning…and I’m already ready for the day to be done. Is it bedtime yet?

 

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I find myself thinking it will be better when this month is over. It will calm down when summer gets here. I will relax when my schedule isn’t quite so full. Always somewhere down the road. Always another time. Then it hit me. I was spending my time, like coins falling through my fingers. Wasting the moments because I was too focused on the urgent. After all, I’ll never walk this way again. Once this day is spent, it is gone forever. Each day is unique and I was no longer seeing it.

 

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What does worrying about today’s schedule do for my peace of mind? I need to take the moments as they come. My obsessing over the details does nothing to calm my spirit. I might be really organized (and on some days even that is debatable), but what good is that if I’m so stressed that there is no longer any enjoyment? That is not how my Lord calls me to live.

In fact, He talks about worry and time and schedules often, in His Word. His words run over me like cool water in a dry desert. He draws me close and whispers, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

 

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Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4 NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 NIV

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4  NIV

 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6: 25-34  NIV

I Can’t Do This Alone

I received the call from my son yesterday afternoon.Rusted-apya-007

The van wouldn’t start. It was setting dead in the school parking lot. My son said he could catch a ride home, but the van remained.

Sigh.

Husband and I trekked over to the parking lot. The van was still there, setting forlornly in the waning light of day. A valiant road trip warrior that was just plain tired.

I could relate.

Somedays it seems I just can’t take ONE… MORE… THING.

When the days bring things that are broken, schedules crunched, tension mounting, work to finish, money tight, everything feels like it is about to implode.

And I want to scream, or cry…or both.

I long for life to be easier. I wait for the day that everything will make sense.

No worries, no stress, no heartache.

Can you relate? Do your days seem long, also? Ever feel like your good just isn’t good enough?

For now, I hold my head in my hands and attempt to breathe deeply. A whisper of prayer escapes my lips, nothing lofty or well spoken.

In the midst, I find myself crying out to God. So tired, Lord. I need Your peace. I need Your counsel. I need You. Oh, God! I need You. When life sucks all the oxygen out of the day to day and I feel I can’t catch my breath or catch a break….. I need You. Every day I need You.

Let’s face it, sometimes life is hard. It is a struggle to walk the walk when all I want to do is run. The burdens of life weigh heavy and I fear I will be buried in the avalanche. I need the One who is stronger than I am.

And so on days that are dim, I search for the Light, because I realize that I can’t do this alone.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”   John 8:12  ESV

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5: 7-9  NIV

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 ESV

 

Thankfulness And Trust

Mentally going over the to do list. So many things to get done, and I can feel the muscles tighten. Stress comes as an uninvited guest….and why can’t I get this right? Give all my burdens to Him and He will give me rest. I give them, and take them back, and I frustrate myself with my hesitancy to completely trust.

It is difficult to remain stressed when I’m thanking God, the One who gives the gifts. Thankfulness and stress can’t share the same space.

I need to get this right.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

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*Quiet evening, walking the dog

*Golden sunset

*Mama deer with her baby, on the edge of the cornfield

*Morning stillness

*Mist low on the ground

*Silhouette of the neighbor’s barn in the mist

*Heavy dew clinging to the grass, the weeds in the field, shimmering in the morning light

*Fuzzy purple socks and a hoodie

*Daughter’s birthday cake with home made frosting

*Ice cream with all the toppings

*18th Birthday

*The first official full day of Fall

*Jesus, always Jesus…

Be Still

Laundry

Laundry (Photo credit: Average Jane)

Some days I just feel like a hamster on a wheel. I spend my day running from one thing on my to do list to another. I attempt to get everything done and not get stressed out. Sometimes I can accomplish it all…and other days I fail miserably.

Today was one of those days. I find my thoughts were scattered, my adrenaline had kicked in, and yet I find myself exhausted!

Life will never be a easy. I probably won’t be able to finish everything I’d like to complete. Laundry is never done, dishes are always getting dirty. My kids need my attention. My husband wants to spend time with me. I teach. I blog. I have stuff to do.

On some days I can’t remember my own name!

Stop.

Stand still.

Breathe.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV

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Growth Can’t Always Be Measured With A Ruler

Stress

Image by alancleaver_2000 via Flickr

I still have a long way to go.

Growing. Stretching. Absorbing. Changing.

Some days I think I’ve got it all together. Whatever “it” is. I’ve got it all figured out. I’m on top of things.

Other days I know I don’t. I wonder if I ever did.

I look at other people. I think maybe their lives are right. And good.

Even if they aren’t.

I measure myself.

I come up short.

I want more.

More of what is good. More of what makes me happy. More of things going my way.

More. More. More.

Ungrateful.

The dark emotion washes over me like the cold waves of a surly ocean. I am overcome.

I breathe deeply. I don’t really like this place.

I snip at my kids, ignore my husband, don’t even want to pet the dog.

Who am I?

I breathe again.

Ann Voskamp reminds me in chapter 8. I know this woman’s words are a gift to me from God Himself. There is no other explanation. God speaks in many ways–and sometimes it is through a Canadian woman, a farmer’s wife, a home schooling mom of six. I am humbled.

On page 143, her words sear through me. Cutting me. Straight to the place that oozes with the ungrateful. The worry. The stress. The parts of myself that I don’t like to show.

“Anxiety has been my natural posture, my default stiffness.  How I angle my jaw, braced, chisel, the brow with the lines of distrust. How I don’t fold my hands in prayer…weld them into tight fists of control…… Do I hold worry close as this ruse of control, this pretense that I’m the one who will determine the course of events as I stir and churn and ruminate? Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is. And stressed, this pitched word that punctuates every conversation, is it really my attempt to prove how indispensable I am? Or is it more? Maybe disguising my deep fears as stress seems braver somehow.”

And on page 146, ” Stress isn’t only a joy stealer. The way we respond to it can be sin.” ……”I’ve got to get this thing, what it means to trust, to gut-believe in the good touch of God toward me, because it’s true: I can’t fill with joy until I learn how to trust: ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow.” (Romans 15:13)

I breathe again.

And I work on giving thanks. I need to give thanks. I must give thanks.

In order to see.

#155  Rainy days

#156 Warm light spilling through the kitchen

#157  Green showing through melted snow

# 158  Children laughing

 

 

 

 

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Rest For The Soul

RELAX

Image by marc falardeau via Flickr

Rest.

Time slows.

I savor the moment.

Saturday morning.

Walking around bare footed.

Wearing sweat pants and an old tee shirt.

Coffee in a deep mug.

With extra creamer.

Quiet time.

Reflection.

A time to enjoy.

 

 

 

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