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Summer Slow Down

7 more days. Really?! Seven more school days until the completion of the 2014-2015 school year. Of my 5 children, 3 are in school. Our school year has been greatly extended because of many snow days and delayed openings. And not only does it mark the completion of the school year but also a break from their STEM club and Boy Scouts.

 

With the intensity of their schoolwork, extra curricular activities, my home, business and ministry commitments, we are all in need of the summer slow down. I usually have their summer calendar FULL by April. From VBS and camps to vacations and festivals, that calendar is jammed packed. Not this year friends.

 

I’ve taken a different approach. As always (well, almost all the time), I’ve followed the Holy Spirit’s leading. He gently showed me that some of my family’s joy and fun have been squeezed out. As stated earlier, with the intensity of our day-to-day activities and my husband starting a new job, fun has been in “Life’s” clutches struggling to get free.   So I release FUN from its restraints. We will bask in the summer slow down, embrace the now moment and have fun.

 

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

 

Lord I resolve not to allow “Doing Life” to squeeze You out, squeeze fun out, squeeze joy out. I will find my delight in You Oh Lord and will reflect your glory and fullness of joy onto my loved ones. And with the reflection of your glory I will command the atmosphere in my home to be saturated with love, joy, peace and fun.

 

To embrace the summer slow down and have fun I’ve left the calendar pretty open. The 3 oldest will have one week of camp each and we’ve got one family vacation planned otherwise, we’ll figure it out as we go along.  I’ll have the children create at least 20 things they want to do and we’ll put them in a jar and pick.

 

And so far we are off to a great start. I went to an all-day jazz concert with a friend who is witty and kept me in stitches. The children have had fun hanging out at The National Harbor, a pool party, eating out (which is a real treat because we usually eat at home) a health and fitness expo, and a water gun battle. Now if mommy and daddy can get a date night….

 

Some of my personal favorite ways of summer slow down:

 

~Reading historical Christian fiction

~Going to the beach

~Going to a concert

~Sitting in a coffee shop with my laptop and a steaming cup of Joe (this is a rare treat)

~Sitting on the front step of my home, gazing out onto the water, listening to the birds and geese.

 

What are you doing to embrace the summer slow down and have fun? Let me hear from you. If you are challenged with granting yourself permission to have fun, CLICK HERE.

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

Happy to connect with these friends encouraging the Body Life Giving Linkup, Purposeful Faith, Dance With Jesus, Grace & Truth

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How To Get Rest

Intel’s fastest PC processing chip does about 3.5 GHz. Perhaps my brain was clocking 8 GHz. Thoughts about managing people, projects, homework, housework, spiritual warfare, tenants, ministry events, oh not to mention my own health, appointments, helping others and the list goes on and on.

 

Then He gently whispered, “I will lead you beside still waters.”

 

This is something I’ve heard Him say before. In fact, He leads me beside still waters almost daily but then one of those sweet little people of mine find some way to encroach on my STILLNESS.

 

Then He whispered again, “I will lead you beside still waters.”

 

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So the day commences with a flurry of activity, make breakfast for 7 people, pack lunches for 5, drop one off extra early in the a.m. for music, drop 2 others, go somewhere else drop off one more. From there I’d normally rush back to get in some exercise but I told myself, “Break from the routine. Go to the park.” The park it is. There I exercised and had fun with my littlest guy. We were about to rush back to begin the next series of errands but God drew my attention to the pond. Just a stone’s throw to my left, the still waters.

 

“Come, sit with me a while,” he beckoned.

 

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

 

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So disregarding the voice in my head that wanted to rush out of the park to “Get things done” I heeded the voice of the Lord.

 

I squarely placed myself in the middle of the bench. My little guy climbed up beside me and rested his head on my lap. As I gaze out at the water, love, joy and peace overcame me.

 

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Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:1-2

 

Newton’s 1st law of motion says:

 

An object that is in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless an external force acts upon it. An object that is at rest will stay at rest unless an external force acts upon it. The unbalanced force changes the state of motion. This law of generally called the law of inertia.

 

From this we can deduce that we will keep doing what we usually do unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Glory be to God that it is HE who wants to tilt me in His direction. He provides the imbalance so that I can recalibrate and find my balance in Him and in Him alone. When I REST in Him, I am refreshed and renewed. My peace is like a river and my joy is full. He said in His presence there is fullness of joy.

 

When He beckons you to be still, to come sit a while, don’t disregard His prompting. Heed the voice of God. In Him is how to get rest.

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Caring for the temple requires proper nourishment, exercise and REST. Be intentional about getting rest today. Perhaps you could:

 

~Have quiet time

~Take a nap

~Get adequate sleep

~Embrace the now moment

 

What will you do today to purposefully get rest?

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It is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

  1. Happy to connect with friends at Fellowship Friday’s & Dance With Jesus 
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5 Ways to Reduce Stress

“Relax! You’re wearing your shoulders for earrings.” This amusing quip was relayed to be by a friend. And she is absolutely correct. Some days I feel I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders so to counterbalance the weight I hunch my shoulders. Needless to say my trapezius are well defined.

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But I have taken her words to heart and have implemented the following strategies to manage stress; for indeed the Lord encouraged us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. Please pause with me as you carefully consider these 5 ways to reduce stress.

 

BREATHE

Slow

Deep

Intentional

This type of breathing slows the heart rate and reduces stress. As you breathe deeply, consciously move down your body relaxing your eyebrows, shoulders, and limbs all the way to your toes. Feel your muscles relaxing as you supply your entire body with much needed oxygen.

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Breathe so deeply that you feel your ribs expand. You will feel the difference. I think so many of us have gotten used to breathing shallowly, short puffs in and out that deep breathing is foreign.

 

Now do it with me.

 

Deeply inhale through the nostrils until you feel your ribs expand. Hold a few seconds, and then release your breath slowly out of your mouth. Now do it again. With each inhalation thank God for the breath of life and with each exhalation release whatever is causing you stress. Visualize it leaving you. Mmm. I did that with you and I’m already feeling more relaxed.

 

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4

 

 

EMBRACE THE NOW MOMENT

 

What peace awaits right before your eyes? Stop and take a look. As I type this I’m listening to the bird symphony being conducting right outside my window.

All love, joy, peace and beauty can it be found in this moment. A child’s smile, an encouraging word shared with a co-worker, buds on the trees, the sweet tart taste of a green apple; our daily lives an inundated with beauty but we must slow down enough to appreciate it. For more on embracing the now moment, click here.

 

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a

 

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EXERCISE

When you exercise, you release endorphins that improve your mood. Studies have also shown that you get the added benefits of better sleep, released tension and improved self-esteem when you exercise so get some exercise in today. Even if you don’t regularly exercise, start where you are. A 10-minute walk up your street and back practice that deep breathing technique and you WILL feel better.

 

 

BE PROACTIVE

You know some of things already that stress you, so cut them off at the pass. If rushing in the morning causes stress, see what you can do the night before to facilitate a smoother morning. At night you can partially prepare breakfast, pack lunch(es), pack bags, tidy up fill up on gas. All these little things contribute greatly to reducing your morning stress.

 

Some stressors are out of your control. Someone cuts you off when driving or you’re the victim of identity theft. While you cannot control that, you can choose to respond versus react. Reacting is giving way to your emotions and impulses and letting them drive your behavior. When you react you are generally operating out of fear. Responding is when you pause before taking action. You take a deep breath then DECIDE how to best move forward given the information you are confronted with.

 

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HAVE FUN

Life can be so serious. Life can be so intense. But please, give yourself permission to LIVE! I’ve had to come to terms with this over the last few years. From my rising to my setting, I am serving people. The mental, physical and emotional demands on me are great. To meet those demands, I would sacrifice doing things that bought me pleasure. Then when I finally would do something pleasurable, I would feel guilty because of it. I had to ask God to help me with that. And He told me I had carried out this self-imposed suffering. I was torturing myself. Through prayer, He helped me free myself and I can now do something pleasurable without the guilt. While my schedule does not permit me to engage in the things I deem pleasurable very often (i.e. I’d love to be on the beach everyday) I have committed to doing things I enjoy. So what do I like other than the beach? Typing these posts while sitting in a coffee shop, exercising in a group or class, browsing in a bookstore, having dinner with a friend.

 

How about you commit to doing something this week simply because it brings you pleasure?

 

A study by the American Psychological Association reports that only 37% of us feel we’re effectively managing our stress, so that leaves more than half of the population then debilitated by the issues of life. And many common methods of distressing are ineffective and tend to make you feel worse afterward like:

 

~Eating

~Drinking

~Watching TV

~Surfing the Internet

 

These usually leave you not only with the initial stress but now bring added guilt. So instead of doing those, join me in breathing deeply, embracing the now moment, exercising, being proactive and having fun and let’s cause of stress to dissipate.

 

For more on managing stress, visit the following links:

Know You, Manage Your Emotions 

Tips for Less Stress

Stress Free Steps

http://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/stress

 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

 

Happy to connect with friends at Life Giving Linkup & Purposeful Faith

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