Stressed?

I found it ironic when I had to decide if I would attend a continuing education class entitled, "Stress, Anxiety, and Depression," only twelve days before Christmas.  If I attended the class, I would have more stress when I couldn't work on my long Christmas "to do" list.  If I didn't go, I would have to complete all 40 continuing education hours in one year...more stress (I've done that before).

The morning I prepared to host a Christmas party for my international friends, (the day before the "Stress, etc." class, I thought about stress).   I didn't want to be stressed.  I thought I had worked enough the days leading up to the party, but I still had a few last minute details to finish (after my girls got off to school) in two hours.  I had to unload the dishwasher, load it again, wash the pile of nondishwashable dishes, set two tables, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, vacuum the dining room, spruce up some bathrooms, make soup (open cans and dump them in the crock pot), clean the kitchen counters, hide the pile of papers, stuff clean laundry back in the dryer (no one ever looks there), take a shower, and get ready (hair fixed and makeup would be a bonus).  OK.  Maybe it was a little more than a "few details".  I was determined to finish without stress. 

The first step, (not even on the list), call a friend.  As we talked, I worked.  I love to work and talk.  It doesn't seem as much like work.  In our conversation I told her I had company coming.  She heard me starting laundry and surprisingly asked, "And you are doing laundry?"  I explained that the milk spill I cleaned up the night before had to be top priority.  Soured milk in the laundry was not very welcoming.

As I hung up the phone, I decided to talk to God it.  He reminded me of a few tips about stress.  As I scurried around to get my house ready, He said, "I'd rather you prepare your heart."  How many times do I spin my wheels to make myself, or my house presentable and miss my heart?  As I continued to clean, I asked God to prepare my heart.  I wanted my guests to be impressed with my changed heart more than my house, hair, or hunger eliminating food  

I dealt with the list farely stress-free for the first hour and 15 minutes (with my preparing heart challenge).  Then "crunch time" hit.  My last 30 minutes called for some choices.  My long list had dwindled, but not near finished.    

I had to unload the dishwasher, load it again, wash the pile of nondishwashable dishes, set two tables, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, vacuum the dining room, spruce up some bathrooms, make soup, clean the kitchen counters, hide the pile of papers, stuff clean laundry back in the dryer, take a shower, and get ready (hair fixed and makeup would be a bonus). 

Choices I made:  sweep the kithchen floor (only under the table), NOT mop.  Forget the vacuuming (more crumbs to come).  Now, no time for a shower.  But I must wear make up and take out the ponytail (always have pics).  Perfume covers a multitude of smells.  (Extra deoderant never hurts).  Febreze also works well on clothes, but I only use the best for my friends.  I decided my smile was  more important than a perfect house. 

P.S.  I've decided to attend the "Stress" class tomorrow.  More to come on "stress" (When I have time and not stressed).  I decided not to go back and change the verb tenses to show this happened today.  Sorry, too stressful. 

What stresses you the most this time of year?

Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

Help!

The verse under "Help" is Isaiah 41:13

Thunder?  Really? (My thoughts when the bomb sounding explosion startled me awake last night).  Of course the unnerving sound immediately followed with two screeching girls racing to our room to claim their spot in our bed.  Our spacious king size bed quickly felt like a claustrophobic toddler bed.  I opted to go to my daughter's bed.  She followed behind. 

As I stayed awake peering through her rain streeking window, I remembered everyone experiences storms.  Yes, natural, literal storms and figurative, "storms" or trials in our lives.  I reflected on the outline I finished just an hour earlier on "Help".  I prepared it to speak to a group of church secretaries.  Even though my body experienced complete exhaustion from days of studying, writing, rewording, and rearranging, my mind still had the capacity to worry. Ugh!

What if its still raining tomorrow?  I won't be able to wear my new leopard print clogs.  (It had already taken me an hour to pick out my outfit, even with the help of a friend).  I guess I could wear the other outfit with my new, clearanced, purple rayon shirt/jacket (I may have created a new fashion word.  Scary.)  Oh, wait.  I just washed that shirt/jacket, and the inside tag was correct. Fabric100%rayon IS "dry clean only". It shrinks.  Oops.  Oh, am I'm speaking about "Help" in less than 12 hours?  I need help! Not fashion help, (well, that too. And since when did this former tomboy even care about fashion?)  I needed help to refocus.  Help to live out all I'd studied this week.  Help to rest.

Isaiah 41:13 

"For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’"

And yes, God helped me.  I slept five hours straight, in spite of the flailing legs and arms of a nine-year- old next to me.   Guess what!  It wasn't raining until after I spoke. (I packed flip flops just in case).

Bonus:  I received a take home cup (pictured above).  Ironically, I almost yelled for help.  You don't know how hard I tried to pop off that screw on top.  Oh, I need help!

        



Lessons from Last Year's Fear

Last February, my middle daughter, seven-years-old, had a sore throat one Friday morning with no fever, so off to school she went.  She felt fine over the weekend.  However, the next week she ran a fever and complained of headaches off and on, but felt fine with medication.  3 a.m. Sunday morning (of course it’s the weekend), I called a triage nurse.  He thought she probably just had a mild case of the flu, even though she had a flu shot, and recommended waiting until Monday morning to see our doctor.  By Sunday evening (Super Bowl Sunday), she had an excruciating earache.  So, off to urgent care we went.  She had a bulging ear drumb (that bursted later that night, ouch!) and was diagnosed with strept throat.  (Never saw that coming!)  She started antibiotics; and we were sure she would be better in no time.

However, On Tuesday, we went to a Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game (Go Thunder!) for Upward basketball night.  By the end of the night, she complained that she couldn’t walk.  When we got home, we noticed her ankles were swollen and a rash on the lower part of her legs.  After a phone call to triage, the nurse said we could wait until the next day to see our doctor, but she was not sure if they would be open because of the predicted record snow storm.  My husband took her to the ER.  The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong.  Now the decision for me, fear? Or faith?  Through this trial, God taught me some steps to take to deal with fear.  

 

I.                    Focus on the Present

  Matthew 6: 27 - 34 says,  "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing ? Observe how the lilies of the field grow ; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?  You of little faith ! 31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things ; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

With my daughter, I had to focus on the present, not the future.  The present: my daughter had to go to the ER.   I should not worry about the future: how long she would be there, how we would deal with a child in the hospital for months, or how would this change our lives in the future.  Of course, this was a moment by moment choice.  When Satan tempted me to worry about the future, I had to  remember these verses.

I'll share some more of the story and the other steps next time. 

What fear do you have that you should focus on the present?

To continue the story: Lessons from Last Years Fear Part II

Wrecked Again? Fear Again?

God continues to let me work on my fear issue.  “But, I thought we were done with that, Lord?”   

My well broken-in, kid living, mom mobile golden van got hit again.  This time, the new damage happened while parked in the street in front of a friend’s house.  Unfortunately, the sliding door got smashed, missing my “deer” ding just a couple of feet away.  My van has had its share of body work, two visits to the shop in the last four months.  First: Driver side bumper rearranged from a hit and run.  Second, driver side spoiler fell off, my fault (really ought to write a blog on that one J).  (Oh no, I shared too much.  Now you won’t want to buy my van!)   I finally got an estimate from the insurance company yesterday.  I shared my fear with her.  “What if the door doesn’t operate correctly months from now?”  Her response, “Well it works now.  We can only fix the damaged body work.” 

God reminds me not to worry about the “what’ifs”.  But I’m so good at the “what ifs”.  What if I find out my husband is in a car wreck?  What if my children have a deadly disease I don’t know about?  What if my house burns down?   What if…  Sadly, I usually don’t stop with the “what if”.  I then dwell on the terrible consequences, as if my “what if” were true.  God speaks to me and says,

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  (Matthew 6:34)
How?  The verse right before this one, gives us the answer.  Matthew 6:33   says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (emphasis mine).


This is just one step God continues to teach me to overcome unwarranted fear.  Check back, I’m sure I will share the other two steps sometime.  I’m sharing this at a ladies’ retreat next week (I don’t want to give all my points away J).  (Wish I could only use “old” material, as if I’m fear- free now).

 (I'm still having problems downloading pics to my blog.  So, you will just have to imagine my dented van.)