I hear that there are people who enjoy exercising. They thrive on it.
I’d like to spend some time with this foreign species and soak up some of their enthusiasm and motivation, osmosis-like.
Because I’m more in the exercise-is-really-a-form-of-torture camp. It’s a bit like childbirth for me: painful enough that I need to minimize any aspects that are remotely frustrating in order to pull through it.
I tried walking (not running, mind you) through my neighborhood with my husband and kids. That was stress galore: different paces, fear of cars slamming into children, sippy cups going AWOL…
So, I changed course and crafted a plan I could follow: walking solo on a path of my choosing, the time of day, pace, and duration determined by me alone.
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I gulped hard, forcing a smile as I watched my five year-old slide down the wet strip of yellow. Cold water splashed my shins as he squealed in delight. And still I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She was too young. She didn’t deserve to go so soon. Yet she’s gone. Just like that.
Try as I might, all I could see was what else I could lose…
Fear was percolating when movement across the lawn caught my eye. I glanced over just in time to see the baby cardinal. He saw me, too, as he hopped over to our rain garden and then quickly took flight.
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You should have seen my to-do lists from a few months ago. So long. So many ambitious tasks to do. What? Did I think it would be fun to write “wash the windows” down on my list every day for a year? Did I really need to write “get husband to clean the garage” again and again? Hyperbole, you know. But there’s a big huge morsel of truth here, folks. And I had to stop doing one thing to discover what was missing in my life.
I stopped writing these long, ridiculous to-do lists for myself.
I had justified it by saying — it’s a brain dump.
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The days are long, and that July heat wraps around us like a thick blanket! It makes us want to slow down, relax and enjoy all we can from this far too fleeting season. We know from experience, how quickly it picks up speed. Before we know it, we are trailing beach sand from our flip-flops while we cruise the latest have-to items in the back-to-school aisle!
But…
Summer is for Savouring.
So before we have to exchange our warm Summer days list for the one with Fall items, can we add a few more things? These items may already be on our lists, but we might want to look at them in a new light…
Sand shovel – For digging deeper.
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Written on
July 14, 2013 by
Deb in
Blog
I was surprised by the response I received to a post I wrote at Counting My Blessings last week titled, 12 Things to Pray for Your Pastor and His Family.
48 hours after it posted, I became even more convinced that pastors and their families are in serious need of encouragement and support.
Many pastors deal with a feeling of isolation and discouragement.
The following are some comments I found:
- The church and people in the community are very friendly, but they also expect 24/7 availability without really opening their lives and homes to my family and me.
- Some people are negative about everything I do and say.
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There are days I feel like less. Depending on the day, it might be less skilled, less useful, or less liked by others. And sometimes, I just feel like less. Just. Less.
It happens when I compare myself to others, leading to jealously, anger, and feeling like someone else is better than me.
Maybe you’ve been there too, feeling…
…like less of a mom when you watch other moms who seem to have it all together.
…less loved when you see other marriages.
…less valuable to God when you can’t do what He calls someone else to do.
…less talented when you read or view someone else’s work.
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Have you ever had to walk through a familiar room in the dark and rely on your memory to get you to where you are going with out stubbing your toe or hitting your knee on a sharp edge of something? It is kind of scary isn’t it? You have to trust your memory and hope nothing has moved since you last saw it, feeling your way through the dark.
Lately I have had a song stuck in my head, a song that I don’t mind replaying over and over again. It has brought me comfort and spoken truth to me on and off as my husband and I have had to walk through dark rooms of faith lately.
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