Day 10 In Him we find...

So it's been another rough day. Lots of couch time, gingerale, and popsicles (only good part of being sick, unlimited popsicles with no guilt), but more importantly,

I made it here to tell you another thing we find in Him!

 

 

 

One of the expectations of my Lyme Disease treatment is to rest. It's so important.

Rest helps our bodies to heal. Our bodies need rest. Our minds need rest. We all need to rest physically, mentally, and spiritually. No matter how many naps we take or how many hours we sleep, we will not find true rest until we rest in God's promises. This could mean reading the Bible, listening to worship music, praying, or all of the above. Soaking in His promises for us will give us rest and restoration that is needed to keep us going so that we are able to fulfill His call on our lives.

 

Another way we find rest in God is by giving up all our worries to Him. He can handle it, that's for sure. You'll be surprised how at rest you will feel when you give it up to the One who cares for you. Matthew 11:28-29 says, “…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In Him we find rest.

 

Today's scripture for read-your-Bible-in-a-year-plan is John 5-6.

Hope to see you tomorrow for day 11 & don't forget to rest in Him!

Waiting for the storm to pass...

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in my sister's screened in porch and I noticed something different...the sky was divided. One side, bright sunshine...one side, raining. A clear line divided the two. I've never seen that before!

This made me think. It made me think how we all have times of sunshine and times of storm. Often, sunshine is linked to happiness and storms are referred too as bad times. 

Reality of it is, we will never experience sunshine 24/7 nor we will experience storms 24/7 (yay!). The weather is always changing. It's always moving. Let's step away from the literal thought and relate it to our actual lives. 

I'm sure you have a faced a "storm" or two in your life, right? I know I have. So what do you do when it's storming? Do you hide under a blanket and wait for it to pass? Do you do something about it? 

Just like if we were to face an "actual" storm for days, it's often hard to get everything we need to do, done. We may face some challenges like slower traffic on our way to work, football games cancelled, power outages...and more. When these difficult things happen, do our lives stop? No. They continue. It may be hard...it may not be enjoyable..it may change our plans, but life keeps going and the sun always comes out. 

Instead of shutting down when a storm comes our way, we have to continue to trust in God. We can't throw in the towel. We have to remember that His mercies are new each morning. Lamentations 3:23 says, "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." 

Instead of giving up, find the good in the storm. Just like in an "actual" rainstorm, it may push us to slow down. I don't know about you, but I love to cuddle up on the couch with a book during a storm. Rainstorms can force us to slow down from our busy lives and rest (which is a good thing!). Also, rainstorms nourish the land. So just like an "actual" storm, we should let our "spiritual storms" grow us too. It may not be our ideal experience, but God wants every season in our lives to bring us closer to Him. Use God as your safe place. Deuteronomy 33:27 says, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." 

Be thankful for the storms because they grow you and be thankful for the sun because it strengthens you for the next rainstorm. Be thankful at all times for there is a season for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." 

What helps you get through the storms in your life? 

Laboring on Labor Day

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a restful, fun Labor Day! My Labor Day was actually pretty laboring, but fun laboring, I guess you'd say. I woke up, had my morning reading time and got to work! No, I don't have an "actual" job just yet, but I have been rather productive lately. I have been hooked on DIY (do it yourself) projects. On top of that, it seems like the more I craft, the better I get at it and the more creative I am, therefore, I want to do more! I have alllll these ideas in my head and I feel like it's going to explode. Do you ever feel that way?

So everyone keeps telling me I need to rest, but I just have to be busy no matter how I feel! I'm tired of Lyme Disease getting in the way. However, I realize I gotta slow down so I can get better and beat the heck out of Lyme sooner rather than later!

As I lie on the couch, throbbing with pain, I realize, "Hmmm maybe I should take a break and slow down." Don't you hate when people tell you something & you go against what they say because you're stubborn (which I am) and then realize...they were right... the whole time. Yep, that's where I am right now. So I figured I would show you what wore me out today, followed with a family gathering. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Nothing. So those of you who know me personally, please encourage me to rest and take care of myself. I know I'm stubborn, but please stay on me...I'm giving you permission...remind me of that.

So the first thing I did was DIY bathroom wall art for my parents' bathroom. All I used were shoeboxes, paint, craft paper, and stencils. Super cheap. Easy to do. Time consuming if you are a perfectionist like me (and they aren't even perfect). I'm glad I'm finally finished with this project and somewhat happy with it.

Lastly, I made a fall monogrammed wreath. This was super easy and super fun! All I used was a wreath, fall garland, ribbon, hot glue and a wooden letter.

This is what I did today, plus some cleaning and chasing down kiddos. Productive day, but totally exhausting for a Lymie (a person with Lyme). Anyway, I hope you all had some rest from your work and have a wonderful week!

Rest...cure all for everyone

So last week I went to my monthly doctor's appointment. My doctor is very funny and usually always happy, but this appointment was a little different. He was funny and happy until I listed off all of things I have done the past few weeks. Once I had finished explaining my obligations and my wish for a normal summer, he quickly reminded that I have Lyme Disease and can't be normal at the moment. He was not happy that I had been so busy. Unfortunately, because I have been so busy this past month, my health has suffered. Now we are backtracking on treatment which I was not happy about. Anyway, his advice and demand was that I rest so that I will get better faster. I agree with this advice and believe that rest is important, but I hate laying around all the time. With support of my adamant doctor, family, and friends, my goal of the month is to rest. So where am I going with this? Well, I don't think I'm the only one who needs rest. Even if you don't have health issues like me, I feel that everyone could benefit from just resting. However, these days it's really hard to rest when our schedules are jam packed with things to do. We are so focused on getting things done that we forget one of the most important things...rest. Jesus said (Matthew 11:28 NIV), "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." It's important for us to step away from our hectic lives and just rest so that we may be rejuvenated to the face our next busy day. Resting can be different for people. How do you rest? Maybe your rest is gardening or reading a book in bed or napping! Reading the Bible could even be your rest. Whatever it may be, try being proactive and setting aside 15 minutes a day to just rest. If I'm not resting by laying down, I like to rest on my deck. There I can clear my mind and focus on what the promises that God has given me. So my challenge for you AND me, is to rest every day. We can't miss the fact that true rest only comes from God. One of my favorite singers is Audrey Assad. She sings a song called, "Restless". The chorus goes like this..."And I'm restless, I'm restless, 'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You...I wanna rest in You." We may feel rested after a long nap, but we don't find true rest until we seek God and all His promises for us. It can be tough to step away from our hectic lives, but it's definitely worth it! It can help physically, but also spiritually. So go get some rest, I know I'm going to! Be blessed today! :)