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Rest for the Soul
I love the 23rd Psalm. When I read it I picture myself drinking deeply from still waters and munching contentedly on delightful treats. Somehow in the first few words I find physical refreshment. My muscles begin to relax and tension starts to slip away. Though I experience a prompt relief in body, I admit my response to verse 3, “He restores my soul,” isn’t quite as immediate. As one who, along with the responsibilities of work, family, church and life, helps to provide emotional and practical support for a loved one living with a mental health disorder, the thought of a refreshed soul sounds like an unattainable luxury. My soul…
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Eugene Peterson on Rest: An interview from my files
The late Eugene Peterson, a pastor for thirty years before becoming professor of spiritual theology at Regent in Vancouver, B.C., wrote many books including a “Koine English” translation of the Bible, The Message. He also wrote works on pastoral ministry—and not the celebrity-pastor kind—such as Under the Unpredictable Plant; Working the Angles; Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work; and Subversive Spirituality. Despite his busy schedule, Peterson took a weekly day off. Back in the 1990s, I—then a workaholic—sat down with him and asked him about rest. His words changed me and have retained their relevance: SG: We live in such a busy world. How do we slow down? EP: The first thing is that…
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Strolling to the Finish Line, an invitation to slow down this summer
Summer time is a special time in our home, and by “special” one might say stressful. There is confusion somewhere in between the desire for me to be at home with my precious children which I balance with my work life (which I also love). I devote the majority of my time to my children, which essentially means that… I devote the majority of my time to my children! With little time to myself in the summer, I have struggled with feeling overwhelmed. I found myself giving myself a pep talk that sounds like this, “You’ve got this! Run your race well.” After a few minutes, I was stopped by…
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Sleeping in the Storm
I toss and turn as the minutes turn to hours. Sleep seems far away. Have you been there? I’ve struggled with sleep as far back as I can remember. Even with pillows and blankets on a fairly comfortable bed, rest feels so elusive some nights. I find it striking that Jesus could sleep on boat tossed by a violent storm. It’s almost as if you can see storm clouds on the distant horizon as Jesus steps into a boat in Matthew 8. Two men approach him, applying for discipleship, and ask to follow him. Jesus tells them they must leave personal comfort and family obligation behind. Following him requires…
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Running to my Husband
I have a fantastic husband. Not just Instagram fantastic, but like for real fantastic. Today, he put together two utility shelves for our mudroom and took the kids out of the house so I could get work done! Yet no matter how “real life” fantastic he is, all spouses fall short. Even my husband. We have the tendency to find the worst time, to say the gravest things, that send us over the edge. I can’t even pinpoint what our fight was about that fateful day but I do remember the sinking feeling in my stomach as tears welling up in my eyes. I retreated to my room to lick…
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Slowing Down
A cool breeze skips through the air. The sun says goodbye a little sooner. The grass beneath my feet slows its sprouting, inviting me to do the same. I’ve resisted the call for far too long. When the world shutdown earlier this year, and everyone talked about slowing down, I couldn’t figure out how. Life seemed to speed up within my four walls even as life shut down around us. My little ones needed more attention than ever as all their activities paused. My work intensified as my husband and I juggled Zoom meetings and endless interruptions. Even grocery shopping grew stressful as I scoured multiple online stores each week…
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Forced Sabbath
“Normal” used to mean a good night’s sleep of six hours and falling asleep during prayer. Normal meant unfolded laundry, unmade beds, and unfiled papers on my desk. Normal meant a twenty-minute dinner with my husband eating take-out in front of the TV. The receptionist called eight days ago to ask if I wished to reschedule my doctor’s appointment. Yes, please. The office lies in the heart of the city with the second highest confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. She asked if I’d like to reschedule for a time around Easter. I replied June or July. She laughed out loud. Strange. I hadn’t cracked a joke in two…
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Why You Need to Put Yourself in a Time-Out
Have you put yourself in a time-out lately? If your kids are grown you probably haven’t used that term in awhile. Even if you have young children you’re probably thinking I’m asking that question wrong. Kids are put in time-out, not grown-ups. Possibly you have neither kids nor nieces nor nephews and have no idea what I’m talking about. A time-out is the imposed temporary suspension of activities for a short amount of time with the intent of calming, reorienting, or disciplining a child. Why am I asking if you (as an adult) have had a time-out lately? Consider your current need for quiet and refreshment for your soul. Do…
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Time Management and Wise Living
As you head into 2020, how’s your schedule? Are you looking for things to do? Are your days full? Or are you feeling buried by the demands of home, work, and church commitments? Commitments in my life sometimes tumble on top of each. In fact, when an event occasionally gets cancelled by weather or sickness, I’m sometimes secretly thrilled at the empty space in my schedule. Once, when a planned lunch outing was cancelled, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even without the lunch, activity filled the day as I prepared for a dinner. I shopped, chopped mountains of vegetables, put casseroles in the oven and scrubbed dishes. As guests…
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Lessons from the Spider
Today I'm pleased to share this blog space with my good friend, teammate, and Dallas Theological Seminary student Genta Hayes. Genta is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. She is a daughter, sister, God-mother, a follower of Christ and a lover of People. Genta's passion is to shepherd the hearts of women so that they may know and be fully known by Jesus Christ. The month of August brought the start of many new ventures in my life: the launching of a new onboarding program for the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, starting a new role as a fellow in the Spiritual Formation department at Dallas Theological Seminary, beginningmy internship with…
