I keep trying to crack the code on my now forty-something female body. She keeps throwing curves at me – literally! I remember a shift when I approached thirty, but this forty-something is something else! I’ve decided that carbs are not my friend and exercise is no longer optional. That said, I’ve also decided to finally take my wise friend’s advice when she told me that “We introverts must take care of ourselves as a diabetic would care for his or herself with their condition.” Solitude is that important. Quiet time with the Lord – in solitude – is no longer just an indulgence for me when all my other chores are done, kids quietly napping, laundry spinning, dishes put away and then I finally make a cup of tea and sit down to pray and study… nope. That’s not my reality anymore – if it ever was!? I have four busy boys that usually wake me up with one of them slipping into my bed for some pre-dawn snuggling and then we’re off to the races until typically ten at night. Add in a late night grocery run like tonight (me along with all the other mothers counting down the days until school starts again next week and we’ll see each other in the aisles in daylight again!) and that’s why you find me typing at 1:15 in the morning! It may seem strange perhaps that midnight grocery shopping and dieting and quiet time routines are all jumbled together in one blog post – but this is my life. And it IS all jumbled together. And I need to crack the code. I need to find balance. Or a routine. Or more hours in the day or something. But it all starts with admitting I need to change. So there. I said it. I need to change. I need to become a disciplined forty-something woman. Want to join me on this adventure? I think I’m going to need some traveling companions.
Are you my Soul Sister?
Are you like me? Are you soul weary and hungry for more that life has to offer? Are you spreading yourself too thin? Are you so busy taking care of everyone else in your life that you’re neglecting yourself and your own physical and spiritual and emotional needs? Some women are good at taking breaks, indulging in a little pampering – be it at the spa, the gym, getting lost in a good book or catching up with girlfriends. Others of us are so tired we can’t even think about making plans with a friend and the logistics involved in finding a date, finding a sitter or finding something to wear. Forget it. It’s easier to text your friends that you’re thinking of them, snuggle into your jammies and go to bed. Yea, maybe we’re more alike than you thought. You see, I think the last time I got a pedicure was right before I had my fourth baby – over three years ago! I’m not really a spa kind of girl. But I prefer to do a little pampering on the beauty that lies beneath the skin. Indulging in a little stillness, as in the “Be Still and Know that I am God.” kind of stillness. But as the mother of four boys there are few opportunities to be still. I think the Lord knew how challenging stillness would be when he challenged us to do it. Other interpretations are “cease striving and know I am God.” That’s even tougher. Cease striving to be the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect volunteer, cease striving for perfection in any area and simply know that HE is God. I have so much to learn. So, will you join me? Let’s venture on this journey together into a place that will give us rest for our souls. You won’t have to find a sitter. You won’t have to do your hair. You won’t even have to shower! But I promise to write, if you promise to read. We’ll both show up and see where this leads. Deal? So let’s begin our journey. Every journey begins with the first step…
When Life Gives You Lemons
As the old saying goes… when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
I’ve always been an optimist, a half-full kind of gal. Most the time, that is. My husband and I joke that sometimes I need to live up to my blood type, which B+ (as in “be positive”). Sometimes I need that reminder. Let’s face it, we live in a world of snappy put downs and critics of every topic imaginable from fashion to politics to movies – you name it. Sometimes just by expressing our opinions, we’re not being intentionally negative, but we might see situations differently that another. But for the most part, I’m able to see the silver lining. The rainbow through the storm. In fact, I’m teaching my children, (at least I hope I am) that you have to choose to look for these bright spots in life. My children are still relatively young so we talk about “Are you an Eyore or a Tigger” as in, do you choose to be downcast and dreary like Eyore or are you upbeat and bouncy like Tigger. When it’s all said and done, it’s a choice.
Like the Psalmists put it so eloquently so many years ago, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and My God.” -Psalm 43:5 It’s not saying that you won’t be downcast. It’s not saying that your soul won’t be disturbed. In fact, it’s providing insight that when you soul feels downcast that your’e to seek to figure out the reason why. Not to numb it or avoid it or bury it and move on, but to figure out why. And when all hope seems lost, what ever it is that you were hoping for when life gave you lemons, we’re to put our hope in God. Is there really anything else that can satisfy? And then next clue and insight is to choose to praise Him. To thank Him for all the many ways he’s blessed you. Yes, even thank him for the lemons. And then, add a little sugar, a little water, maybe a bit more sugar, stir… and let HIM satisfy your thirst.
Sincerely, your Soul Spa Sister
The Beginning
It’s October 21st. There’s nothing really special about the date other than it’s the beginning of this blog. A new beginning. This is something I’ve been thinking about for some time now and I finally decided to just start. Welcome to the Soul Spa Sisterhood. What is Soul Spa? Hopefully it will become a place of joy. A place of beauty. Glimpses of God in the mundane. A tool to help seek goodness, grace and godliness in the midst of each day. A beginning. Like the rising sun. May the sunlight penetrate deep into our souls and may we step away refreshed, renewed… ready to face a new day.