Beyond the Daily Grind

When the day is dark and gloomy
and the fog obscures your view,
And you feel there is no challenge
waiting anywhere for you;

When it’s routine you must follow
through a dreary weather chart,

And you feel the hand of duty

like a millstone on your heart;

Face the skies however darkened,

when you ache to turn away
Do the job that lies before you,

keep your courage one more day.

.

You can never guess how often

you affect another’s life

By the fact you are a doer

not a quitter in the strife.

As I write this, I am certain there are many of you who feel the hand of duty heavy upon your heart. You find it hard to see beyond the clutter and chaos of dirty laundry and housework; beyond the 9 - 5 routine. Being a wife and mother involves more than you ever thought possible – making ends meet in a thousand ways from taking children to doctor and dentist appointments to chauffeuring kids from activity to activity. Many of you also try to balance working outside the home and virtually collapse into bed at the end of the day from complete exhaustion.

Some of you, no doubt, would love to simply run away from the life you have chosen, not because you don’t love your family, but rather because this just isn’t the life you thought you’d be living. Obviously, while it sounds good at times; abandoning our obligations is not a course of action that is possible. It's also not a course of action that pleases God. He expects us to persevere through our pain, through our disappointments, and to accomplish the task that lies before us, the task He has given us to do.

As Christian wives and mothers, it is our goal to glorify God in all that we do, even if the work is drudgery, even if the work offers no challenge whatsoever. And let’s face it, housework, laundry, and a host of other daily duties offer little in the way of challenge. Most of this work is exhausting, unfulfilling, and never ending, yet it is work that must be done to create an atmosphere in the home where our husbands and other family members look forward to gathering.

If we are bitter about our role as wife and mother, we will influence others in the home to think the same way, robbing everyone – including ourselves, of joy. Perhaps you find yourself struggling emotionally with self-pity or feelings of not being appreciated by your family. Perhaps you feel used. Quite possibly, you are exhausted trying to keep up with the day-to-day demands of motherhood and you feel as if no one understands the extent of your despair. If this describes how you feel at this moment, Jesus is ready and willing to help you. Comfort and healing are as close as the arms of our Lord, who knows our pain, shares our anguish and offers His peace.

A wife and mother who has a gentle and quiet spirit provides a calming and reassuring atmosphere in the home. Her inward beauty draws those around her to love her. She is a joy to be around because she has found joy in the Lord and in the work He has given her to do. If you are struggling with following a routine that seems like drudgery at best, take courage from the Lord and persevere, knowing that you are working for Him, fulfilling His goal for your life, and, at the same time, positively affecting the lives of those around you.

This week I challenge you to do the work set before you with a different mindset. Today instead of doing your work for your employer, husband, or children, do it for the Lord, remembering He is the one you are serving in all that you do.

Are You Living Up to the Gift?

Yesterday one of my closest friends told me I needed to be using the gifts God gave me - or else I would lose those gifts. I didn't tell her, but those words really rattled me. Why? Well, because I am a writer and I am not using that talent to honor the Lord. Yes, I am writing as a source of income by freelance writing; however, I am not writing what I know God designed me to write - and that's inspirational women's fiction.

For the past year our finances, like many other family's finances, have been very bleak and I have done anything and everything to help my husband. That includes selling on eBay, crocheting scarves and making jewelry to sell on Etsy and in a local artisian shop, as well as working two part-time jobs and freelance writing. I have literally been working myself into a frenzy and my health has suffered dramatically from the stress of trying to balance all these activities. Oh, I forgot, on top of all this, I have been a doting grandma to my sweet little granddaughter two mornings a week while my daughter is in nursing school. Oh my...I am making myself tired just writing about everything I have been doing! It's most definitely time to slow down!

All this made me open my devotional, Discouraged Moms' Devotions to Go, and reread the devotion on Spiritual Gifts I wrote. I thought I'd share that devotion with you today in the hopes that you, like me, will begin to consciously try to do something everyday that is related to your Spiritual Gift - and to stop trying to be "Wonder Woman" and do it all. :) If that's possible!!


Understanding Spiritual Gifts
an excerpt from Discouraged Moms' Devotions to Go

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and power for ever and ever. 1 Peter 4:10-11

The Bible makes it clear that each one of us is equipped with specific abilities called spiritual gifts. These spiritual gifts are not natural talents, which we are born with, but are gifts that are given to us at our spiritual birth.

Our spiritual gift indicates the particular way that God equips us to serve in the community of Christ, complementing others in the body of Christ. In Romans 12, Paul mentions several spiritual gifts including prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy. How do you determine your spiritual gifts? Most of the time your spiritual gifts will correlate with your natural abilities. For instance if you have always been academic and enjoy speaking in front of others, you may find that your spiritual gift is teaching.

Take a look at the description of each spiritual gift below and see if you clearly fit into one category. The best way to find your specific spiritual gifts is by taking a spiritual gifts inventory. Many churches offer these, so I would suggest meeting with your spiritual director or pastor to discuss the possibility. There are also several available online. Working within your spiritual giftedness will make your work much more interesting and you’ll find that you will be much more energized working within a ministry or a job that fits your gift.

· Prophecy - Do you oftentimes communicate spiritual truths to other believers? A person with this spiritual gift does just that – communicates God’s truth to other believers, essentially declaring the will of God.

· Serving – Do you enjoy working behind the scenes, keeping the work of the ministry moving? If so, you may have the gift of serving, which offers practical service to the church body.

· Teaching – Do you enjoy studying God’s Word and sharing what you have learned with others? If so, you may have been given the gift of teaching or a person who researches and teaches the application of the Bible as it relates to everyday living.

· Encouragement – Do you enjoy encouraging others in their Christian walk? An encourager uses spiritual truths to encourage spiritual progress in others.

· Giving – Are you constantly giving material possessions or making monetary contributions to those in need? A person with the gift of giving provides monetary or material assistance.

· Leadership – Are you a leader by nature? Do others look to you for direction? If so, you may have been given the gift of leadership or a person who offers leadership and direction, and increases the vision of the church body.

· Mercy – Do others come to you with their personal problems? Do you find yourself offering advice and direction to others more often than not? If you have this spiritual gift, you very likely enjoy providing personal and emotional support to those in need.

When someone gives you a gift, what do you usually do with the gift? You open it and then enjoy what you received. God has given you a gift. Are you going to open your gift, use and enjoy it or are you simply going to let your gift go to waste?

Book Review: Fearless, by Max Lucado

This book is so timely. Today people are afraid of the economy, afraid of failing, of illness and death; Let's face it, people are afraid of all sorts of doom and gloom. In his book, Fearless, Max Lucado does a great job of showing us how to escape the fear trap, how to stop allowing fear to suck the life out of our soul. He does this through story after story and Scripture after Scripture. Lucado points us to Jesus who said over and over again, "Don't be afraid."

Lucado shows us that it's only through abiding in Christ that we can replace our fear with our faith. He shows us how to trust more and fear less. It's up to us to apply the principles found inside this marvelous book.

Lucado said, "Fear may fill our world, but it doesn't have to fill our hearts. It will always knock at the door. Just don't invite it in for dinner. The most profound section in the book for me was in the chapter, I'm Sinking Fast.

Here Lucado writes, "We cannot go where God is not. Look over your shoulder; that's God following you. Look into the storm; that's Christ coming toward you.

"Much to Peter's credit, he took Jesus at his word. 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.' So He (Jesus) said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus," writes Lucado.

Of course we all know that Peter had his own moment of fear, where he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the raging waters surrounding him.

"After a few moments flailing in the water, he turned back to Christ and cried, 'Lord save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said,' why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down." Matthew 14:30-32 NIV

Lucado writes, "Jesus could have stilled this storm hours earlier. But he didn't. He wanted to teach the follower's a lesson. Jesus could have calmed your storm long ago too. But he hasn't. Does he also want to teach you a lesson? Could that lesson be something like this," "Storms are not an option, but fear is"?

Later, Lucado adds, "Whether or not storms come, we cannot choose. But where we stare during a storm, that we can.

This book made me want to trust more and fear less, which, no doubt is its' purpose. I loved it and recommend it to anyone who is experiencing fear in his/her life. It gets our mind on Christ and off our circumstances and that is always a good thing!

Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller is a thought-provoking look at what our lives could be like if we were to try to turn it into a movie. As Miller shares his experience with us, the result not exciting for him to say the least, but his life begins to take shape as he goes through it step by step. The book made me ponder, what a conversation about my life be like... if I were talking with God?

In the comments preceding the book Rob Bell calls Million Miles "disturbing" and "unsettling" and I have to agree. All of us have stories, and most are ones worth telling, or certainly ones not worth watching. It's difficult to read the book and come out unscathed. I believe this book is a challenge to live well, laugh often and love much!

A lover of quotes, here are some that grabbed me as I read the book:

"When we watch the news, we grieve, but when we go to the movies, we want more of it. Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller."

As a writer this one had a lot impact on me: "The world needs for us to have courage...The world needs for us to write something better"

"The ambitions we have will become the stories we live. If you want to know what a person's story is about, just ask them what they want."

"You become like the people you interact with. And if your friends are living boring stories, you probably will too. We teach our children good or bad stories, what is worth living for and what is worth dying for, what is worth pursuing, and the dignity with which a character engages his own narrative."

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read good memoirs that instill the desire to ponder his/her life.

Book Review: Put Your Dream to the Test

As a blogger for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program, occasionally I'll be posting book reviews. I highly recommend this book!

John Maxwell really hits the nail on the head here for anyone who hasn't achieved a forgotten or just unachievable dream. Through ten questions, Maxwell helps a person not only see their dream, but to seize it.

With powerful quotes like this one from Maxwell, "In my effort to clarify my dream, I discovered that the more clearly I saw my dream, the more clearly I was able to see my purpose," are not only thought-provoking, but also profound.

I thought Put Your Dream to the Test was well written and easy to follow. Maxwell offers the tools necessary for readers to maximize every moment to achieve his/her dreams and he does it through 10 steps.

"It's one thing to have a dream. It's another to do the things needed to achieve it." writes Maxwell. "If you're willing to put your dream to the test - and do what's needed to answer yes to the ten dream questions - then odds are very good for seeing your dream become a reality."

I encourage everyone to read this book and then dream big and put your dream to the test!

A Woman's Body - God's Temple

Physical discipline is a constant struggle, especially with busy schedules and constant temptations. Let’s face it, it’s easier to grab fast food than it is to take the time to plan and prepare a healthy dinner, especially when you are chauffeuring kids from activity to activity or when you work outside the home. Each one of us knows we need to eat right, exercise, drink plenty of water, avoid stress – basically care for our body the way we care for those we love. So why don’t we? Why do we let the demands of life rob us of doing something that is so vital to our health?

When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit fills and lives in us and we are obligated to care for our bodies as the living temple of the Holy Spirit. Yet so many of us are slaves to our bodies and its appetites and desires. Like many women, I love sweets – especially chocolate, don’t enjoy exercising, and oftentimes don’t drink enough water. Caring for others has taken a toll on me, as it has many of you, and I have little energy left for personal care like manicures, let alone spending an hour at the gym every day. Yet that is exactly what I need to do, to make time to care for myself or else I won’t have the energy to care for my family the way I desire.

Stormie Omartian, author of Greater Health God’s Way, writes, “If you don’t make room for a specific thing in your schedule, you won’t have room for it. Sit down and decide the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and why.” So what are your 5 W's?

Adrenal Fatigue

Some days I wonder what the world would be like if there wasn't stress. Mmmm...just the thought or it makes me smile and eases the tension in my neck and shoulders. I have been under so much stress the past several months, I can't even imagine a day without stress.

I knew I was having trouble with chronic stress, but a visit to the Dr's office confirmed just how bad my stress level is. My doctor diagnosed me with Adrenal Fatigue, which is caused by experiencing an abnormal amount of stress for an extended period of time. The stress can be caused by virtually anything from illness to the death of a loved one. The reason for the stress doesn't matter. What matters is how your body handles the stress.

Unfortunately for me, my body wasn't handling the stress well and the result - a diagnosis of Adrenal Fatigue. You may be wondering just what adrenal fatigue is; I certainly was, so let me share with you what I have discovered.

The symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue include an overall feeling of just not quite being able to 'get it all together;' extreme fatigue, especially when you wake up and in the mid- to- late afternoon; an inability to sleep at night because you feel too 'wired;' an inability to relax or to exercise, and an immune system that seems to be on the blitz, leaving you sick more often and making it hard to get well.

Other symptoms include salt cravings, increased blood sugar under stress, increased PMS, perimenopausal, or menopausal symptoms, depression, lack of energy, an inability to handle stress, muscle weakness, absent mindedness, decreased sex drive, mild constipation and/or diarrhea, in addition to others. If you are experiencing these symptoms, then you, like many other Americans may be experiencing symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue.

So just what is Adrenal Fatigue? It's a condition in which the adrenal glands, two small glands that sit over the kidneys and are responsible for secreting over 50 different hormones—including epinephrine, cortisol, progesterone, DHEA, estrogen, and testosterone, are operating at a sub-optimal level. The onset of Adrenal Fatigue often occurs because of financial pressures, infections, emotional stress, poor eating habits, consumption of sugar and white flour products, unemployment as we all other stressors. After experiencing many of these events over a long period of time, the adrenal glands tend to produce less cortisol, the body’s master stress hormone. Cortisol’s main role in the body is to enable us to handle stress and maintain our immune systems. The adrenal gland’s struggle to meet the high demands of cortisol production eventually leads to Adrenal Fatigue.

There are several things that can be done to ease the effects of Adrenal Fatigue including eating a better diet, regular relaxation, laughter (which increases the parasympathetic supply to the adrenals), as well as some vitamins and supplements.

In the next few days I'm going to do some research to see just what things I need to begin to incorporate into my daily routine to help combat Adrenal Fatigue. In the meantime I plan to take a few deep breaths, do some stretches and say some prayers!