Practicing Abundance

This summer I read a fantastic book called The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good For You And How To Get Good At It. It was a life-changing, fascinating read and I learned SO much I will probably read it again soon.  One thing that made a lasting impact on me was the concept that stress could be defined as when a perceived challenge outweighs one's perceived resources.  One: that makes stress largely about perception , not events. Interesting.  Two: if we take Jesus Christ at His word, we definitely have the skills to learn to stress less. Jesus promises that He will be with us, He leaves us His Comforter and Spirit, and gave us multitudes of scriptural stories of followers learning to trust and lean on Him - and succeeding. "I am with you always" , He says.  Jesus Christ is our strength . He is our Resource. Our Reserve. What perceived challenge can outweigh us now?? What earthly power could be stronger than The Creator, Lord, and Savior of our world, not only the...

  There was bad news about the car. Again.  Really? As I heard the news I felt the competing emotions arising in my heart. One part was despaired and angry that things just couldn't work out; the other saw the situation as it was, and calmly chose to trust that all would work out.  For possibly the first time, I was observing and noticing the diverging path in front of me, rather than reacting to an event faster than I could think about it.  I had heard a discussion recently where a group of people were discussing this concept - something happens and you feel like you are flipping between opposing emotions or responses - like exhilaration and terror.  I had always thought that this vacillation was just how it was, and I would just be caught between the two until the situation was resolved. But these people said no - that is your moment of choice . You get to choose between exhilaration and terror. You can choose between faith and fear.  Right then, when you...

  $50 I earned babysitting just days after setting my goal to earn $100 in the month of September You may have heard - I have been building a private speech-language therapy practice. It's been a long, sometimes beautiful, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes incredibly frustrating ride so far and it's far from over.  I took the first few months away from my school job to really focus on letting my mind and body recover. It had been a painful, hard year as lupus, allergies, overwhelm and unacknowledged grief surged like the proverbial beach ball of emotions after being held underwater for too long. I was exhausted.  I also recognized how incredibly, exquisitely blessed I was (am) to be in a position to leave my job without intense financial repercussions. As I started to feel like I had found a daily rhythm and care routine that helped my body be well, I also started to feel enormous pressure to "make money" (I do realize this was all from the stories in my head. But it ...