Good morning…
I smile at this framed cross-stitch saying my mom made for me a few years back. During the pandemic pause, my mom watched from afar as our ministry to women continued to thrive, mainly through our interactive daily blog posts and through individually scheduled walk-and-talks, outside, one-on-one, social distanced. When my 58th birthday came around in March of 2021, my mom honored me with this special hand-stitched gift. I felt seen, known, appreciated for the way the Spirit of God continues to blossom uniquely through me.
Wired as creative beings, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to thrive and bloom, whatever exhausting circumstances swirl around and within us. We are designed to allow a large variety of feelings to move through us every day, season by season, as we regularly find our way back to a state of settled peace with God.
This week, a friend sent me a colorful image of encouragement, suggesting how we might allow ourselves to feel better when we are feeling imbalanced, off-kilter. Now I share this visual boost with you, purposefully dropping from the title the word “instantly.” One insight laced into every ounce of aging wisdom is that nothing of enduring value happens “instantly.” “Instantly” feels a bit like the term “drive-by” to me, and I don’t think there are “drive-by” activities to help us feel better in a lasting way. Each one of the healing activities identified here takes an important investment of our precious time.
“Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior” (Luke 16:8-9, MSG).
Creativity is the native language of our soul. Investing our time in creative activities which spark the Spirit’s healing is a gift we can give ourselves each day. Whatever the circumstance. Whatever the season. Which nurturing form might your healing take as you begin to feel better in this given moment? Each of us can prayerfully ask, “God, what would be restorative for me right now?” Healing gradually happens as we invest our time in the Spirit’s personalized answer.
Please touch on this link and ponder these life-giving possibilities with God: https://open.substack.com/pub/phylliscoledai/p/the-daily-boost-502?r=noo8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email.
…Sue…
