Dear Preacher’s Wife
Are you overthinking? What are you ruminating on today?
What is that ONE thing or
thought
or regret that continues to run unobscured throughout your mind?
Why are so stressed? Why the worry? Why the late nights trying to fit it ALL in? Why the jumbled nerves that feel like a messy combo of porcupine quills barely coated in a waxy veneer that threatens to expose all the sharp edges if anything gets too heated….
When have you taken a moment or two for yourself? There, I said it. A moment for yourself.
What is that you say? You are saying you haven’t enough time for what is on your to-do list, let alone time for yourself.
Then tonight, as you drift off to a fitful sleep, you will wonder how things got this jumbled, this crazy.
All throughout the day, you sweetly remind all the folks to trust God and to lean on the promises of the Word of God, but as you close the door to your office or click end for the last call, you secretly wonder what that would feel like…to be able to trust in a God you’re just not sure about anymore….
You are wondering if all this is really necessary….all this work. All this toil.
All this scheduling of ALL the things.
All the pleasing everyone and never anyone.
All the running here and there. To one more meeting or to one more conference designed to restore your spirit and soul. To one more church service that you really don’t wish you had to attend.
What is next, you ask? What does it matter anyway? You are secretly hoping for a snow storm or SOMETHING so your family could stay home and just rest and be together all in one place, for one day.
Just one day you ask….it’s not too much to ask for right?
What if I told you that it doesn’t all have to be this way?
What’s that you said? I don’t think I heard you clearly….
Yes, it doesn’t really have to be this hard…have to be hustle here and there and everywhere…all the time.
Yes, it will take some drastic reconsidering of all the things and the thoughts in your mind….
To slow down and attempt to be present in a world gone mad requires a lot of resolve, boldness and bravery. We have been told that the crazy hustle is true and necessary to accomplish every life and ministry and family and personal and work and fitness and….blah……all the GOALs out there…
So, how do we change this current craziness?
It must begin with each of us making minuscule changes every day….tiny baby steps.
I am just here to offer some small changes that have helped me along the way, over the past several years.
Allowing yourself to get a good night’s rest is HUGE and one we often overlook. Simply Google ways to get a better night’s rest and try some of the ideas tonight. A full eight hours of sleep does wonders for our minds and bodies. Perhaps try a few things like reading a Psalm …or just listening to a Psalm or two :) from an audio bible or drinking some chamomile tea before drifting off to sleep.
Take a look at your week and work to reduce anything that requires hustle…stress…and rushing….there’s a podcast aimed at helping all of us to reduce the hustle and the bustle in order to focus more on our purpose.
If your kiddos are little, find a great picture book to read aloud as you’re all cuddled up together with a blanket. If your kiddos are older, ask them to tell you a ROSE (good thing) or a THORN (not-so-good-thing) for today.
Conversations around blankets, hot cocoa and cozy spots are ones that your kids will remember for sure!
If you need some ideas for kiddos, check out this FREEBIE from this site. I am currently working on a list of great chapter books for upper elementary kids so stay tuned…..
Bottom line….reduce your stress and you’ll rest better. Reduce all the cortisol—the stress hormone—in your system and work to focus on the peace of God that passes all understanding.
Check out the section on this website called Healing…you’ll find some great resources there as well. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of that page—beyond the mosaic hands.
“Our mind will always be the battleground”—Raymond Woodward.
Work to quiet your mind this week….We must WIN the war THROUGH Jesus Christ and HIS WORD.
You are enough.
You matter to God and to all of us….
We love you JUST as you are right now….we aren’t asking you to lose weight, gain weight, buy new outfits, become an amazon or Instagram influencer, dress your kids perfectly for Easter, start a new shop on Etsy….whatever….
Just be YOU….who God has created for this wonderful space in time.
Trust God IN the pain. HE does all things well…in His time….and in His way.
Trust the God who created all things….
You are loved and you are valued.
Much love,
Valeria Hughes