Hi,

I hope you are doing well and tucked under God’s wing. This morning  I was praying this bible verse over my family and now I am praying it over you:

And what a vast collection of stories, from boredom, to loss, to bankruptcy and unexpected vulnerability. At the center of every story is a person. In your story, that’s you. What you and I do with ourselves, matters. So I would like to submit some pastoral wisdom in hopes that it will strengthen you.

Manage Yourself:
Each one of us have our personal ‘normal’. That is a range of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that are normal for us. There are tough days. Average days. Better than average. In other words there is a range. If you are reading this you will have a good idea of what is a normal range for you.

In the midst of these crazy coronavirus days, keep yourself within your range  of normal. Normal indicates stable life giving behaviors towards yourself and others. Don’t allow things to swing too far outside your healthy range. Manage yourself.

Keep an eye on yourself. Keep the boundaries of your range in view and in place. Let’s do some responsible, ‘adulting’ 🙂

He said every morning he would ask his wife Martha what the temperature was outside on the thermometer. If it was 80 degrees early in the morning then they knew they would have a scorcher in the afternoon. The thermometer reading would go up and down according to external circumstances. With the thermostat however, it is tapped into a deeper power source and because of that connection it could even affect the atmosphere. The difference between the thermometer and the thermostat is the power hook up. This is something to think about. Selah.

Run YOUR Race:
You don’t have to write a novel, learn a foreign language or prepare for a triathlon during coronavirus quarantine. All you have to do is: Do-you. Be you. Your scale of achievement might be different but God’s word is not, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
- 1 Corinthians.  Each and every thing we do or don’t do can be for His glory (even taking out the trash). Remember this.

Love & Good Deeds:
Be aware of opportunities to help someone else. Even if you’re not in a good mood go ahead and push past that, and bring a bag of groceries to someone. Say, “God bless you” to the store clerk. Or offer a private prayer for someone who looks distressed. Activate love and good deeds as a daily part of your journey. This is an anti-gravity serum and adds bounce to your step like few other things do.

Laugh:
Years ago a pastor’s wife, and dear friend of mine, said, “I make it my job to be sure my husband laughs at least once a day.” The funny thing is her husband is serious, scholarly and prophetic. An intense personality. And when she said that, I decided then and there to take up this challenge with my amazing husband. And that decision brought us closer and poured buckets of joy over our days. I highly recommend this.

Whether you’re married or single, think: laughter. And be intentional about it. Make someone laugh everyday. The moment laughter is released it's contagious. When you make someone else laugh, you will laugh too.

And that’s all for now my friends.

Sending waves of God’s unfailing love over your head and household,

Kathleen

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