As life becomes more stressful, with bigger challenges facing us on a daily basis, one thing I have done to make it easier is to keep a thankful heart. When you are focused on being thankful, it is much harder to doubt and worry.
Life has become very stressful and intense over the last few years. I cringe each time a new year comes because I know it isn’t going to get any better. I have read my Bible. It is clear we living in the end times. Jesus told us these things would happen.
What are we to do in the midst of it, until He returns? One thing He has impressed upon me is to memorize Bible verses. I know — already, I can hear your excuses. I’m busy. Memorizing is too hard. I am 59 years old. If I can memorize the Word, so can you!
Something I started, to make it easier, is keeping a planner handy. As I find I verse I feel impressed to memorize, I will write it down for that week. (I am trying to do one verse per week.) This is an easy way for me to go back and review when needed. At the end of the year, I can go back and look at what I have accomplished.
I often make images of Bible verses, using the app on my phone. Sometimes while I am at lunch, I will scroll through those until I find one I want to memorize.
When life throws you a curveball, you can pull a helpful verse from your heart, and “chew” on it. I promise — it will help melt the stress into peace, comfort, and confidence in the Lord!
Here is the first one I chose to memorize:
Romans 8:38-39:
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)
After the unexpected loss of my dad in March, I began to reevaluate my life. I knew not to make any rash, life changing decisions while in the earliest stages of grief. During that time, I waited on the Lord, praying for His help in making the right decisions.
For years, I have worked some overtime. However, during the lockdown, I was quickly thrust into months of working 50-60 hours a week — a feat that is not easy when you are in your upper 50s. Many years, I worked 5 out of the 6 observed holidays — special times I could have spent with my family. Now, I will never get to celebrate another holiday with my daddy. That still makes me cry when I think about it.
Another big thing to consider was that Mom doesn’t drive. How was I going to keep working 60 hours a week and have the time and energy to help her, now that Dad was gone?
The best boss I have ever had retired at the end of 2020. I quickly transitioned to working under one who ruled with an iron fist, talked down to us, and tried to pit herself against us instead of working to be one team. She proved herself to be a liar and not trust worthy within a couple of weeks. With working all of those overtime hours, being on call 24/7, and having to deal with her, that also moved me to reevaluate. My shoulders were tightly fraught with tension on a daily basis.
One day while sitting at my desk, I was impressed by the Lord to check the internal job postings. Within a few minutes, I saw why. He was preparing to move me out of that department! This change would result in the loss of $10-$12K per year. While that may sound foolish to give that up in these times when inflation continues to rise, I knew I needed to trust Him and apply for the job.
I have been working at the cancer center now for 5 weeks. I work no weekends, no holidays, no overtime, and I am not on call 24/7. I come home tired because learning a new job is very taxing on the body. However, I do not come home stressed. (As for that terrible boss, she no longer works for the organization, so I was able to work my final weeks in that department without dealing with her.)
While working all of those hours during the pandemic, I barely functioned when I was off the clock. I did only the necessities — paid the bills, did monthly menu planning, grocery shopping, and laundry. Cleaning the house went on the back burner most of the time. I might dust once a month. Mopping was only done once every month or two, unless my husband had mercy and helped me. I simply couldn’t do it. I fell into a bad habit — vegging on Hulu. I thought it was an escape, and perhaps it was, to a point.
After working my new job for several weeks, I have noticed that I don’t want to veg on Hulu. I find it draining, and I want to be energized. I have also seen why the Lord has put me in this new position. He has opened doors of opportunity to minister to staff and patients. I am astounded at what He has done. It infuses me with joy and energy to use the gifts He has graciously given me.
Now that I have been enjoying more rest and less stress, I am gaining some energy. I actually look forward to cleaning the house. I am mopping weekly. I have done some deep cleaning. I even bought carpet (still waiting on it to arrive.) I bought a few small, decorative items to update the house.
Today alone, I managed to strip the bed, did 2 loads of laundry, ordered some new kitchen knives since we are still using the set given as a wedding gift over 30 years ago, watched two preachers on You Tube, studied my Bible, planned meals for this weekend, cleaned out the bottom of my side of the closet, cleaned a junk drawer, dusted, swept the cat hair off the furniture, vacuumed, cleaned the blind in the bathroom, cleaned the curtain in the bathroom, and I am getting ready to go through a box of photos to determine what to keep, what to pitch, and what to give away.
I am learning that less is more. After ordering the carpet, I started removing small things from the family room to make it easier to move the big items when the time comes. One of the things I did last weekend was clean out an end table that was filled with photo albums. I decided to go through all of those photo albums. I actually got rid of 4 of them — two of which were very large albums. The older I get, the more I am thinking “Do I really need this?” “Less is more” is a motto I keep telling myself. I was so glad I went through those photos. I found one of my dad holding my oldest nephew when he was just days old. I found another where he was posing with my youngest nephew. Both of these precious photos will now go to my nephews. I have several other photos for family members to go through. It feels good to be able to let many of them go, bringing memories to others.
And it feels wonderful to be productive again!
The stress of this pandemic has resulted in an increase in migraines this year. I found a simple solution that works really well. Every morning, after I bathe, I put a bit of Biofreeze on the back of my neck and across my shoulders. It really helps keep a migraine from grabbing hold of me and ruining the rest of my day. I even keep some Biofreeze in my locker at work so that if it tries to rear its ugly head, I can add more throughout the day.
My Frugal Life 