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It’s been a while since I first read this post about Highly Sensitive People.

I definitely have some HSP tendencies.  Especially the startle one.  Even if I know Dan is in the house, if he comes up to me unexpectedly, I will gasp and flinch.

A month or two ago I was talking to a director at work.  His voice slightly raised at the same moment I looked away, and I literally jumped.  There is no recovering from that socially.

But I also don’t handle violent movies very well, can take on others’ moods or emotions, and get frazzled when more than one person is trying to talk to me at once.  (Which is the definition of motherhood, I’m fairly certain.)

What about you?  Do you get overwhelmed by the world?  Do you often need to be alone to regroup?

If you do, maybe all this Stress Month talk is no big thing to you.  You probably have already figured out how to manage your energy well.

But there is another part of me.  Maybe you, too.

The part that wants to be involved in lots of things.  To travel and meet interesting people.  To not miss out on something exciting or fun.

And then there’s our world.  So much information bombarding us at once.

I always get Foster’s voice in my head when I think about these things:

“Many of us would find great relief in discovering our own cycles of activity and quiet.  For example, I function best when I alternate between periods of intense activity and periods of comparative solitude.  When I understand this about myself I can order my life accordingly.  After a certain amount of immersion in public life, I begin to burn out.  And I have noticed that I burn out inwardly long before I do outwardly.  Hence, I must be careful not to become a frantic bundle of hollow energy, busy among people but devoid of life.  I must learn to retreat, like Jesus, and experience the recreating power of God…

This knowledge grants a wonderful freedom.  No longer do I rebuke myself that I am not giving enough attention to study and meditation in the days of intense activity among people.  Nor do I any longer malign periods of quiet reflection or vacation as unproductive sloth.  I can understand the value of the hidden preparation through which God puts his ministers.  I am free from desiring public gaze when I need hiddenness…”

(Freedom of Simplicity, pg 108)

I just love that Someone Whose job title was Savior of the World, regularly retreated to be alone. This did not diminish what He had to do; rather it was the goal.  In order to be able to offer Himself to others – and to know what to offer – He needed to retreat to be with His Father.

How well do you do with this?  Does a “bundle of hollow energy” ever describe you?  Do you need to schedule in more daily breaks with Him?  Weekly Sabbaths?  Monthly retreats?

 

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure…we are not trying to please men, but God, who tests our hearts.  You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed – God is our witness.  We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.  We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us…

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”

1 Thessalonians it is.  Paul, Silas and Timothy sharing their hearts, lives and preaching.

It has been a good Sabbath.

I was much more prepared this week.  (FYI – if you cook a whole chicken in the crockpot Saturday afternoon, you can easily do Chicken and Noodles on Sunday and it’s not much “work.”)

In case you’re wondering how legalistic I’m getting on all this…not at all.  I just wanted to adhere to preparing for rest. Making sure we have set aside the time.  Knowing what we will eat for the meals, and using a crockpot as much as possible.  Having the laundry caught up so we don’t scurry around an hour before church starts.

Time with church family, lunch with a friend, rest, a slow rhythm to our afternoon, a visit to friends, apples and popcorn for dinner.

It’s important, this resting.  I’m still saving some of what I’ve been learning for after the interview with my friend who grew up observing an orthodox Sabbath.  (It’s supposed to be on Tuesday!)

But for today, Psalm 92 says right underneath the title that it is a song written for Shabbat.  Let’s hear it, yes?

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

    to sing praises to the Most High.


It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,

    your faithfulness in the evening,

 accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp,

    and the melody of a lyre.


 You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!

    I sing for joy because of what you have done.

 O Lord, what great works you do!

    And how deep are your thoughts…

 …The godly will flourish like palm trees

    and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.

 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.

    They flourish in the courts of our God.

 Even in old age they will still produce fruit;

    they will remain vital and green.

 They will declare, “The Lord is just!

    He is my rock!

    There is no evil in him!”

(Psalm 92:1-5, 12-15 NLT)

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,

“Peace be with you.”

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them,

“Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them,

“Do you have anything to eat?”

They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

He said to them,

“This is what I told you while I was still with you:

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  He told them,

“This is what is written:  The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.  Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”

Luke 24:36-53

So long, Luke.  I appreciate your perspective and interesting detail.  Until next time!

Happy Things

Want to share a few things that are making me happy these days.

This CD:

Grandparents got it for us a couple of birthdays ago…it is one of the most fun, least cheesy kid CDs we own.  We rock it in the car.

The fact that my new Chai Coffee recipe doesn’t “require” any sugar when drinking.  Just a splash of milk.  This is BIG for me.

Garage Sale/Thrift Store Finds:

Bag of used-but-still-good watercolors?  For 25 cents?  Sold!

MBTI mixed with parenting?  For $2.  Yes, please!

Cheap globe for my future collection display?  Uh huh.

Fall Stuff:

It’s fun to get our books for each season out of storage every year.  Today Caden is off school but Caleb has preschool. And it just happens to be the day I signed up to read a story to his class.  So Caden will be helping me.  I love how big the world opens up when you can read!

Our party ladies have started passing out the Halloween treats in Fall Avoidance class.  The bag is full of Peanut M&Ms.  We shall rock the socks the week of Halloween.  (Picture to follow.)

Cute little fall display on the front porch

Family Projects:

I’ve fallen in love with Norwex cloths.  They really do live up to all the hype.  And I’m surprisingly suspicious of stuff like that.  I got the 3 pack travel sized ones to keep at each sink.  So what did my man do?  He got hooks and hung them up in each room.  He’s a keeper.

Settlers of Catan.  This game and I had a rough start, but I’ve warmed up to it.  The boys love it.  We keep it out for a while and play a little here and there.

Reading books out loud.  This picture is misleading, though.  These are ones we want to read.  We are actually reading The Chronicles of Narnia, and that is taking us suuuuper long.

Googly Eye Art.  I truly cannot remember if I made this up or am copying this from somewhere/someone.  Probably a mixture of both.  Have you ever done this?  Just glue down a bunch of eyes on a piece of paper and let your kids go to town creating creatures.  Cheap and fun.  I think we got that whole pack of eyes at the Dollar Tree!

Anything making you happy right now?

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther.  But they urged him strongly,

“Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  They asked each other,

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.  There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying,

“It is true!  The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”  {I still love that he appeared to Simon Peter alone first}

Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Luke 24:28-35

I’ve chatted with several friends in the past 24 hours.

One of them is super tech-savvy and was teaching me some things about Pinterest and apps and such.

There is so much to learn about how to take good photos, advertise posts, monitor comments.  (Which I don’t always invite very well…sorry…I know you guys are out there, though!  Some days there are more of you than I would think, so I block it out of my mind when I write.  Otherwise I would be sorely tempted to only entertain you.)

Some of these “rules” for blogging I am learning…some of them may never happen.

But a friend said it best today:

I like blogging because it lets me say things my way.  To replace misconceptions others may have. To share our story.

Yes.

Don’t you love it when someone puts words to the deepest reason behind things?

I want to share what I write.  In fact, I think that is what God’s asking me to do.

But if it ever interferes with the most important things, that is not okay.

My husband is my best friend.  Time with him at the end of a full day is my highlight.  Not sharing with him makes it as though it didn’t happen.  He’s my other half.  I rely on him (appropriately, I think) in so many ways.  He relies on me to do my part in our home.  And outside the home.

My children are such gifts and I don’t want to take the precious time with them that I have for granted.  They are a stewardship.  I want to invest well and God has used them and motherhood to break me and remold me.  I’m grateful.

Told you we had new family pics taken, right?  Our friend Emily did them.
She’s so sweet and you can tell how comfortable our boys are with her.  

Without my friends, oh my word.  We are deeply committed to our church, our spiritual community.

Stress month is slowing me down some.  Pausing in the middle of something is a great discipline.  It helps me cooperate with what the Spirit is doing.  Do my part of the equation.  Then release control of the results.

See what I mean?  If I’m learning about evaluating our schedule, trusting God, and pausing to remember Who is in control,  but it turns into an exercise away from the above things…I would be missing the point!

But at the same time, I’m giving up on shame.  It is just another way to be prideful (absorbed with yourself).  So I want to show up and offer what I have.  And really all I have is what He’s been teaching me!

Anyway, I may not have a ton of original thoughts right now or be super out there with sharing them. But, as another friend said today, it’s when we’re rushing around to get to the next thing that Mean Mama comes out.

Yes.  Let’s lessen that.

Can I get an Amen?

————————————–

Some pictures:

One of my favorite afternoon “pauses.”  We still get a nap once or twice a week!

My big helper

Pumpkin hunting

Preschool friends!

Painting our pumpkin today…complete with blue hair!

My first attempt at Chai Coffee.  I found the recipe on Pinterest, but the link doesn’t go to the correct blog to give appropriate credit.  I will post it here, but it’s not my original recipe!  I claim no authorship.

1 cup ground coffee

1 tsp cinnamon (especially Vietnamese cinnamon from The Spice Merchant!)

1/2 tsp cardamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

Wonderful!
 

 

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them,

“What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,

“Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us.  They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body.  They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

He said to them,

“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Luke 24:13-27

The Night Watch (midnight)

Also called Vigils…”Like Jesus keeping watch the night before he died, I keep vigil with those who wait alone.”  This is a deep, even dark prayer of waiting and interceding…The Night Watch advocates for others in a dark night of the soul:

The suffering, abandoned, oppressed, lonely.

This pause is also powerful silent; a simple, quiet connection with Jesus…There is something powerful about your presence, your attention, the vigil you and Jesus are keeping.

As the deer pants for streams of water,

So my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

For the living God…

Deep calls to deep

In the roar of your waterfalls;

All your waves and breakers

Have swept over me.

By day the LORD directs his love,

At night his song is with me –

A prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:1-2, 7-8

The Great Silence (bedtime)

This prayer concludes the day…Also called Compline, from the Latin word for completion, it begins with a gentle evaluation of the day…The Great Silence teaches us to be healthy sinners, living in neither denial of our sin, nor despair because of it.

The second theme is darkness – protection from some forms and acceptance of others.  We ask the Spirit to guard against our Enemy, protecting our zeal and innocence in Christ…

On the other hand, we welcome the soft darkness that is exquisitely beautiful and healing.  God dims the lights on our weary bodies, making the way for sleep…

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD,

“He is my refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2