The sermon today at church was on managing stress. I took
two pages of notes because this one came with a specialized gift tag that said “To
Carrie. Love, God.” I was raised to be gracious when accepting gifts so I
accepted with a nervous smile and hoped that not everyone was looking at me
while I sat there absorbing everything like a sponge and feeling like I was
suddenly wearing the “Emperor’s New Clothes” in church. You see, I’ve been
doing this all wrong…I missed it! I’m supposed to let God handle my stress. I’m
not supposed to manage it myself. Well, if only it was that easy!! Funny thing
about stress, it grips you like a vice and it just gets tighter and tighter
until you feel like this is the only way you can live. I lived inside that vice
squeezing me for four very long years and it was Hell. Hell for me and hell for
my family and friends because it consumed my life. It owned me. I kept it all
within and didn’t trust God enough to give it to him. I was afraid. In my mind,
there was no way out. I was destined to
live my life like this and I was absolutely miserable. As I sat there today, I thought
about this past week and how I had been to Leesylvania State Park sitting on
the beach, walking along the trail by the water, listening to great music, enjoying
the time by myself. It really is a great place to “relieve stress” and think
about things. A few years ago, I was there because I couldn’t escape the stress
in my life and I literally ran until I couldn’t run anymore. That was a
life-changing day for me because I decided right there in the park that I was
going to change myself and no longer live under that vice anymore. I knew when
I left that I was going to figure out a way to remove that vice. The feeling
that I had while at the park this past week was so different and so peaceful.
While I have stress in my life (pretty sure we all do), it is normal stress
that I deal with on a daily basis. Sending my child to college this year is
stressful but so was sending him to preschool for the first time and
kindergarten, middle school, and high school. Stress is all around us but how
we choose to handle it is what matters. My pastor referenced Matthew 6:25b-34
and how we have to give things up to God. We have to give up the little things
too, not just save up for the big things. I took a lot of notes, more so than I usually
do. It helps me to remain focused and I was very interested in this sermon
(after all, it was personalized with my name all over it). At one point, Steve
gave me the “sideways glare” and whispered “What are you doing?” I whispered
back “Taking notes. Love this sermon.” Next thing you know, he was slipping me the
note page from his bulletin because he could see that I was running out of room
AND he could see that I wasn’t making a grocery list! Sure, some of you may read this and confirm
your suspicion...”Yep, she’s lost it” but I hope that’s not what you’ll say. I
hope that you’ll say…”Yep, she’s spot on and we all need to slow down and enjoy
what we have been given in life while God handles the things that we cannot
control.”
