Let's Get This Thing Started!

Yes, for those of you who really know me you are probably wondering how in the world do I have time to blog!  Well I don't know how it is going to work, but I have been thinking about this for a while.  I have been told by many professors that I have a natural ability to write, but I didn't know where to start.  I am also a pretty private person until I am positive that I can trust you.  So this is a huge stretch for me.

I have been inspired by an awesome group of women I am getting to know in an online Bible study I started this month through the Proverbs 31 Ministry.  I thought the title for this post was great because I am starting a blog and a new Bible study.  I will explain the reason behind the blog name in another post. 
Again, you are probably wondering how in the world do I have time to do an online Bible study.  Well I do know that the Lord led me to it so he will see me through it!

Let me back up a bit...

I was reading a devotional online one day at http://www.proverbs31.org/
The next thing I knew I found myself at http://melissataylor.org/ who is the online Bible study leader for the ministry.  No, I was not looking to do an online Bible study, but somewhere on the sight the advertisement for this study jumped out at me...

                          Does this not make you want to go to the beach?

Well, at that moment I was wishing I was at the beach after the crazy day I had the day before.  I remember thinking when I woke up that morning, "what did I do to make my day so chaotic?"  

Check out that title!  

I thought and prayed about it for a few days then I signed up.  Although I am already on the computer way too much with the two online classes I am taking, I felt a peace about it.  I do not like starting something I cannot finish so I knew I was in this for the whole twelve weeks!

So I look at the title and ask myself is there really peace in a chaotic world?  Well I know from experience that it is possible to have peace.  It is possible to have peace

• on the busy days 
• on the low days 
• on the happy days 
• on the depressing days

 

So now the question is "where is that peace?"  I still have some peace, but not fully.  I had it once upon a time.  I was able to go through a difficult year of a divorce and still come through it with peace.  Why?  One reason was because I frequently read Isaiah 41:10, which says "Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."  I could not fix everything on my own, but with God I was able to make it.  Guess what the Bible verse for the first week of study was...Isaiah 41:10.  Not only did I start a Bible study about handling stress, the topic this week in my psych class was about stress and anxiety.  I think the Lord is trying to send me a message!

My goal for this study is to get back to that place where I had peace through all circumstances...good or bad.  The past three years in my family have been full of changes, trials, good times, bad times, and drama with people outside the home.  Life has been chaotic in good and bad ways.  It is easy to blame someone else for the stress, but in the end we are responsible for how we handle it.

For the most part I handle it pretty well.  I live a very structured life and it is sort of like a juggling act.  All of the balls are rotating just right up in the air and one little drift of air can make them all come tumbling down.  Sometimes it might be at the hand of someone else or it might be out of my own doing.  Maybe I forgot about a deadline at work and had to scramble at the last minute or maybe it was the degrading, accusatory email from my ex.  Maybe it was something good like deciding at the last minute to do something spontaneous with my children or something really needed like stopping class because a student needed to talk about the death of his dad...(that happened to me last year and it was so sad).

Whatever the cause of stress I have a choice in how I handle it.  One thing I am reminded of from the study this week is that I cannot change people or circumstances.  I can only change how I handle them.  I cannot make my ex take care of his portion of my son's hospital bill from over 6 months ago, but I can and did stop receiving emails on my phone just so I am not caught getting stressed out over one of his hurtful emails at a time when I am in the middle of five other things or spending time with my children.  I cannot change deadlines at work, but I can find a better way to keep track of them on a calendar and prioritize my day.

I have been told by many at work that I am so laid back and just go with the flow.  They say I don't get stressed out over things.  Well either that is a work of the Lord or I am just good at hiding it!!  I don't want to hide it, but to know that I really do have the peace and stressed-less kind of attitude.  I did not mean to type this much (and don't expect it every time) nor do I know how often I will get to do this, but I am looking forward to an exciting 12 weeks with this book.

Blessings!