Busy Days and Mondays

When was the last time you woke up in the middle of the night with thoughts of your to-do list dancing in your head? When was the last time you started your day overwhelmed at all you had to do? How has the busyness of your work dictated a way of living you don't really enjoy?

I can get so enamored with my "to do" list. Sometimes, my "to do" list has more demands than there are hours in the day. Monday can come way to fast! I can start the new week with a carry-over deficit of all that didn't get accomplished last week. Life becomes like a treadmill.  I start my day on a real treadmill, but the day just keeps going at breakneck speed on a different type of treadmill.  The treadmill of deadlines, demands and reminders of what still has to be done. Busy days and Mondays don't always have to get us down.

Too often, I miss out on the gift of a new day, because I'm in a panic mode. Stressed. Existing but not existing. Present but not really present. How in the world can I get anything done in that mindset? There's got to be a better way!  What can help you and I have a good plan for busy days and Mondays?

 

For me, I want to remember what matters and Who matters. For me, just as I start my day on the treadmill for exercise, I don't want to forget to take time for spiritual health. Time in God's Word reminds me of who I am and who God is. God is steadfast, loving, persevering, caring and full of grace and mercy.  When I spend time with Him, I remember that life isn't just about getting things done. I realize that God wants to partner with me and allow me to do my work in peace, patience and freedom. With Him, I don't have to be anxious, but I can literally give Him every one of my worries and frets.  As I partner with God, I can do my work with peace and calm, knowing that God can and will guide me each moment.

 

So, lets start our day placing our hope in God. Not in other's approval. Not in stress and worry. Not in panic. Not EVEN in our ability to get things done. There is a God in heaven who wants to be personal.... with YOU.  He wants to be your help. He wants to be in relationship with you. He literally will order your steps and guide you each day. Will you let Him?

 

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

 

"This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3: 21-23

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Easily Offended?

 

I couldn't put the book down. Unoffendable.... What a title! I was even drawn to who the book was written for... "To all those who want grace for themselves but struggle to extend it to others. Wait: that's everybody." Brent Hansen, in a winsome and conversational style, helps us give up our "right" to be offended. His first sentence in the book? "Okay.... So this may sound like the dumbest thing you've ever ready, but here goes: You can choose to be "unoffendable." How would things change in your work, in your home, on the highway, if you were unoffendable? You might find the very thought of doing this offensive.

 

Come on. Face it. Being offended is a national sport that we all seem to play. Our reputation. Our opinion. Our thoughts. Our preferences. Our rights. When these things are threatened is when we become offended. We want to be perceived as right. Acceptable. Knowledgeable. Knowing what we're doing. If someone questions us or has a different viewpoint, we can be offended. If someone criticizes us, we're offended. If someone doesn't accept the way we do things, we're offended.

 

In the book, Hansen tells us that we should forfeit our right to be offended. So, we forfeit our right to hold on to anger. It means giving up our pride. Actually being humble. Just recently, I had an opportunity to practice this. In my scenario, I knew that someone was desiring full control of something. I had a choice in the situation. I could be offended by this person's need to be in control or pray for God's wisdom to know how to respond in love. In my humanness, I was irritated. A wee bit angry. But, as I prayed about this, I knew what my response should be. Let. It. Go. Obviously, sometimes, we do need to talk about some issues directly, but sometimes, it's just our pride welling up that must be dealt with.

 

Can you imagine choosing to be unoffended? Hansen writes: "When we choose, ahead of time- before conversations, before meetings, before our day begins- to be unoffendable, we're simply choosing humility." When we choose humility, we won't be passing on our disgust about someone to someone else. We won't be constantly thinking about how angry we are. Instead we will turn to God for help. We will give grace to others. We will forgive. We will move on.

 

Take note of yourself. Evaluate yourself. When are you easily offended? What's going on that makes you most offended? How do you respond to being offended? God would love to walk with you and teach you a new way of operating. Extend grace. Be unoffendable. 

When we surrender our perceived "rights," when we let go of our attempts to manipulate, we find-surprise!- JOY." Brent Hansen

 

"Jesus, the one who made breakfast for His betrayers, wants us to love as He loves." Brent Hansen.

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio. 

Miss Colorado and Being Valued

 

Last Sunday night, I had a serious choice to make. Since I'm not a big TV watcher, I usually don't have the challenge of deciding between two shows. It was the Dallas Cowboy game OR the Miss America pageant. The Cowboy game won. Later, on social media, I heard about the Miss America pageant. It wasn't so much about who won, (Miss Georgia) but about the woman who received 2nd runner up to the crown. Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson did a monologue in scrubs sharing her role as a nurse and that she's not "just" a nurse. Despite a lot of people advising her against doing the monologue, Kelley stated "I'm a nurse and that's my talent." Some criticized her. Others mocked her. Most applauded her, especially nurses.

 

Why were so many drawn to Miss Colorado? She was real. Authentic. Dared to be different. Courageous. The face is, she could have been a teacher, a waitress or a scientist. Her courage to dare greatly and be herself was convincingly refreshing and freeing. She didn't allow the perceptions of what people could or would say about her cloud her decision to do the monologue. In face, she didn't hand her identity over to anybody else!

 

We can be so consumed with image management. Our insecurity can take charge when we're placed in competition with others. Whether it's body image, career path, age, health, home size, wealth or education, we are tempted to one-up someone else. The mental comparison charts that we build in our brain are crazy! We rank people in our minds as to how they rank against us. If we're better? We win. If we're lesser? We lose. Then, of course, we strive to get enough "likes" to make sure enough people are glad we're still on the planet. Image management. Let's call it what it is. Insecurity.

 

Sadly, our insecurities can cripple us. We can be so insecure that we seek out others to affirm us. Am I valued? Am I liked? Am I appreciated? When we seek that from others, it's a vulnerable position to be in! Someone else is holding our value and we have no control. No one should hold that kind of power in your life.

 

Guess what? You ARE valuable. No matter what or who you are. No matter what you do or don't do. No matter how much you have or don't have. Whether you're married, widowed, single, with children, without children, older, younger, minimum wage earner, maximum wage earner, PhD or high school graduate. You are valuable. What would it be like to know your true value? The value of anything comes from who it's made for. We're made for God! God is the one who gives you value. And whom you are made for supplies ALL your needs. We often look elsewhere for value and acceptance, not even knowing it! God is gracious. He waits and waits for us to come to Him.

 

Some of you today don't feel like you're that important. Others don't receive the affirmation you think you need. Will you let God determine your value today? Don't look to your boss or spouse or social media for getting the number of strokes you need. No one can perfectly meet your needs. But God can and will. If you let Him. God knows how to take the negative believes off your heart. Stop looking to the world for your strokes.  Christ died for YOU. Christ loves YOU.

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

A Desire to Pray More

This week, I've come face to face with a renewed desire to pray. No, it wasn't because something bad happened in my life to drive me to pray more. It wasn't because I read a really good book on prayer.  It was prayer itself. In praying more, I had a desire to pray more.  Most people don't pray because they've never tried. If they never try, they never see the benefits.
 

Why is prayer just the hardest thing to do? Who has the time to pray, anyways?  And it seems easier just to talk to people...

 

It's just weird to talk to someone who is not there in bodily form. It's so much easier to get up from our desk, go down the hall and visit with so and so. At least, that person is physically present. Able to smile. Give a pat on the back. Extend immediate feedback. Consider facebook. Who hasn't seen a post of someone sharing about their very bad, horrible no-good day? Before long, that person has countless comments of encouragement, all joining in chorus with the lamenter about his very bad, horrible no-good day. It's a strange thing. It's so much easier to go to people than God.

 

This week, I was determined to spend more time talking to God than talking to people. I shored up my prayer journal and made sure I had up-to-date requests. I spent time in the early morning hours praying before I kicked off my day. I talked to God about matters way too big for me. People that have cancer. People who need a fresh touch of God. Freedom from fear. Help dealing with difficult people. Blessings over family. You know, the stuff of life. Yep, in praying more, I had a desire to pray more.

 

So, what's going on in your life that's too big for you to handle? The longer you live in life, the longer your list. Right now, things may seem good. You may feel like you have things quite under control. But the moment something goes awry, what do you do?

 

For example, what do you do when you're in conflict with another employee? How do you handle a fellow worker who has hurt you? How do you practice loving others who don't love you so well? You pray for them. The sooner, the better. When I pray for these types of things, my attitude towards people changes. I change. I love Scotty Smith's quote "Get low and pray 4 those who annoy you, use you, dishonor you and gossip about you. Better to pray 4 them than let their nonsense prey on you." Wow.

 

Why not start your day with a new or renewed desire to pray? Go ahead. Get low. Get totally out of your comfort zone. Pray. And then pray some more. Watch God meet you. I dare you.

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Back to Something

I was welling up with emotion. It was way too cool. 11 women and 1 man sitting around tables at the entrance of the Braundera YMCA on a Friday morning. What were they doing? Back to School Prayers! We had a sign up for prayer at the Y and over 100 parents and kids wrote their name, school name and a specific prayer request. We prayed for a ton of things on Friday.... For safety in every school. For open hearts for learning. For teachable, humble hearts. That kids would be able to deal with the challenges and temptations that come their way. That our students would seek wisdom and understanding and fear the Lord. That they would cultivate strong integrity. For our students to practice forgiveness in their relationships. It was quite a morning!  When done, we felt like we had touched heaven on behalf of these precious kids in our community.

Today is Monday, the start of school here in San Antonio. It's a big day! Buses are everywhere. 20 mph signs are back to blinking. Police are out in full force. Heavier traffic. Impatient drivers. Longer commute. Kids to drop off and pick up. Schedules to keep. Back to school day brings an added stress to life, even if you don't have kids!

Well, how about letting "Back to School" day change you in a positive way? When you see a big yellow bus, don't get irritated under your breath, but pray for the bus driver and kids. When you get caught in the 20 mph school zone, consider praying for the school's safety or for you to grow in patience. When you get a ticket in the 20 mph school zone, thank the policeman, instead of grumbling. Yes, for real. When you see a friend that's a teacher, ask them how they're doing and how can you pray for them.  See "Back to School" time as an opportunity to support our kids, teachers and parents.

Secondly, all of us are going "Back to Something" today. You may have been out of school for a lot longer than you'd care to admit. But, today, you're going back to something. Back to work. Back to kids being gone. Back to something undone. Back to way too much to do! How you handle this day matters. It occurred to me last Friday while I was praying, that we adults need these same prayers! That WE would be open to learning. That WE would have humble, teachable hearts. That WE would be able to deal with the challenges and temptations that come our way. That WE would seek the wisdom and understand that comes from God. That WE would cultivate strong integrity. That WE would practice forgiveness. Some things never change. We all need prayer, right?

Make this the BEST "Back to School" day ever!

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Bear Jam!

Just two weeks ago, while in Colorado for a wedding, we took a drive in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had just gone a few miles when we came upon quite a traffic jam. Great. Just what you want on vacation. A traffic jam in the mountains. Not the typical San Antonio traffic jam. It was a real live bear jam! A bear jam is a traffic jam caused by tourists stopping to look at bears near the road. So, being the curious couple we are, we parked the car and joined the crowd. There, not so far away, cuddled up on a rock was a brown bear, taking an afternoon snooze. He was oblivious to 30 or so tourists vying to get a nice picture, while the female park ranger stood guard. Mr. Brown Bear could have made big honey money if he had a tip jar that day.

 

As I stood there, cozied up around other gawkers, I wondered the obvious question. What would happen if Mr. Brown Bear woke from his mid-afternoon nap? Well, I did some research and found out that brown bears distribute their weight toward their hind feet, which makes them lumbering as they walk. Don't be deceived, because they are still quite fast. They can reach 30 mph! So, let's just say, I'm glad Mr. Brown Bear was deep in sleep. Every one of us would have been running for our bear-loving lives.

It's funny how we can look so fearless and appear so put together. Yet, fear can overtake us in a second if threatened. Intimidated. Pressured. Our calm, cool, collected persona can change in a heartbeat when things go south. When road rage strikes on your drive home. When pressured to perform beyond what's possible. When anger at home erupts. Trying again after failure.  Risking vulnerability for fear of being judged. Did you ever consider saying "no" to fear? How has fear paralyzed you?

Anytime you sense a "spirit of fear" invading any part of your life, you can assume that it's not coming from God.  (Of course, there ARE things we should fear, like brown bears, etc....) As you spend time developing a relationship with God, however, you will discover that God is fearless.  Because he is fearless, we too, can be fearless as we live life with God.  Apart from him, not so much. Don't let fear narrow your world.  What do you fear?  What are you scared of? I have a number of things that I fear. I've asked the Lord to meet me in my deepest fears.  Guess what? He does. How about you?

"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise. In God, I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4

"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Unfinished Summer Business

 

I didn't see it coming. Tax free weekend just slipped up on me like a bandit. Honestly...where did the summer go? It's a weird time of the year... I have to work hard to really enjoy South Texas in mid-August. OK... I guess I have to admit, hearing my father talk about the low 70's temperatures in Ohio has me drooling to get out of Dodge. Since I don't have kids, I've ignored the "back to school" advertisements. And being a bit of a sports addict, this time of year has me yawning. Waiting for football. Waiting for basketball. And the Pro Football Hall of Fame game? No interest.

It seems at this time of summer we can just get weary. Weary of the summer routine. Weary of the traffic. Weary of the heat. Weary of the sameness. As I find myself declaring a way on TV until football season, I need to up the ante on making my time count. Not frittering away the last of the summer of 2015.

 

 Do you have unfinished summer business? You know, those things that you planned to do, but just haven't gotten around to it yet? I've hoped to get to Schlitterbahn WaterPark, but haven't made it yet. I have a stack of books on my dresser that still need to be read. I have a goal of riding my bike to Boerne before the summer winds down, but haven't made it yet. Unfinished business that for whatever reason, hasn't happened.

 

I love how the Psalmist reminds us of how valuable our time really is.  He states in Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." That verse strikes me as a powerful prayer for all of us! When I found myself guilty of wishing fall and cooler temps were here, I had to stop myself.  Why can't I appreciate THIS DAY? The Psalmist is praying to God to teach him HOW to number his days. The result? That he would gain a heart of wisdom. As I give thanks for the wonder of living each day, I don't find myself wishing for another season. I instead want to make the most of this season and this day. Seize it. Capture it. Enjoy it. Be thankful for it. Make the most of it.... hot weather and all.

What about you? What three things would you still like to accomplish this summer? What's keeping you from it? Since waking up this morning, have you given thanks for another day?  The gift of life itself? You are alive today by God's grace! Make it your best day. Take time for refreshment. Take time for soul care. Sometimes, the last person we take care of is ourselves. What's your unfinished summer business?

 

"Self-care is never a selfish act- it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others." Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

 

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.