Self care — Faith — Stylin' Granny Mama

After the death of my father-in-law back in December, a good friend sent me a paper filled with handwritten paragraphs that a friend of hers, had given her when she was going through a difficult time. At the top of the page it says, Paul’s Prayers.

These are some of Paul’s prayers for the body of believers; those he had met on his journeys through out Syria, Asia, Macedonia and finally Italy, where he was imprisoned and later killed in Rome. All throughout his ministry, Paul was never concerned for himself. His concerns lay in lifting up of the name of Jesus, preaching the Gospel, and in the unity and building up of the Christ Ones.

I have read these prayers many times as I am typically reading and rereading the letters of Paul, but I don’t always focus on the prayers. More often I am focusing on the parts that show me what I should be doing. This is an unfortunate habit that most of us as Christians get into. We concentrate on the doing, rather than the Being - the person of the Lord Jesus Christ - and all that He has done and wants to do for us.

As you can see from the highlighting on the paper, I decided to really look and mull over these prayers of the Apostle Paul. We all know how important the words of Jesus are, and the high priestly prayer (John 17) that He prays for those who were following, and who would be following Him in the future. Paul’s prayers are important too, and are so adept at reminding us of who Christ is, and who we are in His sight.

I want to share one of these prayers with you today as not only a source of encouragement, but a source of inspiration to remember whose we are.

“9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”

— Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB 1995)

What I have been doing with each of these prayers of Paul is to write them out, but write them as though praying for myself. We need to pray for ourselves. Why do we think that is something that is selfish, or unreasonable? Yes, God commands us to pray for others, but He also commands us to pray without ceasing. I am sure some of that time can and should be used to pray for ourselves. This is my prayer:

I pray this according to Colossians 1:9-12 - I pray that you would fill me with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. I pray this in order that I may live a life that is worthy of You, and may please You in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of You; strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so I might have GREAT endurance (all steadfastness) and patience; joyfully giving thanks to You who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in (the Kingdom of ) Light. (This last phrase was handwritten including the Kingdom of - we can assume from other knowledge of the scriptures the saints are not just in the Light, but in the Kingdom of God also known as the Kingdom of Light).

Image by Michael Kleinsasser from Pixabay

Using these four Scriptures to pray over myself had an incredible affect on me. It made something, that I might have otherwise glossed over, come alive. It reminded me of several key points:

1 - God gives us knowledge of His will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. One thing I often heard when I was a younger Christian was, how do I know God’s will for my life. Simply put, God reveals His will as we grow in our spiritual wisdom and understanding. We aren’t going to learn His will from reading novels or watching our favorite shows. We learn his will as we gain spiritual wisdom and understanding.

2 - In having this spiritual wisdom and understanding we A) Walk in a manner worthy of Him, B) Bear fruit in every good work, and C) Increase in our knowledge of God. This makes sense and hopefully doesn’t need to be explained.

3 - God strengthens us with all power according to His glorious might. He gives us strength with all power, not just a tiny bit of power, but all of it. God doesn’t do things half way! Not only does He strengthen us with all power, He does it according to His glorious might. This is the same might we see that raises Jesus from the dead. (Ephesians 1:18-23)

4 - God gives us this power so that we might be able to endure, and have patience. Wow! How cool is that? We have His power, all of His power, so we can keep going through the difficulties and do it with patience. This really speaks to me. With all the issues I have been having over the last two years, I can say it has only been His power that has given me the ability to patiently endure. Is it easy? No! Not at all, but it is truth, and His truth is all that matters.

5 - We can joyfully give thanks, because of what follows this phrase - He has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in (the Kingdom of) light. There is no denying this spiritual and scriptural truth: we are children of the King. Being a child of royalty means I have all the resources of the Kingdom at my fingertips. I partake of those resources as I clasp my hands together in humility and thank Him for them.

I hope you are inspired by Paul’s prayers as much as I am. Have a great week!

A few weeks ago I wrote a post dealing with our need for rest. I was not speaking to the need for physical rest, so much as the need for mental and emotional rest from this chaotic world we currently find ourselves in. In that post I discussed three things that keep us from finding the rest we need: anxiety, lack of hope and misplaced trust. I also looked at what Jesus said to us in Matthew 11:28-30. In these verses we find three actions Christ calls us to take to find rest in Him: come, take and learn. This week I’d like to look at a few practical ways to help us find this much needed mental and emotional rest.

Get away from it all.

I love the picture above. Doesn’t it look like a wonderfully peaceful place? I could easily see myself there just looking out over the beautiful scenery and allowing my mind and emotions to move back to the center of God’s love and peace. Getting away from the typical and usual is so important to allow our mental and emotional faculties to reboot and rest.

Getting away does not mean you have to go on a road trip to some remote location, although that sounds wonderful to me. Throw in a road trip on a motorcycle and I think it would be perfect. Ha, ha. Getting away can be as simple as unplugging from all your electronic devices and taking a stroll at a local park. It is important for our brains to take a break from the constant stream of information, especially the overwhelming negative information that we receive regularly in our news feeds. Here is an interesting article on that idea.

Take time for self care.

We hear a lot about this idea of self care from bloggers, Instagram accounts and others. What exactly it looks like is really up to you. Self care is just that, caring for yourself. Your self care routine may involve a manicure, a pedicure, a facial or a massage. If you have a beach or park near by you might make time to take regular walks, not only clearing your head, but clearing your arteries as well. If you are like me and don’t have access to a beach and don’t have a lot of extra money you might take yourself thrifting, watch a show on Netflix or read a good book.

Let’s get real here, ladies. I know that many of you do not take time for self care, especially if you are my age or older. We were taught to work hard and that doing those frivolous activities were not part of being a good Christian, but that is ridiculous. Even Jesus got away, by Himself for periods of time, to get away from the crowds, his rambunctious disciples and reconnect with his Father in heaven. I am preaching to the choir friends. I struggle with this too. What I need to do is make my self care choices count, not just for the down time that I need, but as a way to be healthier and reconnect with my Lord.

Find what brings you joy and make that part of your self-care routine. Whether it is gardening, sewing, reading, writing, running, or taking a long relaxing bath, find a self care routine that will take your towards the rest that you need.

Tap into creativity.

Everyone has some sort of creative bent. Even those who are in the practical sciences like medicine, engineering and computer science have hobbies and interests that tap into a creative parts of their brains. My father, who was an airplane mechanic, also enjoyed working the wood lathe and creating different items like a drying rack for towels and beautifully crafted pulpits for local churches. My mother, who kept the books for many years for my father’s business loved to sew. She made clothes for us when we were young and then got into quilting with a few other church ladies when she was older. There is nothing more therapeutic than working with your hands. I used to embroider and cross stitch, but now my creative outlet is writing.

What is something creative that you like to do? Or perhaps you have always longed to try it, but haven’t gotten up the gumption yet to commit. Do you want to sing, act, paint, dance, bake, cook or plant beautiful flowers? Find a creative outlet, that can take your mind off of the daily grind and the difficulties around you, even if it is just for a little while. That creative break will make you ready to go back to real life, and leave you better rested and equipped to handle it.

Learn how to recreate.

The word recreate as defined by Webster’s Online Dictionary means, “to give new life or freshness to; to create again; to take recreation.” The word recreation means, “refreshment of strength or spirits after work; a means of refreshment or diversion.” In essence when you recreate you are bringing freshness and new life to your person, whether it be physical, mental or emotional.

Just as self care applies to you specifically and tapping into creativity is yours to explore; each person has to figure out how best to recreate. My spouse and I like to travel, hike and camp. We haven’t had the ability to do very many of those things over the last year and a half due to Covid and it is definitely affecting our well being and our ability to feel at rest. We have tried to take walks by the river, as well as do a few shorter trips just to get a change of scenery. Those things help, but I feel like we need a few other options. There are plenty of books on recreation and leisure, so I might check some of those out.

These are just a few ideas for attaining that rest we all desperately need; the rest of mind, emotion and spirit. What practical things do you do to find rest? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have a great day!