In my personal life I've learned that emotional stress can have some pretty intense physical manifestations. (There's a chance I just caught a bug from my father-in-law, but knowing my body, I'm more convinced it was stress.) From that I've been reminded of the importance of forgiveness, not just because it's right or because you're supposed to, but also because your well-being depends on it. I may end up writing more on this later, but for now suffice it to say that God's grace is enough. Also, yoga cures stress nausea.
In my professional life I've learned that if you do your very best during working hours, it is easier to leave the concerns of work behind at the end of the day. Last week brought the resignation of both the directors in my department, landing me with about 200% more work than I was already doing. (At least...it feels like that much!) In a snapshot, I'm bearing the load of re-defining and structuring several of our internal processes, launching a new program campaign for the department, supporting our team through a new contract transition, and trying to maintain my ordinary job responsibilities on top of it all. With no directors! The only way I've been able to not take the stress home with me is to give my absolute all in those 8 hours I'm at work, then drop it all and just pick up the next day where I left off. It's been working! My new boss starts in a couple weeks, and needless to say, he will be so welcome!
This week in my domestic life I've taken a similar approach by tackling one or two household chores per evening, then spending the rest of the evening relaxing. I made a list at the beginning of the week and have crossed off the items as they're accomplished. It's helped me 1) not feel like I have to get everything done all at once, 2) still feel productive even if I'm only doing a couple things each night, and 3) not feel guilty that I didn't do more. I accomplish a couple items then put my list away and return to it the next evening. You should try it!
In closing news, we've also started looking for a new church. We had a bittersweet departure from Grace Bible Church, where attended for over 3 years. For the past year we've continued traveling back to Purcellville to attend because we loved the church and the preaching so much, but we recently started coming to terms with the reality that it's not been possible to stay as connected since we live 45 minutes away now. Last week we visited a church that's more in our locale and are looking forward to making some more visits.
I guess if one thing could be said to summarize everything...it would be that a lot is going on in life right now! But I'm so thankful for the recent reminders to "let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:4)
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