The warmth of summer and dahlia season seeps into my bones, the sunshine splashes into the cobwebby parts of my mind.

In my opinion, the glory of these golden Pacific Northwest weeks more than offsets the short days and chilly winter stretch. All that feels like a lifetime away, a different world.

When I’m struggling with life and having problems that seem insurmountable, or am unhappy and not trusting God to give me good gifts, when I’m not doing what’s right, not being self-controlled, patient, or content, I’ve learned that my issue isn’t always a spiritual one. More often than not, it’s actually a physical one!

Psalm 103:14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Sometimes, my entire outlook can improve if I ask myself a few basic (and I mean BASIC) questions* to help me quickly get to the root of the problem. 
1. When did I last eat? 🍳
2. Am I hydrated?💦
3. Is my screen-time out of balance? 📲 
4. Have I exercised? 🏃🏻‍♀️ 5. Did I sleep enough? 🛏

It seems embarrassingly childish that I’m managing my family and running a business but struggling to meet my own basic needs. But the truth is, it’s entirely too easy for me to remember how forgetting to eat, move, drink water, and SLEEP can quickly wreck my day. 

So the next time you feel you’re at the end of your hoarded resources, try asking yourself these questions, and see what you can fix for your body so that your heart and mind can realign to the truths you hold dear.

To help me remember, I made this simple graphic. I’ve saved it as a lock screen option in our stories, if you want to put it in a place where you’ll be reminded frequently to put “fuel” in your personal “gas tank!”

*I recently heard a @typologypodcast episode {#46} where the author suggested 5 similar questions that he poses to any personality coming to him for advice. I feel this struggle is a classic #type3 issue, but really anyone can miss the mark on basic self-care!

There’s one truth about life on this planet that I have to remind myself of over and over again. You’d think I’d have it down pat by now, but that’s just not the case. Maybe it’s my personality, or just old habits, but despite my best efforts, give me a good dose of demanding circumstances, and I instantly start scrambling. I don’t just mean bustling to get the job done; I mean full-out overwork, discarding sleep/eating well, hustling in the worst sense of the word. 
This past two weeks has felt like, well, a pressure cooker. Steve had a heart procedure that got fairly complicated afterwards (BUT now he’s home recovering very well), a few too many employees needed time off all at once, our farm season kicked into ultra high gear… you can imagine how it felt. 

I’m actually *sure* you can imagine it, because WE ALL HAVE PRESSURES. Yours may not involve flower deliveries and heart ablations, but you have your own intense, pressure-filled situations. Struggling kids, personal addictions, financial fears, health crises, lost opportunities… the list of potential trials in this life is endless.

The crushing difficulties are going to come, in my life and yours, but what I’m trying to change in my life is my RESPONSE to them. 
I don’t want to be ruled by my circumstances. I want to “act, not re-act,” as the old saying goes. 
BUT HOW?

The truth is, I simply don’t have the strength to act rightly in the face of my plans going awry and bleak circumstances. My only hope is to ask God for help.

It’s an amazing, wonderful truth that he does give me the ability to respond rightly when I ask him to do it. When I plow through in my own way, bootstrapping my path and “gettin it done,” exhibiting unhealthy behaviors all the while, I’m miserable. I may get the job done, but it’s a wretched process. 

When I do what’s right – walk through the difficulty while obeying what I know God’s Word tells me to do (exhibiting self control, gentleness, patience, etc., and not giving in to anxiety), I may still get the job done, but my perspective is radically different and the process infinitely better. 

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

Psalm 118:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

I’m so thankful God gave us color and eyes that can see such variety. It makes flower farming worth all the hard work! And it makes life so enjoyable. You’ve probably heard how some creatures can see a much broader range of the spectrum than human eyes (I want to know *how* biologists figured this out, though!), and some creatures see less but hear more. There are so many different types of giftedness; it’s astounding, really. 

Just as our perception of color varies, so do our reactions to life’s circumstances, our likes and dislikes, our emotions about what we experience. Some of us live to achieve, some of us live to help, some are visionary, some handle the details, some exhort, others make peace. I think our personality and giftedness makes us more (or less) compatible with our neighbors and helps us choose our closest friends and partners, but I also think it’s really important to remember God’s clear command. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” I Peter 4:8-9

The Scriptures don’t say, “Show hospitality to the people you feel deeply connected to.” God doesn’t say, “love those who complement your #type or share (or admire) your passion.” There is no qualification. 

Just, love. 

Simply: show hospitality. 

Our capacity for each requirement of life is limited, but I have to honestly ask myself if my heart is hospitable, if my home is open enough, if I’m loving without prejudice for compatibility. 

It has to be continually purposeful, I think. A daily dying to self and extending my hands to help, opening my heart to listen, and allowing my heart to stay open to share my own emotions, fears, and joys.

This darling girl and her precious big brother hold the keys to my heart. They fill my life with laughter, and remind me that God looks at me with joy like a father who delights in his children. 
He accepts me, loves me, befriends me, disciplines me, cherishes me, provides for me. He sees me.
I John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.“

For years, when I heard reminders about the promises found in God’s Word, the intended comfort fell flat. When I thought of God’s promises, I could only think of those that promised unhappiness to any who didn’t meet the mark. 
Promises of happiness? 
Oh, but there are serious consequences and misery coming: I did not obey perfectly. 
Promises of rest?
Oh, but I hadn’t worked hard enough and didn’t deserve it. 
Promises of acceptance as God’s child, with my sins coveted by Jesus’ sacrifice?
Oh, but surely I couldn’t be *fully* welcomed – my motives had been wrong. 
I’ll never forget the day when I was realized that I was relying on my own work to merit my position in God’s family. I stopped trusting in my own strength and began trusting in the only One who could save me from myself and my sin. 
Romans 5:1 “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A key turning point in my life was a relationship with a friend who completely loved and accepted me for who I was. A close relationship with a friend who didn’t condescend or expect perfection but simply loved me. They did not constantly correct, chide, or belittle, and it softened my heart as I saw an example of Christlike love in a new way. 
I so deeply long to show Christ to my children through my love for them! I work hard to mirror that kind of powerful acceptance and love to them.

A difficult but essential flipside is that while God’s Word teaches us to forgive and love unreservedly, it does not command us to stay in close community with those who manipulate, reject true forgiveness, show disrespect, are dishonest. If their behavior is toxic to our ability to set our mind on the truth of our position in Christ, it is not sinful to distance ourselves from their immediate influence.

I John 4:20-21

Psalm 8:3-4
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

I love our church body, and our faithful pastors. One of our shepherds, Andrew Larsen (Married to @ordinaryjoymama!), recently taught a deeply moving message about God’s Word, and these quotes from his points about how we love each other were so precious and timely that I’ve listened several times and feel compelled to share with you. If you can, go listen @scbiblechurch’s website to “Treasuring the Living and Enduring Word”

I Peter 1:22
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

If we do not treasure God’s Word, if we do not hold this close to our hearts, we cannot love the brethren as we need to. We are not set in a vacuum, autonomous from one another. [This] gives us a purpose, a reason that we are saved…. For a sincere love of the brethren. God did not just save us and set us on an island… 
God saves us, he makes us pure by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, so that we will express the love that we have received to one another. //
So what does Peter say? He doesn’t say fervently [earnestly] love those who adore you, love in return, treat you with respect, those who are fair to you. Jesus says in Matthew 5:43, “You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 
But I say, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?”
How are we to love? We are to be characterized by a forfeiture of our rights and privileges for the sake of another. //
The source is the heart…. Fake love, for the Christian, is not an option. Love that is simply external is not the kind of love that we were saved in order to express. He’s not just saying you tack on this, you add it on to what you’re already doing, you put on some paint and make it work. No, he’s saying from the inside out, you need to have this kind of love. 
The spring-source has to be fresh water, otherwise the love will be toxic, self-centered and not genuine.

“This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”
Elisabeth Elliot

Sister, why do you do what you do?
Who is your frenetic pace intended to please?
Who do you want to be known by?

Fear in the biblical sense…includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, or needing people.
Ed Welch

Colossians 3:23-24
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

I hear your voices, on Facebook and in direct messages, even in person: you’re pouring out your dear hearts and telling me this message resonates. Too many of us are drowning in good things, instead of choosing the best things. 
But what ARE the best things for YOU? How do you know? How do you extract from overcommitment?

These hard questions deserve real answers, and I’ll share what’s worked for me this week. But today, let’s help each other.

Who do you know who is in a prickly season of life? Is there a sister or brother who is hurting? Overwhelmed? Overcommitted?

If you can find room in your heart, I challenge you to help them today. We all have different measures of “room” accessible at this particular moment in time, but it’s almost certain that we could each stop to pray for a neighbor who needs love. Maybe you could manage a quick phone call? A short handwritten note? A tiny bouquet of blooms from your garden? Showing help, love, and encouragement doesn’t have to equal a full day of childcare or a home cooked meal (although it could!).

How can you make a difference today?

When you help others, you obey, and reap bountiful benefits emotionally, spiritually, even physically!

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”