To the Garage

To quote Oz Hillman, “The battle you are in will soon become a meal for you, an experience that will nourish and build you up spiritually.”

I have found that to be true and the Bible continues to be my blueprint for living.

“Keep alert. Be firm in your faith. Stay brave and strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13/CEV

Ever have those moments when you feel yourself shouting, Ok, I’m NOT tense….. just terribly, terribly alert.

Many years ago I came across a method of having a hissy fit or dealing with a downward mood swing that avoided the usual freak out or self-imposed exile to the couch with a pint of ice cream, chocolate sauce and a delivered pizza. If any of us are alive today we have negative events occurring that can have disastrous consequences for our physical health. So much of how we feel is determined by how we think and what we believe. God’s Word tells us to “be careful how we think, our lives are shaped by our thoughts.” Proverbs 4:23 (NCV). With that Scripture in mind we must deal with the daily bombardment of negativity.

It’s good for our physical health to be pro active with our mental and spiritual health.
This is a two-fold method called release/relax.

Phase 1: If one is encountering a pile-up of negative episodes one should go to their bedroom and fetch their favorite sleeping pillow. Walk silently through the house to the garage. If someone asks you a question along the way – don’t say a word just give them The Look. (Oh… you know the look… The one that has everyone within a five mile radius roll their eyes and step back from you) Continue on your route to the garage and get into the back seat of your car. Place the pillow on the seat then lean over - press your face directly into the center of the pillow and scream at the top of your lungs. Make it your personal policy never to be sad, angry, emotionally upset or screaming into your pillow for more than 10 minutes. Instant replay: Never more than 10 minutes! Never!

Pick up your pillow, get out of the car, walk back to your bedroom and place the pillow back on your bed. Take three deep cleansing breaths to re-oxygenate your body and proceed to phase 2. You could go without phase 2 but it would be like baking a cake and not frosting it. Frosting is my favorite part of a cake and phase 2 is my favorite part of getting a handle on my life when it seems to be a slippery slope.

Phase 2 is simply popping in a Praise & Worship CD and letting the praise music surround you. It’s like turning on a light. It engulfs you, comforts you and lifts your spirit to joy.

A pearl to string: There are many times that I didn’t feel like singing along to praise music so I let it sing to me. It’s like allowing the Holy Spirit to stand in the gap and sing praises to God for me. Bless my soul it never fails - Joy is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ. You can close your eyes and feel the Lord singing to you. “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

You are in His song,
Lyndi