Who am I? A wife for almost 40 years. A mom for over 36 years. A sister and a friend, of course. Each of these help describe me. But, even more, I have been a Christian since accepting Him as my Savior when I was 12 years old and, this truth defines each area of my life. I have enjoyed some mountain top experiences but have been through some very deep valleys as well. Valleys of incredible grief and even pits of depression. However, most of my days are ordinary, routine kind of days. But in every one of my days, God has been faithful. He has walked with me whatever the day. He strengthens, comforts, encourages and blesses me with life "most abundant."

A favorite life verse: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

Why do I write? Though not quite as private as my dad, I am definitely my father's daughter. I find it difficult to share. And to let others in. But I do love to write. I love to put words into sentences and sentences in paragraphs that help express my thoughts. I hope my words help me share my heart. Share the life that God has given me and all that He has done for me and through me. I write with the hope of giving Him at least a bit of the glory He is due.

A verse to guide my writing: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:7

Stressbusters

Posted on By jennifer

The gathering At the Well today is a discussion about stress..or specifically, dealing with stressful days. The contributing writer today is a mother of seven! – so, well, she has totally different stress than I do; but we all have those days!! And, no doubt, we all have our favorite stressbusters. I know exercise is supposed to be wonderful for de-stressing but, for me, that just doesn’t happen. Ugh.

Eating…now that’s another story! I have a whole list of favorite foods – from comfort casseroles to sweet desserts or even flavored teas or coffees – that I love to fix (and then eat) on a stress-filled day. Of course, I’m only more stressed the next morning when the reality of all those extra calories sets in – leading to thoughts of more exercise!

But, really it is the cooking and baking that I enjoy so much – and not so much the eating. Now I have a few tried and true favorite recipes that I can get busy with in the kitchen and, then, I share with neighbors or other friends – especially my senior friends. I try to keep the ingredients on hand so I am prepared and, with a few good cds playing, my time in the kitchen is great therapy.

As crazy as it sounds, one of the best stressbusters for me is cleaning and organizing. If my “world” is straightened, life is so much easier for me to handle..and, if it is organized, then life is just plain good. The more stressed I am, the deeper I clean – strubbing baseboards or reorganizing the entire laundry room. I don’t really understand the reason this works but I am often tired afterwards, so maybe that counts as exercise for me!!

One more thing that never fails to make me smile, lower my blood pressure, and just makes life good is spending some time with children. If I could only hug Miss Roo’s neck every day – spend just thirty minutes playing with her (and then send her home to Mommy once she got cranky!), I don’t think I’d ever be stressed again! But, she lives hundreds of miles from here. I do enjoy my class of preschoolers on Wednesday nights….and love, love being with David, Rachael and Miss Sarah! They just make my heart happy!!

It certainly will be interesting to link up to the well and see what is working for everyone else! Have a stress-less day!!

Other

Comments (5)

  1. Morning Jennifer,
    Nice post on stress. My life is so much stressless that it used to
    be cause I have learned not to overload myself, but probably because we do exercise a lot. Mainly because my hubby is a heart patient and since I love him so much I would like to keep him a bit longer, I am his exercise buddy which works well for both of us. I have also learned to turn things over to the Lord a lot quicker too. Ahhh Peace, there is nothing like it, and it only comes from the Father of light!
    Have a great day hon, and cook or bake something fun!! Can you email me some!! lol
    Blessings, Nellie

  2. what a great post on stress. Overloading self is one source that I struggle with. I am the mom of 6 and yes stress quickly builds up.I loved to see that you bust stress by cleaning my mother does this often cleaning house in the midle of the night

  3. Awe! Miss Riley would LOVE a hug around the neck every day from you Jen! She and I both miss you like crazy 🙁 I hate being so far away. Sometimes it just totally and utterly and completely stinks that we live in different states! I would be over all the time since we are both stay home mommies and I would be helping you with the cooking and baking…or probably be getting a few baking and cooking tips rather 🙂 Love you!
    Erica

  4. Jennifer,

    Rachael, David, and Sarah love being around you, too! We're looking forward to lunch on Thursday…and, hey, if you ever run out of baseboards to wipe down or closets to organize, just holler…I might have a few! 🙂

    Baking for senior friends is such a lovely idea…

    Love you!

  5. Hi there! I can certainly relate to the 'cleaning with stress' part – that's what I seem to do too. Things I had put off for a while gets done when stress sets in – even if it means cleaning the tile grout with a toothbrush to erase the black bits!! (well, not in the bathroom now because we haven't got tiles at the moment. LOL!!!!)
    It's been good to read your blog. Thanks for stopping by mine and for your words of encouragement.
    Have a blessed weekend.
    Carol x

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