Greetings from your Parish Nurse,
God’s richest blessings to you and your love ones! We may have stress related to uncertainties or problems in relationships, spiritual wellbeing of loved ones, finances and health. God’s Word reminds us, “…You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” (Is.6:3)
What Does Spirituality have to do with Stress?
Stress refers to physical, psychological and spiritual responses to demands. It isn’t the demands themselves, as much as “believing in one way and living in another.” Stress isn’t the distance we pedal as much as it is the distance between what we value and what we do. When the people and activities that are important to us receive little of our time and energy…we feel STRESSED!
Striking Stress with Spirituality
The following are suggestions for how we can live lives characterized by more peace and wholeness and less stress.
þ Renew yourself & feed your spirit. This is our most effective Stress Buster! (Ps. 103:5; Rom 12:12; 2 Cor 4:16; Titus 3:5)
þ Embrace the present. Avoid obsessing on what needs to be done next or what went wrong yesterday, so you can fully appreciate God’s presence next to you (that’s why it is called the present!) (Lk. 10:38-42)
þ Living with Hope & Joy Seeing God active in our lives…not just surviving from one crisis to the next (Hab. 3:18; Rom. 12; Is. 40; Ps. 25; Ps. 147:11)
þ Live a Grateful Life Thankfulness breeds contentment (Col. 3:15). “Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise” (Brother David Stendl-Rast)
þ Stand like a Mountain…Flow like a River Use God’s perspective in judging which situations require strength and which call us to ‘ride the waves’ and flow with changes (Ex. 14:13; Ps. 93:5; Ps. 46:4, Is. 66:12).
How to Cut Your Risk of Melanoma
While you cannot change inherited traits, you can protect yourself from the sun with clothing, including a broad-brimmed hat, sunglasses and sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or greater. Seek the shade, and stay out of the sun as much as possible from 10AM to 4PM. Brochures on skin cancer donated by Eastern Dermatology, Greenville, NC. Check display table.
Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions on this or any other
health related topics. I am eager to serve with you and grow with you.
In the Healing Christ, your Parish Nurse, Ann Warner, R.N., (phone 252-946-5301)
Seasons for Wholeness Health Ministries, I CARE, INC.