The Art of Relaxation

Relaxation. I’m desperately honing my skills at it as I lie here on the beach. Closing my eyes, I listen to the sound of seagulls squawking as they walk up and down the beach in hopes of finding someone’s leftovers. The ocean is magnificent, churning and foaming, roaring continually with all its might. The wind hitting my face, I can smell and taste the saltiness of the ocean.

It’s unfortunate that I can’t stay in this tranquility for long before endless mind chatter invades my peace.

“Be still and know that I am God” comes to mind. I take a deep breath in and release it slowly, trying to focus on the beauty of God’s creation, his majesty and sovereignty over the ocean. A healthy looking young woman walks by and suddenly I am thinking I should exercise more.

A state of wanting and wandering instead of being.

I look over at my husband in hopes that he would inspire me to relax.

He’s checking his e-mail.

[heavy sigh]

I’m going to put this pen down now and enjoy this perfect moment.....even if it kills me.

You rule the oceans.You subdue their storm-tossed waves. Psalm 89:9

Legacy

Rummaging through a box of old books and family Bibles, I found my grandparents sign-in book for their wedding. It was 1925. I noticed my grandmother's parents didn’t sign the book- were they there? Did they approve of the marriage? I wondered if she wore a simple gown. How did they meet? I then found  this picture of my great-grandmother holding my dad as a baby. At the bottom of the box was a smaller white box, which transported me thirty-six years later. Scribbled on top was my grandfather's name and the year he died. I opened it to find all the cards sent to the family upon his death. In the span of five minutes, I traveled about eighty-five years back in time, wondering about lives of people I never met. How their finding each other brought births that brought more relationships together.

What looks like chance encounters to us are all part of God’s amazing design. Our family relationships are like threads woven in the fabric of a blanket, each connecting to the other to create a pattern. That pattern is our legacy. I thank God for the pattern of my “family blanket”. The love and reverence for our Father that has been past down from one generation to another.

It’s never too late to make your family blanket pattern beautiful. Start instilling a legacy of His love today that will last past your lifetime.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
      and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

Forgiveness

She suffered with a type of cancer that could have been fatal. It wasn’t a disease that was attacking her body, but her marriage. She woke every morning surrounded by the weight of a heavy darkness that was coming from within her heart. She knew her marriage was dying. Like cancer, it was eating away at her very being. In despair, she would fall to her knees and beg God to take this from her. In those moments of complete surrender, He reminded her of the sacrifice He made for her, forgiving her of her sins, and that she was called to do the same.

Forgiveness is not an emotion and she certainly did not feel like giving it, but forgiveness is a command from God. It was something she could not do on her own, only by the power of the Holy Spirit. She realized that if she chose to nurse bitterness, it would shut down any healing that needed to occur in her marriage, and eventually would eat away at her from the inside out.

Forgiving brings peace and peace was just the medicine her marriage needed.

What grudge might you be holding on to that is not allowing peace and healing in your life?

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:25 NLT

Prayer: Father God, help us to let go of a hurtful past and forgive others like you have forgiven us. Amen.