Practical ways to walk in peace, goodbye overwhelm

How do we say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to peace? In my early 30's I began to live more intentionally, more slowly. Learning to not live in a state of overwhelm is not an easy feat, but can be achieved with thoughtful approach. In our culture we are praised for spinning as many plates as we can. Wearing all the hats, and if you can post Instagram worthy images of yourself doing all of the things, even better! So many of us are living anxious and overwhelmed. Overworked. Who are we doing any of this for? Our children? Our husbands? God? The neighbors? It's almost like I can hear The Lord say, "Who told you, you need to keep up with the Joneses?". The truth is we live in a very busy day and age. I know many of us crave slower days, but how in the world can we possibly live slower lives with everything around us going so fast? We look to Jesus. Did you see that coming? But how? How do we look to Jesus in the busyness of our days? How do we slow down?

"I heard your Voice in the garden." I looked down and noticed the rock placed at the foot of the tree. How I needed that reminder. Here in the state of Texas we experienced our few weeks of winter and for most of us it was a welcomed change. Everything stopped and we were transported back to slower days. By the end of the third week we were all praying for the sun to come out. For life to return to a little faster pace. I often love to share living more slowly, more on purpose. Something happens when we slow down. Remember the saying, "stop and smell the roses."? There is beauty is slowing down. In taking in our surroundings. Now here me sometimes those surroundings are anything but lovely. If you have a toddler you know how quickly they can scatter their toys and your hour of hard work can be ruined in a matter of seconds. So how do we find beauty in the mess? In the chaos? In the loud? The truth is, its redefining our ideas of what beauty means. What beauty might look like in this season. We might be able to more fully appreciate the clear view and the vast expanse through the trees in the dead of winter that we might not be able to see when the trees are full of leaves in the spring and summer. There's just more clarity. While I love tidy places and I will advocate for this, I love for us to not become slaves to our systems and rhythms all the more! Because these practices are meant to serve us, not the other way around.

I can still remember weeping bitterly after I had our fifth baby. The dishwasher had not been started the night before, and now we had dishes piling up. I instantly felt overwhelmed and angry. A dear friend of mine came over to sit with me, she asked me why I was so upset, when I told her, she pulled me close and reminded me, these systems are meant to help you, to make your life easier yes, but you also have young children, and mistakes will happen, take a deep breath, let it go, it'll be okay. It wasn't worth loosing my peace, being unkind to my family. A lot of times in my life when I feel out of control I work overtime at the things I "feel" I can control, at the time, keeping a clean home. As we've added more children it has grown more difficult to do this, but I have also learned to not grow so angry over the shoes and toys scattered through out our home. These precious children are learning, just like I am, sometimes slower than a snails pace, but they are learning and what I'm after here are heart to heart connections, meaningful community with my family. One day they'll remember there is a place for everything, but for today, I'll breathe and remember these are training years. I will heed Gods command, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 Just don't give up!

Below I want to share with you some practical steps to help us let go of constant overwhelm.

1. What others think of you is none of your business!

Not consuming my mind with thoughts of what others think of me has been life giving. This single practice has helped to clear and clean out much of what caused me anxious and overwhelmed thoughts. The fear of others. I came to this conclusion, “what others think of me is none of my business”. Doesn’t mean I don’t wonder at times, the thought is quickly absorbed as I think on the freedom and peace I now possess. In Philippians 2 we read that Christ came in human likeness, He became obedient even to the point of death, He made Himself of no reputation… this scripture transformed my life. If I make myself of no reputation, there is no reputation to tarnish, I would tell myself. I do my best to live my life in a way that honors God, I receive correction as it comes and I trust He will direct my steps, nothing else matters.  We can trust that as we walk with God in an honoring way He will cause us to grow in the favor of God and also of men, but the latter is not our primary focus, God is. When God is big, then people can be put in their rightful place, not exalted above God. Phew, we can breathe again! 

2. Leave margin in your days

I don’t overwhelm my days, filling my calendar to the brim, I just don't do it. I leave plenty of margin in my life. I have lived enough life to know that when we cram our schedules full we don’t leave room for rest. I love rest. I didn’t always. And being forced to rest is certainly not fun. Especially if it’s because of an injury. Practicing rest is vital for thriving healthy bodies and brains. If we're not sleeping well our brain can't do it's job very well. Did you know that while we sleep our brains process, sort and clean out toxins? It's beautiful. I love the work of Dr. Caroline Leaf, this South African Neuroscientist has been such a gift to me in my journey of neuroplasticity! A big word to mean, God's Word is true! Romans 12:2 is real. ^2" Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

God truly can RENEW and rewrite, rewire our brains! It's all very fascinating to me. In the future I hope to share more with you on how I've seen Gods gift of neuroplasticity in my life. For now suffice it to say, keep reading God's Word it not only is mighty for tearing down strongholds in our minds, it also has the ability to heal us from the inside out.

3. Take the heavy things to God

"When Christ says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light", He means it. He doesn't want us overwhelmed and over burdened by the cares of the world. I know I can easily grow overwhelmed by scrolling on social media, hearing about this horrible thing and then this other horrible thing, it can be too much for a brain to process. We were never meant to carry this kind of weight. We simply can't. As best as you can, bring these cares, worries, burdens to The Lord. He already knows what weighs us down, but what we are doing is inviting Him into every area of our lives. In doing this I have no doubt He will teach us to delight in Him, to seek Him, and in doing this we will learn to embrace a slower more peaceful life. One of my favorite scriptures I remind myself and my children is paraphrased, "When I am overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I". I truly need Him. Life is very heavy friends, we don't have to walk it alone.

4. Your worth is NOT measured by your productivity. 
I know this is one of the lies the world feeds us. But sister, don't drink the Kool-aid. They lied. Promise. Your peace. Your sanity. Your joy is more important than what you can get done in a given day. If you have an incredible planner and schedule that helps you to be productive to the max while keeping your peace, wahoo, that's awesome, way to go, but please lean in. On the days when you can't. On the days when you're wiped out. You are still loved. You still have value! I know it may not feel like it. I also understand that you may go to a Church that prizes productivity or live in a household that holds you to crazy standards, it might even be yourself. I've been here. Putting so much pressure on myself, feeling like I never measured up. The truth is, some people may stop speaking to you because you no longer "serve" the purpose they needed you for. That's super painful, I've been there and it took me being quite sick with hypoglycemia, anxiety and depression with two young children in 2014 to realize, "My worth was not measured in my productivity". I can still remember The Lords gentle still small voice, "when you were serving at maximum capacity I loved you. and now, and you can barely care for yourself and your children, I love you. I NEEDED to hear these words. And I'm praying these words will breathe life giving breath into your being! What you can accomplish today, this month, this year, will not make you more worthy of love. We have worth because we are HIS, not because of what we can do for Him, or others. Oh I'm praying you would take these words to heart!

It is my sincerest prayer for you this week, to take in Gods peace and His goodness. For the truth of Psalms 23 to be evident in our lives, for surely His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. If we can just take one practice a week to work on, I know we will live more peaceful, slower lives, even in our busy world. It may not be possible to get rid of overwhelm 100% we do live in a broken world. However the more we rest in God, the easier we will be able to say, "goodbye overwhelm, hello peace."

Have such a beautiful day, thank you for reading! I would love to hear from you. If this message has encouraged you, or you've got a tip that has really helped you, I would love to hear it! Leave me a comment or send me an email.

Gods Shalom (peace) be with you.