Small Acts, Big Difference

 

🎃 IF YOU CANNOT DO GREAT THINGS, DO SMALL THINGS IN A GREAT WAY.  ~  Napoleon Hill 

🎃 Two things I realize here - 1) All of these small things done in love that I am posting about are things not original to me nor have they all been done by me but sometimes for me, and 2) they aren't meant to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money but do require some forethought to make it easy for you to do.

SMALL THING #1 - the daily grind

🎃 I also realize I made my affinity for pumpkin spice latte and all things fall quite apparent (and you just met me), but seriously, can one say enough about caffeine's comfort-inducing capacity? 

🎃 It goes without saying that coffee is part of my DNA now. Did I mention I was a teacher for 21 years? Not sure if I said it or not but I taught 8th grade math for 21 years (this is when I usually get the head tilt and the "bless your heart"). Who doesn't remember their 8th grade year? That's the year I cut my own bangs and they ended up about an inch long and crooked, to my horror. I didn't go to school the next day (like that would change things). There is a small percentage of us people out there who love 8th graders. They are AWESOME. And I also attribute every single gray hair and wrinkle and sarcastic remark ever conjured up to those same people.

🎃 From the second I walked onto the school grounds each day every radar I had turned on and didn't go off until I was in my car driving away from school. Sometimes, I had a couple of interactions before 1st period even started- either involving dress code issues (i.e. "Can you pull that up a little more" or "I need you to pull those down to cover please") or involving a student who just had a bad start coming from home and was in tears. More of these "you can't make this up" tales to come, but let's get back to the importance of coffee. Some would say those who can't, teach. Only young people's lives, not multi conglomerate takeovers. Whatever. (Oh yeah, warning: sometimes 8th grade vocab will just appear in my ramblings- collateral damage of my career.) 

🎃 Back to my main point: 

Buying or making a coffee or tea for someone is absolutely the most common love language that exists in this world.  You don't need to go broke buying one- simply make one & take it to someone in either a to-go cup or disposable one. It tells someone they have been thought of.  I can't stress to you the amount of times for me it just turned a foul morning at school into a "Wow! Someone thinks I'm special" morning.  Ignore our busyness that is a constant, carve out the 5 minutes this deed will take. Each day has enough troubles of its own - who knows what kind of drive that person had, the cooperation their kids gave them in getting ready for the day, the phone call, email or text they received already?  If this is something you think you will do often, buy the disposable cups with lids.  Ha - it's about the cost of one latte:) 🎃🎃

   🎃 And since I'm enamored with PSLs I will share this yummy recipe I found on Sally's Baking Addiction via Pinterest (❤) to make my own homemade pumpkin spice creamer🍂🍂  Do I need to say "What did we do before Pinterest?"  Note I designate it with a special heart because that's how much I love it.

   🎃 To complete my perfectly cozy thought of a piping hot cup of goodness, an armchair, a cozy throw, chocolate, and
a good book, let's address it: REST. 

🎃Whether it's called mental health maintenance, self-care, me time, mommy timeout, don't call me unless something's burning time ~ I'm afraid sometimes we as women have a hard time finding a balance of time to others and time to ourselves, and guilt is usually the culprit.  We serve our families, our employers, others, and then experience sheer exhaustion.  No guilt allowed - look at some statistics:

• In a Forbes article from March 2020, a study cited "68% of U.S. women experienced burnout in the previous 7 days."  

• The BBC.com cited a Linked-In survey of almost 5000 Americans that found "74% of women said they were very or somewhat stressed for work-related reasons." 

• CNBC polled over 6800 Americans and over half the women said they have burnout from their jobs, which can result in brain fog, fatigue and chronic stress.  

• A Harris poll cited on Wellright.com up to 73% of women who are in the "sandwich" generation of caring for children and aging parents feel like they've worked a full day before arriving to work".  

🎃 Are you convinced now that your fatigue isn't just you not using the stairs every day, but rather an epidemic among U.S. women? Author Eleanor Brown declared, "Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve from the overflow.  You cannot serve from an empty vessel." The Bible speaks a lot about rest; in fact, a quick google search showed over 30 verses on "rest". Here's a few:   

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." 

Hebrews 4:10 "...For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His."

Mark 6:31 "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

Psalm 23: 2-3  "He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He refreshes my soul."

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Book suggestions for this month (to help you rest):

* your Bible

* A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Count Rustov, an aristocrat, is sentenced to house arrest in the grand hotel Metropol amidst the tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution.

🎃 So, to conclude - REST. My daughter has established a norm each afternoon of a "quiet time" as her kids are home schooled by her and they are too old to nap. They can read, draw, or play quietly and independently, but it is quiet time (including talking to mom) in their established parts of the house that they are expected to abide by. Brilliant! It's not just sanity for mom, but a well-needed downtime for kids. Whatever helps your soul recover, REST in it. I challenge you to fit in 15, dare I suggest 20 minutes today to rest your soul.

✙ Lord, give me eyes to see those who need a pick-me-up so that I may be a blessing to them in a small way today. Thank You for modeling to us how to think of others as more important than ourselves. And Lord, thank You for commanding us to rest - you formed our bodies and know us better than we know ourselves. Renew & refresh our souls. Amen. (Phil 2: 1-8)