GETTING A HANDEL ON STRESS:

Good morning, Ladies. It's very early in the morning on one of the last days of Advent. If your house is like mine, there are still so many details to take care of. Those t-shirts my daughter and I made with Baby Maeryn's handprints as the reindeer antlers need to be wrapped. That blackberry cobbler my husband just requested needs to be researched for a good recipe (and where WILL I find blackberries at this time of year!) Do we have enough cookies? Will there be adequate bulge in those Christmas stockings, or do I want more stuffers for them?

That's all fun and delightful, and I am very intentional about not becoming stressed in the process. The purpose of the preparations is completely negated if it's not a joyful experience. As in-- if I'm ready to pinch people's heads off because I'm so exhausted I can't even smile -- that's not a Christmas celebration. Can anybody relate?

That's why I think it's even more important than ever in these last few days before the big day to "get a Handel on stress" by listening to the words he presents to us so passionately in song. Here's today's: (and as always, the first person to give chapter and verse for this passage -- who hasn't already won -- will receive the RL book of her choice for herself or a friend)

        The first soloist sings in her rich contralto:

               He shall feed his flock like a shepherd

              And he shall gather the lambs in his arms

              And carry them in his bosom

            And gently lead those that are with young.

 

        Her sister singer, the soprano, continues with:

                Come unto him, all ye that labor

                Come unto him ye that are heavy laden

                And he will give you rest.

               Take his yoke upon you and learn of him

                For he is meek and lowly of heart

                And ye shall find rest unto your soul.

I don't think that even requires any explanation, do you? I love to simply sit in my yellow corduroy chair here in my office/sacred space and watch the sun rise over the lake, listening to those two women sing of being carried and and  gently led and given rest unto their souls. So many images come to mind.

My son-in-law gathering his baby daughter in his arms, the way our Lord Christ carrries us in his.

My daughter being gently led by God because she is "with young."

All of you going to God in your desperate, stressed-out, tear-filled times because you labor and are heavy laden.

I see us together taking his yoke upon us and learning of him here on the blog and finding out that it isn't about killing ourselves with guilt because we can't get it right -- that it's about finding rest for our souls so we can simply follow. 

So if you can, take a little time in the midst these last few days of "tinsel tension" (as our friend Crystal calls it) to consider the words and what they bring to your mind. Share with us whatever really sticks with you, whether it's the longing to be carried and comforted, or the need to be gently led, or the yearning to learn of him. I hope you will find rest unto your souls. 

Merry Christmas, my precious friends.

Blessings,

Nancy Rue       

                

Comments

[Melody]

Isaiah 40:11 is the first one

[Melody]

Do we have to do both? The second is Matthew 11:28-29.

[Melody]

What sticks out to me in the passage is "Take his yoke upon you and learn of Him, For he is meek and lowly of heart And ye shall find rest unto your soul." I want to learn of God and I want to be like him and I want to be at rest in my soul.

I definitely relate to feeling stressed and not feeling stressed during Christmas. The first weeks in December are always crazy for me because of Nutcracker. After that everything pretty much stops, but then I have to do all my Christmas shopping because usually I don't even start until the week before Christmas. I'm really trying NOT to get stressed this year and I think I'm doing okay. I'm almost done Christmas shopping and I'm looking forward to the two weeks of down time and vacation my family's going on right after Christmas. But I'm trying to not think about the week after that, when I have my dance audition. I'm really really nervous about that and that's a time I really want to be gently lead by Christ.

[Avery]

I love the part where it says to come and he will give us rest. I always get so caught up in the activities of Christmas and with going to parties every other day that I get stressed out. But I've been learning to let God lead me and so far my stress level is pretty low. :) I'm so glad God is here!!!! He ALWAYS makes it all good:) He just fills me up with all this peace and joy nd happiness:) Thank you everyone for yalls prayers!

[Trinny]

Oh my word this is like exactly how i feel
the performances that i have to do on Sunday. We're all doing it because we at least want to give something back to Jesus, returning his glory. Even if others think it's small, it's BIG cuz you're giving it to celebrate the day Jesus came to earth. We should be HAPPY while getting ready for the present but instead, we're all filled with worries and what will go wrong and all. I'm trying really hard not to do that, and yea i have tons of fun practicing and all. But sometimes it's like so hard and i just want to quit. But i try to constantly remind myself that this is not for me, or for anyone else. It's for Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who came to Earth to save us. I remind myself and it gets me up on my feet, working hard.

[Caitlin]

Honestly this is one thing I can't relate to. I kind of drop everything that can become stressful around this time.

[Melody]

I am feeling very inadequate. I was just on facebook and a girl I met this summer at my dance intensive (she was in my level) just got accepted as a trainee in Joffrey ballet. That's REALLY REALLY good and she got an article in the newspaper and it said that the director of Joffrey said she had tremendous talent and potential. Then I looked at 2 albums of pictures that my friend posted of her and a few of her dance friends doing their own ballet photoshoot and they all look SOOOOO amazing and their all SO skinny and they have the perfect ballet bodies...and I'm just feeling tremendously inadequate.

Anyway...that's really off-topic, just wanted to get that off my chest.

[Avery]

Hey Melody-
Just wanted to let you know that I'm praying for you.BTW I know what it's like. I dance too.

[Lexi]

I love these parts of the Messiah! They are so encouraging. I just have to tell y'all
that last night I just sat down with God and poured all my worries out. It felt so wonderful!! Well I hope you all
have a merry Christmas!!!:)

[Emii]

Merry Christmas, everyone and Nancy! Well, it's tomorrow, but you know. Hope you're all having a wonderful season and doing whatever you do when it's Christmas.
Luv,Emii

[Caitlin]

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

[Nicole]

Merry Christmas (Eve), girls!!! {Just to warn y'all, I feel a big post coming on...}

Caitlin - thanks for being honest! I don't feel so alone now. ;) I totally sympathize and pray for all of you, but I just gotta say, it kinda touched me the way you were like - hey, just to be honest, I can't really relate to this right now. Even in this group, sometimes I feel like I have to try to relate to what other people are going through instead of being totally me, the person God has made me. Your comment reminded me that this is 'REAL life' - what we each go through is real, not something we embellish to fit whatever we want to fit into.

Anyway. Hope that made sense. ;)

So, yes, I have been quite relaxed lately. I think definitely in contrast to what the week or or so was like before this past week, it's seemed so restful. Earlier I was going through some tough stuff and I just had to fight every day to follow Christ. Not that it was all necessarily bad (I learned quite a lot), but this peace is so wonderful.

So I guess during this time now in my life I'm focusing on that last part of the lyrics/Scripture. Learning about Christ, His very nature, by taking His yoke upon me and finding rest...for...my...soul. God has been revealing to me more and more His purpose for my life. He's shown me that the spiritual gift He's given me is intercessory prayer - and that's basically pleading with God for breakthrough in hardened hearts, for people to open their eyes to His overwhelming love and grace for them, for Him to cover His servants with wisdom and peace and strength and His Spirit in their daily lives, all that good stuff. I look at it as connecting with God on the behalf of others - and who knows, I might get something out of it, too. That usually happens when you're in God's Presence, huh? ;)

I'm in such a joyful mood right now! I'm celebrating our Savior's coming to the world - why shouldn't I be joyful??!

i love You, Jesus! thanks for loving me. <3

[Melody]

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have an amazing stress-free day. Oh and Happy Boxing Day Emii and anyone else in Australia :)

[Paige]

Merry (late) Christmas everyone!! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.
Tomorrow I leave for nearly two weeks to be spent reaching out to the people of the Dominican Republic, along with 38 other people. I'm super excited to go and see how God's going to work not only in my heart, but the hearts of others as well. Prayers would be greatly appreciated, despite my excitement, my nervousness is overwhelming!!
Love you all &I'll be praying for you as I'm away.
Blessings,
Paige

[Caitlin]

Yes Nicole it did make sense. Thank you for helping me not feel alone in that.

[Emii]

Wow, Paige, that's AWESOME! I will so be praying!!