Holidays are Coming, Will You be Stressed or at Peace?

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

The holidays are coming. Here it is October and it will fly by just as the summer whose temperatures hung on tenaciously. But Fall seems to have finally arrived. With it will come all things pumpkin, changing of the leaves, crisp air, and . . . stress.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. While we always look forward to those joyful events, they bring along unwanted baggage. We scurry around trying to prepare everyone’s favorite foods. We clean, even though we will have to do it again once everyone returns to their own homes. And, if you are like many families, you wonder if, and pray that, everyone will be on their best behavior.

Holidays are just stressful. Thanksgiving is bad enough, but then comes Christmas—

that season which proclaims joy, peace, and goodwill. But sometimes, Christmas is anything but. Insert heavy sigh here. I know you know what I mean. We’ve all been there one year or another. But there is hope and help.

A Day Late, A Dollar Short, and Two Hours Behind

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

If you’re like me, you’re still trying to play catch-up from Christmas, maybe even Thanksgiving. I have to wonder where the time went. Here we are, already smack-dab in the middle of January. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m just now feeling ready for Thanksgiving.

Christmas got here so quickly this year that I missed almost all of the Hallmark movies. Bummer. Christmas came and went without much in the way of decorations or even a lot of thought put into gift-giving.

I’m not sure what that says about me. Never have I felt so much like the proverbial little hamster in a wheel. Were it not for my Soul Care group, I don’t know what I’d do. We have downloadable coloring pages to do every week which help to remind us to rest, take care of ourselves, and spend time with God. Should you need such a group, check out Soulful Ink on Facebook. I know you will be blessed by it. But confession—I’m still trying to get my coloring pages done from back in November. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Soulful.Ink 

Be a Friend --Find Community

For the past two weeks, I’ve written about Soulful Ink, a Facebook group, open to anyone who feels they need rest from all that comes at us in this old world. I love that group.

I’m not going to talk about that group per se, today, but I want to encourage you to find a group like this in your community. You don’t have to be particularly talented. You don’t even have to do the artsy, creative things. Just be there for one another. Pray for one another. Support one another in the day to day things of life. (1Thessalonians 5:11)

I think most of us would agree that we have decent, if not blessed, day to day lives. But everyone has had or will have those days when we just want to walk away from everything, throw up our hands and shout, Uncle. Those are the days on which we really need to support one another.

Most, if not all, of us know the twenty-third Psalm. This just reminded me of the line Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Turning Worry Junkies into Journal Junkies

I’m touched that so many of you stopped by to read my blog about Edie Melson’s Soul Care. I hope that you went over to our Facebook group, Soulful Ink, and joined in on the fun and worship. If you haven’t done that yet, it still isn’t too late. Edie’s videos are available right on the site, along with all of the fabulous print-outs she’s made available to us.

Last night, Edie talked about worry. I don’t know about y’all, but I am an award-winning worrier. Yes, I know, it isn’t exactly what I should be doing, but, hey, I’m human just like you. Plus—I’m a bit of a control freak.

I cannot believe that I just admitted that . . . but it’s true. I know what I would do in most situations (until it comes to my own life), but our four sons seem to have minds of their own, and they don’t always listen, or even want to listen, to Mama any more. Insert heavy sigh here.

Soul Care- Spending Creative Time with Our Creator

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve participated in an online group, not a Bible study group, per se, but one that is doing a study called Soul Care. It’s based on the book by the same name written by Edie Melson, co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Conference, and a soon to be Soul Care conference. 

This isn’t your ordinary Bible study. This is Edie’s way of taking us out of our busy days to not only spend time with God in prayer and rest, but using our creative selves to worship Him through “creative expression”. The back of the book blurb reads in part, “She has learned that sensory involvement deepens our relationship with the Father and gives rest to our weary souls. She will teach you to tap into your creativity.”

I’m so glad that I joined the online group. I missed last week due to being at a writing conference, so this week, I’ve been playing catch-up. The activities Edie has created that go along with the prayers and devotionals in Soul Care are not only fun, but are thought-provoking. I have found myself diving deep into the Word and spending time with my Father in a way I’ve never experienced. It’s life-altering and we’re only into week three.