Health & Free Living

2020 has been quite a year and now we've reached Thanksgiving. Pretty sure we thought life would be back to normal, but as I write this things all around me in my state are shutting down again because of the COVID. As mentioned in my previous blog post, there is always a way to find gratitude through the hard. In fact, gratitude is good for your health and helps with stress levels, etc.! So, I'm choosing to find gratitude in everything. Here's what I'm grateful for this year: -When everything shut down in March, we got so much more time with our family...and realized how busy we had become with all of our sporting events. The time allowed us to re-evaluate what we wanted to do as a family. -I got a new job as the P.E. teacher at Covenant Classical School! The interview process started right before the shelter-at-home began, so we had to get creative with interviews and I was finally hired in June. The job allows me to teach at my kids school and only work during their h...

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the U.S. in March and we went into shelter-in-place, I remember feeling an overwhelming tiredness that didn't make sense to me. I felt I was getting more sleep, we had nowhere to rush to, and I was grateful for the extra time with my family. Why the fatigue? As I talked to my friends, I learned that we were all experiencing similar feelings of tiredness and fatigue. About a month later, I read an article that talked about how we are experiencing a "fight or flight" response to the pandemic. The "fight or flight" response causes our cortisol levels to rise which can be helpful when needing to escape a situation, however, with no way to do anything during COVID, those responses continue to rise and can cause restlessness, trouble sleeping, GI issues, etc.  Obviously, we are unable to fight or flee the pandemic, so for some people, the body goes into a freeze response - low energy, difficulty concentrating, avoidance of all news...

  "Gratitude not attitude" became my mantra during the beginning of COVID-19. During that time, I would go for long walks -- listening to music and spending time in prayer. Sounds fine, however, often during my "talks with God" I would find myself complaining about something someone said and how it hurt me or some other situation. I realized that I could continue down that road or end the negative thoughts. So, I would stop myself in the middle of my pity party and say "Gratitude not attitude." I would then think of all the things I am grateful for about that person and/or situation. Was it always easy? No. Worth it? Yes. As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, are you needing to switch your negative attitude to one of gratitude? Where are the blessings in e-learning? In this political climate, where do your thoughts go when thinking about Democrats or Republicans? One party is not all positive and one all negative. BOTH parties have positives and negativ...

The world is a crazy place right now and trust has been on my heart and mind. Whom do I trust? Do I really trust God as much as I say I do? See, with the political climate and divisiveness going on in our country, here's what I've learned: no matter who become President and what is decided, God is in control. He already knows who the next President will be -- it's all a part of His plan for the world. Do I trust Him?  When I am overwhelmed with the arguing around me...I remember that He is in control. When I see the divisiveness on social media, I remember that He is sovereign. When I put my trust in Him, the weight is lifted from my chest and I can rest. I'm thankful that my God is in control and I don't have to be. That even as I vote, He is determining the next steps for our country and what will bring revival in the hearts of His people. God has not given up on His people and He has not given up on me. This time has also forced me to look at how I trust other pe...