A Frog and a Pressure Cooker

I just dozed a minute in my cozy chair (I promise you -- that chair is a sedative!), and I awoke suddenly because I heard: "No pressure!" At first I wondered what that meant, because I sure don't, any longer, see my life as pressured. But then I heard it as a clarion call to caution my beloved friends and family. The answer came quickly. Life is full of opportunities to be stressed-out, but sometimes, voluntarily, we bring on the added pressure.

I thought about the added pressures we got ourselves into because of that BIG, beautiful, must-have home we purchased. It came with all that extra cleaning, the added maintenance of things that would break-down like the garage door motor, the air conditioner as well as the larger lawn and landscaping requirements, and God forbid -- that the home came with a gorgeous pool that was surrounded by pine trees that when the needles shed.....landed in the pool. Those were the added pressures we experienced with our dream home in Canada. But, we loved our home for entertaining and had wonderful family times. But was the added pressure really worth it?

And, who doesn't crave career "opportunities" along with titles and fat paychecks? We surrender our evenings and weekends to speed-climbing up the ladder or to promote our services if we're self-employed. The long hours are often grueling and the added pressure comes when we have to miss family time, school activities and celebrations, and it even affects our quiet times with God. And, often in even doing the right things in taking on more volunteer commitments in organizations and church -- we spread ourselves so thin that we leave little for those God placed in our lives as first priority. Again, I speak from experience -- though I can count on one hand the number of family opportunities we missed because of work. We did strive for prioritizing our family.

We can learn a lot about being in "hot water" from a frog. If you drop a frog into a shallow pot of boiling water, he'll jump out immediately. But if you place him in water at room temperature, then gradually bring the liquid to a boil, the frog doesn't notice until it's too late. Farewell, Sweet Prince!

If we have succumbed to the pressure cooker lifestyle and aren't noticing the signs of the heat being turned up, then maybe it's time for a closer look, especially because we are not only living a pressure-filled life, but we are modeling this life and teaching it to our kids. It doesn't take rocket science to recognize that years of pressure and stress will manifest in our behaviors and even in our physical bodies. Other legitimate signs of lives filled with pressure may be insomnia, excesses of food and drink, a troubled marriage and children straying off right paths.

It seems to me that we've become frogs -- creatures in some great experiment that we didn't sign up for. If we don't start paying attention, the outcome is predictable. Sure, some pressures are unavoidable and we handle them with wisdom, faith and strength. But we can strive to be free of pressure cookers by placing priority on what's most important in our lives -- God, our family, our peace. When we do have time for our loved ones, we can choose to disconnect from our phones and computers. We can talk to our spouses and our children face-to-face at meals. We can purposely make time for God in our prayer-times together and "no excuse" mentality in attending church where our spirits grow stronger and He gets first-place priority. We can say no to perpetual overload and in its place, say yes to turning down the temperature -- before we find ourselves pressured cooked alive.

“Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:11.

I Will Not Just Survive….I Will Thrive in This Heat!

I moved into my home a year ago in April, and I continue to be surprised by the plants around my home that the previous owners left me: the gardenia bushes, the redbud tree, and my canna lily plants. A wise-and-more-in-tune-with-gardening person would have spotted these lovely plants when they first walked onto the grounds of this place, but this gal – who was missing a green thumb from the start, never gave them a second look – not until they were blooming.

Initially, the canna lilies looked kaput, but when I looked out at my backyard yesterday, I was surprised to see them in full bloom, hence, my inspiration for today’s post. Here's what I found out about canna lilies: “Canna lilies are beautiful, easy-to-grow plants that effortlessly bring a splash of the tropics to your garden. They’re especially welcome to gardeners with very hot summers. Where other flowers shrivel and wilt, canna lilies thrive in the heat.” Well, hello canna lilies, you are in the right place at the right time in this Texas heat. Other plants have died (check out my poor holly that is dead as a doornail because of the heat AND the fact that our water here in Frisco is rationed.) The heat causes those canna lilies to thrive.

Here it comes. Another of my life analogies. I’ve heard some cranky folks lately complaining about this Texas heat. I remind them “Hang in there. In a couple of months, the cooler temperatures will arrive and you’ll thrive again!” I laughed when I saw my Canadian cousin’s FB post a couple of days ago. “It was a chilly night, but we still enjoyed eating outside and the kiddos thought the pool was nice and warm.” I commented: “Lord, forgive me for longing for that cool weather! She replied: “Lord, forgive me for longing for that Texas heat!"

We can all relate to experiencing heat – both in the climate and in times of pressure when our "top is about to blow", during a heated-up conversation or debate with someone or we’re in hot water because of something we said or did. Are we like the canna lily and thrive with the heat or are we like my poor holly bush? What keeps us calm in the times of the storms that come as heat waves? What keeps us cool when the heat is on?
Eleanor Roosevelt gave this quote about a woman, but I think it’s applicable to men as well. “A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”

And, that is so true. I’ve seen women and men who rise and shine, who accelerate, who go to a whole new level in their faith and confidence and trust in God when they are under some of the direst circumstances. My husband had a quote on his desk that faced him every day “In the middle of adversity lies opportunity!” That’s how we can make it during the heat. We take it on with all-out fervor and say “Bring on the heat! I was made for this. God power-packed me to win and I will! I will come out of this heat and not even smell like smoke!”

In Daniel 3:23-27 we hear about three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who Nebuchadnezzar threw into the fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow down to his idol. Their trust was in the one true God. And, in the midst of the hottest heat ever, the Son of God showed up right there in the heat with them. And, that’s the key for us when we’re under pressure and the situation and adversity have over-heated us. Trusting in God in the midst of the heat. Daniel 3:27 concludes that story of the three Hebrews with these words: “Then the officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke!!” And that will be our story, too! As we wholly trust in God Who causes us to triumph and come out of our “furnace situations”, we will survive and thrive like my canna lilies IN THE HEAT!

Safe in the Eye of the Storm

Yesterday, I posted about BEING the eye of the storm and today I'm taking it a notch up. Oftentimes, no matter the peace and calm we represent or the peace and calm we are in, still unexpected stuff happens which really reveals whether we're just talking the talk, or actually walking the walk! Eleanor Roosevelt quoted these words to a friend: “A woman (my add: or man) is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”

Yesterday, Friday, July 28, 2017, 11:45 am -- I was on a mission to return a swim suit to Dillard's that I didn't use on my Mexico trip. When I exited the busy, under-construction Dallas Tollway, a car was coming fast toward me on the side road so I had to slow to a stop to let her go on by. That's when the car behind me collided into the rear end of my car. We moved to a parking lot nearby and the young man who hit me was yelling all kinds of expletives and was pacing in a rage. My car had minor damage, but his was not drivable. He had just purchased the car 3 weeks earlier. I was calm and thankful the airbag in my car didn't deploy, and that neither of us were hurt.

I called Larry and he and Staci insisted on coming to me for moral support. Before long, the young man's best friend and former employee of the Law Department of Geico Car Insurance showed up and calmed the storm in his buddy and was equally reassuring to me that his buddy was a great guy (best friends since age 6), from a great family and still lives with his parents. My heart went out to the young man -- just 3 weeks in his beautiful new car and now having to deal with this inconvenience.

Here's what came about. Insurance information was exchanged, police showed up and wrote up the report and issued the young man a citation for going so fast he couldn't stop behind me. Staci, in her usual fashion, showed the young man the hail damage on his car and said "Be sure to wrap that hail damage into the repairs" -- "All things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28) -- if he didn't love God before, maybe this accident represents the turning point for him. Both Larry and Staci, and myself, represented compassion and care for the young man. No one was hurt. No doubt the young man will be a wiser and better driver hereafter. The friend of the driver kept saying "Thank you for being so thoughtful. I've seen so many upset drivers in situations like this and you are being so kind to him." I told him "Stuff happens and the way we handle 'stuff' is what shows up at times like this." When we departed, I hugged both young men and expressed my best wishes to both.

Who knew that when I posted yesterday about being "the EYE of the storm" in situations, that the same day I'd be putting to practice what I had preached. The fact is just a couple of months ago, I was in that young man's shoes, when I ran into the back of a car. Yes, accidents happen. That's why they're called "accidents". That same peace enveloped me then, too.

The calmness that lives in me isn't conjured up just for hard times. It's there 24/7. When we abide in THE ONE, Who is our peace at ALL TIMES, no matter what we encounter, we can rest assured our tea bags will ooze out God's love and God's peace in the midst of the storm. I wish you that PEACE today. I give you Jesus today -- because "He's the peace that passes all understanding." Philippians 4:7