Thoughtful Thursday

All of us have burdens we are carrying.  It may be a strained relationship with a loved one. It may be the pain of how you view yourself. It may be the things that are happening outside of us in the world that we have no control over.  Many hearts feel heavy.   I have a reminder for you.  Relax your body.  Your shoulders.  Your neck.  Your jaw. Take a deep breath.  Now put your hand on your heart and repeat after me........ I am OKAY. I am SAFE.  I am LOVED. "Be strong and of good courage" (Joshua 1:9) I bet you needed to hear that today. I know that I did.

Did you know it isn't about you? I know, it feels so true.  As humans, our brains want to make it about us. But the truth is, it really isn't about you. When your children choose differently than you have taught them.  Not about you.  Your husband's behavior.  Not about you.  Your friend not replying to your texts.  Not about you.  When a loved one leaves the church.  Not about you. When someone says something that you believe is unkind. Not about you. What if this is true? How would you feel? How would you show up in your life? What would your relationships look like by embracing this belief?

  This month in the Seasons of Joy Community I am talking about abundance. Stephen Covey teaches about the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundant mindset in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . A scarcity mentality refers to people seeing life as a finite pie. If one person takes a big piece then this leaves less for everyone else. Many of us have been conditioned to have a scarcity mentality. Believing that there isn't enough for everyone. Resources, success, happiness, money, or promotions are limited. Micromanaging, withholding information, and short-term thinking are common. This mindset holds us back from reaching for our goals. It prevents us from discovering opportunities and possibilities because we are so focused on what we lack. This mindset is based on fear. Fear of not being enough or that our life isn't enough. An abundance mindset is the opposite of this. It is expansive. Believing that there is enough out there for every

In Tonya Dalton's book, The Joy of Missing Out, she shares a concept called Marble Jar Moments. Marble Jars have been used by teachers forever as a method to encourage good behavior. I have used it myself when working with children. Basically, every time the children do something good, you drop a marble in a jar. Then the jar fills up, the class earns some kind of reward. Half of the fun of this is the anticipation of watching the jar fill up. The kids get excited when they can watch and hear the marble rattle into the jar. There can be power in the marble jar because it reinforces good work. We all want to be recognized for our efforts, right? We want people to notice the good we have done and to get credit for it. Tonya shares, however, that we all have an invisible marble jar we carry around with us, striving to fill it.  Got up and worked out....marble jar!  Cleaned the house.....marble jar!  Cooked a healthy dinner....marble jar! And so our day continues with marbles clinking