It Was A Monday

Today was Monday. I suppose most of you already knew that. Let me say it a different way. It was MONDAY! In other words, it was a Monday that doesn't bode well for the rest of the week.

There's this situation at work. It actually stated a couple months ago. While it wasn't anyone in my office's fault, it has meant clean up for us. Sigh. We've worked on it, but it has meant coordinating several different groups of people. Going into today, we thought we had all our ducks in a row. Apparently, one moved without us knowing it. After getting there at 7:00 so a coworker and I could deal with things prior to the rest of the troops arriving, we discovered the AWOL duck. Sigh. Actually, we discovered it in the midst of the process with things half done. As of 4:30, it was, while in better shape than at 7:00, still hanging. Mercy. It was enough of a Monday to count for the week and then some. Please beam me to Friday at about 4:30!

Aside from that, life has been going full speed. I don't feel like there is enough time to do everything that needs doing. I've felt more than a bit frazzled. Perhaps that is why my poor blog seems abandoned. Perhaps, I'll get to share my thoughts more this week. We can hope! I need to process and you all help me do that!

Stress Fractures

Recently, I've had some unexplained foot and leg pain. Actually, it's been going on a couple of months. Sometimes, (though it seems more often or than not) I am waking up in the morning with swollen ankles and achy feet. Yes, I said waking up that way. It would make sense to me if it were later in the day. Even then, I don't know that it should be more often than not. The moment my feet touch the ground getting out of bed, they hurt. It's an achy kind of hurt, not a shooting pain or anything like that.

Initial, I thought it had something to do with the running. I backed off on that. However, not running for over a week didn't help and just doing the minimum the second week didn't either. Sleeping with my feel elevated for a month hasn't worked.

I finally called the doctor just to ask if it should be something I should be concerned about. It's not debilitating. I don't limp or hobble. It's just a constant ache. I felt a bit foolish but explained to the nurse that I was just checking about it. You see, my mom died from cancer. She started feeling poorly in January but just kind of ignored it. By the time she was diagnosed in October (the first time she got looked at), things were pretty bad. As a result, I am more likely than not to get things checked out.

Yes, they want to check into it especially since I had tried everything they would suggest already. So, I'm getting sort of a sonogram of my legs next week.

Of course I'm curious as to what it could be. The didn't say. I don't have a clue. My mind has played with possibilities. One being stress fractures. But I doubt that would be it in both feet at once! Having broken a tailbone and fractured some fingers, I think it might hurt worse than it does if this was the case.

As I considered the possibility of stress fractures, I zeroed in on what it means to have stress fractures in my life. Stress is a powerful thing. It can really discombobulate me. As a result, I am less pleasant to be around.

Stress can fracture my relationships. This morning, I am thinking particularly of work. Yesterday was a VERY stressful day. While my initial interactions with people were okay, as the day went on, those fractures shot out. One question too many. One too many things forgotten. One off the wall comment too many. One too many everything. By 2:00 I was chin deep in a project and didn't have patience for anything else. Yes, I was busy, but did I need to be short with people? Yes I was stressed, but did my words and demeanor need to fracture things with folks around me?

Today may be stressful too. The project is not yet done and is pretty important. But I don't want to fracture things anymore than I did yesterday. I will remember to breath. I will take 5 minutes to walk outside when things keep escalating. I will remember that God loves each person and expects me, out of love for Him, to treat everyone with kindness even when I'm stressed. Maybe even more so when I'm stressed. Being kind when everything is going well is easy. Being kind when things are overwhelming is a choice to depend on God and see people through His eyes.

What do you do to prevent or heal stress fractures in you day to day life?

Saying "Wait" -- Hope Chronicles 30

I've always been a bit of a saver. When I was a child, my allowance always went into the pottery type doll bank that sat on my dresser. When I was 10, my parents took us to start savings accounts. As we got older (early high school), my parents started upping the amount of money they gave us. It was agreed upon that that everything (school clothes, Christmas presents, etc) came out of that money. I never asked my my parents for extra. And then I also babysat a ton. Money just seemed to come easy.



Even after college, things have been tight at times, but it has always seemed that there was enough. If I wanted something, I saved here and there for it and got it in a reasonable amount of time. But, money has been extremely tight lately -- we are talking months and months. I thought I had it all figured out.... And I probably made some bad choices.



Last week was a struggle emotionally. There is a certain item I would like to update. I've started stuffing a bit here and there in the envelope and last week went just to look. Bad move! First, the item was more expensive than I had anticipated. Second, it was on sale -- only until Saturday. So, I did the figures in my mind and then on paper and redid them about seven times.



That sounds smart doesn't it? It is unless you base a significant chunk of your figures on "If this happens and I get this many hours . . . or I don't eat . . . ." You get the drift.



But Saturday, I woke up feeling VERY blah. I tried the figures one more time. And I recalled that it was only on sale the rest of the day! And, of course, getting it would make me feel better. (Feelings are the basis of all great financial decisions -- not.)



And since I'm taking Dave Ramsey' Financial Peace class I went to the bank and took out some cash. I drove to the store and parked the car. And just as Dave says, it's hard to part with cash. I sat in the car and counted it. It was all there and I already knew that. But I also knew I would be paying in a significant increase in stress if I used it all. Some of it was legitimately scrimped and saved on fun money but some of it should really go towards bills.



Feeling a bit dejected I drove back to the bank and redeposited what I had taken out and went home and stowed away the savings toward the coveted item . . . . It may not be on sale when I have enough in a few months -- but as the saying goes, at least I won't be "robbing Peter to pay Paul."



Two days later, I feel a little more peaceful about it. I'm so glad it's not on sale anymore!



But it is hard to wait. The world says we need everything now, now, now. It's not just with our finances. Even our food has to be fast. How did we ever manage without microwaves?



Often we fall into the same trap spiritually. We want the growth now or the problem zapped or . . . . But God doesn't often work on our time table. Sometimes He says, "Wait."



Think about Abraham. God told him that he would make him into a great nation and that his descendants would out number the stars. It was a solid and true promise, but there was a long wait involved. In fact, Abraham didn't see it fulfilled until he got to meet God in heaven and watch it unfold from there.



Waiting is hard. But God never promised us a quick, speedy journey. Rather, He promised to be with us along the way. As we wait, we wait with eager expectation with God and that is the basis of our hope.