Too Stressed to Feel Blessed? My NEW Stronger Than Stress Book Available for Pre-Order NOW!

Too Stressed to Feel Blessed? My NEW Stronger Than Stress Book Available for Pre-Order NOW!

by | Jun 9, 2024 | Stronger Than Stress

Today marks the official kick-off of my Stronger Than Stress book pre-release campaign! As of TODAY, God is launching me into a new season of serving you and, hopefully, millions of women struggling with chronic stress and overwhelm.

In this post, we're discussing what happens when we're too stressed to feel blessed. Since sharing God’s Word is important to me, I’ve included a powerful prayer for you and me from the Apostle Paul, who inspired my book.

Let's start with two questions:

  1. Do you feel like you're living in survival mode each day, barely making it through the day and desperate for anything to change?
  2. Do you long for more of God's strength and peace in your life?

If the answer to one or both of those questions is "yes," then you aren't alone. You already know this, but statistics regarding stress and chronic indicate that far too many of us feel like life is more than we can handle each day. Here's a sobering reality check:

  • A Gallup poll in December 2023 reported that 49% of Americans indicate feeling frequently stressed.
  • According to a March 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) report, 25% of Americans feel so stressed that they cannot participate in daily activities.

I don't share these statistics to spread bad news. However, if you hang out with me here, you know that I value hopeful AND honest conversations about our hard struggles.

Friends, I wrote Stronger Than Stress because I spent decades cycling from chronic stress to getting better to burnout. I thought stress and burnout were the norm because everyone around me kept talking about how stressed they were. So, I accepted the misery of stress as normal.

Check Out Stronger Than Stress Book

My anticipation of being stressed would begin before I opened my eyes. I used to think: "If anything else happens, I'm going to have a stroke," or "How in the world am I ever going to get it all done today?" My mind was filled with dozens of spinning plates, and I'd mentally run from one plate to the next. I was overwhelmed and exhausted. I'd frequently develop sinus infections or lose my voice, but I'd blame it on the air conditioning in my building. My heart raced from stress and anxiety all of the time. Once, I ended up in the ER with a nurse slipping nitroglycerin pill under my tongue because they were concerned that I was a stroke risk. I had no idea that I was suffering from the symptoms of chronic stress.

At the end of 2001, I had hit my breaking point and needed to change. I resigned my dream job as the executive director of a non-profit. The stress of that job was intense. I experienced frightening lapses in memory, forgetting where my kids were and not remembering important details.

While it was good that I left that job, I became depressed and I did my best to hide from everyone. But, God was gracious to me. I accepted an invitation to join a women's leadership and discipleship group at my church called Leading Ladies. I learned about spiritual practices or training exercises during that year-long group. I was aware of practices like prayer, fasting, Bible study, and medication, but I sorely needed to learn other practices like simplicity, solitude, and service.

The a-ha moment came when I realized that self-help books wouldn't break my stress cycle; the only remedy was learning new ways to submit to God's Spirit to not just break my stress cycle, but to learn how to live more in the peace and power of God’s Spirit. Two decades later, I invite you to join me on a similar journey!

Can I share the Apostle Paul's prayer from Ephesians 3:16-19 that inspired my Stronger Than Stress book? This is a powerful and beautiful prayer to kick off your week because this prayer is a reminder of what God wants FOR you! When living in survival mode, we develop a limited tunnel vision and forget that God can help us.

I've shared Paul's prayer before, but friends, this always preaches!

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. -Ephesians 3:16-20 NLT

Isn't that a fantastic prayer? It's just so powerful and speaks to the heart every single time!

Don't miss these essential takeaways from Paul's prayer: God desires for you to be empowered with His inner strength, not barely dragging through the day exhausted. God also desires for you to experience the transformative power of His love, which will keep you strong in life's inevitable storms so that you never lose hope.

Will you let me help you learn how to experience God's strength despite your stress?

In Stronger Than Stress: 10 Spiritual Practices to Win the Battle of Overwhelm, I share ten spiritual practices, like Sabbath, sisterhood, study, scripture, spiritual self-care, prayer and our friend, surrender. God used these practices to break my cycle of chronic stress, overwhelm, and burnout so that I’ve experienced God's strength and peace, even in on-going difficult situations.

If you feel overwhelmed by family responsibilities, work, and anxiety about the future, this book is for you. P.S. I've also written a separate Stronger Than Stress six-week Bible study!

Life won't become easier. If you don't change, nothing will change. You'll feel the same exhaustion and frustration physically, mentally, and emotionally six months from now or worse.

The good news is that you can choose a new path today - one that will help you live with less stress and more of God's peace.  

Your Next Step:  Thank you for allowing me to share my story and my Stronger Than Stress book! You can pre-order it now - and make sure to check out those pre-order bonuses!

My publisher knows how important it is for you to begin this journey to less stress and more peace as soon as possible. They've given me permission to share the first chapter with everyone who pre-orders the Stronger Than Stress book - PLUS other great bonuses like a FREE coupon code for my entire Stronger Than Stress audiobook! Check out the graphic below.

I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! What has been stressing you out these days? How does the Apostle Paul’s prayer encourage you today, especially if you feel like you’re stuck in stress? Hit reply and tell me.

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Letting God Lead

Letting God Lead

by | Dec 11, 2018 | Women's Topics

I’ve struggled with being patient all of my life.

Once, I even purchased a house without telling my husband. It was awful. I had to make a lot of apologies. For me, I get impatient when I want something that will make me happy or feel secure and God isn’t moving fast enough.

Can you think of a few times when you struggled with impatience and jumped ahead to do the opposite of what God wanted for your life?

  • Your dream guy isn’t proposing fast enough so you compromise your standards in order to keep him….
  • You find a just-over-the budget dream home, but panic because you’re afraid of not getting it so you take out a hefty loan that keeps you up at night…
  • Your spouse is struggling or not getting with your program so you resort to nagging or lecturing to pressure him straighten up his wayward behavior.

It’s been said that while the early bird gets the worm, it’s the second mouse gets the cheese. We have to be careful and not jump too quick for something that God isn’t ready to give us. 

I love the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River before they entered the Promised Land (Joshua 3). God told Joshua to instruct the millions of Israelites to let the ark of the covenant start out toward the river before them. Joshua told the people to keep a half-mile distance or a 15-minute walk between themselves and the ark. Since the ark was the physical presence of God, the big picture principle behind the command to stand back was this: Let God lead.

For me, this distance is also symbolic. Sometimes we get in a hurry when we’re trying to get something done. We pray and ask God for help or a favor. At first, we try to be patient. But when God is taking too long to get us what we want, we rush ahead into the unknown just because we’re too scared to stand still. But there was a reason why God told the people to wait for the ark to lead. “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.” (Joshua 3:4 NIV).

When life is uncertain, this is the most important time to slow down and let God lead.  Let’s be honest, when you don’t really know what you’re doing or where you’re going, there’s a greater chance that you’ll mess up or hurt others figuring things out.  But, God knows exactly what He is doing in your life at ALL times! There are no dark corners in God’s vision. He will always lead you to His best for you. 

What’s a clue that you’re rushing ahead of God? You know that you’re rushing ahead of God when you start stressing out, controlling people, and worrying about details. When you wait on God to lead you through uncertain times, you‘re far enough back to let God pave the way for you.

Learning to be patient and let God lead is a hard lesson. But every time I let go and let God, He shows up and leads me through uncertainty in a way that allows me to sleep well each night and manage through tough days with peace, strength, and courage.

When God Allows More Than You Can Handle

When God Allows More Than You Can Handle

by | Nov 27, 2018 | Christian Living/Discipleship, Women's Topics

For years, my former pastor and boss encouraged our staff team to participate in an overseas missions trip. Not only would we receive our regular pay while we were gone, but we’d also receive an additional day off to rest when we returned. Sweet deal, right?! But, there was no amount of incentive that could convince me to leave the safety and security of my home for the unknown of a third-world country where I was afraid of the heat, bugs, strange food, and that I didn’t know the language. 

For years, I said no when even God nudged me to say yes to that missions trip. My pastor would announce it at staff meetings and the guilt would be unbearable because I couldn’t believe that I was actually saying no to the God that I loved and wanted to serve with all my heart.

Finally, my life verse pushed back against my many fears: Seek the kingdom above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything that you need. –Matthew 6:33 NLT

If I loved God, then I realized that I needed to say yes to going on a missions trip.

But what about everything that I was afraid of? One of my biggest fears was running into a giant spider. I had nightmares of spiders crawling over me at night and that I was unable to get away.

But, when I thought about the words in Matthew 6:33, God’s promise was that if I trust Him and followed where He led me, then God would help me handle my fears.

Whenever people say to me, “Well, God never gives us more than we can handle,” I gently push back and say to them,

“I believe that God allows more than we can handle so that we’ll realize that there are situations that ONLY God can handle.”

On that first missions trip, I realized that my fears were more than I could handle. In fact, I barely got any sleep at night because I was so worried about a spider crawling on me or biting me. Each night, I’d wrap up inside of my comforter like a burrito. I was wrapped up so tight that I could barely breathe. Guess what? God did take care of me because even though I was in humid, tropical conditions, my beautiful host family had fantastic air conditioning. Even though I slept only a little each night, at least I didn’t suffocate!

In the midst of my great fear, I saw God do even greater work while on that trip. We carried rocks to fill a new home foundation for a hard-working mother with seven kids. I taught Jesus’ love through Bible lessons and face-painted dozens of kids. I worked in the clinic pharmacy and saw the life-changing effects of simple medicines that we took for granted here in the US.

My fears were more than I could handle, but God still took good care of me. Even though I didn’t handle my fears well, I experienced God in a great way that changed the trajectory of my life.

In fact, I’ve taken almost ten missions trips over the years. Get this: I’m still afraid of spiders. But, I’m more afraid of missing out on how God wants to use me. 

If what you’re facing today is bigger than what you can handle, that means that your situation is perfect for God’s power and might. Seek God first in your situation. He will give you the power and strength to handle whatever comes your way.

When Your Worry Keeps You Up At Night

When Your Worry Keeps You Up At Night

by | Nov 13, 2018 | Women's Topics

It was the middle of the night. I took five steps across the hardwood floor as quietly as I could, hoping not to jam my toes on the corner of dresser. When I took those five steps, I stopped and turned. Then, I padded five steps back in the other direction, quietly wiping the tears that were falling down my face.

Why did you let this happen, God?

When will this end, God?

I’m so miserable…

If you’ve ever paced the floor at night, you know that middle-of-the-night pacing is not exactly a party. When we’re watching the midnight minutes tick away because we can’t sleep, well let’s be honest, it sucks. #Christiancurseword

What’s been keeping you up at night lately? More importantly, how is the lack of sleep affecting your life? There’s only so much coffee can do for you. Good sleep is essential for good health. So how do we stop our worries from screwing up our sleep?

There’s a tool that I created to interrupt the worried thoughts that might prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep. It’s called the God-morning/God night technique. This simple tool is so easy to do and use! Best of all, it activates the power of God’s Word to work the worry out of your mind.

Every worry gets stopped in its tracks by the Word of God!

In order to use the God morning/God night technique, you’ll need a “starter set” of five short verses from the Bible. Search for verses that contain words or phrases like peace, do not fear, do not worry, or courage. Here are a few of my favorites:

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. –Psalm 56:3

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. –Philippians 4:13 

Give all of your worries and cares to God for He cares about you. -1 Peter 5:7

You can add two more verses to this starter set. You can store them in your phone, but I recommend writing them on a notecard or small sheet of paper and taping it to your nightstand or any place you’ll see it before going to bed. For the next 30 days, read those verses aloud before you go to settle down for bed. Don’t rush through reading them, take the time to hear the truth in the words as you read them. God’s truth always wins over your worry.

I use this technique in the morning, too. When I wake up, it’s easy for mind to spin about everything might go wrong.

However, when I start my day with God’s Word, my worries get shot down before they start.

If you try the “God morning/God night” technique, take a picture of your card by your bed and share it with me on my Facebook page. If you do this, you’ll encourage others to do it, too. Imagine how you can help others trust God and get a good night’s sleep!

When You Worry About Your Kids

When You Worry About Your Kids

by | Sep 25, 2018 | Women's Topics

It seemed like yesterday when I gave birth to my oldest child. Of course, yesterday was actually 26 years ago. Now, that child is packing up her apartment in preparation for an overseas military deployment later this year.  Following close on her heels is my 23-old daughter, who’s planning to sign a lease on her first apartment later this week. My youngest daughter, also known as the one who qualified me for the Empty Nest Club, is settling into her second week of college. Yesterday, she texted me from the coffee shop because she’d spent two hours studying the wrong material for her medical terminology quiz.

From the time that my kids were born until now, I’ve worried about keeping them safe, well fed, happy or secure. When they were newborns, I watched their tiny chests lift up and down to make sure they were breathing. I guarded my babies to keep them from tipping into sharp table corners as they tried to stand and take those wobbly first steps. And once my kids began walking, a multitude of new fears and worries walked into my life…

Once our kids start walking, we spend the rest of our lives gritting our teeth and wringing our hands worrying if our grown up bundles of joy will be okay. Will my son make the right decision about college? What if my daughter loses her job? What if that young woman isn’t good enough for my boy?

Some moms also have to face deeper, darker worries and heart-breaking questions.  Like the mom who told me about how much she loved her 30-year old son, but his on-going drinking problem was wrecking his life. Out of guilt for her own mothering mistakes, she’d pay his bills, let him move back in and talked to creditors. However, the years of stress over his problems and the financial burden of bailing him out caused her to lose sleep at night and cry all of the time.

When I meet women at conferences or retreats to sign books, I always ask what they worry about most. At least half of the women say, “I worry about my adult kids.” Many of those women answer with shiny eyes filled with unshed tears. Sweet friend, if that is you today, you aren’t alone.

One of the most well-known verses in the Bible contains the wisdom and advice that all mamas, no matter the age or stage of their children – need to hear. Do me a favor and read this verse aloud so that your mind AND ears can hear the peace and the plan that God wants to give to you:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

These verses are God’s encouragement for you, my friend. Whatever you are worried about today, give it to God. It doesn’t matter if you’re worried about your little ones, big kids, adult children or even children yet to be born, give those worries AND those kids over to God.  Be real and honest about what is tearing up your heart, whether it’s a child who won’t do their homework or a son or daughter who never calls to check in. Tell God about it.

Then give thanks. Please don’t forget this part!

In the middle of our fear and worry, gratitude gets pushed aside. Our minds get so focused on what we lack, we forget the love that we’ve given and received. Thank God for the moments that you have spent with your children. Even when life is really hard, nothing is ever all bad. There is healing in gratitude, so don’t deprive yourself of it.

Ultimately, God wants us to give up our worries so that He can give us peace.

Mom, would you rather have worry or peace when your child is going through a tough time? Peace doesn’t come without surrendering your worry. If you want to hold onto all of those negative thoughts and panic, God will let you to do just that. But God has something better waiting for you.

If you’re ready to let God handle all of the worries about your kids, go ahead and tell God about it. If you need words, you can use these:

Dear God, I’m so overwhelmed with worry about my child. You know how much I love them and it’s so hard for me to see them in this situation. Yet, I know that my worries and my fears aren’t doing anything but making me miserable. God, I am so afraid that ___________________________ will happen. I need to surrender that fear to you and trust that You are watching over my child and that I can trust You with his/her life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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