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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Finding Peace, Joy & Strength in Pain by Lauren Gaskill

Finding Peace, Joy & Strength in Pain by Lauren Gaskill

by | Jul 6, 2015 | Christian Living/Discipleship, Women's Topics

Three years ago if you asked me what chronic illness was, I would have replied with something along the lines of, “I don’t know, but it sounds pretty terrible.”

Blogger Lauren Gaskill of MakingLifeSweet.comCheck out her beautiful blog for inspiration for happy, healthy living along with flavorful and easy food recipes.

Here’s the lovely Lauren Gaskill. We connected a few months ago and it’s been a blessing getting to know her. Check out Lauren’s beautiful blog, MakingLifeSweet.com for inspiration on topics related to happy, healthy living. She also share flavorful and easy food recipes – the photos will make your mouth water! Photo credit: A.Photographer

For the first 18 years of my life, I enjoyed a blissfully healthy existence. Every now and then I would get a sinus infection or the flu, but I never experienced any major complications. I was an optimistic, spunky, sassy and energetic young woman — and nothing could rob me of that. I had no problem waking up, going to swim practice two times a day, taking care of schoolwork and staying up late into the night hanging out with friends. On the side, I worked as a lifeguard and swim lessons instructor and never felt too fatigued to do my job.

I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but one day during my sophomore year of college in 2011, everything changed. One fall morning I woke up with lockjaw, a migraine and full body pain. Things were never the same after that. Headaches became a daily occurrence, my body felt like it had been hit with 2x4s, and my neck, jaw and back were in a constant state of semi-debilitating to unbearable pain.

Sometimes the pain was enough to make me skip class and stay in bed. But then there were periods of time — months even — when the pain wasn’t so bad. Half of my days were what I like to call “good” days and half were “bad” days. I had an MRI done of my head just to make sure nothing abnormal was happening and when the reading came back normal, I just carried on with life as I knew it. I tried not to think about the pain and if I needed to, I took Advil to help me get through the bad days.

Fast forward to 2014. From the outside looking in, it was a very happy year in my life. I landed two jobs fresh out of college, became engaged and married my best friend, and we bought our first home in Minnesota. But on the inside my chronic pain was worse than ever and I started sustaining injuries just from doing normal activities.

chronic illness_lauren gaskill quoteAfter a slew of doctor’s office visits, specialists’ visits and tests, I received an official diagnosis of fibromyalgia and hypermobility in March 2015. My family members and friends were devastated for me. We’re so sorry Lauren. That’s awful news, they said. But the truth was while others lamented, I felt relieved. For four years, I had stuffed and hidden my pain to keep doing life according to what I considered to be “normal.” But now that I had an official diagnosis, I knew I needed to start making health a bigger priority. I needed to start listening to my body so I could manage my condition.

If you’ve ever heard of the spoon theory, you know what I meant earlier by good days and bad days. Some days I wake up without a headache and feeling like myself. On those days, I am blessed with many spoons. Other times I wake up with maybe one spoon to make it through. On these days I must prioritize taking care of my health. I have learned that even though my soul wants to soldier on, it’s essential in these moments to back off, listen to my body, and treat it kindly.

If that means backing out of a dinner, canceling plans or taking a break from blogging to focus on my health, then that is what I’ll do.

Chronic illness has taught me that I can’t do it all — and that’s OK. This is where Jesus comes in.

All of these lessons aside, the biggest thing I’ve learned is that even though I can try to manage my chronic condition, ultimately relying on Jesus is the only thing that really gets me through. He gave me this one body and this one life to live. And I am called to take care of my relationship with Him just as much as I am called to take care of my health.

I have found that the more I focus on Jesus, the less I think about all of the pain and heartache that fibro and hypermobility can inflict upon me. On both the good and bad days, prioritizing Him is the best decision I could ever make because He is the supplier of my peace, joy and strength.

Thanks, Lauren for sharing your story with us!

Ladies, you can share your story, too! If you’re living with chronic pain, how do you take care of yourself? How can we best support you on those difficult days? If you want to read more from Lauren, check out her blog, Makinglifesweet.com.

I’m so glad that you stopped by to check out today’s post. It is such a pleasure and privilege to share inspiration and encouragement with you! Did you see last week’s post on why Pixar’s movie, “Inside Out” made me cry? Click here to check it out!

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What’s so hard about patience?

What’s so hard about patience?

by | Nov 7, 2014 | Christian Living/Discipleship

I struggle with patience. Not as much as I used to, but it stays on the top five of things I need to work on. So, I totally related to a hysterical video that I saw at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta last month. It’s called the “Marshmallow Experiment” on YouTube and has over two million hits. You can watch it below.

This  video features school-aged kids who were given a marshmallow and told that if they waited patiently and didn’t eat the one marshmallow, they would receive another when the adult came back into the room.  Sounds easy? Not so much.

As soon as the adult left the room, the great struggle began. It wasn’t long before kids abandoned their sedate, calm postures and got all handsy. I giggled while watching these school-aged kids sniff, roll, poke or lick those cylinders of sugary goodness. They kept a guilty eye on the door because of fear of getting caught. But fear didn’t stop a few of those kids from giving up the wait and shoving those fluffy puffs into their mouths.

After watching the video, I wondered what would happen if I switched places with those kids. Marshmallows wouldn’t thrill me, but brownies would. What would happen if I was placed in front of a dozen chocolate peanut butter brownies with chocolate ganache topping and told not to eat them for 60 minutes? What if those brownies looked like this:

Oh My! Photo from sixsistersstuff.com

Oh My! Photo from sixsistersstuff.com

Could I sit in front that tray for 60 minutes and not touch, sniff or poke them? I think so. (But, if you and I ever sit in front to a platter of brownies together, you should know that I probably licked the tops of them before you sat down. #dibs)

While I would not eat the brownies, I’d spend those 60 minutes feeling the pressure that the intense wanting applied to my waiting. I would bareknuckle my waiting until I came up with a guilt-free, Holy-Spirit approved way to eat a few of those brownies before the clock expired. And if I wasn’t able to think of anything, I would blow on those brownies until a few cocoa-laced crumbs accidently fell off.

When Our Wanting Pressures Our Waiting

Remember the old saying “Good things come to those who wait”?  I hate that quote, mainly because if I know something good is waiting for me, then I want it now. I don’t want to have to wait for it. At times, patience feels like a head game. It can be confusing.  There are so many things that we want, but we’re often confused about how we are to wait for them.

  • Wives who long for husbands or children to go to church or get saved, yet guilt or blackmail their family members to attend each week.
  • Christian single women waiting for a husband, but dating men who don’t share their faith.
  • Wives angling for a certain type of house or neighborhood because of desire to be seen a certain way RIGHT NOW, even though it creates financial or lifestyle tension.
  •  Women who desperately want more kids but whose husbands or bodies won’t cooperate.

Just so you know, I’ve been guilty of a few of these. Not proud of admitting that. Just keeping it real.

“Hope Deferred Makes the Heart Sick…”*

We all know what it feels like to wait month after month for something to happen, but that something doesn’t happen. He isn’t asking you out…The house isn’t selling…You’ve been unemployed for months.  Disappointment can chip away at our joy and our hope.

Proverbs 13.12If we are not careful, our unfulfilled waiting desires will open like a giant sinkhole in our lives and suck the joy out of everything else. Has your waiting started to drain your joy?

In the Old Testament, there was a man named Abram (later changed to Abraham). He was married to a woman named Sarai (later changed to Sarah). God promised Abram that he would be the ancestor of many, many generations of people. Yet, Abram and Sarai had no biological children.

We often talk about this story from Abram’s perspective, but I like to think about Sarai. I think about Sarai and her waiting. She knew that God told her husband that they would have children. Yet, nothing happened. And Sarai struggled.

During that time, it wasn’t uncommon for a concubine (voluntary slave) to bear children for a barren wife.** A woman named Hagar was Sarai’s concubine. So, Sarai sent Hagar to Abram to get pregnant and bear a child, even though God told them otherwise. It seems that Sarai wanted to help God out, right? I can almost hear her thoughts, “Nothing is happening. I can’t get pregnant. God must have forgotten about me. I have to do something.” (I’ve shared those same thoughts.) So, Sarai gets busy and gets handsy. She sends Hagar to Abram. He literally gets handsy and in time, Hagar gives birth to a son.

Enter Hot Mess and A Crazy

After the baby was born, Sarai acts ugly to Hagar.  All of Sarai’s unfulfilled waiting and wanting unleashed at Hagar and her son. Years of months of non-pregnant anguish poured out on a second-class woman, who was a pawn in this sad story. As I reflect on Sarai, perhaps some her bitterness also arises from the regret of trying to force God’s hand before His timing.

What do we learn from this part of Sarai’s life: There is never any peace or joy in trying to force God’s hand. Furthermore, we cannot wait in bitterness and disappointment and expect to develop patience.

Let’s turn our attention to the etymological ancestor of the word patience. It’s a word that we don’t use much anymore: LONG-SUFFERING. This following definition of this word blows me away every time I read it. Here it is:

Long-suffering is the ability to endure what God allows without complaint.***

Long-suffering highlights the idea that waiting is the necessary ingredient in shaping our character and faith. God uses waiting to  re-tool, re-shape and renew our character and faith. When we wait in a way that God desires, this means that we lean into our waiting situation and manage the intensity of our want and avoid the temptation to whine. Long-suffering (aka patience) is all about HOW we wait.

This means that we…Psalm 37.7

…Endure without complaint a family that hates our faith.
…Endure without complaint our difficult current reality.
…Endure without complaint our dreams that aren’t coming true.
…Endure without complaint children who go astray.
…Endure without complaint a marriage that is more struggle than blessing.
…Endure without complaint an illness that overwhelms our wellness.

How does this feel to you? I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me, too. But, learning to endure without complaint is what produces the ability to endure trials, something we all deeply desire. Long-suffering gives back to us in so many ways! It is an anchor to our faith and a catalyst for our character.

Here’s what I’m learning these days about what God wants to do in me through developing Long-suffering:

As I learn to endure, Long-suffering whispers God’s promises to me daily. Pursuing God’s best puts my wanting into perspective.

As I learn to endure, Long-suffering reminds me of the big picture of God’s plan for my life and that diminishes my whining.

As I learn to endure, Long-suffering illuminates God’s strength within me. It gives me the conviction to look into another woman’s eyes and tell her “You’re going to make it.”

As I learn endure, Long-suffering fuels the smile on my face and the joy in my heart during stormy days because I know that God’s got my back and I won’t fall down.

Now, what’s YOUR call-to-action? Do you need to change HOW you are waiting instead of focusing on WHAT you are waiting for? Where do you need to embrace long-suffering in your life?

I’d love to hear your comments. If you think this post might encourage someone else, please share it with them!

References: If you would like more information about the background of a few concepts discussed above, you can click on these links. Still got questions? Send me an email at barbr@cedarcreek.tv
 * – Proverbs 13:12
 ** – http://www.gotquestions.org/concubine-concubines.html
 *** – http://biblehub.com/commentaries/galatians/5-22.htm

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