Buenos Dias (For Women)

Devotion: Buenos Dias Breakfast by: Susan Skidmore

“If you’re speeding down the freeway, the police might pull you over. But no one ever makes you take pit stops. You have to choose them. It’s the same with life. Emergencies force us to stop, but pit stops of joy are events we plan for and savor. It’s good to let go and bring a little relief into the noise when life is clamoring at you. It won’t change any of the circumstances you find yourself in, but when you can laugh… it helps to lighten the load.” Sheila Walsh

Speaking of Pit Stops, our church secretary, Adra told me about a “pit stop” her roommate from college was forced to make the other day.

She was driving to the airport when a bottle of coke that she had in the back seat exploded! Coke went everywhere! Of course that startled her, and she was trying to wipe coke off her glasses while keeping her eye on the road.

Evidently the coke somehow got into the mechanism of the driver’s seat. Suddenly her seat started going up and down and back and forward! So there she was, covered with coke, in the middle of traffic, with her seat whirring and going up and down. The seat then went so far forward that she was pressed against the steering wheel. Somehow she managed to get to the side of the road and make a much-needed pit stop. What could she do? She just sat there and laughed and laughed.

Laughter IS a gift from God. That’s why Job 8:21 says, “He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”

“Laughter Really is the Best medicine” states Sue Casiglia – Lets look at some highlights from her study:

a. The affect of laughter on the body is immediate. Laughing actually lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones and increases muscle flexion.

b. It also increases your resistance level to infections.

c. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

d. In the US, laughter is used as a pain management technique for terminally ill cancer patients. Patients who regularly employ laughter therapy are found to be more tolerant of pain than those who don’t.

Let’s face it: some days are not a Buenos Dias!

You know you’re having a bad day when

· you put both contacts into the same eye.

· your twin sister forgets your birthday.

· it costs more to fill up your car than it did to buy it.

· your doctor tells you that you’re allergic to chocolate.

· you wake and find your waterbed has sprung a leak and then realize that you don’t have a waterbed

· There is a ’60 Minutes’ crew your driveway when you look out the window.

· Your income tax rebate check bounces.

· Your four-year-old tells you that it is almost impossible to flush a grapefruit

down the toilet.

What makes a Buenos Dias for YOU?

People are different:

· introvert – extrovert

· scramblers – amblers

· leaders – followers

· planners – spontaneous

· athletic - delicate

A “Buenos Dias” will be different for each of us.

My sister, Miriam Windham, speaks at Women’s Retreats. She told me it’s not complicated to have a successful women’s event: Just… Let ‘em laugh. Let ‘em cry. Let ‘em talk. Well, we’ve laughed. It’s too early in the morning to cry! But I AM going to let you talk.

Share: A recent “good day,” or what makes a “good day” for you…

Have you ever felt like “one day at a time” is about 24 hours more than you can handle?

“I cannot give you a formula for success. But I can give you the formula for failure --- which is: Try to please everyone.”

Two Principles for Clearing Time Clutter:

1. Practice Letting Go

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Myth: “You can do it all…”

· Information from www.salary.com Estimated salary for a “stay-at-home-mom” – Day-care Center Teacher, Van Driver, Housekeeper, Cook, CEO, Nurse, General Maintenance Worker – TOTAL over $130,000.

A good idea for a daily mantra: “I’m not perfect. My children are not perfect. My husband is not perfect. My co-workers are not perfect. BUT GOD IS PERFECTLY FAITHFUL.” Another way to put it: “There is a God and I’m not Him.”

Helping is not always helping

· Learn to delegate. Children need to become independent. Children LEARN from their mistakes. (you can wear yourself out trying to keep them from ever making a mistake!)