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!)
2. Practice Saying “No”
· Practice Responsible Procrastination (From The Worn Out Woman by Dr, Steve Stephens and Alice Gray)
“The darn trouble with cleaning the house is it gets dirty the next day anyway. So skip a week if you have to.” Barbara Bush (who found time to be First Lady … and managed to raise a President.)
· Not every good idea needs to be done by you. And not every good idea needs to be done now.
· Learn how to say “no” (Put your tongue at the roof of your mouth…)
Everything you say “yes” to is something you say “no” to.
· A friend of mine was a teacher with a 3-year-old child. She said “yes” to sponsoring NJHS. She said “yes” to working on a Masters Degree after school. She said “yes” to sponsoring a group of students on a trip to Europe that summer. These were all good things, but each “yes” was a “NO” to spending time with her little daughter and her husband.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:27
God will give you the wisdom to know what is REALLY important.
One priority is clear in scripture. We are to put PEOPLE above THINGS. This simple statement sums it up: Put Relationships over Accomplishments When you wonder if you should say “yes” or “no” ask “Will this help strengthen important relationships?”… between me and ______________(family, friends, God)
How many of you have a “to-do” list? How long is it? Have you ever wondered what Jesus’ “to-do” list might look like? I think I know. It would have one item on it.
Jesus’ “to-do” list: Do the Will of my Father.
Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus mother and brothers came to get him. They wanted him to say “yes” to going home with them. I don’t know … maybe they wanted him to get back into carpentry. Maybe they wanted him to become a Rabbi and go the traditional route to leadership… Here is what Jesus said.
“Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:35
That is all that really matters. More of our days will be Buenos Dias when we LEARN TO LET GO and LEARN TO SAY NO….
