self-care Archives | Mercy Me! I've Got Work to Do

Hi all ~ Fall seems to be a particularly busy time of year for most of us so I thought this might be a good reminder to take some time to rest in God’s mercy (and also give you a reason to avoid hosting a dinner party!) Love and prayers to you all ~ Lara

I took piano lessons as I kid until the instructor told my mom she was wasting her money. The only thing he taught me to play was “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” which no one thinks is impressive no matter how passionately I play it for them. As such, I don’t claim to know much about music – other than I like it.

At home, I often ask “Alexa,” to play music for me. Alexa is the virtual assistant who likes to pretend she can’t hear me when I give her a command. She’s also a spy for the federal government who is convinced that me talking to my cat is some kind of secret code. Anyway, one day I was picking up around the house and I asked Alexa to play classical music. (When you play classical music in a dirty house the mess doesn’t feel as ordinary and since my family makes extraordinary messes it’s fitting background music.)

A few songs in, I heard a strange caterwauling sound, like two stray cats mating despite having a terrible time. I asked my husband where the peculiar sound was coming from and after a few minutes of concerted listening to these intermittent moans we realized that the sound was coming from Alexa. (We don’t have a cat named Alexa, so I am referring to the virtual assistant.)

It turns out, when I asked Alexa to play classical music, she picked a genre of music known as Classical Erotica. I was horrified. I briefly imagined the embarrassment of having people over for dinner with erotic music for ambiance. I added this to my long list of why I should avoid cooking.

But the whole thing made me wonder what else is seeping into our consciousness. What messages chosen by technology, the media, promoters, and influencers impact us in ways that if they were better examined actually contradict our values? What do we read, watch, or listen to that seems positive but is infiltrated with lies that are counter to what we know of God’s word?

One such message that comes to mind is the self-care movement that society uses to market everything from cosmetics to Caribbean vacations. On the surface there isn’t anything wrong with things that make us feel better. If God didn’t want us to rest, he would not have given us the Sabbath and commanded us to keep it. He wouldn’t have poured out his mercy to soothe the ache of hardships. Jesus wouldn’t have died for our sins if he was indifferent to how much it hurts us and others. He wouldn’t have shown us so many examples of compassion if he didn’t value the need for its respite.

Embracing these things, embracing Him, is the highest form of self-care we can experience. Immersing ourselves in His word, asking for his forgiveness, accepting his mercy, spending time in prayer, and emulating his gentle and generous Spirit offers a sustaining renewal that we can’t get from worldly things.

I love the summer. I stay up too late. Sleep in too late. I eat too much watermelon and wear too little makeup.

We are in the thick of the season, or at least the Florida heat is as thick and greasy as the layers of sunscreen I diligently apply so I don’t look like the watermelon I so love to eat. Everyone is hither and yon, in the mountains, at the lake, in camps, and on vacations to places near and far. Other than a few conversations about summer reading, the dreaded school word is kept outside with the pesky mosquitos.

After the July 4^th holiday, I start to get a little panicky about summer’s inevitable passing and think of that soap opera, Days of Our Lives, that was popular when smut television was still a novelty. Before an episode of affairs, amnesia, and bizarre afflictions, a prophetic voice would announce, “Like sand in the hourglass, THESE are the days of our lives.”

Whoa. Kind of makes you want to get your act together, doesn’t it?

Actually, it doesn’t. It makes me want to pack up my act like a circus performer who has been on the road too long. It makes me want to enjoy my days. It makes me want to quit planning, forecasting, and fretting. It makes me want to step back from my pursuits and spend more time with my people. It makes me want to let go of all that I can be and just be. Be enough. Be loved. Be unencumbered.

I know mercy doesn’t go with summertime the way a salted margarita does, but if there is ever a season to practice compassion toward oneself, it’s now. Generally, we all have a little more time, a little less stress, and a little more flexibility within our routines. So, use it. Use every single grain in your hourglass this summer. Use it to reflect, rest, and renew. Use it to notice the abundant instead of the overwhelming. Use it like a firefly to emit light in places that have been dark for too long.

Follow the cues of the season and stretch long like a summer day. Let go of the wave of day to day stress and float on whatever calm you can create. Let the balm of mercy protect you from rays of negativity that do nothing but burn us out.

Life is generally hard, and right now, it is certainly hot. Mercy is like a cold glass of lemonade just waiting for you to take a sip and be refreshed. It’s sweet and tart and, while yummy any time of the year, it seems especially so in the summer months when we have a little more time to savor the flavor.

It also goes great with Ella Fitzgerald’s iconic song, Summertime, which lyrics remind us:

One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing

And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky

It’s a much gentler reminder of life’s brevity than the foreboding voice that warns of sand slipping through the hourglass. But either way, THESE are the days our lives, and at least for right now, if we choose mercy, it’s Summertime and the livin’ is easy.

Make it a day you’ll never regret.

I am going to take a few weeks off from posting to enjoy the summertime with my family and to practice a little of the mercy I so love to preach. I hope you find a way to do something to embrace what’s left of the season and to also practice some self-care. What do you plan to do with the grains of sand left in your hourglass this summer?

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