The Simple Life at Home

Moving on in our look at Dr. Richard Swenson's book, The Overload Syndrome, today we are going to look at one of the most pervasive, yet probably also one of the most controllable, factors in the overloaded life - Media Overload.

I don't even need to spend much time discussing where all this overload comes from - the television which dominates many hours of the day and evening, movies which constantly push the envelope and target ever younger children with their agendas, music - much of which carries highly objectionable messages which hide behind catchy tunes, and computer usage and the Internet (which I'm giving bloggers and homeschoolers a free pass on - NOT!).

What's the big deal, you might say. Let me tell you.

1. Media has re-set the moral acceptability threshold - We've been enjoying old re-runs of "I Love Lucy" lately. Remember how married tv couples would sleep in separate beds? How you couldn't even say the word "pregnant?" I'm not advocating that, but do you remember what it feels like to watch a movie or tv show with your children and not cringe and hope that they didn't catch that off-color joke or curse word? It's becoming a rare event. Movies that are rated PG-13 very often have completely inappropriate material for 13 year olds. The f-word may be used up to 3 times, drug use is acceptable, violence (without bloodshed) is fine. Think how far down the road we have gone in the last twenty years. Now extrapolate that out for another 20 years. Scary, huh?
2. Media has re-sent the shock threshold - Remember how when Jaws came out in 1975 that people were sick and had to get up and leave the theater? Now they show more gruesome things every day on television and it doesn't even phase us. Many news outlets have an "if it bleeds, it leads" philosophy. As we become numb to each new level of horror, the media has to keep ramping it up in order to get our attention.
3. Media re-sets the boredom threshold - I can attest to this! My children were recently grounded from electronics for two days (two whole days!!!!) and you would have thought there was nothing else to do in the world. Remember when we were kids and we could entertain ourselves for hours? Our kids are losing the ability to entertain themselves and use their imaginations.
4. Media presents a more negative view of the world - Bad news is big news. We hear about every missing child, making it seem as if the world is a much more dangerous place. Yet statistics show that kidnapping rates have not changed - it's just that we are more aware of them now. And fictional tv? They present us with about 350 characters a night - seven of whom will be killed on screen. According to media critic Michael Medved, if this murder rate reflected reality, "in just 50 days everyone in the United States would have been murdered."

So we all know that the problem is there. The real question is how do we reduce the amount of media that floods into our souls, our homes and our families?

1. Guard against media being your barrier to loneliness - Visit someone who would appreciate the contact (shut-in's, hospital patients, a friend who's been down). Get on the phone and make a call. Write someone a letter. Invite someone over for coffee. Don't turn to the tv to keep you company.
2. Allow boredom to nourish the imagination - Over the summer we had our satellite tv disconnected for 2 months. No local channels - nothing. It was a great experience once we got over the initial withdrawal pains! My kids came up with tons of creative ways to fill their time. Here's a list we made up of things to do - click here.
3. Create rather than consume - Go out and play a game rather than watching one on tv. Bake bread, sew, visit people, make your own music, learn something new. Live your life - don't live vicariously through watching people on tv.
4. Establish limits - Set a weekly limit on screen time. Agree that nothing will be turned on before homework or schoolwork are done. Set limits on what you watch/listen to/visit on the web. Limit the channels you and your kids have access to - more is not necessarily better.
5. Resist advertisements - They create a need where there wasn't one before. Trust me, millions of dollars are spent on each commercial to get you to believe that you NEED what they are selling. It's a lie.
6. Zap the set - Be willing to turn off objectionable material. Change the channel, hit the mute button, turn it off. You control the tv, not the other way around.
7. Go on a media fast - Turn off the tv for a week or two. Pray in the car instead of listening to the radio. Cancel the paper. Just tune out for a week or two - it can be very restorative.
8. Be aware - Don't hide your head in the sand. You need to know what's going on so you can deal with it with your children. It's better they get your opinion on something than their friend's opinion. When my daughter asked me why we don't listen to groups like Green Day, I spent time looking up their lyrics and showed her some of the ones that were inappropriate. She instantly understood and has never asked about our music choices again. But if I hadn't been willing to discuss it with her, she'd still be wanting to rebel.
9. Hate evil - For some reason, we always find evil more interesting. This isn't how things should be, but it's how they are. Learn to hate evil, pray, ask for wisdom.
10. Substitute soothing music - Playing soothing music, if you really need background noise, can be a soothing substitute for the tv or other musical choices. Classical may sound strange to your family's ears at first, but over time they may come to appreciate it.
11. Use a movie viewer guide - This way you know what you are getting before you go see a movie. One that I use and recommend is www.KidsInMind.com. It will give you a detailed description of any violent, sexual or language issues. Another good choice is www.pluggedinonline.com, from Focus on the Family. They give a broader picture of the movie - spiritual overtones, underlying messages, etc.
12. Watch videos - Use videos instead of broadcast and/or cable tv. Now, we don't ever go to Blockbuster. I don't have a problem with them, but we get any movies we rent from the public library. Yes, we don't get the latest releases, but we get years worth of quality movies for FREE.
13. Encourage reading - Read the book BEFORE seeing the movie. Have a set time or evening when the family reads together as opposed to watching tv. You might even want to consider paying for reading - maybe a nickel a page or so.
14. Include only the best - Look, we can't totally eliminate media from our lives. But we can seek out the best and try to eliminate the worst. Often our busyness overwhelms us and we, in exhaustion, just turn to the easiest thing. Make a conscious decision to promote music and television which offers positive messages and values.

Pray about all of this and see what the Lord would convict you and your family about. Then work to make those changes.

How many times a day do you say that to your children?

How many times a day do you tell it to yourself?

The world today seems to be moving at light speed. We are rushed in everything we do. There is little time to slow down and relax.

And speaking of relaxing, how often do you get to do that? Do you feel like falling asleep as soon as you sit down? Are you constantly exhausted?

I am. This week has been particularly hard for me. I'm trying to kick my Pepsi addiction and I've been dragging, let me tell you. I guess that caffeine and sugar did more for me than help me gain a whole lot of weight! I've just been too darn exhausted to post this week. Each afternoon I've taken a nap, even when I didn't want to. Friday I found myself falling asleep at 11:00 a.m.!!!

That's what we're looking at today in our series on The Overload Syndrome , by Dr. Richard Swenson - hurry and fatigue. I think that these two conditions are the 21st century equivalent of the plague. They affect almost everyone and people can literally die from them.

We've already looked at why our world is so hurried - many of us take on too much and refuse to accept natural, God-given limits. We feel pressured by the many expectations on us and try to keep up with everyone around us.

And where does all the fatigue come from? Well, short of saying it's from a lack of caffeinated drinks, there are many reasons. The stress we are under is a huge fatigue inducer. And, as we saw before, we are never at rest having made ourselves available to everyone all the time. On top of that, millions of us are sleep-deprived. In 1850, the average American got 9.5 hours of sleep nightly. That number has now dropped to 7 hours per night, thanks to electricity and the light bulb. We are a 24 hour society that never shuts down.

Also, we are out of shape. The work that we do from day to day is now automated or done at a desk. Even as homemakers, our work has changed dramatically over the years. Our "servant girls" are time savers such as dishwashers, Roombas, vacuum cleaners, washers and dryers. These all replaced hard, physical labor that needed to be done. As a result, we must force ourselves to do exercise when it was once just a normal part of a woman's day.

So how can we combat the hurry and fatigue? Here are some tips from Dr. Swenson:

1. Consciously slow the pace of life - Say no. Say no. Say no. This is the best advice I think anyone can hear. Say no to all the extra activities you (or your children) do just to keep up with everyone else. Say no to buying the extra things that will require extra work either to pay for or maintain. Say no to people who would suck you dry. And say yes to opening yourself up to God's blessings.
2. Use technology wisely - Use cell phones, answering machines, fax machines and alarm clocks judiciously. Learn when to turn them off and when to ignore them.
3. Throw away the alarm clock - God has a plan; that we wake when we get enough sleep. Now, I know some of us have to get up and go places early in the morning. But if you don't, consider whether or not you truly need to use an alarm clock or whether it's just habit.
4. Repent of the pride of busyness - "The busier we appear, the greater the respect afforded us. While the person sitting on the porch swing is scorned, the speed of light jet jockey is venerated. . . It is not busyness that we should honor in our midst, but love. Busyness and love are not the same. One is speed, the other is God."
5. Take your time - Persistence is more important than speed. Life is a marathon not a sprint. To finish sooner - take your time. Measure twice, cut once. Avoid shortcuts - they take too much time in the long run.
6. Set an earlier ETA - Plan to arrive at your destination a little early. By planning to arrive just in time, you remove any margin for error - traffic, the need to stop for gas, getting lost, etc. This leads to a sense of urgency, which leads to stress. Of course, this means setting an earlier time to leave, but it's well worth it.
7. Develop healthy sleep habits - Sleep is restorative. It's part of God's plan for us. Value it. Choose to get enough of it. To be well-rested is a blessing. Learn to enjoy a nap without feeling guilty.
8. Exercise - This can greatly counteract fatigue. We conveniently never find time for it, but if we make the time we can reap a bountiful harvest of blessings - greater health, longer life, more vitality.
9. Understand the will of God - He is not so desperate for resources that He needs to double our workload. Yes at times He will demand more from us, but this is for the purpose of refining us, not because His will will not be accomplished otherwise. God will give us all that we need when we need it. If we are overstressed, perhaps it is because we are not in His will.

I hope that these simple ideas can help you find some peace and rest. Remember that God wants us to enjoy our lives!

Continuing on in our series looking at The Overload Syndrome, by Dr. Richard Swenson, today we move to the pressures that expectation puts on us.

And it's expectation from every corner - from our families, our friends, our society, ourselves. Especially in the Western media-saturated, affluent society there is the pressure to "keep up with the Joneses." But it's about more than money. We expect health, wealth and ease and are discontent if more doesn't come - no matter how well off we are.

We are supposed to be beautiful, thin, fashionable; to drive a nice car, live in a nice house that's always clean, and own nice things; to be the perfect parent and perfect wife.

Let's look at some of the expectations most of us hold:

1. Car - one befitting our status so people can see where we stand just driving down the road
2. House - Americans have doubled the size of our homes, while halving the size of our families over the past 40 years. Part of the problem is we have too much "stuff." But part of it is that we expect to buy the biggest, best house we can stretch ourself to afford.
3. Careers -We expect that our jobs (or our husband's jobs) will provide for us, that the benefits will insulate us, for our companies to be faithful to us. In this age of downsizing, though, millions have been disappointed by their expectations in this area.
4. Retirement - This is a completely modern notion. It is found nowhere in the Bible. Try to find it - I've looked. Actually, there are very few countries where this is even possible. And yet, we fret over whether our savings will be enough.
5. Looks - Don't have the perfect body/face? Buy it with plastic surgery! Aren't thin enough? Your skin isn't peaches and cream? Don't have the currently in vogue stick-straight hair? There are thousands of companies willing to sell you as much as you will buy of whatever product will cure your beauty woes.
6. Government - Through its many social welfare programs, government has helped many people. But it's also created a dependence on itself and a culture of entitlement. We must learn to be self-sufficient.
7. Medicine - No doctor can know all the answers - they are human after all. And yet, we expect every treatment to work, to be healed of every illness, for our insurance companies to pay all the bills and mostly, for our doctors to know all the answers.
8. Marriage - We place on our mate's extraordinary expectations to meet our needs and to make us happy. And yet, the divorce rate is out of this world. We expect more and put up with less.
9. Parenting - This goes two ways. We expect ourselves to have all the answers, to be able to "produce" good and godly children, forgetting that they make their own choices. But also, we place huge expectations on them - they have to be super-smart or beauty queens or star athletes - something that shows that we are doing it right.
10. Traditions - Weddings must be grand, lavish affairs. To show our love to our kids (and others) we must lavish them with presents at Christmas. We expect our holidays to look like something out of Currier and Ives.

So how do we avoid expectation overload? How do we choose to live simple, godly lives? I think the first step is to first and foremost seek to please God and let that desire be your driving force. Here are some tips from Dr. Swenson.

1. Respect Limits - accept that you aren't Supermom, that you can't do it all. God is the one who created limits, don't forget. We inflate ourselves and our importance in life, we crash and burn. There are other people who can pick up what you can't do (bake sale, anyone?).
2. Adjust your expectations - Our world has taught us that we should always expect more. But the truth is if we adjust our expectations downward, we will find less to be unhappy about. Bishop Wellington Boone (who I know nothing about save for this quote) said, "We thought the way up was up. But with God, the way up is down." If we understand that humanity is fallen and life is difficult, we are more likely to be content with the simple blessings God sends our way.
3. Redefine enough - What does "enough" mean to you? For many, it means "More than I have now." Try defining it instead as, "What I have now." Know that God provides all your NEEDS, though not necessarily all your wants.
4. Compare yourself to the less fortunate - Don't look at the celebrities. Look instead to the simple lives of those who live in Third World nations and yet are satisfied with their lot. They find joy in small things and in community.
5. Tune out advertising - 'Nuff said.
6. Simplify holidays - Reduce money expenditures. Focus instead on spending time with family and friends and on the faith you have. Keep it simple. I know, harder said than done, but remember, we are learning to live with new expectations.
7. Resist inflated housing expectations - Just because we can afford that expensive house, doesn't mean we have to buy it. Choosing not to do so will give you a financial boost for decades to come. Be content where you are.
8. Free your spouse - They will never be able to meet all your needs. Only God can do that. Our spouses will always disappoint us. Only God won't ever disappoint. Remember that you are the only one you have control over.
9. Love your kids unconditionally - Let them be children and play. Let them grow up at their own pace (which is much slower than the one promoted by the media). Have age-appropriate expectations and lavish on the love.
10. Don't serve on a silver platter - Even if you are able to afford to give your kids whatever they want, don't. Let them learn the value of hard work. Help them learn to be content.
11. Free yourself from the opinion of others - For me, this is the hardest one. A.W. Tozer said this, "The heart's fierce effor to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of his friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will be intolerable. Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort."
12. Deny yourself - This is what Christ preached - to deny ourselves and follow Him. It's a normal and expected part of the Christian life. But in today's world, we deny ourselves nothing. Self-denial is not about punishing ourselves, but about focusing us and freeing ourselves. It points us in the direction that matters most.

Do you ever feel like this? Just when you settle in with a good book the phone rings. Or the doorbell. Or your cell phone.

Or maybe you're in the powder room, soaking in a bubble bath or, ahem, attending to other needs. Suddenly, a child's voice is demanding your attention from the other side of the door.

Or you come home from a busy day out to find your answering machine full of calls for you to return. No matter that you don't really want to talk to any of these people - the mere fact that they left you a message means that you are now obligated to return the call. To not do so would be rude.

In today's look at Dr. Richard Swenson's book, The Overload Syndrome we will look at how constant accessibility contributes to a sense of, well, being overloaded. Technology that has brought us the ability to keep in contact at any given time and any given place has also removed much of the privacy and the ability to take advantage of moments of solitude. It's a double-edged sword.

I often tell my husband (when I'm in the midst of complaining about not having enough time to myself!) that I envy the fact that he gets to drive to and from work every day. All. Alone. 90% of the time that I spend in the car, the children are with me. Now, my dear friend Laurie has children who get in the car and sit quietly and look out the windows. Everyone just chills out for a bit.

Not my son.

It's as if all the questions in his adorable, 10 year old mind suddenly rise to the surface and come spilling out. "Mom, if Darth Vader and Superman had a fight, who would win?" "Do you think are lizards in Dubai?" "Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet? And why don't we hear about the newly discovered planet UB-something or other (he knows the name and loves to bandy it about - me, I almost inadvertently called it Planet UB-40 before I realized that they probably don't have any Red, Red Wine there)?

But I digress.

All of these things make it impossible to just be alone; to have time with our thoughts. It used to be that one would have natural bits of quiet built into the day. Driving from one place to another. Meandering through a store. Going on vacation. But now you can check your email, make a phone call and check your messages from home. We are very rarely unplugged these days.

Now sometimes this is a good thing. But usually whatever we are emailing or calling about could certainly wait. Our society has made everything so urgent, that we fill up every moment trying to get it all done. The truth is, the tyranny of the urgent has blotted out what is truly important. A wonderful article on this subject is here. Reading it will help you see how Jesus stayed true to His priorities in the midst of constant demands on His time.

So what are we to do? How can we disconnect, if only for a short time, and regain some of that lost solitude that we all so desperately need? Here are some steps you may want to take:

1. Be discerning - recognize that all technology will have both positive and negative consequences. Understand this and make decisions based on which consequence dominates. Look at both sides of the coin, not just how beneficial it is.
2. Set boundaries - Protect your home and your family from unwanted intrusions. Turn the phone off during the dinner hour. Feel free not to answer the door if you aren't expecting someone. Hubby and I have declared Sunday afternoons until 4:00 as rest time. The neighborhood children know not to come over, the phones get turned off. We may nap or swim or whatever we choose to do, but it's OUR time.
3. Control interruptions - Choose to go to a quieter room. Maybe head to the library for a while to work or study. Work later or night or earlier in the morning when you are less likely to be disturbed.
4. Control the telephone - It is not against the law to not answer your phone. Turn it off or unplug it temporarily. Or just let the answering machine get it. Use caller id so you don't get trapped talking for hours with your neighbor when you need to be focusing on another task.
5. Deactivate the answering machine - If it's truly important they will call back. This way the responsibility is on them, not you. This also prevents annoying games of telephone tag!
6. Retreat - Once in a while try to get away. Maybe just an overnight at a local hotel. Or maybe declare a retreat at home with your family. Tell people you are taking a family vacation for the weekend, shut off the phones, order pizza and just hang out together.
7. Actively seek solitude - Use it for rest. Use it to build your relationship with God and yourself. Cultivate a contemplative life. Don't be afraid of it. If you can be content when it's just you and God, you will never suffer from loneliness. Hey, if Jesus needed to go away for solitude, how much more do we?

Continuing with my study of "The Overload Syndrome," by Dr. Richard Swenson, today I'd like to look at the effect that change can have on our stress levels and what we can do about it. We'll also look at ways we can reduce the effects stress has on us.

The world has changed dramatically in the last 150 years. More so than at any time in history. Think about it - for thousands of years, people travelled in much the same way - by foot or by horse. We communicated by hand-writing (and having hand-delivered) with pen and paper. People tended to stay within their community for their entire lives, meaning that they had extended family nearby.

Change that did occur happened gradually, slow and controlled. Now change happens before our eyes. We can be on the other side of the world in a day. We can speak to people anywhere in the world, or send them an instant message and get a reply instantly.

In a 5 year period, 40-50 percent of Americans will move. A typical American will live in 12-13 homes over their life, twice as many as the average European. America has the highest divorce rate in the world. All of this leads to instability - in our homes and in our churches. In fact, the average American will change churches every four years.

Besides all this, there have been profound moral and social changes in the last 50 years, devastating traditions, rewriting the rules, upsetting moral structures. Just a few of the affected areas include: poverty, parenting styles, day care usage, birth control and sexuality mores, medical ethics, music, movies, and television.

So how do we combat all of this? After all, everything I've just mentioned is systemic - we can't change it by ourselves. We don't have the ability to turn the clock back to a simpler time, a time when life revolved around family and church. However, there are some steps we can take to protect our families from the tidal waves of change.

1. Slow the rate of change - If you have been thinking about moving, put it on hold for 6 months. Stay at your church - if there are problems, be part of the solution. Don't give up on it so easily. Just the very state of continuity (having the same home, friends, school, church, etc.) can help to prevent stress.
2. Don't overvalue newness - Just because the companies come out with something Improved! or Better! doesn't mean it is. Don't feel compelled to throw out something you have that works perfectly well, just to spend money on the newest gadget that comes on the market. Often new products only offer novelty, nothing else. Seriously consider if what you are buying will improve your life.
3. Find a safe haven - This could be a place, a belief, a person or group - anything that is constant over time, regardless of other changes. Maybe it's a routine of having devotions. Or a favorite spot you go to where you can think and connect with God. A small group where you feel safe sharing your life. The safe havens provide safe harbors in a storm.
4. Realize you have more control than you think - Can you control everything that happens to you? No. But you can control your response to it. You decide if you will react by "freaking out" or by trusting God. I once read that Amy Carmichael said this, "A cup of sweet nectar will never spill a bitter drop, no matter how hard it is knocked." The idea is that no matter what comes along, what's inside of you (be that sweetness or bitterness) is what will spill out.
5. Spread goodwill - By helping others, you deflect the attention you pay to yourself. Focusing on others allows us to forget our own problems. Plus, you are building a network that will be there to help you when you need it.
6. Don't worry - Corrie ten Boon said, "I had to learn that worry is sin before I could get rid of the worry." Christ told us not to worry. We cannot accomplish anything by worrying and it has detrimental physical effects to our body. Turn your troubles over to God.
7. Learn to laugh.
8. Play music that relaxes your spirit.
9. Rest.
10. Breathe deeply.
11. Exercise.
12. Limit your time with negative people.
13. Remember that the biggest problem of all was solved at the cross. "In this world you will have tribulation," said Jesus. "But be of good cheer for I have overcome the world."

Sometimes it seems as though the world is moving at light speed. I know in my home, I'd like to just shut the world out. I can't do it 100%, but I can try to limit the impact on my family.

You know how it is - you need to go to playgroup, the doctor's appointment, soccer practice, piano lessons, Wednesday night church, play rehearsal, park group, gymnastics, the grocery store, the dry cleaners, the library, Scouts, and on and on and on....

Whoever came up with the name "stay-at-home mom" obviously wasn't one!

Our society is a society made up of busy people. Everyone feels the pressure to have a full calendar; to keep themselves (and their children!) occupied. It's very often how we measure the value of a person these days. The busier you are, the more important you must be.

I think this is a trap that mothers especially can fall into. Mothers, especially those who do not have outside-the-home careers, very often find their sense of worth in their children. The more accomplished our children are, the better mother we must be, right?

Honestly, how many of us can say that when we hear another mother bragging on her kid (Johnny just won the science fair! Suzie took 1st place at the gymnastics meet! Mikey hit the winning home run! Jane got the lead part in The Nutcracker!) that we don't feel as if we aren't doing enough? That our children need to somehow be doing more?

This feeling of getting our worth through what we do, rather than who we are, is addressed in "The Overload Syndrome." I think we need to recognize two things - that God values us for who we are (His children) not what we do and, secondly, that God created both activity and rest and considers both to be good.

So how, then do we know where to draw the limits? Here are some ideas from Dr. Swenson:

1. Be active in self-examination and intentional in correction. Remember that nobody is truly locked into anything. You must re-establish control of your life and schedule. Just as a tree needs to be pruned to have the biggest yield, so our activities need to constantly be reviewed and some things may need to be pruned from our life in order for their to be fruit in our life.
2. Prioritize - get your priorities from the Word of God. Seek His kingdom first and everything else comes after that. Remember that people are more important than things.
3. Accept that sometimes you must say no to good things. It's easy to say no to bad things, but it's hard to say no to things you enjoy. Now, this is not an excuse for non-involvement or laziness. Rather it's a tool for learning to allow God to direct our lives and living by the priorities you set. You must learn to preserve your energy for the things that really are important to you.
4. Do less, not more - But choose to do the right things. Assess all activities for spiritual authenticity - is this really what you want to do (as opposed to feeling like you have to do)? Is this what God wants you to do?
5. Create space in your schedule. It's not healthy to be jam-packed.
6. Restore the practice of Sabbath rest. Use the Sabbath to both rest from busy-ness and to remember God's great deeds.
7. Allow yourself time to lie fallow. Farmers often allow fields to lie fallow in order to give the soil time to regenerate and heal. In the same way, I think we often need a sabbatical of sorts wherein we step back from what we do and just BE. Be with God. Be who God created. Be quiet.
8. Remember that it is God who gets things done. If we are faithful to do what He has called us to do, more will be accomplished than we could ever imagine. But we must be available to hear His voice - something we can't do if we are so busy with our own priorities.

Over the course of the next few days I will be seriously examining my life. I've already begun some of this process - I stepped down from teaching kids at church, Hubby and I have resigned leadership of our small group, I resigned from some of my duties with our homeschool support group.

I look forward to finding a more restful, Spirit-led life.

Y'all...I have to tell you. I am reading a book that I honestly think will change my life. It may even change yours.

It's called The Overload Syndrome by Richard Swenson, M.D. And I have been completely engrossed in it since I started reading it yesterday. On every page, I find myself saying, "Yes, that's me!" or, "Exactly!" or, "What a great idea!" Lots of thoughts with exclamation points at the end of them.

This book is all about how most of us in today's society struggle with trying to handle life's demands. You know what I mean - the feeling that you just barely make it through the day, that you don't have time to really live the life you know you are meant to live.

Dr. Swenson meets us head on, right where we are, and addresses every issue that prevents us from having the time and the space we need to be restored and to rest and heal. A few of the many issues he addresses that particularly spoke to me were "Activity & Commitment," "Change & Stress," "Choice & Stress," and "Hurry & Fatigue," and "Media Overload."

One thing that he points out early on is that God, our Creator, created us with limits - it's the way we are designed. And yet we so often try to ignore those limits, pushing our selves farther and faster than we were ever meant to go. Constantly trying to squeeze in "one more thing" is not the way God wants us to live our lives.

We must remember that we are called by God to do His will. Not our own. Not anyone else's. We so often try to live up to the expectations of other people (spouses, children, parents, neighbors, bosses, fellow church members - the list goes on and on). We must learn to trust in Him. He is the one who is really accomplishing things anyways. He's the one who is truly in charge of getting things done. It's our own lack of faith that makes us believe we must work so hard - that it's really up to us and not God.

I'll be sharing more of what I learn from this. I'm so excited about all the things I've read already, I can't wait to bless your socks off with them!