Here Ya Go! Practical Tips for Everyday Living
Sometimes, even in the middle of a pandemic and election fraud a person needs some practical, every day discussion. Maybe it goes deeper than that, maybe I should have written especially in the middle of a pandemic and election fraud a person needs the practical and the every day. When so much of what is going on around us is out of our control there is a soothing rest in being able to focus on those rituals and habits that remain constant and steady; laundry, meals, and everything home comes to mind.
The kettle is heating water for tea, the extra large capacity kettle, the one that holds 12 cups of water, the one that is one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever, the one that several years after having received it I am still thankful for it every single day, THAT tea kettle. It doesn't whistle, but it is starting to sound as if the water is just about ready. My favorite Christmas mug, the white Pfaltzgraff one in the Winterberry pattern, is in readiness waiting to receive the steaming liquid that will brew a red-brown cup of amber goodness. English Teatime by Bigelow is the tea I'm having this afternoon. What is filling your cup?
It's the perfect time of the day for brewing a cup of goodness, sitting down, and letting out the day in a big ole sigh. Just let those shoulders sag way down on the exhale. Feel the tension leaving your body as you gently lift your shoulders back into their straight line. Maybe it's the sort of day that needs three or four sighs to get it all out. That's okay. Go ahead. However many times you need to let those sighs out will be worth it. Time spent letting go of what holds us captive and tense is time well spent. Just get it all out and let it go. Don't worry if a few tears slip away with the tension, they're proof the tension is truly leaving.
Feel free to breathe prayer as you sigh and release. Scriptures are perfect for this. One of my favorite breath prayers is super simple, "God's love in" on the inhale, "fear out" on the exhale. Other variations are "God's peace in, chaos out" or "God's joy in, depression out." Over and over we breathe and pray until the heaviness and the tightness leave.
There, now we all feel better, a bit lighter. I never cease to be amazed at how much healing release such a simple discipline brings, and that brings us right back around to our topic of the practical every day. Right in the middle of being thankful for extra large tea kettles that serve an extra large family and an extra large cup of tea in a favorite mug we find prayer, simple little prayers that fill us with Goodness and empty us of what isn't. These prayers are one of the practical every day tips we can use every day. No preparation is required, no extra supplies to be purchased.
The mug is almost empty of tea. The stress is gone too. Practical prayer in our living is always good to do.