Monthly Newsletter
Each month, we send out a monthly newsletter with inspiration and encouragement for you - this is where we dive in a little deeper.
We recommend a resource, service, or product that will help you on your journey of mind, body, & soul restoration. More information below!
May 2024
Mind
“Having a positive mindset will not only help you create your new healthy lifestyle when it comes to fitness but may help you see all aspects of life - your relationship with yourself and others, your confidence, your overall outlook on life - turn for the better."
Jenna Allerson, Fit. Confident. Unstoppable.
As summer fast approaches, I am reminded that it is swimsuit season! Yikes. Every year I buy a new suit (or two) in the hopes that it will magically transform my body into something new when the inevitable beach date gets scheduled with friends.
Only it’s not the suit that’s the problem…
it’s all those seemingly small hidden choices that I’ve made over the course of the long, cold, dark, winter days…every winter for the last…oh, 6 winters.
Every spring it’s the same story - shock when I step on the scale, horror when I realize I can’t hide in sweatshirts and pants as the weather warms up, and I certainly can’t spend my beach dates in a full wetsuit (though that IS an idea…).
Since Jenna will be joining us for Revive this month, I read her book “Fit. Confident. Unstoppable. 28 Devotions to Kickstart or Reignite Your Fitness Journey” and she includes a great pathway to start (again) moving and exercising your body - it begins with your mind. Having a positive mindset and just STARTING. So here we go - I will start today! Will you join me?
Body
“Whenever you set out with a new goal or start a new journey, a mentor will usually ask you ‘why’…
finding my why for a healthy lifestyle took me a couple tries. When I set my why on earthly things such as wanting to lose weight or fitting into a certain dress, the why never seemed to hold. It never kept me disciplined when my motivation was down.
It wasn’t until I searched deeply that I realized my why is simple…
My why is simply to honor God by moving and taking care of my body.
This is a simple why, but it leans into all my other ways:
I lead a healthy lifestyle to serve my family well.
I lead a healthy lifestyle so I can serve others well.
I lead a healthy lifestyle so I can be here on this earth for as long as it takes me to fulfill the purpose God has chosen for me.”
Jenna Allerson, Fit. Confident. Unstoppable.
Know your why.
Preach it to yourself.
And get started.
Soul
“Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God has bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31, NLT
April 2024
Mind
“When your life is centered in God’s activity, He will rearrange your thinking. God’s ways and thoughts are so different from yours that they will often appear wrong, unloving, or impossible.
You will often realize that the task He assigns is far beyond your power or resources to accomplish.
As soon as you recognize that the job appears humanly unattainable, you need to be ready to believe God and to trust Him completely.
Blackaby & King, Experiencing God
This study has been reminding me time after time that spending time with God and abiding in His constant presence within my life is the only thing that truly matters.
He will lead, He will guide, He will reveal the way day by day…I need only be still, listen & linger in His presence, trust, and follow His leading.
Day by day. Moment by moment. Step by step. Be still. Listen & linger. Trust. Follow.
Blackaby & King go on, “You must believe He will enable and equip you to do everything He asks you to do…Turn to Him for the power, insight, skill, and resources required…
When we announce what we think we can’t do in response to God’s initative, we are actually saying more about our faith in God than we are about our own abilities. The fact is, either we believe God is all-powerful or we don’t.”
When was the last time you lingered in God’s presence and listened for His voice? How has He been working within your mind, your thoughts - do you sense His transformation? If not, what is in the way?
Body
“If you are experiencing a time of spiritual dryness in your life, you may be trying to do things on your own that God has not initiated. However, when you abide in Christ, you will be amazed at what God accomplishes through your life…
Jesus’ invitation is for you to join up with Him - to walk alongside Him and follow His lead…
Sadly, the chronic ailment of Christians today is burnout, particularly among pastors and those in Christian ministry.
They grow weary doing things for God in their own strength. Yet Jesus promised that those who walk alongside Him and work with Him will find rest for their souls."
Blackaby & King, Experiencing God
Are you busy doing things for God instead of simply spending time with Him?
I know that I am absolutely guilty of this. Let’s come before Him now.
Lord Jesus, please forgive my self-centeredness. Forgive my tendency to act in my own strength instead of allowing You to fill me and strengthen me from within with Your Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit, fill me now. Reveal where You are already working within me and around me so that I may join You today. Lead me, guide me, use me. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for walking with me and working in and through me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Soul
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains {abides} in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” - Jesus (John 15:5, CSB)
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” - Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30, CSB)
March 2024
Mind
“So often we are quick to say ‘Send me, Lord!’ as long as He doesn’t send us to the hard soil of difficult extended family relationships or obstinate children, or to the unseen work of sowing the truth of God’s Word right within the walls of our messy homes…
Recognizing that my home is a mission field - equal to a remote land or culture - changes the way I think about the people right before me and my reasoning about why God has placed me there.”
Ruth Chou Simons, Beholding and Becoming
How do you think about your home? Do you consider it a mission field? Do you value the act of teaching, training, and discipling your own kids?
The most important ministry happens within the walls of our home. It is a privilege and an honor to be discipling our kids each and every day. We have to be renewing our minds to focus on this truth and be reminded of it daily.
Lee Ann Mancini writes in her book Raising Kids to Follow Christ, “We must be vigilant in raising our children to be prepared to stand strong in faith against the anti-Christian culture. We must instill in them a love for God and His Word and a desire to live according to His principles. Above all, we must pray for our children to remain strong in their faith and one day be able to impact the world for Christ. ‘Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies’ (Psalm 8:2)”
Body
“We forget that rest - ceasing from work and being still before the Lord - is not a luxury; rest is productive…all work, no matter how needed and useful, becomes anxious toiling if not fueled by our most-needed sustenance: rest in the Lord."
Ruth Chou Simons, Becoming and Beholding
Do you value spending time with the Lord as productive? As much-needed sustenance or fuel for your day? Ruth writes,
“Time with the Lord is not a magic pill, not a formula, not a duty, certainly not an ‘easy button’…it’s simply what we are created for - a relationship with Him.
Functioning apart from the fuel of His presence is like taking a cross-country road trip with an empty gas tank.”
Perhaps you need to adjust your thinking and habits in this area and create more time to rest and be still in the presence of the Lord each day.
Ruth finishes, “Rest is where we remember that He is God and we are not. Rest is where we remember that He holds all things together without our help. Rest is where we remember that God created the time restraints and limitations we rebel against. Rest is where we remember that He is at work in us, even in the waiting.”
Soul
“I lie in the dust; revive me by Your Word."
Psalm 119:25, NLT
“Remember Your promise to me; it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.”
Psalm 119:49-50, NLT
“I pray with all my heart; answer me, Lord! I will obey your decrees. I cry out to you; rescue me, that I may obey your laws.
I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.
I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise. In your faithful love, O Lord, hear my cry; let me be revived by following your regulations.”
Psalm 119:145-149, NLT
February 2024
Mind
“You can't think yourself out of a pattern you didn't think yourself into. You practiced yourself into it, so you have to practice your way out…habits are not just neurologically formative. Habits are spiritually formative.
Because when our heads go one way but our habits go another, guess which way the heart follows?
The heart always follows the habit."
Justin Whitmel Earley, Habits of the Household
What habits (good or bad) have become present in your head, heart, and home?
Perhaps it’s time to take inventory of some of the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual habits that have been forming over the past few months and years. Is it time to break some unhealthy patterns? Time to build some new healthy habits?
I know that my husband and I have begun to do this and it has been incredibly helpful as we strive to be better parents. This book has helped us relook at our daily habits and patterns with our kids and realize where some changes need to be made.
Good intentions begin in our mind but we can’t just “think our way out of a habit” as Justin says above. We have to take the next step and actually DO something about it.
Write down an action step today of a good intention that you want to pursue - something that you will commit to practicing each day in order to form a new healthy habit.
Body
“Caring about how habits are shaping your family is not legalistic. What would be legalistic is saying that God loves you more because of your habits. Or that you can earn your salvation by picking the right habits. You can't. And thank God, you don’t need to!
The good news of Christianity is that Jesus’ death on the cross has paid for all our failures (including our bad parenting habits), and His resurrection from the grave is the promise of a new life (including new parenting habits). It is that work of God that saves us, by grace and through faith-not our works (of habits or otherwise). That God died for us while we were still sinners is a demonstration of his great love, and that love is why we care about habits…
Our habits won't change God's love for us, but
God's love for us can and should change our habits."
Justin Whitmel Earley, Habits of the Household
We are loved. Deeply loved. And chosen by God to be His lights in this dark, broken world.
How are you choosing to live in that love? Do you enjoy it? Delight in God’s love? Share that love with those around you?
How do your daily habits both receive and reflect God’s love?
Find time to spend with God each and every day. Include Him in your day-to-day moments. And include Him in your family time. Perhaps it’s time to set aside the daily habit of a family devotional time, or family prayer, or family worship time.
Pick one healthy habit for your family today and begin to implement it!
Soul
“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy."
Ephesians 4:21-24, NLT
“So be careful how you live.
Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.
Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:15-20, NLT
January 2024
Mind
“Forming the daily habits and rhythms that keep us in a healthy place is a game changer for rewiring our brains. Making sure our inputs allow us to rest and restore in the healthiest of ways primes our mind and body for the outputs of connecting and creating.”
-Rebekah Lyons, Building a Resilient Life
How do you organize your days?
Do you use a planner? Calendar? App on your phone? How about a prayer journal or reading guide for your Bible?
What are your priorities?
For me, I find that writing things down and seeing my the day-to-day rhythms I want to incorporate for a healthier me helps to keep my brain and body focused and encouraged.
Rebekah Lyons has a fantastic book (below) and a separate planner/journal that have helped me tremendously as I have navigated a season of change in my life.
She writes, “In God’s beautiful design of the human body, he infused strength of mind as the driver of everything else…our minds were meant to control our bodies, not the other way around.”
Take the opportunity this month to write out some rhythms you will incorporate in your days - not far-out resolutions or good intentions but rather some actual rhythms that you will begin to weave into your schedule. Start today.
Body
“The brain has the potential to continue to grow and develop for the entirety of our lives, particularly for those who are willing to put in the effort of rewiring our brains through lifelong growth and learning…neurogenesis is our brain's ability to grow entirely new neurons, even in adulthood. Just as amazing is the promise of neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to rewire and form new connections…in short, we have the power to change."
-Rebekah Lyons, Building a Resilient Life
How are you prioritizing your physical and mental health this year? Did you realize that they go hand in hand and that you have the power to change and grow at any time in your life?
Rebekah also writes,
“Physical and mental decline accelerate when we get comfortable and static. It’s usually unintentional, a result of mild pains, but we move our bodies less and less as we age…we play it safe, which feels far more comfortable, but ease paves the way toward decline. Comfort doesn’t provide the body the resistance we need to build resilience…”
This book absolutely transformed my thinking when it comes to healthy exercise of my brain and body. Now I’m dedicated to not just have it be a thought or good intention in my mind but to also actively live this truth out as I seek to incorporate movement, resistance, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone each and every day.
Soul
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.
Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions…
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.
Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things!”
Galatians 5:16-17; 19-23
December 2023
Mind
“Jesus made room for us in His heart, in His family, and at His table. He's gone away to prepare a spectacular place for us that no mind can imagine! He makes room for us every day by putting His time, energy, and attention into our lives. How might we do the same for Him?
We prepare Him room.
We give Him time and space to speak to us about our lives - to correct and direct, to guide and provide."
Susie Larson, Prepare Him Room
Romans 12:2 says,
“Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
If you are looking for a beautiful Advent resource this month to reflect on, I highly recommend one of my favorites - Susie Larson's Prepare Him Room (link to book below).
She will walk you through the month of December by going through the book of Luke while also including accompanying short devotionals to pause and ponder the wonder of the season.
Body
“It seems we have two choices at Christmastime: We can postpone consequences or purposefully prepare for presence. We can overcommit and overindulge, leaving ourselves toxic and wishing we had a do-over. Or we can practice restraint so that we might hear the gentle whisper of our Savior in inexplicable ways throughout the season. We can wake up on New Year’s Day sluggish and regretful, or we can exit this year and enter the next with wide-eyed expectancy.”
- Susie Larson, Prepare Him Room
Prayer from Susie,
“King Jesus, how often I miss Your best because I grab for myself. Forgive me, Lord, for filling up on lesser things that ruin my appetite for Your divine provision.
I want to taste and see that You are good. I don’t want to indulge in ways that dull my spiritual senses.
Help me say no to my flesh so I can more intimately experience You.
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me this Advent season. Amen.”
Prepare Him Room
Soul
“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices.
Oh night, divine.
Oh night, when Christ was born.
Oh night, divine.
Oh night,
Oh night divine.”
Christmas comes most alive for me when lifting my voice with others singing familiar Christmas carols celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus.
I would love to invite you to attend our church's Christmas Eve service - this experience will be amazing for mind, body, & soul.
Click below for your invitation!
November 2023
Mind
“The young man on the bike was now lying in the middle of our street, being arrested for a fight and stolen property…Our neighbors gathered, talking with one another and the police…As I turned toward our house, I looked at my kids, who were wide-eyed and scared. My husband and I hugged them as we walked back to our abandoned dinner.
‘That was scary, wasn’t it?’ I affirmed before any of them spoke. They nodded. ‘Yes,’ I responded. ‘But did you notice all of our neighbors who came outside? If you ever had an emergency, any one of them would be there to help you…’
It is so easy to focus on the negative things in life, but Scripture encourages us to look for what is true, noble, right, pure, and lovely.
And when we do, we will find it.
Does this mean we don’t face the more complicated things in life?
Not at all.
It simply means that we see things for what they are while also looking for the good that is available to us.”
- Kendra Roehl, Daily Acts of Gratitude Devotional
Remember our October encouragement on the mind? Renewing your mind starts now, in this moment, with choosing to look for the good no matter what your circumstances may look like.
Body
“The benefits of having a grateful spirit are undeniable. We will suffer fewer aches and pains and less stress, and we won't experience toxic emotions like envy, resentment, and regret quite as often.
Gratitude has been shown to
increase happiness,
reduce depression,
and foster resilience,
and it can even help us to overcome trauma.
On top of that, grateful people tend to be more empathetic and to have healthier self-esteem and improved sleep.
They are even better equipped to resist making social comparisons and instead can appreciate other people’s accomplishments*.
I don’t know about you but these are all things I want more of in my life.”
- Kendra Roehl, Daily Acts of Gratitude Devotional with *citations from Amy Morin, “7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude”, Psychology Today, April 3, 2015.
Soul
“Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable -
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -
think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8, NIV
October 2023
Mind
“One of the surprises that has shaken the very foundations of neuroscience is the discovery that the brain is actually ‘plastic’, or moldable. This means that the brain physically changes throughout the course of our lives…”
“What molds our brain? Experience…when we undergo an experience, our brain cells - called neurons - become active, or ‘fire’. The brain has one hundred billion neurons, each with an average of ten thousand connections to other neurons…when neurons fire together, they grow new connections between them.
Over time, the connections that result from firing lead to ‘rewiring’ in the brain…we can actually rewire it so that we can be healthier and happier.”
-Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson (The Whole Brain Child)
CHANGE IS POSSIBLE.
At any point in your life.
It doesn’t matter if you are 5 or 95, change is always possible - this is a proven fact when you learn how your brain works. Check out this book for more information on the brain in general - whether looking for tips on parenting or just wanting to learn more about how your brain works.
Your journey of being healthier and happier starts in your mind.
We have encouragement all throughout the Bible that proves what neuro-science is just now telling us. Today is the day to start creating healthy habits in your mind, to create new pathways in your brain, to kickstart a healthier, happier you.
Start with meditating on our Colossians passage from this month’s newsletter and rehearsing God’s truth to yourself!
Note: This is not a “Christian” book and therefore the parenting principles are not biblically based but it is a really good start to understanding the brain (for both child and adult) and gives wise insight for parenting (to be coupled with the Bible of course!).
Body
“…the basic architecture of the brain will develop well given proper food, sleep, and stimulation…
everything that happens to us - the music we hear, the people we love, the books we read, the kind of discipline we receive, the emotions we feel - profoundly affects the way our brain develops.”
-Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson (The Whole Brain Child)
What do your food or sleep habits look like?
Do you exercise regularly?
Do you eat convenience, processed food or healthy, whole foods?
What is your choice of entertainment - sitting in front of a screen or using your body in an active way?
Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate some of your physical habits knowing that it directly affects your brain development.
Take a moment today to journal some ideas for properly stimulating your body and therefore brain in a healthy manner.
Take a walk outside.
Listen to worship music.
Read a physical book.
Call a friend (don’t just text!).
Play catch with your kids.
Light a candle.
Cook something with green in it!
Engage all of your senses.
Soul
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:1-10; 12-17