Peace in PJs

Our lives are hectics. If you've been over to my blog, Faith, Hope, and Suspense, you know we've been discussing schedules and creating peace that way. However, as the title suggests, I'm not here to talk about schedules. In fact, quite the opposite.

Sometimes, there's peace in PJs. That's right. Every now and then we need a PJ day--like I did this morning. I haven't been sleeping well, and last night my son filled his diaper and it soaked his outfit, the bed, and his blanket. After being changed he refused to go back to sleep until we finally gave him a bottle. Total time up? A little over an hour.

I woke up this morning to Mother Nature's visit, and felt awful. Tired, crampy, cranky...and I just wasn't having it. So, I declared today a PJ day. That's right. It's one in the afternoon here, and I'm still wearing my PJs! I spent the morning watching TV and reading books with the kids. I'm closing my eyes to the laundry and the dishes, and instead opening my arms for extra snuggles under the blanket on the couch. Here in a bit, we're putting in a movie and hunkering down with some popcorn.

While I don't have any Bible verses to back up this call for rest, I will say this. I have had health issues pretty much since the day I was born, and one thing that I learned long ago is that I am useless to God or anyone else if I am not ready to go. I can't be ready to go if my health is lacking. If I'm overly tired or stressed, I can't adequately do my job.

So, every now and then, I believe it's okay to have a "sick day" before you actually get sick. Rest and refreshment is sometimes needed on days other than Sunday, agreed?

Of course, you can also go the opposite direction. Don't think that I'm saying that for every day you don't feel like getting up and going to work, you should declare a PJ day. If that was so, we'd be living in our PJs more often than not!

A couple of tips and tricks for PJ days:

1. Know your limits! If you're reaching your breaking point, either because of lack of rest or too much stress, cut back. If you need a day to catch up, take it.

2. Don't go overboard. Honestly, if you lay around all day and do absolutely nothing, you'll likely feel worse than you did before. Instead, use the day to take it slow. Instead of rushing to be dressed to the nines before nine...stay in your PJs. But still take a minute to brush your teeth. :) In the same strand of thinking, let the dishes go for today, but also, use paper plates and plastic silverware (if you have them) to avoid creating more of a mess than necessary.

3. Take advantage of the day off to focus on things you don't normally have time for. Like I mentioned earlier, the kids and I have enjoyed extra time together today with sweet treats and snuggles. We sang songs, told stories, and indulged in some extra TV shows. When the kids go down from rest time, I plan to take a nap as well! Maybe I'll read a little too. I don't get to do that as much as I'd like these days.

Sweet, simple, and enjoyable--that's what PJ days are in this house. They help to restore the soul and give me the extra energy I need at this moment. There are some months where I have a PJ day almost every week, there are some months where I don't have any. I just have to know my limits to get the most out of PJ day.

Do you have PJ days? What do you use them for?

Joy Stealer

This month our theme on EEE is joy. Each post has something to do with joy—directly or indirectly. As I was contemplating my post for today, I had a rough time even touching the subject. Instead, I feel the need to be honest.

I don’t feel joyful today.

Yes, I’m human. As much as I have to be joyful for—from my salvation to my beautiful family—there are still days that I get down. Days that I lose sight of the important blessings and focus on the day-to-day that will soon pass. Sometimes, I just can’t help it.

And today is one of those days.

You’ve been with me since I started this move to Hawaii. The whole flight thing was rough, then we have all the problems getting housing and end up in a hotel for 60 days. We (my husband and I) kept thinking: all we need to do is get into our home and things will calm down. We can get into a routine, the kids will thrive…everything would be better.

We didn’t even contemplate that the movers (on one side or the other) broke a bunch of stuff or that the washer wouldn’t work, or that the house would have ants and roaches (oh, let me tell you how furious we were, the community center is going to get an earfull!). To add to the frustration, Connor, my husband, and I are all sick. Unpacking + illness = lots of tension.

Now, I’m not complaining. Okay, maybe a little bit---but my point is that I’ve reached my day. The day I can’t find it in my heart to look at everything with optimistic, positive thoughts, the day when the last thing on my mind is praising the Lord—in fact, I’d rather have a few words with Him.

What do we do on days like this? How do we overcome these feelings?

Obviously, I’m not an expert as I suffer from the ailment as well. However I would like to offer a few comments.

First of all, in John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to full.” Satan will steal our joy if we let him. In order to be a threat to him, we have to be effective, and he has no problem rendering us ineffective if we let him. For us believers, we have to be prayed up and in close connection with God through the Holy Spirit so we can be aware of Satan’s attacks.

Second, do something for someone else. You hear this all the time. When we think of someone else, the focus is not on us and our problems, and often puts our problems into perspective. For instance, we had the tsunami scare here last week (you read about it in the last post), but Hawaii fared pretty well. Other places—not so much. Japan’s death toll is over 10,000, and there are millions of people without food, water, and several thousands without shelter. My problems are miniscule compared to that.

We’ve all heard the expression “What don’t kill you, makes you stronger”, as well as the Christian version “God won’t give you more than you can handle”. Both are relevant. It’s when we zero in on the here and now that we lose our joy. Here and now, life may be rough. Here and now, things may seem out of hand. Here and now, we may want to go stick our head in the sand like an ostrich. But here and now is a mere moment in the scheme of things. Just like a valley is formed between mountains, so we will rise out of our circumstances with time.

Even now, writing this blog post is giving me renewed hope and strength. Remembering to whom I belong and that this is all temporary is feeding my joy. I’m not quite out of my slump, yet…but I’m getting there.

How do you fight these days?

I AM SAFE!

Since I saw that Kimchi hasn't posted today, I thought I'd give you an update. Kimchi, I hope you don't mind! (I know she's deailng with sick kids while not feeling so well herself!)

Do you know what a tsunami is? It's that thing that drowned New York in the move "The Day After Tomorrow". It's also the thing that hit Hawaii really early this morning. Guess what?

I slept through it.

I know, it's bad to say, but I did. We're far enough inland and up high enough that we were unaffected by the waves. The coastal areas were hit, but so far no major damage...at least not compared to the coast of Japan.

I awoke this morning, not thinking about much. I set the kids up with some cartoons and turn on the computer. I started to contemplate breakfast as I pulled up Facebook. Voila...a bunch of posts on my wall expressing concern and prayers. Um...did I miss something? Oh wait, there was supposed to be a tsunami last night. (Yes, sometimes I'm a little slow in the morning)I rushed to find my phone--sure enough, voicemails and texts. Oy! Darn that time difference!

First thing I did after that was call my mom.

Since then, I've been trying to update everyone. I hate that I made everyone worry so much. I wish I had been up earlier so that I could have assured everyone I was okay.

Now, though, my prayers go up for all the people in Japan who suffered, not only a earthquake with hours of aftershocks, but also a 23-foot tsunami.

At some point, I'll get back to unpacking. :)