December 1 Later In His Life…
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; Psalms 46:10 NIV
CREATE A CALM MAP
Select a photo that represents calm or stillness for you, and map out your calm practice. What kinds of environments and strategies help you cultivate a feeling of calm?
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS
Your journal, pens, pencils, markers, a camera and photo printer, or scissors for cutting out an image, old magazines, watercolors, and double-sided tape or glue.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To begin our creative exercise for cultivating calm, stillness and letting go of anxiety as a lifestyle, find a picture (online, in your own photo albums or in a magazine) that represents calm or stillness for you. Print out that picture or cut out the image you found. Then, turn to a blank set of facing pages in your journal and tape your picture onto one side. You can also watercolor around your image or decorate your page any way you like.
2. In the margins around your image, answer the following question: What about your picture makes you think of calm and stillness? For example, your reason might be water, quiet and being outside. Determine the words that represent calm and stillness to you, and write them around your image.
3. On the facing page, you will create a "calm map." First, select a background decoration for your page. This could be an image of an old map, a collage or a picture that represents a journey toward calm. Feel free to decorate your page how you like, but make sure you can still write over it.
4. To get started on your map, it might help to think of a time when you were stressed out and what helped you to get calm again. On the bottom of your map, write a "map legend" or "foundation" for calm. What simple guidelines help you hold calm as a practice in your everyday life? For example, this might be cutting out caffeine, exercising, getting enough sleep and avoiding violent images.
5. Moving up your map, start to write out the core strategies that help you to decrease your anxiety and cultivate calm. Breathing and asking questions are important parts of Brené's practice. Add as many steps and strategies as needed.
6. Finally, write, "Repeat this practice, screw it up, circle back and start again" to complete the circle of your calm practice!
7. Remember, mapping out your calm practice is something you can continue to add to over time. Feel free to return to this map throughout the course.
Right before Jesus was to be born, his soon to be parents had to make the trek from Nazareth to Judea to register for national census. The trip had to have taken them a while, especially since Mary was nine months pregnant. When they arrived in Bethlehem, eager to find a place to stay the night, the innkeeper said there was no room for them. So Mary and Joseph spent the night in a stable, on haystacks next to donkeys and sheep. And that is where the Savior was born.
I often wonder how long it was before the innkeeper knew what he had missed. When he heard about the Messiah from Nazareth, who brought dead people back to life and healed lepers of their disease, I can’t help, but think he regretted his choice to turn them away. He had to have relived the night in his mind, coming up with ways, he could have made room for the Savior of the world.
As busy people in the 21st-century, we can point to a lot of reasons why we don’t make room for Jesus and the people He loves in our lives. We have bills to pay and kids to raise and responsibilities, pulling us in every direction, but there is only one thing God has asked us to do: to love Him – and in doing so, love the people around us.
Let’s avoid the innkeepers mistake. Let’s do some renovations to make room for the Messiah while while we still have time.
What do you need to move out of your life to make more room for Jesus?
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