I’m feeling much better after allowing myself some time to regroup over the weekend.  Physically, mentally, and emotionally I was pretty wiped out and some rest and relaxation was just what I needed.  Sometimes I forget that I’m still taking prednisone and have a moment when I wonder why I’m so out of breath or can’t get out of my chair the way I normally can, or whatever.  Then I remember and it makes me feel a little better.  I guess the fluid retention is always going on, but some days it’s  worse than others.  It reminds me of being 9 months pregnant – you feel heavy, tired, bloated, sweaty and not very bendable.  That’s pretty much how I feel some days…only no cute little baby at the end!  I guess in this case the “baby” is being able to hear for a while longer!  Worth it in both cases!  Now that I think about it, long-term steroid side effects have other similarities to pregnancy – increased appetite, mood swings….hmmmmmm….I seem to remember getting a lot a footrubs when I was pregnant…..maybe I should mention this to my hubby?!  lol    At least I am sleeping well at this point, unlike the beginning when I was on much higher doses, AND my hearing has been stable.  I’m very thankful for that!

Last night the topic at our flock group was anxiety (and using my awesome new Domino Pro I could hear most of the discussion!!!).  I find it interesting that anxiety was also the topic of our ladies’ life class earlier this month.  Apparently it’s a topic that’s on a lot of people’s minds and that many struggle with.  We were asked to share any scriptures that we use to help us deal with and have the right attitude about anxiety.  Some that were mentioned and the thoughts that went along with them were:

Matthew 11:28-30:  Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble at heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

We talked about trusting God enough to give him the burdens and relying on Him and learning from Him.

Philippians 4:8-9:  Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,  whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.

We talked about dwelling on the right things…once you’ve spent the time you need to thinking about whatever is causing anxiety, evaluating what needs to be done, and then doing whatever you can in the situation, it’s time to trust God to take care of the things that are not in your control and that’s when we need to stop dwelling on the problem, and make our minds dwell on the things above.

Matthew 6:34:  For do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We also talked about the concept that we don’t even know if we have tomorrow.  Our preacher said that in classes about counseling, they were told that 93%-95% of things people worry will happen never actually do!  That’s an amazing statistic!  How wise is the scripture above?  If we live our lives as if today could be our last day (and it could) how differently would we see things?  I think it would become quite obvious what really matters …our priorities would change, we’d make sure we were right with God and take care of any unresolved issues with others, make sure our household was in order, express our love and appreciation to others, teach the gospel to someone we’d been “meaning” to talk to sometime….

We also talked about Job and how he absolutely recognized God’s sovereignty and His right to give and take as He pleases without questioning from us…..

There is a proper kind of anxiety – we should feel it when we have not been doing what we should and it can prompt us take action.

A thought I had after our discussion was that staying busy and working hard also can help lessen anxiety…you have other things that your mind is focussed on and you usually sleep better when you’re tired from a hard day’s work!

There was more discussed, this is just a few of the highlights in a nutshell.  I thought it was worth taking a moment to share.