Stress Buster: Escape Hatch!

It's my secret weapon in hard times: a piece of paper that has 81 little boxes on it. Some of the boxes have numbers in them. Some are empty.

I scroll over the boxes with my freshly sharpened pencil, making notes, filling in numbers where I can. Slowly the boxes fill up. I take sips from a fresh cup of coffee or tea beside me as I work. Occasionally I glance out the window, seeing something only visible to me. For a brief period of time, my world is these boxes filling up with numbers -- everything in its place and the steaming cup and the dance of the trees outside.

Fifteen minutes later, every box has a number in it. I am smiling. Smiling as I get up to do the next task. Smiling as I address the next problem. Or smiling as I drift off into a cozy slumber for the night.

What's my secret? Sudoku.

When my life is busy and pressing, I can become overwhelmed by all that I must do, all that I haven't done, all that I can't get done. I can lie in bed at night, eyes wide open, staring into a dark ceiling, with the things pressing in on me while sleep is far away. I can't turn off the machine in my head that runs my life. But that's not all. I'm tense all day, so that my shoulders and back ache when I sit. I'm carrying burdens. Yes, even if I try to hand them over to God in prayer.

This is just the way it is.

But one day, I discovered a small escape hatch. When I immerse myself in a joyful activity for 5-15 minutes and become absorbed in it, my body settles down. The tension leaves. During periods of high stress, I use this escape hatch several times a day -- between tasks, before sleeping, even before my devotions. It lowers my stress level so much that I no longer have headaches and backaches, I no longer burst into tears when things are too much, and I no longer struggle with mental distractions. Most of all, I maintain perspective while under pressure.

How could a small break do this much?

I don't think it's just the power of a Sudoku puzzle. I've used other activities, too. Part of the reason this works so well for me is that I go away completely to another place. When I escape, time stops for me and so does my world. I do things that are truly restful, that fully occupy my attention, and that feel like a mini-vacation.

My escape hatch is also my portal to joy. The activities that work for me are joyful. They help me to be aware of the beauty of my world and the simple blessings at my feet. Joy releases me from the stickiness of the demands and pressures of my life. It re-connects my heart to God, who is the center and the strength of my life. The stress melts away.

I try to end my little escapes with a short prayer and quiet moment before the Lord, before moving into the next task. This "resets" my focus and helps me start fresh.

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What's your escape hatch? If you don't have one, can you think of something that might work for you? I want to hear about your ideas!

Stress Buster: 3 Tips to Make Wrapping a Snap

Yesterday, I worked on wrapping gifts. Even though we are not giving as many as we have during other holiday seasons, it still took the afternoon and evening. It's amazing how much time wrapping can take, isn't it? And, of course, the gifts have a way of trickling in as family members finish making gifts or bring home their purchases -- or as boxes arrive in the mail. So it can seem like we are never finished. Every year finds us wrapping as long as the season is underway.

Gift-giving is a part of the holidays. So wrapping is a part of our essential chores. It can be labor intensive and messy. But you can make it easier. A lot easier.

Here are 3 simple ways to make holiday wrapping a snap:

1. Use gift bags and decorative boxes so you don't really have to wrap. Just a bow and a tag completes each "wrapping" project. These are available for very little cost at Dollar Stores and Walmart.

2. Buy all your paper and bows in the same basic set of colors. This reduces wrapping choices and lets you wrap assembly-line style. This can help you wrap the same set of gifts in a fraction of the usual time.

3. Set up a wrapping center in your home. You can use a table you already have or set up a card table in a quiet spot in the house. Depending on the dynamics of your family, you may want to consider putting your wrapping center in a room behind a closed door for privacy. An enclosed porch, a guest room, , even a formal dining room will work. Set your rolls of wrapping paper upright in a container like a cardboard box, clothes hamper, or waste basket. Put the bows in a basket or box or bucket. Put the tags nearby. Set tape, scissors, and pens in a pencil holder or flower vase.

Leave the wrapping center up for the holiday season. As family members need to wrap, you can send them to the same spot without having to pull out the wrapping supplies or set it up for them each time. All the mess stays in one place, and wrapping becomes an easy quick job that's done as needed.

Gone will be the awkward and back-breaking episodes of wrapping on the bed or floor. Gone will be the annoying and time consuming set-up for the job each time you need to wrap a gift. With a wrapping center, you can take advantage of shorter pockets of time for wrapping, too.

And with your new streamlined approach, you'll save time. Lots of time. That means more time for the important things -- like reading stories and cuddling under the tree.

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Do you enjoy wrapping? Or is it a "chore"? Do you have any favorite tips for making it easier and quicker?

Stress Buster: Mom's Corner

After shopping, cooking, cleaning, decorating, settling the kids, and teaching lessons, are you looking for a way to lighten the load? This is a simple stress buster that costs nothing and takes only a few minutes to create.

I feel a bit shy about sharing it. I've enjoyed it so much that it's become a very meaningful part of my private world every holiday season. But as I was thinking of what would be the most effective way for a mom to manage holiday stress, this was the first thing that came to mind.

In late November, I set up a "Mom's Corner" for short personal retreats. Here's how I do it. I arrange comfortable seating near a visual treat -- overlooking a window, near the Christmas tree, beside the fireplace, or in a pretty corner of the house. This year, my comfortable reading chair is in front of French doors beside our Christmas tree. My view looks out onto hemlocks and rolling hills.

Beside the chair is a table for coffee or tea. Nearby are my current reading books, Bible, and journal. Sometimes my corner is decorated with a candle, magazines, or fresh flowers. The important thing is that I am not looking at clutter or things that must get done.

When I sit in the chair, I do not think about all the tasks I could do. Instead, I listen to music, look at the Christmas tree, gaze out the window, read a book, daydream, and enjoy a rich cup of coffee or tea. I am carried away by all of this to a different place for a few minutes. My retreat may last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, but when I return to my responsibilities, I'm refreshed.

I think it's important to start each day in my special corner. I take my breakfast and coffee to the chair in the early quiet and feast with the light outside rising and small birds busying themselves against the evergreens. I read my Bible and pray. I set my heart by the motion of the wind and the whispers of the Spirit. Later in the day, I return to my little corner at least once in the afternoon, to reflect, to pause, to give thanks, to be still. I reconnect with God and with my own soul. Am I living in a way that is authentic and without regret? I gaze at the beauty around me until my soul mends from the stress of the day.

Does it make a difference? I know it does.

Because of these quiet times, and a space in which to have them, I have lived a deeper and truer life. My soul has breathed and gathered strength. I've connected with my heart longings and my core values more often and made choices that were crucial to building a home which reflected these.

I doubt I could have done any of it without my little corner, away from it all.

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Where is a good place in your home for a "Mom's Corner"?

Stress Busters

When the weight of the world is heavy and the stress is ongoing, I have small things I turn to which are like a door into an open field full of flowers and sunshine. When I am doing these things, I'm in another place, far away from my troubles, worries, concerns, and pressing responsibilities. I forget about time. I forget about my to-do list.

I live in the moment, for the moment. When I return, my head is clearer. My energy is renewed. I have regained my perspective.

These little activities, these little escapes, are like mini-romances that carry me away from it all and help me to fall in love again. In love with the life that God has given me, in love with the story He is building with my days, in love with Him and all the wonderful aspects of who He is. It's not the doing of the activity, it's the stepping aside to savor and to notice my blessings with Him by my side that brings me to that special place where joy floods in like the morning sun.

I've noticed, too, that when I return to my work, I am so much more efficient, so much more savvy with my choices and resources, that I get more done than I would have without the break. I make up for the time I spent being refreshed and multiply it.

But this is not the best reason for doing it. The best reason is that I live a different life when I pause to savor. That different life is the one I really want. I know that these little escapes are vital to my health and well-being -- that the stress melts off like warm butter while the light of fresh perspective seeps in under my skin. I am able to open my heart, to breathe, to become the person God designed me to be.

When this happens, I know that the activity I have chosen is worthy of my time, regardless of how much I need to get done. I try to do something that transforms my inner landscape 3-4 times a day. Some activities last five minutes. Some last an hour. Most activities are in the range of 15-30 minutes.

During the holidays, I need this more, not less.

I plan to begin sharing my stress busters, to get you thinking about what will work for you. But, ultimately, my list will be different from yours. Each person's refreshment is unique. You will know you have found something that is working when it feels like a door has opened to another place and time -- when you lose track of time, when you forget about the things that were weighing you down, and you remember to laugh and to notice the blessings poured out at your feet.