For those of you who would like the handouts Tonya referenced in her “Stress-Less on Purpose” presentation [as presented in Zoomitis earlier today], here they are:
Zoomitis
Our nation, and perhaps our world, may currently be experiencing Zoom overload. Everyone is Zooming into work conferences, neighborhood get-togethers, small-group church or social meetings, doctor appointments, school classes, workshops, and more. In fact, Zoom bombing incidents have become a real threat to bona fide Zoom meetings. Who would have ever thought!
That being said, yesterday one of our daughters encouraged us to register for an ALS Association–Texas Chapter Zoom workshop titled “Stress-Less On Purpose,” led by Tonya Hitschmann, Director of Community Programs. As Tonya shared in an email: “We truly, truly want each of our workshops to be worth the time investment, and to somehow, someway lighten the load for all who are living with ALS.” I truly believe their mission was accomplished!
After you make time to view this video, I think you will agree it was 51 minutes well spent. This video is not just for people with ALS and their caregivers—it is for you, too, and will provide some good tools for how to purposefully deal with stress in your own life.
Reason to Hope!
Undoubtedly, you’re familiar with the song Julie Andrews made famous in the “The Sound of Music” . . . My Favorite Things.
One of my favorite things is the first bird to greet our mornings—the California Towhee. This morning before dawn, I heard the sweet chirp of a friendly Towhee in our yard beginning its daily search for food. Our local Towhees are really nondescript birds with no exceptional markings. Jon tells me that his father, who grew up on a remote ranch behind Hearst Castle, simply referred to them as “brown birds.” It’s interesting to watch them use both feet to quickly sift through leaves and debris looking for tasty insects or seeds—all the while making their delightful little chirping sound. They are not combative birds, as are the California Scrub-Jays and crows—they don’t harass other birds for the express purpose of preying on their young. Towhees mind their own business, don’t quarrel with other birds, and just live their lives finding food, mating, laying eggs, raising babies . . . and then begin the cycle all over again. They seem to live without worries which is exactly how God wants us to live our lives!
Another of my favorite things are the ancient redwood trees. Redwoods are so magnificent! As a child, our family visited the redwood forests along the coast in northern California—something still vivid in my mind. Only God could have devised a plan to create such impressive, giant trees and then create the trees for us and wildlife to enjoy. It is beyond my imagination how anyone could gaze at the grandeur of one of these enormous trees and not believe that the God of the universe is the One responsible for putting them here.