All Christians

With the devastating impact of the coronavirus that has led to disruption of life for billions, life has changed for a very long time. This has led to conversation after conversation that uses the word “normal.”

• What will it take to get back to normal?
• Boeing won’t be returning to ‘normal’ anytime soon
• Antibody Tests: key to returning to normal?
• Trump coronavirus guidelines will get us back to normal and safeguard public health victories
• American resident of Wuhan says life getting back to normal: ‘The situation is greatly improving’

But as a counselor, I have a very strong opinion on this word ‘normal.’

[This article is part of a mindfulness series we have been writing about for years. Click the link to check out all of the other articles we have here.]

Finding good resources to help with counseling practices to improve mental health has grown easier over the last couple of years with phone applications like Headspace. Until recently, there were no Christian options for this. But let me introduce to you the Abide App.

The mission of Abide is states as “For the world to experience the peace of Christ through Biblical meditation.” Christian meditation is a practice from the Bible that has been refined for thousand of years. It connects and empowers our minds and hearts in Jesus. It helps us live with the peace and purpose of Christ.

At the beginning of the month, we shared 10 signs your emotionally exhausted or traumatized, noting that the coronavirus was already making people feel overwhelmed and frustrated. In two days, it became our most viewed article of the year. That was 2 weeks ago and I do not doubt people are still stressed and overwhelmed with self-isolation, negative effects of the coronavirus, and self-care.

Three weeks ago, we actually already talked about how to reduce your stress about the coronavirus, but since then, more things have changed in life and more people have taken time to share resources. Check these out:

This is chapter seven of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

It’s Saturday night and as the teaching pastor, you do not have anything. Not to forget your commitment this last all team meeting to the church tech team was you would have something to them well in advance so they could have everything ready to go. What happened? Now you have hours left to finish. Shouldn’t have scheduled all of those coffee shop meetings and extra speaking engagements. Oh, and that blog you tried to start? Now look what’s happened.

This is chapter six of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

Don’t focus on the goal? What are you talking about? A couple of my friends have found getting a project started in and of itself is crippling. These friends have different passions to go and change the world and made a commitment to do it. To them, this part is easy.

With a lot of states currently in quarantine or shelter-in-place, we may not be getting out of the house often, but the principles of this still apply. In the midst of the busyness of life, look for those God-given moments of respite and quiet. Find your rest and peace in Him.

I myself have a 30-minute drive home where I do not think about counseling. A good audiobook is exactly what helps me leave work at work and not bring home stress.

So for the next few minutes, let this Joni and Friends video be your time of rest and then go find your own.

I have to be upfront at the beginning of my review, I love to listen to Shauna Niequist speak. As a counselor, I find myself drawn to the therapeutic interventions of Dialectic Behavioral Therapy that talk about being present, experiencing life as it is now, and allowing it to help you decrease the impact mental illness can have on one’s life. This pairs well within the Christian faith as we experience God today in our lives as well as see how God speaks into our lives through prayer, Scripture, worship, and fellowship. So when I saw a book called Present Over Perfect, I knew I needed to read it.

This is chapter five of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

For those that see psychology as a bunch of hokey, you are going to have a rough go of this article. I encourage you to read through the whole article before you share your concerns.

Positive thought placement is a cognitive behavioral therapy idea that states sometimes we struggle with motivation, depression and anxiety symptoms, or self-esteem but simply changing our thoughts can change our attitude and motivation.

This is chapter four of the Quit Giving Up ebook. You can get the whole thing in our shop now!

Creating something that you want to be great is a really difficult process. I’m not even talking about the need to come up with how to create it, the process of deciding what to create, or how to get in front of people’s faces with good marketing. I’m simply looking at the idea of making something that is great, but not necessarily needing to be perfect.

That word ‘perfection’ is a very tricky thing because you want to make something that is worthy of your time and recognition but ultimately perfection is a falsehood. It’s a goal that cannot be reached, yet we strive for it every day. We know it deep down, but keep running after it.

I love free resources. I will always check them out. But when I see what Ability Ministry offers on their resource page and the quality of what they are giving away, it’s amazing!

Whether you are looking for what should be the first steps of your church or the next steps, a gifts inventory on where to put volunteers in your ministry, or a church survey to decide on what the needs are in your church, they have it.