Daily Joy, Calm, Practicing the Pause with some Mahjong on the side

The past week of continuing education helped fill my cup. A friend shared with me a drink mix she likes that is called daily Joy. There's another one I drink and it's called Calm. Now these are not advertisements for any sort of drink drinks or supplements just a little insight into what this past week off allowed for me as I practiced the pause.

Now here I will put a plug in for this book entitled practicing the pause. It was handed to me after I returned from sabbatical, and it really helped me understand the power of the Contemplative practice of centering prayer. Check out the book if you're interested in learning more, I will also say part of the joy and the calm was the opportunity to play in person Mahjong. Now we did play a lot of games if you join us on Sunday in Worship you may hear me reference that number a note about this coming Sunday, September 6 and the change in our worship time for our second service to 10:30 AM. Please take note.

I'm going to keep this blog post short and sweet because here's what I want to invite you into: what is it for you that can provide daily joy, calm, and help you practice the pause? Might you be intentional in taking time to enjoy something that is fun for you? 

As we head into this Labor Day weekend, I hope that you can find some rest also. There is a great deal of power in being well rested. For some of us, I'll speak mostly about myself, this needs to be intentional.

The focus for my week of continuing education was revisiting my sabbatical from 2023. This summer in preaching  I shared about the power of that phrase "the unforced rhythms of grace". Last week it was daily joy to be beside the ocean. When I had the chance to be out in the waves. I know that water is my happy place. Water provides me with a great deal of calm as do walks that are more like meandering than huffing it. I was intentional during this time to practice pausing To really look at where I was and what was going on around. This helps me center and grounds me. What helps you live by the unforced rhythms of grace? 

Now, as far as the Mahjong, this is really my first time of playing games in person. I enjoy playing it on the iPad but it’s different in person. I have always enjoyed card games and this time especially it was a lot of fun for me as I was able to play with my dear friend. I knew she wasn't going to judge me when I made a mistake or didn't understand something. It was joy and calm, ocean breezes and good food, walks at a slow pace and time to just be. It was a good week away and now my intention is to practice many of those same things at home. 

I hope that for each one of us that we have not only those places that provide joy and calm, but also those connections that provide for unconditional love, grace, and space to be our ourselves.