The Healthy Woman: Part 3

I just got back from a weekend-long retreat with other women from my church.  It was energizing, yet restful.  It was inspiring, yet thought-provoking.  It was relationship-building, yet introspective.  It was great.

Which brings me to our next topic: stress.  How many of us live worrying constantly and hurrying unceasingly?  In other words, how many of us live like Americans?  Our speaker, Jessie Seneca, told us it was called the "Hurried-Woman Syndrome".

Part 3 of my "Healthy Woman" series happens to address stress.  Proverbs 31 says this:
She can laugh at the days to come (P 31:25 NIV) 
Being able to laugh at the days to come means that she is not constantly worrying about what will happen next.  She is not constantly stressed.  Stress affects our health in ways we just don't realize sometimes.  The Mayo Clinic has a great article about this topic, and in it they state:
 Your body's stress reaction was meant to protect you. But when it's constantly on alert, your health can pay the price.  
It goes on to link stress to health problems such as heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, depression, obesity, memory impairment, and the worsening skin of conditions.  It is clear that our Creator has created our bodies in a specific way; they are not healthiest when under constant stress.  


So, you may ask "how do I get rid of stress?"  The good news is that our Creator also gave us a solution to the stress-problem:  Peace.  I can not speak to your specific situation but I can tell you what brings me peace when I am stressed, hope when I am down, and joy when life sucks.  I have mentioned before about how I have been sick and how I have been healed.  This quote sums it up:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT).
The last sentence says it all.  I have peace because I know that I have been rescued by a God who loves me. Therefore, I will "live in Christ Jesus".
Here is a glimpse of our weekend away.
Exercising in the midst of nature and friends is a perfect stress-reducing activity!