Most experts agree that writing out your “to do” list helps lower anxiety, keep you focused, and increases productivity. But do those “to do” lists drill down into the weeds of life and accidentally keep us from high-level, big-picture, soul-feeding helpful habits for our lives? Do your “to do” lists distract you from important ways to recharge your spiritual life? It’s certainly possible.
Don’t get me wrong. I make lists. If I don’t, I forget things. The thought of heading to the grocery store with…just items floating around my brain makes me laugh. I would return home with all the ingredients for dinner except the main course, I’m sure of it. So I am not bashing list making. And I don’t plan to stop making lists, but I wonder if there is possibility to forget the big goals when I’m checking off the small ones.
Because I know this potential exists (and also because I like the simple things in life) I’d like to encourage you–and me–to remember these three often overlooked ways to recharge your spiritual life.
1. Time With Wise and Caring Friends
Do you have a friend who just seems to “get” you? They know you? Sometimes better than you know yourself? Do you share enough of yourself that others begin to know you and care for you?
I’m fortunate to have friends like this. One of my friends bought a special chair – she calls it her “Jeannie chair– for her home and for me. It reminded her of me. I get to visit the special “Jeannie chair” and those friends a couple of times each year. It’s always a special time. What an honor to know a reminder of me sits in their home awaiting the next time we get to connect.
Another friend knows I love baseball so much that she accumulated her season ticket points with the Salem Red Sox and surprised me with the honor of calling players to the plate for three innings. A special memory I will never forget. I had a blast!
It can be scary to let someone know the real you. But until you do no one can truly bless you if they don’t know you.
Make time to spend time with wise and caring friends.
2. Get Out In Nature
This may sound so simple you maybe be tempted to ignore it. But I’d like you to schedule (yes, you can put it on a list) some time to just be in nature. I’m not talking about walking to the mailbox, I’m suggesting some dedicated time to hear the birds, stare at the sky, and wonder at the variety around you.
Spending time in nature is one of the ways I connect with God. I’m blessed to live in a beautiful location, surrounded by the woods and God’s creation. Humming birds, turtle doves, wrens, and so many other birds brighten my day as they feast on the seed and nectar we leave for them. You can’t experience too much of God’s beauty and His creation.
Set aside that time to recharge in nature.
3. Spell It Out
Notice I didn’t title this way to recharge your spiritual life “journal”? Because I know you’ve heard that before. I hear people talk about journaling. I always thought it was a good idea and then when I really did start doing it I found that it did recharge me.
My journal is one of my lifelines to God. It’s where I dump the hard things of life, celebrate the good, and listen for His voice. Sometimes God is quiet. Sometimes He is loud. And sometimes He is somewhere in between for me.
Writing things down makes it real for me. Like the day the doctor called with my first cancer diagnosis. We sat there, Dave and I, and we wrote it down. I knew if I didn’t put pen to paper the words might just fly away. My times with God are very similar. I don’t want to miss or forget a thing.
Sometimes I journal like a student taking notes in preparation for a big exam. I’m trying to get my thoughts down and get it all out of my head so I can see what I’ve got to work with. Find a way to make my swirling thoughts more concrete.
I’d add my voice to the chorus of others encouraging you and me to journal. It really will recharge you. It’s a great plugin and power up to clear your mind, listen to God, and leave it at the foot of the cross.
It’s Doesn’t Have To Be Fancy
Now I know these three ways to recharge your spiritual life aren’t rocket science. They are simple. And I’m okay with that. I like the simple things in life.
But I also don’t want to miss out on making time for those simple things as life seems to get busier and busier. Spending time in nature, with wise and loving friends, and writing in my journal recharge me. They connect me to our God. I can never get enough of that.
You can never get enough of our big God.
If you’re looking for ways to fit these ways into your day and into your life, I’d love to chat about that. Email me here. If you think you’d enjoy daily encouragement for growing closer to God or weathering the rough seas of life, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d be honored to have my verses, quotes, artwork, blogs, and things I’m sharing about God be your journal prompt for your day.
Plug in and recharge! You can do it.
Jeannie