Mastering the Balance of Being Both Stressed & Grateful
In 2023, I released my first book, and my husband became a partner in his orthodontic practice. It was the year our dreams finally came true. Then, the second half of 2023 came along. One of our children developed severe anxiety. This anxiety presented in both emotional and physical ways. We saw the light that normally shone so brightly within them start to fade.
Even in Stress, Look for Beauty
My husband, Andy, and I almost canceled our long-awaited trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. My soul feels at rest at the beach, like the one next to our home, but feels awake in the mountains. You never quite know what view is around the next corner of a hike or how the sun’s position will highlight the mountain’s peaks and crevices in ways you hadn’t noticed the first time. The mountains are wild with God’s beauty waiting to surprise us around each turn.
This was our first scheduled trip after Andy’s associateship was complete, and he became a partner in his practice. My mom convinced us nothing would change if we stayed home, and I knew she was right. So we went. God met us there. For five days we traded in salt air for the smell of fresh evergreens. For a day and a half, gratitude was easy to come by. We were so thankful for God’s awe-inspiring beauty, we were so thankful for a support system that allowed us to experience it and connect in a way we needed after such a busy year.
Even in Anxiety, Look for God’s Glory
Gratitude poured out of our lips and our hearts. After thirty-six hours of being reacquainted with the beauty of the West, I called my mom when I knew the kids wouldn’t be around, to get the real update. I thought my parents being there might help ease their stress for a bit. I thought my dad’s pillow fights, and the too many treats from my mom, would help lighten the load weighing on their minds. But it didn’t. I hung up the phone and knew this was not a bump in the road but a new path we would be on for a while. I called a child psychologist and scheduled an appointment. Andy and I rode in near silence after that, each with a knot in the pit of our stomach. How were we supposed to stay here, in this place, so far away from home? We knew we would have to push through the day, we would have to fight not to find beauty but to let it penetrate, to go past our eyes and into our beings.
Even in Worry, Look for Connection to Christ
Many of us were taught formulas as a way of experiencing God. We were taught that morning and bedtime routines, weekly church attendance, and following the rules were the ways of experiencing God ourselves. In the effort to contain ourselves, to contain our behavior, we also tried to contain the One who created us. We called God’s creation outside of mankind lesser—less worthy, less important.
How would our view of ourselves, of this world, change if we could learn to see God within every living thing, including us? How would the view we have of our struggles change if we dared to believe that deep beneath the surface, God is always at work, and that work ultimately is moving us toward something good?
This holy work of recognizing God in all things and yet God’s being beyond all things, can help us recognize beauty and the goodness still present even in harsh circumstances. This is a path forward to practicing gratitude. This is how we live fully; this is how we become.
In His Word
Read John 5:16-30. Take special note of John 5:17: In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” NIV. What do you notice about how God is at work in the world and how he shows himself to us in unexpected ways?
In Your Life
Think of three ways you can connect with God this week outside of the ways you usually connect with God. Make a plan to find time to connect with God in these new ways during the week and keep track of your results.
We Recommend
We recommend the book Overwhelmed and Grateful by Jillian Benfield. Jillian offers encouraging, practical ways we can be real about our hard things & be grateful for the good things.
Author Bio
Jillian Benfield is a former journalist and news anchor. She holds a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Her freelance essays about living an unexpected life have appeared on sites such as TODAY, Good Morning America, Yahoo! News, and ABC News. Jillian regularly advocates for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in her writings and community, and as a part of the National Down Syndrome Congress’s National Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition. Jillian and her husband, Andy, and their three children make their home on Florida’s Space Coast. Learn more at JillianBenfield.com.