Take Care of Y-O-U!
It is a gift to have a reasonable portion of health and strength. Honor the gift God has given you. The very Spirit of God resides in you!
Welcome to the 99th issue of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly newsletter about faith, personal growth, and lifestyle that provides actionable, relatable, and biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Happy Sunday!
Some years ago, when I was teaching high school, I went to work not feeling well. I wanted to make sure my students had consistent structure, so I figured I would just power through the day and rest when I got home.
During the first hour at work, nausea began to overtake me, and I asked my boss for permission to run to the drugstore and get a Vernors (in my family it cures every ailment known to man. LOL).
The Vernors didn’t work.
I still felt sick. I ran to the restroom several times gagging, only to return to my classroom and continue teaching.
I have a high pain tolerance, so I brushed it off when I felt the first terrible ache in my side.
“Ms. D, you okay?” one of my students asked as I winced.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I replied, continuing to present the portion of the lesson where they had to take notes.
The pain became unbearable, so I sat down and continued to teach, hoping that sitting would alleviate it.
I was dizzy. I had a fever.
I finally let my boss know (after a few hours of teaching) that I would leave in a little while so I could go home, lie down, and sleep off the pain.
But I kept teaching!
The secretary sent one of the security guards to my room to make me go home!
Long story short, I got home and tried to sleep but the pain only worsened. When I could barely stand, I drove myself to the hospital emergency room (no one else was close enough).
Turns out, my appendix had started to rupture and was leaking! Ugh! That’s why I was sick.
I had to be transported by ambulance to another hospital for immediate surgery!
What made me keep teaching when clearly, something was seriously wrong with me?
I wasn’t taking care of me.
It’s not noble to feel like your job or anything else comes before your health.
God respects our willingness to work and contribute positively to society. Often, however, we wear the grind like a badge of honor. We brag about how little sleep we got the night before as we “crush it” at work.
We feel “less than” or not productive enough if we can’t brag about how well we are multitasking.
Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s okay to take care of Y-O-U.
It’s not laziness. It’s not irresponsible. And it sure isn’t a sign of a person who isn’t driven.
Taking care of yourself is essential!
You can grind yourself right into burnout, panic attacks, nervous breakdowns, and overall poor health.
You can’t be a good soldier for Christ if you don’t take care of yourself. Remember Jesus is using your hands, feet, mouth, etc… to advance the Kingdom.
You get one body on this side of Heaven (I like to spell Heaven with a capital “H”, don’t judge me😂).
It is a gift to have a reasonable portion of health and strength. Honor the gift God has given you. The very Spirit of God resides in you!
16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16, ESV
Peace and Love.
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda😍
P.S.
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