Hope@Home – April 23, 2020

AnnaUncategorized

DAILY DEVOTIONAL:

Hope Chapel Family, check out this devotional from our Youth Intern JD- we pray that you're encouraged by it!

UNITED PRAYER: Intentionality with the Lord

Pray today for intentionality during your time with God in this season. Pray for the Lord to work through you where you are at instead of settling for idleness (not to be confused with resting in the Lord/Sabbath). Ask that the Lord will show ways in which you can grow in Him instead of filling up any extra free time with distractions.

“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Hebrews 6:11-12 NASB

FAMILY RESOURCES: Practices in Productivity

In this current season, people may be finding themselves with much more time on their hands. Perhaps you find yourself with more than you might prefer, or maybe it’s exactly what you needed to find rest. Regardless of where you put yourself on the spectrum of comfortability in self-isolation, it can be an opportune time to implement certain practices into your life. There might never be another, more free time in your life to bring in more intentionality into your habits and make the most of these circumstances. We can sometimes have a tendency to fill our schedules with distractions. Not all distractions are inherently bad, but spending too much time on things that take our minds off of the present can often take us away from a relationship with God. Here’s some practices you may want to apply into your schedule.

1. Set aside time for God first

Make time for God in your schedule. Consider setting aside a specific time in your day to be just you and Jesus. This might sound like an obvious step, but if you are not centering your day on being saturated in the word of God and prayer daily, then you may be missing out on so much of the richness of a relationship with Jesus. This shouldn't be a chore, but rather the sweetest time in our day. Why would we want to skip out on personally interacting with our Creator and being filled with His Holy Spirit? Truly many of the solutions to our problems can be solved by looking to Christ and reveling in all that He is.

2. Focus on your family

Sometimes with work, school, sports and everything else in our worlds, we may never have the time for simple quality time with our loved ones. Allocate more time to doing things as a family unit. Maybe focus on family dinners and share more about where everyone is at. If you don’t live with your family, give them a Zoom or FaceTime call! Often we can focus on our own needs without even considering how those in our household may be doing. Let this be an opportunity to grow closer as a family like never before!

3. Read

Many of us have that one book that’s been sitting on our shelf for who knows how long now. Now and then we glance at the cover and think to ourselves “Maybe I’ll read this one day”, yet never do. What better time to finally pick up that book, find a good chair and submerge ourselves in literature. Maybe your fancy is a fiction book filled with adventure, or instead, you might prefer enriching nonfiction. Nonetheless, it can be so rewarding to let yourself fall in love with learning again.

4. Stay in good health

Exercise and eating healthy can be quite daunting with the lack of this self-discipline. For you, that may not mean Crossfit 8 days a week, but perhaps getting outside and walking more. With fewer restaurants open it’s so much easier to try and cook from home and being mindful of what we consume. Taking care of our bodies can look different for everyone, but it's important to find what works for you and your comfort level. It can really help boost your productivity! 

5. Journal

Journaling has been a proven way to benefit memory and aid in processing emotions. By writing down your feelings you can process grief faster. If you can, write it down on physical paper, not your phone (your brain doesn’t process it the same way). With new stressors and concerns in our daily lives, now more than ever do we need to process our emotions, as well as allow ourselves to grieve properly. It may not be your thing to write down every little detail of every day, but even just taking the time once a week can be more beneficial than you may realize.

6. Grow in new & old ways

Whatever it may be for you, you can use this time to complete the tasks you normally never have enough time for. Go for the deep clean, work on learning that language, build that new website. Use the freedom you have to be beneficial. You might look back and realize you learned something completely new by just putting a bit more time into a task! Think about what you have always wanted to do or an old skill that you want to refine and see how you can grow in new ways.

Story of Hope - Michelle’s Story of Hope

Michelle Amster has a fantastic story to share how the generosity of so many of you is making a difference: