January 5: Early Stress

Does lack of shopping make one crabby? That's my question for today. I've had a headache for 5 days running and now a hitch in my back under my shoulder blade. Normally I would attribute these things to stress. So, is my stress related to our decision? Surely I'm not going through withdrawal. As I've mentioned before, we really are not big spenders. 5 days without shopping for anything has caused me to do lots of thinking, but I can't say my life has been altered much. Therefore, should I really feel much stress from this? Or is it that I'm simply spending time thinking about it and wondering how we'll handle different things that causes me to worry? I don't know. However, I do know this: This is to bring what is necessary into focus. Have I done that? Not really. I haven't experienced great spiritual renewal or revelation by doing this so far. I'm thinking about our actions (or lack of action/i.e. spending) not my motivation. Isn't God far more concerned with the heart? I gotta ask myself where my heart is in all of this. If I'm grumpy because of my physical discomfort and my discomfort is caused by stress and the stress is caused by our "project," then I better address my spirit.

Dear God, my prayer is simply that you won't let me miss what you have for me through this. Speak to my cranky spirit, Lord, and show me how I ought to respond to stress and negative thoughts when they pop up. Lord, I'm trusting you to reveal to me strategies I can use to combat any obsession that may try to creep into my thought life. Necessary focus... That's my goal, God, to bring my heart closer to you, avoiding the clutter of material things and finding contentment in you alone. Don't let me miss your answers to my prayers. Amen