In March I made some pretty significant lifestyle changes.  Three of my four grandparents were diabetic (diabetes runs on both sides of my family).  So I began focusing on eating vegetables and lean proteins, cut out a lot of sugar and carbs, stuck to drinking mostly water (and coffee but much more “black” than I actually like!), attempted to walk more, etc.  And I’m feeling really good!  Some of this was motivated by getting married in May.  Not to “look good” in wedding pictures, I’m not that vain.  People come in all shapes and sizes (and can be healthy at all shapes and sizes come to that!), and that’s beautiful.  My focus is to be healthier for me and for my family for the long run.  

Sometimes getting out of healthy habits and routines happens gradually. 
Sometimes it’s all of a sudden.  But then we realize that something is off. 
We may not feel like ourselves.  We may even feel like something is missing. 
Instead of judging ourselves, we can simply pay attention at first.  Get curious.
And then eventually challenge ourselves to make a few necessary changes. 
It may be slow going, but that’s okay!
Sometimes life is about taking the next faithful step.  One foot in front of the other. 
One day at a time.

We all experienced a major shift in how we do what we do in our congregation in March of 2020.  The last “normal” worship service I led was March 8, 2020.  It’s been a long time of navigating “new normals.”  I’ve even come to feel irritated by that term! 

Maybe you’ve gotten out of the habit of attending worship services.  Maybe you watch online.  Maybe you are connecting with the congregation in various ways.  Maybe you’re not.  There’s certainly no judgement about where you may be on my end.  We’ve been going through a lot, and we all continue to have various risk tolerances when it comes to Covid.  I’m not the church attendance police over here, but I certainly do miss you when we haven’t seen each other in a while!  Consider this Thursday Thought an encouragement.  Our church family is special because of every single person who is part of it.  That means you!  You are loved, and just remember that when we say that everybody is welcome here—we really mean it.

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

Thursday Thought 11/11/21

Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash.