Channel The Rain

Scripture: Ephesians 4:16 NIV (New International Version) 
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 

Prayer: 
Dear Lord, during this week, help us to remember we never walk alone. Whenever we are in need and for whatever we may need, let us always remember you send forth earth angels to be your hands, your lips, and your feet to guide us towards knowing the love you so freely give. May those we encounter in our daily lives, live in such a way… there’s no denying it is truly from, with, and through your radiant love we are all here and present, for one another. Amen. 

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion: 
Audiobooks/EBooks 
“Success Principles” by Jack Canfield

Coping Skill Suggestion: 
Tapping- Either: 
EFT- Emotional Frequency Tapping 
TTT- Traumatic Tapping Technique 

There’s a free “Tapping Solutions App” with subjects like: 
“Motivate Me To Have A Productive Day” 
“Releasing Anxiety” 
“Turn Your Day Around: Create A Great Day” 
“Clearing Negative Energy Picked Up From Others” 
“Instant Boost Of Happiness” 
Etc.

Scripture: Isaiah 26:3-6 The Catholic’s Children’s Living Bible 
He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts often turn to the Lord.Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord is your everlasting strength. He humbles the proud and brings the haughty city to the dust; its walls come crashing down. He presents it to the poor and needy for their use. 

Prayer: 
Gracious Father, we thank you for the faith you place in us as we rise, each new day. May we more fully trust and receive each opportunity you graciously place before us to learn and to grow, with one another. Knowing you are always present to guide us with your love, help us to be more like Jesus… who walked humbly among the masses. May we remember in our times of struggle and inability to understand the differences among one another (in society,) we can turn to you to seek guidance and how we can walk softly, and love kindness… rather than feeling the need to always “carry a big stick” and beat one another down… or to always run away. May we remind ourselves there is a reason for everything in our lives, and some things will repeat like the movie “Groundhog Day,” until we are open to embracing the lessons you are bringing forth to us. Help us to receive your messages and others, more freely, as we grow in faith with one another, and the world you have so generously gifted to us. Amen.

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion: 
Use a calendar to create a work schedule for yourself to increase productivity and keep track of how you are spending your time. Use the alarm settings on your cell phones to keep you on schedule. Don’t forget to plan and schedule time, daily, for self-care. 

Coping Skill Suggestion: 
When you find yourself stressing out or becoming anxious, irritable, etc… try thinking about your favorite song and tamping out the drum beats with your fingers or your hands on a table or your legs. Hum along and if you're around others, you may inspire them to join you! (Ensure you’re only doing this where and at an audible level that’s venue appropriate, of course. You wouldn’t want to be in front of a judge, for instance, and begin a loud rendition of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train!” Nudge, nudge… wink, wink! I’m just saying, be venue appropriate.)

Scripture: Proverbs: 6:4-5 
Don’t put it off. Do it now. Don’t rest until you do. If you can get out of this trap you have saved yourself like a deer that escapes from the hunter, or a bird from the net. 

Prayer: 
Heavenly Father, help us to live lives more like ants.  They have no king over them to make them work; but are inspired to work diligently over the spring and summer, because they know the harshness of winter is coming. They rest when needed, but do not overindulge, basking in the easiness of it… for they know it will let their “cupboards” bare when they need it most. Thank you for giving us spiritual and physical nourishment opportunities to freely embrace, each day. 

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion: 
Always keep a book of inspirational quotes nearby. If your brain begins to feel like it’s on “overload,” or personal dilemmas begin to creep into your day, pull out your quotes and read until you find one that suits putting your current situation back into the proper perspective. (You can also do this via a quotes app like BrainyQuote.) 

Coping Skill Suggestion: 
Take a hike. Go for a walk. Be mindful of the little things you encounter along the way… the sounds, colors, or scents.

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Peace.  Scripture: Mark 11:24 NIV. 

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 

Prayer: 
Almighty and gracious God, we thank you for the many blessings you have brought us over the past year and throughout our lives. When we get stuck inside of ourselves, we may not be able to see the wisdom in your Divine Plan for our lives. Help us to remember you are always near… to teach and guide us, when we open our hearts and minds to the steadfast peace and grace your abundant love provides us, daily. Help us have the courage to walk into the peace you offer us, so freely. Amen.  

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  
Before entering your work space, each day, decide on your mantra song and play it loud! It will help create a positive mindset, if you choose wisely. 

Coping Skill Suggestion:  
Sing. Sing loud, sing proud, and sing strong. Singing releases negative emotions and makes room for the positive ones to come forth.

Scripture and Prayer Topic:  Searching
Scripture: Psalms 145: 15-16. 
The eyes of all mankind look up to you for help; you give them their food as they need it. You constantly satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.

Prayer: (From: “The Courage To See” by Greg Garrett & Sabrina Fountain.) 

Oh God, you know us inside and out. Help us to do the right thing, not just when the spotlight is on us, but in those quiet moments when only you and we know what we have done. Amen.  

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  
Think about or play a song you don’t normally like or appreciate. Try to identify exactly what or why you don’t like it. Is it the music, the melody? Is it the verses, perhaps the chorus? Is your dis-ease relative to how it sounds to your ears or how it makes you feel? Journal about it to help you understand yourself better. After journaling about it, listen to it again; and see if you view the song in “a whole new light.” Now, do the same with the people who do not resonate with you, your personality. What have you learned about yourself and how might you approach them in the future? 

Coping Skill Suggestion:  
Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing. Raising Your Breath, Raising Your Awareness. 

Breathe in, over a three count. Hold in for 5 seconds (adjust lower for any health issues you may have.) 

Breathe out over a five count. Repeat three times. 

(Use the “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three” style for the counting. If you have respiratory issues, merely begin with shorter counts and increase only when or if you are safely able to do so. Consult your physician, before any new exercise, as I am not a physician.)  

Remember: the goal is being present and mindful of only your breath, in this moment,” not to “outdo” or set any records! The stated count is the standard for this type of mindfulness exercise.   

Use this exercise to breathe through your uneasiness, through your anxiety, and your pain.  

Call to mind the negative feelings during your inhalation, while calling for the Divine to grant you peaceful release, during your hold and exhalation. Visualize it leaving you and sealing the exit point, so it cannot re-enter; but, BE fully relinquished to the ethers, instead.

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Guiding Our Feet
Scripture: Luke 1:78-79 ( Version From: “The Courage To See” By: Greg Garrett and Sabrina Fountain.)  

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

Prayer:  
God of infinite patience and of all things great and small, help us to feel bathed in your gracious Light, wisdom, and mercy as we interact with all of your children, each day, and help us to walk a little softer with those we struggle to understand. Amen.

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  
Invest in a mindfulness workbook, App, growth webinar, or coaching program to learn to identify the pitfalls that keep repeating for you. Learn how to overcome them and thrive in your personal, professional, and spiritual lives… break beyond the boundaries or limitations your mind has tricked you into settling for achieving or feeling valued. 

Coping Skill Suggestion:  
Get outside and enjoy the first morning sunlight of each day. It is the when, where, and how our bodies absorb the most nutritional benefits from it. It’s the best natural nutrient source for preventing or overcoming depression and anxiety. It’s nature’s best “stress vitamin,” straight from the Divine. AND, it’s FREE! “Go get some!”

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Forgiveness
Scripture: Ephesians 4:22 
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV) 

Prayer: 
Gracious Father, may we remember when others hurt us, it comes from the basis of some underlying fear. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember int “the heat of the moment” to stop and assess what our fear is, before responding in the same manner. May we strive to come from a place of understanding we all have fears that lead us to make insensitive remarks from time to time. If they aren’t consistently and intentionally hurtful or spiteful from those we love, please help us to have the forgiving hearts God has so tenderly offered us. Help us to forgive others “seventy times seven,” yet, know it’s also okay to establish healthy boundaries to honor that as God’s children we are all worthy of not being used or abused, whether verbally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Amen.  

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  
In those moments of uncomfortable situations, try to switch your mindset towards figuring out the lesson you’re to learn in that moment. Then, journal or make a diary entrance about the experience and lessons learned. 

Coping Skill Suggestion:  
Instead of feeling irritated by anyone, picture them as a character from your childhood… perhaps from a cartoon, a funny television or movie character, etc. It will “take you to a place” that will help you smile, easing your discomfort level,  “in the moment.”

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Anger/Forgiveness 

Scripture: Matthew 6: 9-15 (or 6-12 in most Bibles.) 

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom, come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, for thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.  

Prayer: 

Wise and forgiving Father, help us to let go of the limiting thoughts, words, and actions of our past as we embark on a new year, better us. Help us to see, embrace, and engage all the opportunities placed before us that draw us nearer to the Divine Plan you have for us. Help us to remember we must release the old anger, fear, and disappointments to make way for a new life, centered in gratitude and love. Amen.

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  

Read the book “Taming The Tiger Within.” By: Thich Nhat Hanh. In the book, there are many great points of consideration. Among them: “When we embrace anger and take good care of our anger, we obtain relief. We can look deeply into it and gain many insights. One of the first insights may be that the seed of anger in us has grown too big and is the main cause of our misery. As we begin to see this reality, we realize the other person, whom our anger is directed at, is only a secondary cause. The other person is not the real cause of our anger. 

Coping Skill Suggestion:  

As warmer weather approaches: walk a labyrinth or walking path, with mindful awareness.  

On your way to the center point, call attention to the negative spaces or thoughts that keep troubling you. Identify the ways they hold you back from obtaining your goals or desired achievements.  

On the outward path, truly release these concerns, worries, doubts, and hindrances to the Divine, as they were never ours to carry, especially alone.

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Perseverance and Hope 
Scripture: Romans 5:1-5 
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 

Prayer:  
Precious Lord, let us always remember that no matter how deeply troubled our life or the lives of those we love become, there is always a spot at the table to share our struggles with The One we were always meant to share the burdens of our hearts and minds. May we come to you, more easily, for guidance in learning the ways of growing a persevering and hopeful heart, by following your path of patience and love. Amen. 

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion: 
Have a heartfelt conversation with someone different, or brand new to you, each day. The more people with whom we have genuine conversations, engaging in active listening, the more we can realize we aren’t so isolated or alone in our life experiences. Think about the effects these conversations would have in affecting the rates of abuse, addictions, suicides, homicides, crime, people trafficking, etc. The list goes on and on… of the possible implosion of the number of folks experiencing these things… simply by “BEing free” to discuss our fears, in order to return to living our lives coming from, based in, love. Humans love to overcomplicate things; but, it really is that simple. We can give heed to the fear in our minds and get stuck there, or to the love innately within our hearts.   

Coping Skill Suggestion:  
Spend some time learning a slower moving, yoga therapy method called Restorative Yoga. It’s focused upon doing more fully supportive poses and holding them for gentle, effective, stretching as we age or acquire health issues, helping to maintain or improve flexibility and movement.

Scripture and Prayer Topic: Remembrance and Growth 

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for everything under Heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace. 

Prayer: 

May we never forget the blood, sweat, or tears of those who have lived and died, before us. May we never forget the lessons learned and taught by those… for when we do, we may suffer the same secrets and not so sacred, torment. May our lives show we’ve learned lessons others suffered greatly, to learn, without needing to repeat those same lessons. Amen.  

Personal/Professional Growth Tool Suggestion:  

Outgrow your own BS! When we own our own mistakes, by reflecting upon our own actions, words, patterns, and behaviors… we become accountable and grow by admitting our wrongdoings. Then, we can clean up our mess and change ourselves, which changes or improves the world around us.  

Coping Skill Suggestion:  

Per Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” E+R=O or Event+RESPONSE=Outcome. 

(Therefore, WE ultimately control the outcome of an Event’s affect/effects on our lives!) 

Each evening, journal about the way any situation that day made you feel or react. If it was a negative experience, what 3-5 things can you do daily to change that negative statement, (especially if recurring,) into a positive one? If you’re not willing to do 3-5 things, “let it go!” It clearly doesn’t “bother you enough” to act differently or change your behavior for the betterment.