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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Hi friend, welcome to Breathe the stress Less Podcast. I'm

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Speaker 2: Bonnie Gray, your soul care guide for this time, designed

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Speaker 2: just for you to rest and refresh your soul. This

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Speaker 2: is a place of soul care where you can pick

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Speaker 2: up a practical soul care tip based on science so

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Speaker 2: you can restore calm to your emotions and your body,

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Speaker 2: and you'll also receive a loving word of affirmation from

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Speaker 2: God's word, scripture and science. Well, I'm the best selling

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Speaker 2: author of Breathe twenty one days to stress Us and

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Speaker 2: Transform Chaos to Calm, as well as three other books,

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Speaker 2: a WI First of Rest forty day devotional, a memoir

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Speaker 2: about your true worth and mine when I tried to

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Speaker 2: find my father he had left when I was seven.

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Speaker 2: It's called Sweet Like Jasmine. And I have another book

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Speaker 2: called Finding Spiritual White Space. If you're looking for a

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Speaker 2: book to snuggle up with in the winter, I just

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Speaker 2: suggest that you welcome me into your day on soul

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Speaker 2: care through one of these books. Well, let me ask

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Speaker 2: you today's question. Have you been feeling worn down but

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Speaker 2: telling yourself you shouldn't be. Maybe you feel like you're

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Speaker 2: doing everything right, but something still feels off because your

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Speaker 2: heart feels heavy, your energy just seems to drag, and

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Speaker 2: your mind can't quite feel at rest. If that's you,

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Speaker 2: you're not alone. Today we're going to talk about something

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Speaker 2: so common that it often goes unnoticed, and how it

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Speaker 2: quietly affects our wellness more than we realize. In today's episode,

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Speaker 2: I'm sharing a story that helped me realize is just

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Speaker 2: this past week. Sometimes our minds are aren't tired because

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Speaker 2: we need to do less, they're tired because we haven't

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Speaker 2: been encouraged. Does that interest you, Well, We're going to

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Speaker 2: talk about a few things. One, why a worried mind

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Speaker 2: doesn't quiet through effort. I know because I've tried. Second,

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Speaker 2: how encouragement gives the mind a place to rest. Third,

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Speaker 2: what scripture and science both tell us about kind words.

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Speaker 2: And of course I'm always going to give you a

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Speaker 2: gentle soul care practice, something you can do, simple action

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Speaker 2: you can take to help your mind breathe again and

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Speaker 2: help your emotions and your body feel better. Well, friend,

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Speaker 2: if your heart has been wanting that pickup, you're in

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Speaker 2: the right place. This episode is for you. Well. Next week,

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Speaker 2: it's so exciting. Two things are happening on the same

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Speaker 2: day on Wednesday, February eighteenth. It's both the Chinese New

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Speaker 2: Year the Lunar New Year, and it's also drum roll Lent.

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Speaker 2: Lent begins next Wednesday as well, and I mean so exciting.

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Speaker 2: Spring is coming, and both of these special holidays celebrate

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Speaker 2: that spring in our spirit through Jesus's Walk to the

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Speaker 2: Cross with Easter and the Chinese Lunar New Year. I

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Speaker 2: love because it's our second chance to start the new year,

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Speaker 2: and I want to invite you to a special kind

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Speaker 2: of rest and renewal. You know, in Lent, traditionally people

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Speaker 2: fast food, right, but instead of fasting food, what if

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Speaker 2: we fasted from worry and busyness. Hello, we're raising our hands, right.

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Speaker 2: So that's why I created the Lent Wellness Study. I

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Speaker 2: created it during the season when I was overwhelmed with

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Speaker 2: worry and I just wanted to meet with Jesus in

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Speaker 2: a quiet way through rest and renewal through the six

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Speaker 2: weeks of Lent. So I created this resource. If your

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Speaker 2: heart is longing for that kind of peaceful reset during

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Speaker 2: Lent walking with Jesus to the Cross, you're gonna love

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Speaker 2: this Lent Wellness Study. It'll have those scripture walking with

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Speaker 2: Jesus to the Cross, to Easter new life, as well

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Speaker 2: as something you can do during those six weeks to

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Speaker 2: help your wellness in four different areas. That's emotional wellness,

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Speaker 2: physical wellness, spiritual wellness, and social wellness. So please stop

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Speaker 2: by look at the link that's in our show notes

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Speaker 2: and you'll be able to check out the Lent Wellness Study.

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Speaker 2: Thousands of women have already taken it and been blessed

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Speaker 2: through this sacred holy journey, and I know.

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Speaker 1: You will too, and we'll be right back.

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Speaker 2: Well friend. This week. Our scripture, which has been a

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Speaker 2: quiet anchor for my soul, is from Proverbs twelve twenty five.

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Speaker 2: Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers

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Speaker 2: it up. Let's turn this into a breath prayer. What

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Speaker 2: that means is you're just going to breathe in as

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Speaker 2: I recite our loving word of affirmation. Breathe in. Anxiety

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Speaker 2: weighs down the heart, breathe out, but a kind word

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Speaker 2: cheers it up. Just continue to gently breathe in and

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Speaker 2: breathe out. Relax your shoulders, relax those hands, and as

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Speaker 2: you breathe, notice what word or phrase feels like an

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Speaker 2: encouragement to you right now. Anxiety weighs down the heart,

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Speaker 2: but a kind word cheers it up.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: Last week I entered into week three of my sabbatical year,

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Speaker 2: and I went to have lunch with a mentor who's

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Speaker 2: been a part of my life since I was in

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Speaker 2: sixth grade. Her name is mary Anne, and if you've

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Speaker 2: read my memoir Sweet Like Jasmine, you know who I'm

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Speaker 2: talking about. Mary Anne was the first and only woman

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Speaker 2: at church who offered to come to my house and

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Speaker 2: meet with me one on one. I don't remember the

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Speaker 2: books we read together, but you know what I do

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Speaker 2: remembered how mary Anne listened. She asked how I was doing.

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Speaker 2: We laughed together, and she was concerned when ever I

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Speaker 2: would share my worries. She never really told me what

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Speaker 2: to do, but at the end of our hour together,

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Speaker 2: Marianne would simply say, well, why don't we pray? How

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Speaker 2: can I pray for you? And in her prayers for me,

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Speaker 2: I knew she'd been listening. And even now I still

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Speaker 2: love to say I'd love to pray with you. I

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Speaker 2: don't say i'd love to pray for you, because for me,

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Speaker 2: prayer has always felt most healing when it's shoulder to shoulder,

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Speaker 2: heart to heart, coming alongside each other. Well, I met

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Speaker 2: up with mary Anne for lunch last week, and I

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Speaker 2: shared how even though I've paused teaching and writing in

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Speaker 2: Soul Care school, my mind still scans for worries and

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Speaker 2: how it's been hard to turn off the thinking mode.

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Speaker 2: And I was pretty surprised, you know, because if I've

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Speaker 2: you know, paused the work and I'm on my sabbatical time,

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Speaker 2: you'd think, you know, my mind would be free. Bit

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Speaker 2: I've noticed that it doesn't seem to turn off. So

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Speaker 2: I've been telling her. I've been learning that quieting a

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Speaker 2: worried mind isn't about stopping thoughts, but about giving the

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Speaker 2: mind something encouraging to rest on. So I asked Marianne

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Speaker 2: what retirement has been like for her. She just recently retired,

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Speaker 2: and she shared that one practice she returned to was

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Speaker 2: reading the Bible in one year. Now. That surprised me

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Speaker 2: because I've never been drawn to that kind of project.

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Speaker 2: I've always felt previously when the idea came out, I

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Speaker 2: felt was kind of mechanical. But this side, something different happened,

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Speaker 2: something sparked inside me. You know, I've been recently reading

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Speaker 2: books at night to help my mind slow down. I

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Speaker 2: just finished Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, and now

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Speaker 2: I'm starting Chronicles of Narnia. And I thought, hey, what

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Speaker 2: if I read the Bible as literature, as a work

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Speaker 2: of art, just one time through, like it's a big book,

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Speaker 2: you know, because Chronicles of Narnia is really thick. And

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Speaker 2: I was like, the Bible's not even that thick. So

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Speaker 2: I said, what if I read the Bible once straight

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Speaker 2: through within this year, simply to enjoy God's story? And

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Speaker 2: so I started friends This past week, each morning, after

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Speaker 2: having my coffee and my son Caleb's off to school,

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Speaker 2: I began reading scripture slowly as literature a story. And

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Speaker 2: I've been jotting down words or phrases that catch my

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Speaker 2: attention or touch my heart. So it's like no pressure,

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Speaker 2: no like intensive studying, just reading for pleasure as a story,

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Speaker 2: a narrative. So I even bought a new journal, and

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Speaker 2: I bought colored pens, which is a really big deal

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Speaker 2: for someone like me who usually only writes in black

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Speaker 2: ink in my journals. And so Friend, something shifted inside me.

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Speaker 1: Me.

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Speaker 2: My day didn't change because my problems or worries disappeared.

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Speaker 2: It changed because my mind has been encouraged. So, friend,

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Speaker 2: what might it look like for you for your mind

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Speaker 2: to receive encouragement this week instead of more pressure. What

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Speaker 2: would that look like for you? What are some ideas

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Speaker 2: that might have sparked as I was telling you this story. Well,

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Speaker 2: one passage that really spoke to me deeply this week

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Speaker 2: was in Genesis one, as God creates, I noticed that

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Speaker 2: God brings order out of chaos through two gentle movements.

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Speaker 2: Two God separates and God gathers. Okay, separates and gathers.

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Speaker 2: God separates the light from the darkness, and God gathers

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Speaker 2: the waters to bring life. And I realize those two movements,

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Speaker 2: those are the two movements that help quiet a worried mind. Okay,

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Speaker 2: So we want to separate, create distance from our worries.

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Speaker 2: We want to separate from what drains us. And second,

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Speaker 2: we want to gather closer to us what gives us life.

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Speaker 2: So in the Genesis one narrative, God gathers the water

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Speaker 2: so that he creates land and different oceans. And so

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Speaker 2: this is important bringing order to our mind. We need

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Speaker 2: us do two things. One separate what drains us, create

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Speaker 2: more distance, and second gather closer to us what gives

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Speaker 2: us life? So what would bring you life? What would

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Speaker 2: bring you encouragement, beauty, scripture, connection, relational wellness. You know,

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Speaker 2: those are the things we want to draw closer to

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Speaker 2: gather them close to us. Now, how about you, friend,

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Speaker 2: how might God be inviting you today to separate from

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Speaker 2: what weighs you down? To create distance from what weighs

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Speaker 2: you down? And what would God be inviting you today

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Speaker 2: to gather closer what brings you life? Gather closer to

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Speaker 2: you during the day, what brings you joy or peace

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Speaker 2: or beauty? Want you to keep those two words on

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Speaker 2: your heart for your soul care for this week? What

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Speaker 2: would God be separating wants to separate from within your

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Speaker 2: day and gather closer to you. God's work is creative

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Speaker 2: and we're invited to do it together with him. And

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Speaker 2: when we come back, I'm going to talk about the

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Speaker 2: science behind this. So this is so exciting, this science

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Speaker 2: behind this, This really helps us solidify the importance of

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Speaker 2: soul care. Research shows that anxiety narrows our attention. It

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Speaker 2: keeps the mind focus on potential problems. Are what could

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Speaker 2: go wrong next? Or what else you need to do? Okay,

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Speaker 2: that's just how the brain works, so it can help us.

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Speaker 2: But encouraging words and meaningful voices, on the other hand,

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Speaker 2: give the mind a different place to rest. So we

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Speaker 2: want to create more opportunity to help our mind rest.

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Speaker 2: How does that work? One way is through encouraging words

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Speaker 2: and meaningful voices. Studies show that when we spend time

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Speaker 2: with meaningful language, whether through reading, prayer, or having conversation

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Speaker 2: with somebody that we enjoy being with, the brain will

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Speaker 2: naturally shift away from rumination. So, friend, you know, often

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Speaker 2: when we worry, we just like we're really hard on ourselves.

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Speaker 1: We're like worrying.

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Speaker 2: Where are you worrying? No, the way to dial down

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Speaker 2: the worry quiet that worried mind is to introduce and

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Speaker 2: spend time with meaningful language. So this will help reduce

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Speaker 2: the mental noise and give your mind a break from

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Speaker 2: constantly self monitoring. It will help you to stop that quiet,

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Speaker 2: that non stop inner checking and second guessing. In simple terms,

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Speaker 2: worry keeps the mind looping, but kind words give the

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Speaker 2: mind a new track to run on. That new track

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Speaker 2: gives the mind a chance to brief. You know how,

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Speaker 2: Sometimes you're listening to a playlist and they have like

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Speaker 2: recommended songs for you if you listen to like Apple

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Speaker 2: Music or Spotify. But sometimes you get a song you

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Speaker 2: don't like, right, you could just skip it, right, you

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Speaker 2: skip it by going to the next song. So that's

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Speaker 2: kind of what we're doing. When we read here and

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Speaker 2: dwell on words that are meaningful and encouragement for wellness,

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Speaker 2: it will s shape which voice becomes louder in our

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Speaker 2: inner world. So now you know the science. Of course,

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Speaker 2: I want to give you a challenge, something practical I'd

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Speaker 2: like you to do this week. I'm doing it too.

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Speaker 2: There are two silka practices, all right. The first is

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Speaker 2: to reach out. I want you to schedule coffee or

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Speaker 2: lunch with someone who encourages your heart. Research shows that

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Speaker 2: supportive conversation it reduces rumination and helps regulate stress. Our

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Speaker 2: nervous system calms more easily when we feel emotionally connected

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Speaker 2: and accompanied. You've felt this way before, Right before you

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Speaker 2: go meet with somebody, maybe you don't even want to go,

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Speaker 2: but then after you have a good time connecting with

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Speaker 2: somebody that you enjoy being with, you come back you're like, whew,

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Speaker 2: I'm glad I did that right. So first action, I

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Speaker 2: want you to do schedule. I want you to reach

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Speaker 2: out to somebody you can schedule it, even if you

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Speaker 2: can't meet this week. I want you to schedule itcond

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Speaker 2: I want you to receive a kind word, write down

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Speaker 2: a favorite scripture, or read a story in the Bible

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Speaker 2: that you already love. Now, I want you to do

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Speaker 2: it first thing in the morning, before you read the

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Speaker 2: news emails. You first receive that kind word from God.

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Speaker 2: And studies show that the first input our minds take

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Speaker 2: in helps set our emotional tone for the day. And

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Speaker 2: the interesting is like a thermist dot. You're setting the

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Speaker 2: thermist dot for your emotions and your mind. Starting out

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Speaker 2: with meaningful, encouraging words can shape how our minds respond

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Speaker 2: to stress and reduce the mental noise later on in

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Speaker 2: the day. Now, if it helps, you can use the

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Speaker 2: free Bible app. That's what I'm using to do my

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Speaker 2: Bible in a year three sixty five day reading plan.

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Speaker 2: And there are many and the one that I found that's,

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Speaker 2: you know, I think is really good. I recommend it.

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Speaker 2: It's Biblica, has no commentary, lets you soak in the scripture.

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Speaker 2: I'll share the link to that Bible reading plan in

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Speaker 2: the show notes. Well, let's pray Jesus, thank you for

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Speaker 2: meeting us with tenderness and care. Where our hearts feel heavy,

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Speaker 2: you draw us closer and lift us up a men. Well.

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Speaker 2: As Lent begins next week, I want to invite you

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Speaker 2: to think about fasting a little differently. Instead of fascinating

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Speaker 2: from food alone, what if this lent you fasted from

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Speaker 2: wory and busyness. That's why I created the Lent Wellness Study.

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Speaker 2: You'll find rest renewal walking with Jesus to the Cross

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Speaker 2: to new life on Easter, and I know you will

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Speaker 2: love it. Just check out those show notes. There'll be

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Speaker 2: a link for that Lent Wellness Study and friend, if

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Speaker 2: this has encouraged you, I encourage you to share this

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Speaker 2: with a friend and allow her to also be encouraged.

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Speaker 2: Remember that you're loved and you're cherished. Just rest and

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Speaker 2: I'll see you next time.

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Speaker 1: Breathe.

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Speaker 2: The stress Less podcast is a production of Life Audio

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Speaker 2: and Sale Media. If you like what you heard today,

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Speaker 2: please take a second to rate and review this podcast

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Speaker 2: in your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like

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Speaker 2: you can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts,

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Speaker 2: visit us at lifeaudio dot com.