Faith and Self Care

Faith and Self‐Care During Times of Struggle
Faith reminds us that we are never alone in our struggles. It roots us in our relationship with God and with our fellow man; it is expressed in prayer, worship and love. It’s through this relationship that we can respond to life’s stresses and conflicts with greater peace and inner security, backed by God’s unconditional love.
In our existence, faith and hope are inextricably linked. Faith is our gift to God. Hope is God’s gift to us. Hope helps us embrace God’s promise to us; that no matter what trials we go through in this life, He is with us always and loves us unconditionally. Hope helps us face the sufferings of today. It helps us overcome our hesitance and the worries of tomorrow. It gives us the strength to answer our calling to do everything we can to help those in need.
Prayer and being comfortable in our spirituality are the mortar that hold all of this together. To be able to pray with confidence and to move forward with purpose in assisting others is also our gift to God.
A spiritual author once said that it’s easier to chase the storms of life than it is to figure out how to build a shelter against them. A storm is something that is challenging and disruptive to our lives and can lead to emotional pain. The status of our health, kids, marriage and emotions are all areas that are essentially out of our control and can weigh heavy on us if something goes awry.
Storm chasers follow behind storms for a variety of reasons. Some are in it for the adventure.
Others want to observe and report. In all cases, storm chasers live in constant reaction to the next storm of life.
A builder, on the other hand, races to get ahead of storms. Builders spend their time and energy ensuring that their foundation is as solid as it needs to be to stand firm during the storms of life; aligning your life with your faith and hope. Over the last two years, we have experienced, and continue to experience, hardships that we could never have imagined. During those hardships, we have seen miracles occur, tragedy strike and confidences weakened. In the face of those storms, our faith, our trust toward others and our sense of purpose may have been shaken at times. Our reactions haven’t always been perfect, but you stayed, answering the call of those in need and showing love toward those you struggle alongside with in those endeavors.
Mother Teresa was once quoted as saying that “Prayer builds faith, faith builds love, love builds action.” I have proudly watched you embody those words and roll out on the next call. Thank you all for your dedication, your sense of duty and for giving hope to all under your care. No matter what the storm, those in need trust that you’re coming