Haven Church

WELLNESS NOTES

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”  Isaiah 60:1

JANUARY:  A new year, a new month, a new start!!   Light shines on the newness before us with encouraging brightness.   My husband and I begin the New Year with a group of RV friends, out in the desert, around a roaring campfire.   We say goodbye to the old year, old thoughts, unfinished goals, and sorrows, and look ahead with the firelight shining brightly on our future.    It is a time of starting a new calendar, setting new goals, (sounds better than ‘resolutions’), and making new plans.   Let each of us “ Arise, shine; for ‘our’  light has come”  in the form of the baby Jesus, who came to  shed light into each of our lives , illuminating the darkness that might dim our positive outlook, forward thinking, and  bright NEW YEAR.   How can we use this light to build a better, more healthful, brighter year ahead:

• Do a brief meditation:  Close your eyes, sit comfortably, and breathe deeply.   Envision the Christ Light brightening your heart, then allow that light to travel  throughout your entire body—limb by limb, organ by organ, —lending the healing, energizing power of Christ’s love to clear out the darkness, pain, obstructed areas,  and dimness from your mind, body, and spirit. Allow the light to flow freely as you breathe  deeply and sit quietly for a few moments.   As you open our eyes, may you feel the refreshing power of LIGHT throughout your being.
• Assure you are being outdoors in the light for several periods each day.  If it is a dull, dark, day turn on all of the lights in your room  and spend more time in the light than in dull areas.
• Allow light to shine FROM you each day.   Make a conscious effort to greet everyone you meet with a smile (and yourself in the mirror) letting the Christ Light within you shine out to others.  Know that if the only positive activity you might do is your smile, you have witnessed to another.
• Fill your plate with ‘light and bright’ foods.  Include oranges, lemon, yellow and red peppers, a rainbow of colored fruits, vegetables, and fluids in your daily meal plan.   Set the goal of 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables in EACH daily intake.   (make a list & check off the numbers!!)
• Lighten your step!!   Take out a walking stick and take a daily walk, making your stride longer, your head held high, and breathing freely as you try for at least 30 minutes of walking daily (it can be in spurts or even with a walker or pacing in your chair).
• Shed light on your words.     Try for communicating more positive thoughts than negatives; using uplifting words; speaking kindness; encouraging another; and brightening your own outlook.
• Share your “light” each day.   God has given you special gifts within your heart, mind, and soul. Use those gifts to the best of your ability and avoid ‘hiding them under a bushel’.  Let your light shine!!

Begin 2012 as the beacon of God’s Love!!

Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

Parish Nurse Consultant

WELLNESS NOTES

“He will be called Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23

“The name Immanuel means God with us.”  Isaiah 7:14

December is the month to look at the birth of Jesus ‘which means God with us’.  As we look toward Christmas we are bombarded by the hype of buying (without the focus of giving);  the media frenzy that makes us feel guilty if we are not trying to outdo those around us; and the focus on greed that began earlier than November. Little in what we see or hear encourages us to see or feel God With Us.  As Christians, maybe we just need frequent reminders to keep the Christ in our Christmas.  (how about sticky notes around our environment with “God is With Us”!!)

Before I began to write this article I was watching Dr. OZ who had as his guest, Joel Osteen, talking about the power of prayer.  They spoke of the miracles of the power of prayer in healing and the strength that comes from looking to God as our source of power and guidance.  Isn’t prayer the ultimate “God With Us” experience?   These two popular men spoke of the power prayer has and the importance of ‘believing we are worth healing and worth what we ask of God’.  Isn’t strengthening our prayer life one of the best ways we can ‘Keep Christ in our Christmas’ and realize the wonderful gift we have received of “God With Us”?

Make December our month to strengthen our spirit through increasing our prayer life. Centering our prayers on the positive power that comes from lifting our praise , our fears, our joys, and our desires to the one who came to our life as our greatest gift, may make this time of year one filled with energy and amazing miracles.   Believing that God is indeed with us, that we are here to fulfill a purpose, and that someone needs the gifts we are given to share in this world, will give our Holiday time a sense of power.   We can go above the noise and greed and secular hype to find our spot of serenity, peace, and renewed strength. Let this power carry us into the New Year with a resolve to be more welcoming, more worshipful, and more caring, as we discover Christ’s transforming love, and serve  others.

God be with us as we celebrate Christmas

Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

Parish Nurse Consultant

Cell: 602-290-0164

“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function”   (Romans 12:4)

The National Wellness Calendar indicates a number of areas of focus for October.

October is Eye Injury Prevention Month, also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and National Medical Librarians Month.  Let’s take note of each of these areas of wellness.

Have you had your annual eye exam, assuring your sight is the best it can be?

Are you wearing protective eye wear when you do craft, home, or outdoor tasks?

Are your eye drops recommended by your eye Doctor?  Some can damage rather than heal.

Ladies, have you had your annual mammogram?  Recent information from the National Cancer Institute indicates not EVERYONE needs as frequent a screening.  Check with your Physician about your individual risk factors, genetic concerns, age, and overall health as you plan your mammogram schedule.  High Risk individuals often benefit from breast MRI as well as mammogram.  Be sure you know what is best for YOU!!

Breast health responds well to daily exercise, stress management, and low fat meal planning.

Be sure you are doing your monthly self breast exams without fail.

Honor your local Medical Librarians:

Check out the wonderful new Medical Library at VVMC (located just behind the gift shop) where the Librarians are helpful in finding the latest and best information for your needs.

Check out online information nbcamquestions@yahoo.com and  www.nbcam.org

Our church librarians have new and interesting web sites and information about new cancer treatments and awareness. Be sure to talk with them.

Wellness awareness and illness prevention is such an individual thing, but ‘as we are one body with many members and not all members have the same function’,  so there are many theories and methods of attaining wellness and we need to be educated consumers.

BE WELL—-BE WISE—BE INFORMED

Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

Parish Nurse Consultant

(602-290-0164)

September focus is “Generosity”    ‘lay up  treasures in heaven’

While on my summer travels I read a most interesting book, “THE HAPPINESS PROJECT” by Gretchen Rubin.   Educated as a lawyer, having worked as a clerk for Sandra Day O’Connor, Gretchen researched ways to be “HAPPY”.  Many of her ideas are noteworthy, but one caught my attention.  Encouraging her readers to learn to “Spend Out”.  The premise  of ‘spending out’ is to be generous with our abundance, time, gifts, dreams, and caring.  So often we have items, ideas, or time that we carefully ‘save for another, better time’.  How many of us have items we own that we ‘save for special’ or time on our hands that we hold in limbo, or finances that we ‘save because we might need it later’!!  The stories of those who ‘wait until it’s too late’ to share or give and never get to see the happiness or joy they might have given another.  Our Lord invites us to not ‘lay  up treasures’ and to give with enthusiasm, not always meaning our tithe or our volunteer time.  Our United Methodist tradition asks of us to give of our ‘time, our talents, our gifts, and our service’.  Have we put this into too small a box?

My mother had a silver spoon collection. Her aunt had given her  a unique silver spoon for every birthday as she grew up.  Mother had also inherited spoons from her grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law.  A box of about a  dozen of these were among the ‘treasures ‘my sister and I diligently polished at least once a year, putting them carefully back in their box  for  that ‘special occasion’ when dessert or beverage spoons were needed.  When my Mother died, we found in the bottom  of a drawer, several more boxes filled with silver spoons.  None of these had I seen, and I thought I knew all of her ‘treasures’  having moved her several times in recent years.   What a surprise to find beautifully  sculptured spoons, ones with special messages engraved, and slender demitasse spoons.  She was ‘saving them for special’!!  I have taken these spoons out, put them on spoon racks in my kitchen, and try regularly to polish and use them.  Guests notice this fun collection and pour over the variety and uniqueness of each one.  I hope I am ‘spending out’ by sharing this collection.

Have you a time of day that tends to be ‘down time’ or time wasted when  you might call a friend, write a note, record a story for a grandchild, e-mail a soldier, or talk with a neighbor?   Have you items in you possession that could be used by a shelter, single Mom, or a family member?  Do you have clothes  or linens, or office supplies that you ‘save for special’ that would make you or another smile or would increase enjoyment?   Do you keep a change jar that just adds up and sits on a shelf that could be donated to the backpacks for hungry children or put into a fund for a scholarship?  Have you books that you have read that just   sit on your shelf that might bring happiness to another.  Do you have creative  or  loving ideas that if shared could benefit another?  (Just look what happened to the ‘Jesus Bracelet’ project at Sedona UMC that mushroomed into a great fund raiser). Do you have time to pray ?  Make a prayer list and pray specific  prayers for others.

Gretchen Rubin states that those who give or are charitable tend to become more  wealthy, whether it be in funds, joys, or  emotional or spiritual wealth.  The old saying “The More You Give the More You Receive” holds  true of ‘spending out’.   HAPPINESS IS MADE OF THIS!!

Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

This recently came across my e-mail and is the BEST WELLNESS NOTES for July I could think of.   May we all live by these mind-body-and spirit suggestions.

An Angel says, ‘Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.’

1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13.. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a spiritually enlightening book with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20.. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life..
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud.

Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25.. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good ‘Thank you Jesus .’
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.
‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’

Offered by Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

Parish Nurse Consultant

WELLNESS NOTES

“ Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life. . . . ”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV

May is the month to focus on living well.  Having experienced the Resurrection of our Lord, we know His plan for us is to live life to the fullest.  As we enter the summer season, with travel, visits and visitors, hot weather, and sometimes loss of some of our services for a few months,  let’s take stock of our plan:

• Continue the prayer and devotional life you experienced during Lent. Pick up the new Upper Room or Guidepost, or daily devotion guide. Make sure your Bible is in your bag.
• Traveling?   Be sure to carry along Insurance Cards, Most recent lab reports, # of your Physician and Pharmacy, List of medications with dosages and assure adequate supply for trip duration.
• Plan for keeping medications protected from heat and damage. (cooler for Insulin or liquids).
• Assure update of all medical appointments before leaving home.
• Update vaccinations if traveling out of country & assure your Tetanus is up to date (every 10 yrs.) if RVing , camping or fishing.
• Is your Life Plan up to date and do your family members know where your important papers are?
• Take along car phone charger and list of important phone numbers.
• Always make sure someone knows of your plans when leaving home.  Stop mail & papers and notify a neighbor to keep watch over your property.
• If you kennel your pet ( leave it in a motel or RV while you sight see) keep a note of where it is in your wallet and in your car.
• Update your auto, RV, and home First Aid Kit.
• Continue or increase your daily exercise program.  If traveling—assure 30 min. walk daily and range of motion and balance exercises.  If remaining at home, adjust your exercise program to adapt to the heat—-go walk the aisles of WalMart with your pedometer on; pop in a DVD walking tape or Big Ball exercise tape in the cool of your living room; Take advantage of cool evenings to take that walk.
• Plan to eat lighter—more fruits and veggies in season, decrease carb servings, and plan cool and lighter meals.
• Increase your daily fluid intake to match the warm weather.  Take water along on hikes and walks, and always have water in your car.
• Equip car with water, hat, good walking shoes, and emergency numbers in case of stop in hot spot while driving.
• Enjoy your summer months
• LIVING ABUNDANTLY, LOVING WITH ABANDON, and FOLLOWING GOD’S GUIDANCE!!

Alice Stephenson BSN,RN,PN

Parish Nurse Consultant