Renew! Challenge

Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength

Congratulations Friends!

Today is the completion of our Renew Challenge! I hope focusing on the gifts of Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength has given you some insights into new ways to enrich and balance your lives.

To those of you who completed the challenge, I promised a special reward. They will be available in the church office next week. Please respond to me if you plan to pick up your reward, so I prepare the correct number. This small memento will help you remember this challenge, and hopefully help you remember to live the gifts of Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength!

God’s Peace,

Marti

Week 4:February 22

Thanks to those of you who are hanging in there with me, and have completed 3 weeks of the renew challenge. How well has this challenge worked for you? Are you finding challenges in remembering to live the gifts of Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength?

Of course, when strength comes to mind, we think of keeping our bodies strong, getting regular exercise, and eating healthful food in the proper amounts. (For some great tips on your diet, check out www.myplate.gov.) These are daily and sometimes hourly challenges! But what other aspects of strength could we be considering? Strength of character? Strength of purpose? Strength of our convictions?

Consider these scripture references to strength:

• Psalm 28:7 NIV The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
• Psalm 29:11 NIV The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
• Psalm 73:26 NIV My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever
• Isaiah 33:2 NIV O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress

I love these verses of encouragement! As we focus on our strength, thanks be to God, who graciously offers us strength in our weakness, strength in our sorrow, strength in our pain, strength to face and embrace the gift of each new day.

Peace, Marti

Week 3: February 15, 2012

This week our focus is on the Mind. Our brain, of course, is the organ controlling countless bodily functions using billions of nerve endings and synapses. Our mind is described as 1) the substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, and judges, 2) the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities or 3) intellect or understanding, as distinguished from the faculties of feeling and willing; intelligence.

Research has shown that learning new and different things can exercise “flabby” parts of our brains. You might consider these ideas to sharpen your intellect or understanding. These activities could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 5 years!

• Learn Another Language Recent research has demonstrated a significant delay in Alzheimer’s symptoms in individuals who are bilingual.
• Games Try strategy games. Fun games include Scrabble, euchre, chess, bridge and more elaborate games like Agricola and Cities and Knights.
• Math Problems Rather than use your calculator or an online program to balance your checkbook, do it the old-fashioned way.
• Memory Challenges Do you have a favorite book, poem or proverb? Set a goal to memorize a couple of verses or phrases a week.
• Read Books are everywhere. Now that there’s so much available online, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home. If you enjoy reading, try something that’s a bit different from your typical genre. Turn off that TV!
• Travel If a picture is worth a thousand words, seeing something in person could be priceless. New experiences and unfamiliar situations can be a good workout for your mind.
• Play a Musical Instrument Do you play an instrument or have you always wanted to learn? For years, research has indicated that music uses a completely different section of the brain than speaking or writing.
• Physical Exercise Several studies have shown the cognitive benefits of physical exercise. Scientists have often linked a healthy body with a healthy mind.
• Take a Class Have you always been interested in painting? Take an art class. Is fixing things your gift? Develop a new skill through a community class.
• Socialization Spend time with others, talk, discuss the latest political news, sports or family happenings, and laugh together. If you think of the brain as a muscle, it needs to be used and used in many different ways. Laughter is beneficial for the mind, body and the heart.
• Volunteer Volunteering can combine several of these strategies. For example, you could tutor a student at the local elementary school on a weekly basis. This could involve socialization, reading or math skills and perhaps even games or a new language.
• Puzzles Crosswords, Suduko and jumble puzzles are all ways to keep your brain active. Think of it as your daily walk around the block for your brain.

So while strengthening our minds surely includes increasing our intelligence and grasping new and different concepts, it also calls us to examine how we reason, think, feel, will, perceive and judge. Romans calls us to renew our minds to understand God’s will for our lives:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV

God’s Peace to you this week, as you are transformed by the renewing of your minds! Marti Hofer Parish Nurse

Week 2: February 8, 2012

Greetings Renew Participants!

You’ve completed one week of our “awareness” challenge. So, what have you noticed so far? Are certain areas easier to check off than others? Have you been nurturing all areas of your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength, or have you noticed some areas lacking of your attention?

This week, let’s focus on our “Soul.” Websters Dictionary defines soul as, “…1) the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. 2) the spiritual principle embodied in human beings or 3) the moral and emotional nature of human beings…”

Scripture shares a sense of emotional yearnings in these verses; “I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6 NIV “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.” Isaiah 26:9 NIV

So how are we responding to the yearnings of our emotions? Feeding our souls may be the easiest area to ignore, as we may view it as frivolous. But God wants us to have life, and to have it abundantly! So, with joy, we should embrace our creativity! Let our imaginations run. Practice and enjoy the arts. Draw, dance, cook, play. Create. Talk and listen to God. And live life abundantly!

God’s Blessings to you this week!

Marti Hofer, R.N., Parish Nurse

Week 1: February. 1, 2012

Greetings Renew Challenge Participants!

I’m glad you have joined us, to spend the next 4 weeks in a time of reflection, focus, and awareness of how we live each day. The month of February will give us a chance to consider how we incorporate the gifts of HEART, SOUL, MIND and STRENGTH into our daily living. It could be interesting to see what is already a daily habit…perhaps some of you attend regularly to healthy eating and exercise, but don’t remember to nurture your creativity. Others may find you regularly share you heart in kindness, positive thinking and active listening, but have not stretched your mind lately…maybe it’s time to pick up a new book, or research an interesting topic.

Remember our key scripture: Mark 12:30: …”you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength…”

This week consider your heart. Are you using the gifts of love, compassion, kindness and generosity? Are you choosing to think the best of someone, offer an intentional kind word, and listen fully to those you encounter? When is the last time you wrote someone a letter, prayed for someone, or made a donation to a worthy cause? Could you share a hug, a word of praise or a kind touch? Proverbs 27:19 tells us, “…as water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. (or woman)”

God’s Blessings to you this week!

Marti Hofer, R.N., Parish Nurse

View and print Renew! tracking sheets.