Stress - you can handle it better! - CFN Newsletter Week 99

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 99

> Strategies to help you handle stress, with Nancy Goudie
> News:
> Young carers: huge increase reported
> Tour aims to help bridge the generation gap
> Saying yes to politics and passion
> Sites:
> The Matrix Reloaded - sites to help you tease out the meanings and use it in teaching about the Gospel
> Great UK online Christian music while you surf
> Marriage MOT: Love rejoices in the truth
> You've got to laugh: The WC
> Members' Zone latest

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ADVICE

Strategies to help you handle stress

NANCY GOUDIE talks about how getting spiritually and physically fit can help you handle stress

Stress is something each of us will have experienced at some point in our lives. If you are anything like me, with a six-year-old son who has enough energy for the whole nation, then you will have experienced stress quite regularly!

I am a wife, a mum (to a teenager as well as a six-year-old) and have a full-time job that carries a huge responsibility. Life is not normally quiet – it is usually full of 101 things to do – all of which should have been done yesterday! Stress is the greatest scourge of modern society that most of us have to learn to cope with.

Of course, not all stress is bad – positive stress can motivate you to accomplish goals and give you the added push to keep you going through a difficult or important project. However bad stress can lead to health-related problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia, panic attacks, irritable bowel, back problems as well as depression and anxiety. In fact, stress can affect us mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally.

So what are the best ways of dealing with stress? There is no doubt that being spiritually and physically fit is a huge benefit.

At our New Generation Ministries base in Thornbury we have been running exercise classes for the local community for the last year. Zoë Wickham, our NGM qualified fitness instructor has been creating an exciting exercise programme of aerobics; dancercise; ABBA aerobics; pilates; body conditioning classes each week.

In each class there is a meditation window where I take everyone on a spiritual journey designed to bring peace and calm to peoples’ lives. Christian meditation is a fantastic way of dealing with the bad stress that so easily harms our lives.

The type of meditation I use in these classes involves the spoken work, music and the imagination to bring people into a place where God can speak to them. Many people jokingly ask if they could take me home with them, as they tell me “it’s just what I need before I go to sleep”.

At night, our worried thoughts can often cause us sleepless nights. I started to wonder whether I could put my newly written meditations on a CD that people could buy so that in actual fact they could take me home with them! Within a few months, I had recorded a new CD, which many people have used to great effect.

The exercise classes have been so well received that the local chiropractor is recommending people come to them. The meditations have been such a help to people, that the local doctor is also recommending Peace like a river for people suffering from stress and fears. Neither the chiropractor nor the doctor is a Christian.

We have found these classes to be excellent at building relationships with people who normally would not go to church. We have had many interesting conversations and have even prayed with people after the classes.

The combination of physical and spiritual exercise has been dynamic. When people realise that we are catering for the mind and spirit as well as the body they often say “This is just what I need”.

For more on using mediation, learning correct deep breathing and helpful resources to help you combat stress, go to the rest of this article in our Advice section at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/advice.asp

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> Young carers - 300% increase reported

Results just published from the 2001 Census reveal a 300% increase in the number of children under 18 who provide unpaid care within their family across the UK.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Report aimed at bridging generation gap goes on tour

God and the Generations – a report from the Evangelical Alliance which urges churches to bridge the generation gap or risk a bleak future – is going on tour.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

> Saying yes to politics - and passion

An estimated 50 young people agreed to be passionate about politics at a conference organised by the Christian Socialist Movement and the YMCA. The event asked the question – Passion and Politics? Can you have both?

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Love rejoices in the truth

What does that mean for our marriages?

There’s no doubt that a marriage built on openness and honesty has more of a chance of surviving the pressures and temptations that come along. Would you ever consider doing something that you couldn’t tell your wife or husband about first?

Some of us might say, that takes away our independence, but I don’t think it does. I think it’s about being answerable to each other. For me my marriage is so important, I don’t want anything to put it at risk. I don’t need to prove I’m independent, because I feel secure in my own value.

Some truths are harder to share. Past mistakes may be a burden we should choose to carry on our own. Those things should only be shared if it’s important for our relationship, not to relieve our own burden.

There can be so much that is positive and beautiful in our relationships. Even when our loved one faces up to something they have been getting wrong, we can rejoice, because we know they’ve taken a step of growth. We can rejoice in the qualities we see in each other, in the successes at hobbies, at work, in helping our children, even in working through a row and making up.

What good things in your spouse and your marriage can you rejoice in today?
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> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

The WC

In the days when you couldn't count on a guesthouse to have indoor plumbing, an English woman was planning a trip to Germany. She was due to stay in a small guesthouse owned by the local schoolmaster. She was concerned as to whether the guesthouse contained a WC. So she wrote to ask him.

The schoolmaster, not fluent in English, asked the local priest if he knew the meaning of WC. Together they pondered possible meanings of the letters and concluded that the lady wanted to know if there was a "Wayside Chapel" near the house ... a toilet never entered their minds. So the schoolmaster wrote the following reply:

Dear Madam,
I take great pleasure in informing you that the WC is located nine miles from the house. It is located in the middle of a grove of pine trees, surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding 229 people and is open on Sundays and Thursdays. As there are many people expected in the summer months, I suggest you arrive early. There is, however, plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation, especially if you are in the habit of going regularly.

It may be of some interest to you that my daughter was married in the WC as it was there that she met her husband. It was a wonderful event. There were 10 people in every seat. It was wonderful to see the expressions on their faces. My wife, sadly, has been ill and unable to go recently. It has been almost a year since she went last, which pains her greatly.

You will be pleased to know that many people bring their lunch and make a day of it. Others prefer to wait till the last minute and arrive just in time! I would recommend your ladyship plan to go on a Thursday as there is an organ accompaniment. The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds can be heard everywhere. The newest addition is a bell, which rings every time a person enters. We are holding a bazaar to provide plush seats for all since many feel it is long needed.

I look forward to escorting you there myself and seating you in a place where you can be seen by all.

Sincerely,
Schoolmaster

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Strategies to tackle stress with Nancy Goudie

> Resources

> How did we survive as kids?
> Students and faith - Chris Brady talks to undergraduates living out their faith at uni

> News

> Young carers: huge increase reported
> Tour aims to help bridge the generation gap
> Saying yes to politics and passion

> News Extra: Lord Alton leads fight against euthanasia

> Top sites this week

> Sites tackling The Matrix Reloaded
> Great Christian music to listen to online
> In depth guide to Christian bookshops in the UK
> Track down those hard to find Christian books

> Events: More of what's on near you

> Webwatch Index: more than 500 sites at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 500-page plus archives

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