Good Health for Good Works
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 Image by FirmBee on Pixabay.com You know you’ve done something wrong when it is 6 AM and you are already feeling stressed! That was me earlier this week - tense muscles, clenched jaw, and racing heart - all before the workday even started. The culprit was not my long "To Do" list or my concern about an upcoming phone call. The stressor was my smartphone! More specifically, what I do on my smartphone - the social media scroll. I’ve developed the habit of taking a quick scroll through social media before the workday begins. The desire to stay connected through social media is real. What’s going on with my adult kids? Who could use a word of encouragement in my online support group? Did my friend post a photo of her new grandchild? What is today’s devotional from my favorite Christian organization? Connecting with others is a great way to start the day on a positive note! But this desire, in the absence of some serious evaluation and self-control, has the potential to take my entire workday off course due to distraction and distress. A few undisciplined clicks on a friend’s controversial content can turn my peaceful morning into a culturally induced stress mess. Stop for a moment and think about your last encounter with your social media newsfeed. What do you come away with?
If I am going to have peaceful mornings that prepare me for a productive day living out my God-given purpose, I’m going to have to do a serious re-evaluation and reorganization of my social media newsfeed! In a recent article, Joe Heschmeyer encourages all believers to check the fruit of our actions related to social media participation. He suggests that we all ask ourselves two good questions: 1. How do the people I follow speak and act? Are they doing it with enmity and anger? Or are they marked by a spirit of joy, peace, and patience? 2. What am I like after I read or watch their stuff? Does it fill me with love and a spirit of kindness? Or do I have the hallmarks of outrage addiction and the works of the flesh? And, if I may, I’d like to another question to his list: 3. What has more of my attention - information and opinions spoken through social media or wisdom spoken through the Word of God? Wise King Solomon reminded us how much people love to express their thoughts through the communication medium of the day! And while the writings of others have value, they can leave us distracted, weary and distressed, if not kept in the proper perspective. My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out. After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. (Ecclesiastes 12:11-12 GNT) Good Health for Good Works Challenge: Take your finger on a quick, but intentional, scroll through your social media newsfeed and examine the fruit.
As we seek to fulfill our God-given purpose, let’s become good stewards of the gift of social media in the interest
of peaceful and productive days!  Image by Geralt on Pixabay.com When it comes to staying healthy, come what may, resourcefulness beats rationalization every time! I will never forget the day when I saw the word “resourceful” in action. To be resourceful is to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. I was teaching a class on fitness, discussing with participants many possible ways to increase and enjoy physical activity during the summer. Nancy spoke up and shared that walking outdoors before or after work was not an option. It was a matter of personal safety due to almost daily gunfire in her neighborhood near the southside of Chicago. I was taken aback and I was humbled... ...for two reasons: 1. I realized that in my desire to inspire people toward taking healthy actions, I had been grossly insensitive to the often overlooked factor that is estimated to determine up to 30% of our health status: Social Determinants of Health - conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. 2. Nancy, who lacked the basic resource of living in a safe neighborhood, taught me the greatest lesson about being resourceful I have ever experienced. Nancy lacked resources, but Nancy was determined to stay healthy by staying active despite her neighborhood circumstances. She worked in the Chicago Public Library and she devised a system whereby she would hide sticky notes throughout the building marking off walking distance segments. For example, 3 laps around the 2nd floor equated to a ½ mile. By doing this, she found a way to set and achieve a specific daily walking distance goal as she went about her regular work in the library. Resourcefulness means finding a way to leverage what we have to achieve our goals, rather than complaining about what we don’t have. If there was ever someone who could rationalize staying inactive due to her circumstance, it would be Nancy. But Nancy was resourceful. She focused on what she had (being a library employee) and leveraged that to solve her problem and achieve her goal. Resourcefulness means asking God to help us wisely leverage and multiply what we have. David had a stone (1 Samuel 17), a boy had 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish (John 6), and a widow had a handful of flour and a little olive oil (1 Kings 17). In each case, God abundantly provided by leveraging and multiplying what each person had to give. Resourcefulness is important for healthy living because the circumstances of life will never be fair or perfect. We must work on the problem of limited resources in our lives and the lives of others. And this will take time and effort. But, in the meantime, we can ask God to help us and others to be resourceful. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. (Eccl. 11:4 NIV) In other words… If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. (Eccl 11:4 TLB) Good Health for Good Works Challenge: Take your focus off what you don’t have and, instead, take an inventory of what you do have that can be leveraged for healthy living. Pray and give God what you do have, believing that he will help you to be resourceful so you can reach your goals. If Nancy can do it, so can you!
 Image by Martin Winkler on Pixabay.com These unique times present unique opportunities for Christians to serve and shine the light of Christ in difficult circumstances. But we need to remember that wherever the Spirit directs us to serve, our physical bodies will be a vehicle for that service or, at the very least, come along for the ride! To serve well in the middle of this crisis and in the aftermath, we will need our physical bodies to help, rather than hinder us, in our God-directed service. When we face a crisis or a big change, our daily routines get disrupted in every area of our life including the practice of good health habits. During these times, it is crucial that we maintain some degree of momentum in our daily health habits within the four key areas of health - Eat, Move, Cope & Rest. The temptation during difficult times like is to go into survival mode and bring the practice of good health routines to a halt until the crisis is past. Keeping our bodies fit for service is like a train on the railroad track. Getting a train back in motion and headed in the right direction after being stopped dead on the tracks is difficult, requiring a tremendous amount of time and energy. For this reason, maintaining momentum - however slow or small - is important! The same is true for the good health habits that we need to stay healthy and energized for effective and enduring ministry impact even during difficult seasons of life. If we bring the consistent practice of good health habits to a halt and abandon all routine, we will lose valuable energy. And restarting those routines will not be easy. Proverbs 24:33-34, reminds us that small behaviors can have big impacts: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” Likewise, when we abandon our routines and settle into a lifestyle of a little less exercise, a little more unhealthy eating, a little less sleep, and a little more time on mindless activities, the negative impact on our ability to stay energized and equipped to step into action may be bigger than we think. Maintaining momentum - however slow or however small - with good health habits during this time of disruption is important for staying healthy and energized for the work that is ahead of us. During times of crisis or change, it is important to maintain some momentum with health habits as we focus on keeping our bodies fit for service so we can have a successful and sustained ministry impact!
What good health habits - however slow or small - will you commit to practicing in the weeks to come so you can serve well in these difficult times and beyond? |
Welcome!
Ginger Hill is a Christian wellness speaker, coach and consultant and the founder of Good Health for Good Works where she helps the earnest, but often exhausted, workers in Christian organizations to take steps toward healthier living so they can fulfill their organization's mission with energy, excellence and endurance. 
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"But the godly will flourish...Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green."
Psalm 92:12,14 (NLT)
All Contents Copyrighted © Ginger Hill and Good Health for Good Works 2017-2022. No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted,
unless otherwise indicated. You may share this website by any of the following means:
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Psalm 92:12,14 (NLT)
All Contents Copyrighted © Ginger Hill and Good Health for Good Works 2017-2022. No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted,
unless otherwise indicated. You may share this website by any of the following means:
1. Provide a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate.
2. Quote extracts (with context) from the website with attribution to www.goodhealthforgoodworks.org
