Stress Awareness Month

The Health Resource Network, a non-profit health education organization, has designated April as Stress Awareness Month for the 16th consecutive year. Health care professionals, health promotion experts and caregivers across the country will join forces to raise public awareness about the cause and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

For this reason Community Chaplains of America, which provides care for individuals during difficult and stressful situations, have offered 10 simple suggestions on how to provide care and essentially reduce stress, according to christianpost.com.

• Provide a listening ear. Often, those who are going through stressful times simply need someone to talk to. Make an extra phone call or meet a friend for coffee and offer the opportunity for them to talk.
• Send an encouraging note. Words are powerful. In the age of emails and text messages, handwritten notes show that you took time and effort to show you care.
• Say "thank you." Offer your gratitude for people. Thank a coworker for his or her hard work or a waiter for serving you dinner. Everyone wants to feel appreciated.
• Laugh with someone. A good hearty laugh can relax you both and mentally lighten your load. Tell a joke or rent a funny movie with a friend.
• Perform a random act of kindness. Surprise someone with the unexpected. It can be as simple as paying for a friend's coffee or offering to watch the kids so a mom or dad can have that extra time to relax.
• Help someone organize. When the places and things around us are in order, we feel a little more put together. Take time to help a friend clean out a closet or scrub the bathtub.
• Take a walk. Exercise releases endorphins and makes us feel better all around. Walk around the mall with a coworker on your lunch break or meet a friend at a park after work and enjoy the fresh air.
• Share a smile. This contagious act can easily brighten someone's day. Smile to a passing stranger; it may make a big difference in his or her day.
• Get away. Get away from the everyday circumstances that may be causing stress. Plan a weekend getaway or a day trip with a friend.
• Pray. Say a quick prayer for your friend and put his or her stress in the hands of the Ultimate Provider and Healer.

[Focus on the Family]

Interesting Links

Financial calculators - Check out the Crown Ministry website for great (and free) financial calculators. On the site you’ll find a debt calculator, a budget calculator, several credit card calculators, and more.

Every Man Ministries - Looking for tools for your men’s ministry? Check out Every Man Ministries. It’s the website of Saddleback’s men’s pastor, Kenny Luck.

All About God - This evangelistic website was started by Saddleback members. It’s currently one of the top 25 most visited Christian sites on the net. It seeks to reach out to spiritual skeptics through compelling websites on a variety of topics.

Online to-do lists - Access your to-do lists from any computer or web-enabled phone. Through this program, you can create numerous to-do lists and even add to them through text message or email. And it’s free.

Leading worship in a small group setting - This article from Rick Muchow on encouragingmusic.com will help you get a feel for how to incorporate worship into your small groups. It might be a nice article link to send around to your small group leaders.

One Prayer