Sawing and Shedding Old Shells

Photos 1&2: After a chainsaw workout.

3: Before. A painful place to mow.

Yes, muscles that have hardly been used in over a decade put up a fuss for a while. But I still count it a "win" to be able to do something like this! (And thanks to Dad for picking up most of the branches as I had to run to town after sawing and mowing.)

Meanwhile, I got to see a cicada crawl out of its old shell and change those little green ripples into wings! So amazing! A first for me.

A strange shape and slight movement caught my eye at the base of a tree. The legs moved so slowly and looked so weak for the immense job at hand. But I was watching when the old, worthless exoskeleton dropped away and the tender body began to expand and harden! Then I checked back in an hour or so and found delicate wings!

Sometimes healing the limbic system / nervous system and connected physical issues can feel like that painfully slow and weak crawl out of an old, dead shell of a life. And then you break free in one area only to be held back in another. 

But God is at work, bringing new life. Eventually the wings unfurl and harden, and it will be time to fly and sing for joy again! (Yes, I like to think of the shrill sound of a cicada as its God-given song which glorifies Him.)

So, keep persevering on your way out of whatever exuviae God wants to set you free from! It's time to molt and grow!

~ Hannah

Remembering: Beethoven, Muscle Memory and Happiness

Here's a win that surprised me tonight. Despite struggling with new glasses for the past month*, I have recently enjoyed pulling out some of my old piano music from as far back as high school. 

Tonight, I moved past the eye issues and other things weighing on the day and tried a Beethoven Sonata. In fact, I had avoided it for 19 years, thinking I could never enjoy casually playing what I had spent two years perfecting and memorizing for part of my final recital and exam. I had completely forgotten what it looked and sounded like... until I started playing. 

Here's the utterly amazing thing about our brains. I still had muscle-memory to play some parts easily! And what struck me was that the parts I remembered best were the sections that made me happiest all those years ago! They gave me the old thrill again, and I'm pretty sure I was smiling through them tonight.

This reminded me how happiness is powerful in our brains!!

TIP: Try take time to purposely remember some happy things in your past... whether years ago or days ago.  Knowing what we do about the neuroplasticity of the brain, this simple act will do more for your health than you can imagine!

Intentionally remembering - especially in light of God's goodness, provision, love... positively affects many parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. It even helps our brain release dopamine, positively impacting far more than just mood!

No wonder God told us throughout His word to "remember" as well as to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. [Philippians 4:8] Science is finally catching up to some more of what God has told us all along. 

*Yep, it was time for bifocals along with the double whammy of a prism to pull my left eye into alignment. The combination of a sledding injury 24 years ago along with the neurological complications of Lyme, mold, toxic levels of mercury, etc. these past years, made my optometrist give this a try. 

Coffee in the Flower Garden

It was time for a break in a full, check-list sort of day.

So I brewed coffee, splashed in whole milk, and headed out to the garden.

Delphinium are getting lovely, lilies are starting late, and so many more flowers are getting ready to enjoy the summer sunshine!

I also took time to sit on the swing while finishing my coffee, enjoying Annabelle hydrangeas turning white and a pink thunbergia climbing a trellis. Restful minutes!