My parents had us over for a lovely dinner last night, and we had a great time!  The not having to cook dinner part was a dream come true for me!! 🙂  Afterwards, my mom and I had a nice time just catching up and talking about the week.  I told her how pooped I was from the week.  As many of you know, I teach Kindergarten and as much as I LOVE it…let’s be honest…they are five year olds!  Twenty one of them.  I just happened to mention to her that I have this “formula” I follow when I’m feeling tired or worn out from the day or week.  I told her what it was, and she said, “Tami, you should blog this!” So, here I am…blogging it for you! 🙂 Tami’s secret formula for what to do when you are worn out!! Ha! Ha! Are you ready?

Do you have a job that takes it out of you?  Kids who wear you out?  Things you volunteer for that are draining you dry?  Then you throw in all the sports, helping your kids with homework, after school activities, and just keeping up with the house and laundry…and that’s enough to wear anyone out! That’s when you can pull out this tried and true formula!  You will be feeling wonderful in no time! 🙂

Okay, here it is:  When I need strength, I tell myself these two things:

1) “The joy of the Lord is my strength!” (which is from Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10).

2)  Then I say, “and in YOUR PRESENCE is fullness of JOY!!” (which is from Psalm chapter 16 verse 11).

Basically, if I need strength, I need to find joy…and where does my joy come from?  Well, that’s found spending time in God’s presence.  It’s not rocket science, but to me, it’s a formula for success!

But, you mathematicians may like this version:    J + S = GP  (Joy + Strength = God’s Presence)  Okay, that made me chuckle a little! I just wrote a formula!

This summer, my Dad and I created this little garden surrounding my patio.  It’s small…but it’s beautiful and it’s all mine when my Hubby and my kiddos are otherwise busy.  It’s my place where I can be alone and spend time with Jesus.  I can unplug…and give the Creator of the Universe my full attention and just tell Him how much I love Him.  I tell Him how thankful I am to Him for everything He’s doing in my life.  It’s my time to read His word and just love Him.  Sometimes, I do plug back in, but it’s to listen to my Bible app called “Dwell” (check it out…SO cool!!).  I listen to worship songs and just sing to Him (not loud…I have neighbors!!) In THOSE moments, I am literally filled up like a car that was on empty but is now at the gas station!  I feel His love and His presence and His joy.  Everything in life is suddenly put back into the right perspective and I actually feel stronger.  So, that’s why it makes me think of those two verses from the Bible and that’s how “the formula” originated! 🙂  It works every time!

The tricky part is carving time out of a busy day to make that happen.  BUT…sometimes, it can be a simple “Jesus, I love you” as you head into a meeting, or a “God, I know you are with me and I’m so grateful to you” as you’re doing the dishes.  Spending time in God’s presence doesn’t have to be a long thing…it can be lot’s of little moments throughout the day.  He loves when we love Him! 🙂

So that’s it.  That’s the secret formula.  The thing is…when we take time out to love on God, we will suddenly find ourselves being loved by Him!  Surprise!!  And it’s because of His incredible love that we find this joy of being His and living life to it’s fullest…and that knowledge fills us with an inner strength that will carry us through.