How to Be

Something ALL of us go through in any busy season is, dealing with people. It’s magnificent, the challenge and blessing that poses! Whether you are an introvert, extrovert or ambivert (like me!), it is decidedly overwhelming.
Christmastime in America is a perfect example. It feels like an exhilarating, head-spinning sugar-rush! Everything is madness and beauty. I don’t need to describe the tinsel, crowds, presents, lights, music- you get it. Sometimes it’s hard to  S T O P breathe and just be.

How do we do that? Just be.
Just be.
How do we just BE around people? At holiday parties, or maybe the 4th family dinner in a row? How do we do it when our kids need us constantly, or when we haven’t been alone in days?

And let’s be honest, sometimes family dynamics are weird. Maybe you are around someone that makes you unsure of HOW TO BE.  How to be yourself. Or at least be true to yourself, and how to just be present. Sometimes personalities clash, or you find yourself unsure of what to say, maybe because you are worried about being judged. Or worried you won’t be understood, or maybe dislike, or even mocked.

So how do you just BE when you are uncomfortable?  Most of the time we don’t know how to handle it so we just try to cope.  We try to get through it.  Just get through this party, or that dinner, or the weekend.  Just get through it all and you can finally relax.
I am talking about how to REST in the moment.  How to be present in that dinner. BEING. Without trying to people-please.  Without disengaging. Without serving just yourself.

This takes practice and intentionality for sure, but is well worth mastering. The good news is, if you have the Holy Spirit, you’re in luck. He is the ACTUAL presence of peace. So if you have Him, the trick for having constant peace, is in your tool belt.

When I feel overwhelmed I literally just internally talk to the Holy Spirit, and say something like “Hey, Man.” Just to acknowledge that I am perfectly loved and accepted by the Holy Spirit, means nothing else matters. I don’t have to fix anything about me, or be anything to anyone. I don’t have to fix people. He can love others through me. He takes all the pressure so I can relax… and just BE. 
Sometimes I literally even duck into the bathroom for a minute to be alone, or walk out to my car, to connect with him in silence. That’s it. Him being with you, is peace. When you are tired, or spent of unsure of what to do or say in the moment, let Him do everything. Pass the buck, He wants it after all.

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”  Mark 4:39

When all the responsibility falls on the Jesus, that is our freedom. We can sustain quite a demanding schedule, and a lot of people time, or being “on” when it’s not really us doing the work. It’s all Jesus all the time. That same power resides in you. Peace, be still.