Routines are Important! Particularly in Crisis! – Biblical Natural Health Coaching

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(edit end of 2024: Originally written when I was seeking to coach Christian single moms around stress, money, and feeding their kids a healthy diet. The advice here is applicable to everyone however, so it stays posted here)

Many of us find ourselves dealing with multiple crises now. How do we handle this? Here are lessons I learned raising two kids alone:

When life throws your household for a spin, keep as many of your household routines going as you can. This will give subconscious assent to the fact that home is still home and the ongoing effort to maintain routine will act as grounding for everyone involved. We always tell people when life throws them for a loop to rely on Christ as their Rock. Why? Because He doesn’t change! We can trust Him to be Him, to be there, and to be solid even when life looks like so many huge waves and crashing winds.

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luke 6:46-48

As parents, resist the urge to throw routine to the wind when life rocks your boat. Keep the routines going as much as you can, even if it means shifting the odd one here and there to keep them going. Throwing all routines to the wind will cause even more internal chaos than necessary. Children especially rely on routine to stay grounded when times get chaotic. Imitate Christ and stand firm that certain routines won’t go by the wayside in troubling times. You will see calm return and then cooler heads can brainstorm creative ways to get through the remaining time of crisis.

Another grounding tip is to look for the positives in the crisis situation.

The sun still rose that morning.
There was still food on the table.
There were still clothes to wear.

Start expressing #thankfulness and #gratitude for seemingly innocuous stuff that did NOT change during the #crisis.

Start looking for ways to turn “lemons” into “lemonade”. God is famous for doing this! Be imitators.

Did the bread go stale? Copy old German dessert recipes for making lady fingers and bread puddings. Is the milk about to go bad? Turn it into custard or yogurt or kefir.
No money for gas or the bus? Take an exploratory walk with bagged lunches and see how far you and the family get at a “get somewhere pace” for one hour? You may be surprised where you end up and just how much business and perhaps even new hidden parks you can engage along the way. One hour going one way. Stop for a break, then walk home taking special note of your discoveries.

In these ways, crises of various types need not rock the home for very long before everyone settles down and start putting on their creative hats to solve the problem together. Remember the lessons you learned so you can apply them next time.

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