5 Tips for Living Well in February
February is a very interesting month. It is the start of Lent, and right after that is Valentine's Day. One immediately makes me think of giving up and the other makes me think of getting! Let's express our love to God this month as our "living well" discipline:
Say the Jewish Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4 every day at least once:
"Hear I Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." This was so important in the Old Testament that the people of God were told to say it all day long, and to talk about it when they were at home and when they were away. They were even instructed to put those words on the door-posts of their homes. This will remind us that living well means always loving God first.
In the New Testament, Jesus added those words "love your neighbor as yourself." So what can you do to express love to a neighbor this month?
If you have children going to school (even high-schoolers smile at this one) and they take a lunch, tuck a note in the lunch bag or box, or write it on their napkin, telling them you love them, or are thinking about them, or praying for them.
Buy some flowers at the supermarket and take them to the church secretary, or the DRE, or the minister's wife, just as an act of love.
Now do one of the following things for yourself: put flowers in your bathroom, buy some bubble bath or beautiful body wash, get a manicure, get a haircut, buy a pair of earrings, or - if you can handle this - buy a dark chocolate bar, put it in your night-stand, and take a small piece every night for two weeks as a reward for working on the "eating right" part of your life.
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