Navigating the Storms of Life
Cultivating Peace and Trust through Soul Care Practices
So much is happening in our world and our lives these days. These are challenging times. It’s no surprise that many of us struggle to find peace amidst the chaos.
Yet, soul care practices can help us through such times.
Today’s blog is about some of my favorite soul care practices that have helped me during times of unexpected chaos.
Be sure to comment and let me know what your favorite practices are for caring for your soul.
p.s. If you are new to this blog. WELCOME, I hope you enjoy it.
p.p.s Be sure to read to the end of this blog post for a brief POLL. I’d love to have your feedback about the following question: “If you are facing a difficult time in life (illness, job loss, death of a loved one, etc.) would you prefer to receive “empathy”, “compassion” or “sympathy” from someone? Why?”
Navigating the Storms
Chaos creates an unsettled environment and it can create unsettledness in us that distracts us from focusing on our purpose. When such times threaten to overtake us we need to have a strategy and some practices to help us get back to a sense of calm and purpose.
One thing I have practiced for many years that helps me stay focused is choosing a Word of the Year.
Each year I select a word of the year (WOTY) and this year my word is “PEACE”. This is such a meaningful annual practice for me, I even wrote a blessing about it for those who also follow this practice.
If you’d like to see it visit it on facebook here! and if you’d like to practice choosing a word of the year, it’s never too late to start. I invite you to visit my last month’s blog post and scroll down for the .pdf that is attached. I originally posted it just for January, but I’ll be leaving it up for another week and I’ll take it down at the end of February. The post is entitled “What’s Everyone Talking About for 2025?” Check it out here.
Please know that this word came to me, not without some surprise, because peace is something I intentionally try to regularly cultivate, especially when I’m facing difficult situations.
Let’s face it. I’m a chaos avoider – calm is how I like it.
After I got through cancer surgery and treatment a few years ago, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that seems to have a mind and purpose of its own. Who knew that stress could make it flare, so to stay out of excruciating pain and exhaustion, I aim for calm and peace daily!
What’s Trust Got to do With it?
However, when circumstances threaten to overwhelm us, our peace can easily fly out the window.
So how in the world do we cultivate peace when everything around us seems to be threatening our “normal”, whether it be the normal in our relationships, our workplace, family, health, or elsewhere in our plans, and our expectations?
Not too long ago I was faced with the novel idea that peace is tied to our ability to trust and embrace the overarching story of God – one that is filled with much purpose and hope.
Trusting God and His overarching story means to learn to accept the things that we are unable to control even though we may want a different outcome. Why? Because we can’t see the full story behind our circumstances because God is still writing it.
I’m not sure about you, but when circumstances are quickly going awry, and seem completely outside of my control, I have all sorts of controlling behaviors that show me I’m doing everything else except trusting.
Do you?
I think that, perhaps, since we’re unable to see the whole picture of the unfolding story we are living in, we feel like we need to jump in and help.
But in such circumstances, I wonder if are we helping God without being directed or invited to help.
But somehow, if we can hold back a moment, survey the situation, and remind ourselves that God is sovereign and in control we may be able to find ways to trust God in that moment instead of jumping in and taking over out of fear.
Too often we label the experience a good or bad and tend to forget that God’s way is often a third way of looking at life. This third way is very often a mystery and it requires that we trust God.
Trusting strengthens us for the journey.
Deep down I believe the strengthening of that spiritual muscle of trust helps trust grow more deeply in the future – just like a muscle strengthens with practice and can lift heavier weights over time. It may be true with us as well in the realm of trusting. The practice of trusting God in the little things may strengthen us to choose to trust when those big unwanted times show up in our lives – which inevitably they do.
But we need to practice. Practice with the little things first.
This practice of trusting will help us build resilience, strength, and insight in how to remain steadfastly trusting through a period of challenge, loss, or suffering.
One way we can do this is to cultivate soul care practices that we enjoy because chaos and overwhelm affect us body, soul and spirit.
So how in the world do we do this?
Embrace Resilience as a Way of Life
What helps is to find ways to cultivate a soul care practice that draws us closer to God, to learn and know more about Him, His character, and purposes, and then begin to weave it into our daily life through gentle, consistent practice until it becomes a way that we live and see our world, and our circumstances.
“Any type of soul preparation that’s designed to build margin and build resilience in us is something that I’d call a soul care practice. For me, soul care practices have four common components, and their goal is to cultivate a way of life that brings wholeness.
Here are the four components:• Receiving in• Reaching up• Reflecting and releasing• Reaching out”
Fern E.M. Buszowski, Embrace Life, Embrace Hope: Cultivating Wholeness and Resilience through the Unexpected”, p. 107)
Soul Care Practice Components
These four components relate to the wholistic care of our body, soul, spirit, and includes our social relationships.
I’ve listed a few of my favorites below, and as you read you may say these seem surprisingly simple.
I agree they are simple in many ways.
But then, why do so many of us forget to practice them?
I think it may be because when we are doing well, we can procrastinate and let these practices lapse. When they lapse, they no longer become ingrained in us as a way of living. And each time we have start over from scratch. And starting over feels a little painful – kinda like how we get sore muscles after a break from exercising our muscles after restarting a physical routine.
I try to think of soul care practices as a cleansing practice, like brushing our teeth. We faithfully brush our teeth several time daily and floss, because we are trying to cultivate healthy oral care. That regular practice is an investment in our health.
Soul care practices is one way we can invest in our health in wholistic ways – body, soul, and spirit.
Below is a brief summary of the components along with some reflection questions. You may recognize many of them; some may be new. The thing about soul care disciplines or practices is that there are many of them and it is good to try some out and see what resonates with you most.
Receiving in is important because often when we are distracted and concerned about something our minds and hearts become preoccupied and cluttered which can cause a level of uncertainty and anxiety.
Intentional moments where we choose to breathe, calm ourselves, notice our surroundings, and slow down are helpful because they provide a way to reset ourselves and our focus back on God and practice becoming more present to the moment and help prepare us to welcome a time of quiet and renewal.
1. Be fully in the present moment: notice what is around us that impacts our senses: sight, sounds, touch, smell, and taste.
2. Breath prayer: Breathe comes naturally, we breath in and breath out rhythmically and repeatedly. However being aware of our breath helps us recognize when it needs to be slowed down. Are we breathing shallowly, quickly? Slowing it down to a calmer, regular rhythm along with thinking, reciting, or contemplating a Scripture be it a word, passage, characteristic of God, or truth as we breathe in and out. Psalm 1 reminds us to meditate on God’s word “day and night”.
Reaching up. Circumstances have a way of consuming and draining our energy and attention – ultimately distracting us and leaving us feeling weak. During such a time, we can repeatedly draw our attention from our worries or circumstances to rest and focus on God and hope offered to us. Try beginning with a reminder of some of the characteristics of God, who He is, what He promises through the original story that He has been writing for our world since the beginning of time.
An example might be:
God is a good God. (Psalm 34:8, Isaiah 41:10)
He is love. (1 John 4:7-12)
He promises to make good of all things. (Romans 8:28)
He has a plan for us. (Jeremiah 29:11)
God brings peace. (John 14:27)
Try ending with a word of gratitude about God’s character of goodness and love.
Reflect and release. During this time, sitting quietly is a helpful practice to help quieten our mind and refocus by considering how our circumstances are impacting us. It’s helpful to do a bit of a scan of the impacts on our body, soul, spirit, and relationally.
Note: This part is not a one and done thing. We need time to process and gain new insight. It may take us weeks or even months to keep practicing this reflecting and releasing through challenging days. Each time new awareness can bloom.
Body – What is your Body telling you?
1. Listen for what your body is telling you. Is it telling you that you are overwhelmed? Ask yourself, what’s one thing I need right now that would help?
2. Try moving your body and get outside for a walk in nature as part of this reflecting and releasing time.
Soul – What is your soul (mind, emotions, etc.) telling you?
3. Find a way to reflect and release what is rolling around inside your head that is keeping you distressed, sleepless, on edge, etc.
a. Checking in to see how much time you are “dwelling” on that topic. Ask yourself, how much time do I want to spend on this?
b. Journaling is a great way to do a brain dump to release the clutter or see it with a different perspective.
4. Write a lament. A lament allows you to share your heart, fears, worries, etc. I encourage you to try reading through the psalms and find one (or bits and pieces of different ones) that might help you with the words to write into a lament. A lament is a great follow up to journalling.
5. Many experts tell us that humans are naturally wired to pick up on the “negative” side of our circumstances. In order to combat this we must intentionally practice embracing gratitude for what we do have: e.g. for the relationships we cherish, activities we can do, etc. and recognize that, although we are facing unwanted circumstances, we also have good all around us. The good and bad often coexist. However, we seem not to see, or look for, the good unless we are intentional about it.
a. Keeping a record of what we are grateful for can be a great reminder.
b. A practice of sharing what we are grateful for at a mealtime with family can also be a great sharing time.
Spirit – What is your Spirit telling you?
6. Regularly take time to be silent with God. Listen.
7. Select a verse or two from the Bible that helps you. Consider it. Mediate on it, write it out or incorporate it into a breath prayer. Take some time to write a few verses that you can pull out quickly to read over when you are on the go.
8. Read through some of God’s promises and remind yourself of His mission, purpose, and who He is and whose you are.
9. Pray regularly. Prayer can be done in a quiet place, you can write a heartfelt prayer at the end of your journal, or you can also practice praying unceasingly as you go through your day.
Relationally – What are your relationships showing you?
Reach out for your relationships – both with God and with safe people who encourage, support you, and want the best for you. Try to get connected in a way that will bring you the ability to be heard, seen, and loved.
Reaching out . Our society impresses independence as a sign of strength, rendering us reluctant to ask for help because we tend to see it as a sign of weakness. However, the act of asking for help is more of an act of courage where we offer our vulnerability to another for support, love, and care.
We are stronger together – in community.
When we connect and share with safe people (family, friends, professionals), and the response is helpful and supportive, we feel seen, heard, and loved. Best of all it facilitates the healing journey.
The other way we can reach out, especially when we are feeling stronger and more resilient, is to reach out to others who may be facing similar circumstances with a word of encouragement. By offering our hand towards others dealing with some of the same circumstances we bring hope to them because we, ourselves, have experienced a similar journey and can speak into their lives with understanding and compassion (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Best Practices
There is no specific or perfect way to practice the disciplines of “Receiving in – Reaching up – Reflecting and Releasing – Reaching out”, but over time, as we try out different exercises, cultivate these practices, it helps us find a kind of peace and rest with our circumstances that only God can show us. We are invited to find rest in his presence, it is a kind of rest that renews us (Matthew 11:28-30)
As we enter into that place of rest through our soul care practices something new grows – trust. That trust has the ability to strengthen our resilience, perspectives, and insights about God’s overarching story and see how God is at work in our own stories.
This spiritual resilience of trusting God, His purposes and ways bring us a kind of steadfast, enduring hope that helps sustain us through the most challenging of days.
We all tell ourselves stories. Let’s tell stories about hope.
An Award Winning Read!!
Just last week, I was awarded a Bronze medal at the Illumination Awards for 2025 for my book Embrace Life, Embrace Hope in the Christian Living category. Previously in December 2024, it was selected in 2024 as one of the top three finalists for Canada’s The Word Guild also in the Christian Living/Spiritual Formation category.
If you’d like to read more about my story and more about how soul care practices, and learning how God originally created us to be whole, helped me walk through the difficult storm facing stage III oral cancer, please check it out here on my website.
Here it is! The Poll I promised - I’d love your opinion!
Sometime in the next several weeks, I’ll be writing a blog about our understanding of sympathy, empathy, and compassion and how it affects our behavior. I’ve been doing some reading on it and am finding interesting differences, preferences, and outcomes, and it has spurred me on to asking you these two questions:
First this one!
and…now this second question:
Thanks so much for your participation. It means so much to me. Don’t forget to share your “why” in the comments below!
If you know someone who might find this blog interesting to read, please share it and invite them to come and join in.
Have a wonderful month!
thank you for your words and the care you put into this post. I am encouraged to keep reflecting on what my body is telling me as well as my soul. Staying in community is so important and I love how you made note of that by stating that it facilitates the healing journey.
compassion seems to have an action component to it and I want to take action when I see someone in need!
Toss up with empathy and compassion. It's nice to not feel alone in the situation and to stand with others.