Jun 14th Announcements

Jun 14th Announcements

NOISY OFFERING

Today is the 2nd Sunday of the month and we usually do a Noisy Offering to support our Human Needs ministry.  During the month of June the Human Needs Committee will donate $250 of these funds to Saint Francis Migration Ministries.  We will also designate $250 to assist teachers from CLC in setting up their classrooms for this fall.  If you would like to donate to the Noisy Offering Fund, there is a smaller silver bucket available near the regular offering bucket or you can indicate “Noisy Offering” in your online giving.

FAMILY PROMISE UPDATE

Our next CLC Family Promise week is June 28 to July 5.   That week the families will continue to shelter-in-place so they will not be staying at our church.   As hosts for that week however, we are responsible for meals (as we were in March).   If you are interested in signing up to provide a meal for 10-15 people, please email or text me.  We can also use donations of pre-packaged snack items (granola bars, crackers, fruit cups, juice boxes, etc.)

Thanks to all in advance! Elaine Miller

Mental Health Matters

Anxiety as Stay-At-Home Orders are Lifted

from Sylvia Schmidt, LPC—

As we “open up” and begin to get back into our lives, there are likely to be many conflicting feelings within ourselves as well as conflicts in our close relationships about what is “safe” and what is not.  Everyone is at a different place in what we are comfortable doing and the amount of risk we think we are taking.  We tend to make judgments about others who are not doing “it” the way we think is best, or we don’t even know ourselves what is “best and safest” as the science and information we see continues to  change.  Fake news—whatever that is—adds more fuel to the frustration fire.

Anxiety is a natural and important emotion for humans—and other animals– to have.  The split-second decisions to fight/flee/freeze when feeling threatened often save our lives, and certainly kept our species surviving in the face of much larger and ferocious creatures than ourselves.  That same survival instinct is present in many of us right now as we try to negotiate the world in ways we’ve never had to before.  The following article was written by Amanda Petrik-Gardner, LCPC who specializes in treating Anxiety Disorders. She has some insights that will hopefully normalize much of what many of us are feeling in these uncertain times.

Returning to Work, Stores, Restaurants…Oh My!

As much as the pandemic and stay-at-home orders caused anxiety for many, there has also been an increase in anxiety as the stay-at-home orders lifted.  I have noticed a fear of returning to work, restaurants, stores, seeing friends and family again, attending (small) events, walking near others, and living the life we once knew.

Where is this anxiety coming from?  We love our jobs (well, some of us), we were so excited to go to stores and restaurants again, and we missed our friends and family dearly.

The root of much anxiety is the unknown.  It’s the fear of not having all the information and being uncomfortable with uncertainty.  Let’s take the current situation: There is still a lot of uncertainty about Covid-19.  Will there be a second wave?  Will I still get it? Is it really safe to return to work or public?  Should I go near my family and friends?  There is a lot of uncertainty about the future.  Will school resume in-person in the fall for our children (or for me if I am a college student)?  Should I continue working from home longer? What will the winter look like if this continues on?

So how do we manage the unknown?  First is to become aware of where our anxiety is coming from.  Begin tracking what anxious thoughts are popping up, causing you to feel on edge.

  Second, acknowledge that the unknown is not always bad.  We tend to equate the unknown with a negative outcome.  However, reflect on how many unknown moments you have had in your lifetime. Millions! They do not all result in a negative outcome, even though our minds make that assumption.  If it does result in an unpleasant outcome, we will manage that!  Just like you and I have managed everything else life has thrown at us.

Last, let’s become comfortable with uncomfortable feelings.  It has almost become the new standard to not feel negative feelings.  To not feel uncomfortable.  To not feel anything but happy.  This has resulted in our bodies becoming even more panicked by uncomfortable feelings.  Instead of trying to push them away, let’s notice them, sit with them (and I mean literally sit with them), and acknowledge what is happening in your mind and body.  The more we embrace instead of push away feelings, our minds and bodies begin to recognize that we are not in danger.  Instead, acknowledge we are experiencing a feeling that is either foreign or not the most pleasant to us, but we can handle that.

Amanda Petrik-Gardner, LCPC – Topeka, Kansas www.amandalcpc.com