Stress Relievers: Guest Post by Author BeeBe Kauffman

A few years ago, I met an amazing family (a dad, mom, and daughter) at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference. It was my first time attending a writer's conference, and my mom and I were completely clueless. I hadn't even made an appointment with any editors or agents, only because I thought there weren't any that represented my genre.

However, the Kauffmans immediately came to our rescue. They suggested that I sign up for appointments anyway, instructed me on how to do so, and kept my mom and I under their wing the entire conference. To put it short--if it wasn't for them, I would not have met my publisher.

With the daughter, Katy (author of Winning the Victory), at BWMCWC 2010: First year.

With the daughter, Katy (author of Winning the Victory), at BWMCWC 2012: Third year.

With that being said--I am so happy to announce that this family has now founded a publishing company, Lighthouse Bible Studies. Their books, Setting Things Right and Winning the Victory, were published exactly a month before mine. How crazy is that?!

So, with the college finals this week, I thought now would be the perfect time to have BeeBe Kauffman visit my blog and share how she overcomes stress.

Beebe Kauffman is a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. She has a bachelor's degree in business, but her heart is in teaching the Bible. She has developed application-based studies for the New Testament books (except Revelation which is event-based) and for Isaiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel in the Old Testament. Isaiah: Setting Things Right is her first written study.

You can find BeeBe on her blog, Lessons From Home.

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"Stress" is the word that will be written across the year 2013 in my memory. It began when my mom passed away in January. It was difficult to grasp the reality that she is no longer here, and it was hard to see all of her treasures being dispersed from her home. Then we had to do some work on her house to get it ready to sell. We had a few bumps along the way as we were trying to find contractors. A few weeks later, we started a new business, and not many of the scores of details were accomplished easily. We had learning curves, roadblocks, time delays, and a few "you-can't-do-this-before-you-do-that" detours. As the year rolled along, a few surprises were mixed in. I was getting overwhelmed.

One morning in my prayer time a thought that has helped me came to mind--"Use the stress release valves." I was more than willing to try anything, so I made a list of what those release valves might be: trust in God, prayer, praise songs, hope that God will make things better, reading Scripture, breaking a sizable task down into achievable steps and using them to sneak up on the goal, and looking at little problems from the big picture of life so the problems stay little in my mind. I also thought of three more: clean something and watch the sparkle for a few minutes, tickle someone and listen to the giggles, and sow some "happy" for someone.

When the pressures, pace, and problems of life crowd in around us a little too tightly, let's use one or more of the stress release valves to find a little relief.

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What do your "stress release valves" look like? Do you have any that you would like to add to the list?

Currently...

Currently Reading...

Naomi's Gift by Amy Clipston

The First Christmas Carol by Marianne Jordan

Currently Watching...

Christmas movies, of course. =)

Currently Listening To...

Currently Sipping On...

photo credit: James S Warwick via photopin cc

• Peppermint mocha
• Starbucks anniversary blend

Currently Taking Pictures Of...

Going to visit my sister in NYC for Thanksgiving.

At "author heaven" in NYC...at an 18 mile bookstore. =)

With my sister at the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. =)

My 20th birthday this past Monday. =D

With Author Marie Wright at our local museum for author night. =)

Currently Looking Forward To...

photo credit: laffy4k via photopin cc

• Christmas! =)

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How was your Thanksgiving? What is it that you're currently reading, listening to, watching,

 etc.?

If God Loves Me, Then Why is My World Falling Apart?

If God loves me, shouldn't He prove His love by showering me with blessings? If God loves me, why hasn't he shown me that love through my early father? And why doesn't he tell the girls at school to stop bullying me?

These are questions that several teens struggle with daily. In fact, I had a teen reader of this column email me that exact question: Does God love me?

The answer? Yes. He loves you.

You then might ask, “So why does my life seem to be falling apart? I thought He was all-powerful. Can’t He prevent bad things from happening?”

Yes, God is all-powerful. But we have to remember that Satan controls the evil of this world. Not God. (Continue reading on Whole Magazine)