Why Anchoring?
It began with a phone call. “Do you have anything on stress? I am finding many people are coming to me saying how stressed they are, how full of anxiety and fear. They feel their life is out of control and not sure if they can handle anything more. It seems post-covid stress is worse than the stress we all felt during covid. Would you be able to speak into that?”
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh hysterically, cry, or stare
speechless at the phone. Anything on
stress? I had just staggered my way through one of the most stressful seasons
of my life on the back of the covid pandemic.
Did I have something to say, to help people navigate stress? The internal bruising of my recent experience
was still raw. “Yes, I have something to say about stress,” I replied
cautiously.
“Don’t just teach them about stress, we know what stress is,
can you give them some tools, some pointers to coping with stress, anxiety and
fear?” “I can share what I have
learned,” I replied. “I can tell them my
story and the way that I have learned to anchor myself in God during storms,
buffeting winds, and seasons of stress.”
We called the workshop “Anchored”. As you will find as you
journey with me through this book, anchored became anchoring. Finding an anchor
in the middle of the storm is both a single act and an on-going life
process. It is a noun and a present
tense verb – something that we do and keep on doing. Some of the women at the
workshop asked if I had written a book on what I shared. Oh, no that sounds
like a stressful thing to do. Yet this
is what you now hold!
But wait, there is more, as the infomercials say. As I was writing the original notes into
something more readable, a leader asked to have coffee with me. She had a compelling question to ask. “How do you keep your faith in God alive,
burning brightly over the long haul of life with all its ups and downs, highs
and disappointments?” And it hit
me. The very things that anchored me in
times of deep distress are also the very things that fan the flame of faith and
fuel me to keep going. This wasn’t so much a book about storms or stress,
though you will find they feature frequently, this is really a book about
faith.
In the words of Ann Voskamp, “The whole of the Christian life is
more than a single act of faith at the foot of the cross; the Christian life is
a moment-by moment movement of faithing toward God, with God, of trusting in
God to take care of us, a depending on God to carry us out, to carry us deeper in,
of faith in God, which grafts our hearts to God.”[i] Faith is both a noun and a verb. Faith is a journey.
Psalm 84 is the song of pilgrims, those who set their heart on the
journey of going towards God. The journey is a daily walk over mountain trails,
through valleys, heat and cold, sunshine and rain, overcoming challenges and
obstacles. This is “faithing”, as we
follow Jesus. As we follow, we anchor.
This book is a walker’s guide. Tips to travel the journey through
storms, through anxiety, through the good, the bad and ugly. When I go
on a tramp, I want to see a map, but more than that I want to read stories and
tips from those who have walked it before so that I may be prepared – prepared
for all the weathers, prepared for the difficult bits and prepared for the wow
moments. If you’re like me – this book is for you.
So, a warning, this book is a collection of stories and
metaphors – pictures that will hopefully convey more than words the richness of
anchoring in Jesus. Friends and family were given early drafts to make comment
on. I waited eagerly for them to say how deep and profound the manuscript
was. They didn’t. Instead, they
commented on the stories. My father, bless him, kept saying “you tell a good
story”. I will leave that for you to
decide.
The book is in three parts.
The first section is about being anchored. Finding that point, that
place to anchor our souls into the love of God. It is an invitation to build a
deep relationship with Jesus, the source of our faith.
The middle section focuses on those “tools” I was asked for.
Practices that help us to anchor and to keep anchoring. As I was asked at the
beginning, I have tried to make this practical with suggestions on how you can
incorporate these practices into your daily life. In the appendix you will find
some additional tools I hope will help to strengthen you.
Finally, the third section brings together the previous
sections and attempts to show you how to hold on when you encounter an Act 27
storm which Paul faced. This is where I share more personally my own story of
holding on in my version of Acts 27. It
was the storm that blew in on the back of the covid pandemic. It is deeply
personal with material from blogs and my journal which I share in the hope they
will help you passage your own seasons of intense stress. It has surprised me
how many people have asked me; how did you survive? I can only say the grace of
God, but also because I used the strengthening practices I have shared in this
book.
In the Appendix you will find additional tools that maybe
helpful for you as you navigate your own stress-filled seasons.
If you are in the middle of a storm right now, winds have
knocked you off your feet, tossed you into the swirling sea this book is for
you – hold on, you will get to the other side.
If you have discovered you are not a Marvel comic superhero
and you can’t solve all the problems or juggle all the responsibilities and
duties as much as you try, and you now feel like a little white mouse running
on an endless circle. As hard as it is to admit it, life isn’t working – this
is for you.
It is my prayer that
as you read and engage with this material that you too will be strengthened to
face the storms you encounter, and like the eagle who rides the storm, and uses
the energy from the storm to fly higher, you too will fly higher, go further in
every storm and come through to the other side filled with grace, awe and joy –
just as the disciples did when Jesus took them into the storm on the lake. May you become a storm rider like Paul and
Jesus, the ultimate storm rider.
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