This is going to be a slightly different episode. Instead of being on one theme, this episode covers a few different topics of what God has been teaching me lately. Therapy has also uncovered a lot of things for me over the last few months.

I feel the need to expand the concept of The Better Part, and I recently thought of either starting a new podcast to match my blog name, Stories From My Life, or rebranding this one. Then I had a nudge from God one day while I was getting ready one morning; about how Mary chose the better part.

I’m going to share my testimony. I touched on it in the first episode, but I’ve been led to share it so far. Our testimonies are ever-changing, evolving and being added to, and we have to be open to that happening to continue to grow in our faith.

I want to add a disclaimer here that I will be mentioning topics that may be triggering for some people as I speak about my past, including domestic violence. If you are triggered by anything I say, please stop listening. Look after yourself.

As I sit and record this, it is early evening on New Year's Eve of 2022, and it's just starting to rain outside. I have the Christmas tree and garland lights above the mantle piece on.

I didn't decorate as much as I usually do this year, and I only decorated for Christmas the week before it, which is late for me. The living room is generally decked out from around December 1st, depending on when my days off are around then.

Eventually, I managed to shift my thoughts by praying for others as I usually do as I'm settling down to sleep, and the desire to gain relief died away and sleep soon came for me. And by the morning, I’d forgotten all about the temptation the previous night.

How much easier would it be if I just did the thing I originally wanted to do, no matter what I thought or felt about it afterwards?

Just like sleep recharges our bodies for the next day, periods of rest during the day also helps us by keeping us rested for the busier times.

Everyone needs rest. It's that ‘you can't pour from an empty cup’ analogy. I know I'm the most productive first thing in the morning, and then post lunch, my brain tends to switch down a gear or two depending on how tired I am or what's going on with me.

We have this outdated idea that prayer needs to be something special and done at a specific time, generally before bed. This isn’t the case. You can pray in the shower, while you are doing the washing up, doing the garden or while you’re at work.

In hindsight, I grew up with the thought that praying is kneeling at the side of your bed with your hands clasped. It comes from children’s books and I guess it's a bit old-fashioned now as you can pray wherever and whenever you want.  But more importantly, you can pray whenever and wherever you need to. 

I’m excited to finally be doing this after starting a podcast, and it was put on my heart sometime last year. It’s taken so long to happen because I was unsure of what I was going to share, was it going to be my mental health and my faith or just one of them?