Shabbat Shalom

Candace Long: Good morning and welcome to Shabbat Shalom. I'm Candace Long, your host and producer. As I write this opening monologue, we have just been catapulted into yet another war with US attacks on Iran. These are the end of days. In timely fashion, today's Torah portion could not be any more grounding for those of us who are studying the Torah on the Sabbath.

Before Pastor Matt McKeown comes to teach us, I want to explain that throughout the yearly Torah readings, two parashat are often combined, as we have today, covering Exodus 35 through 40. The first portion is Vayakhel, which means "and he assembled." The sages tell us that Moses came down from the mountain with the second tablets, signifying God's forgiveness of the golden calf incident and renewed love for the people.

Now they were worthy to build the Tabernacle where the Lord would dwell. But who was going to build it? They were. Every man, woman, and child, using contributions they gave toward this holiest of building projects. Moses was charged here to assemble everything the people gave. The commentators say there were 39 categories, everything from a gold plate to blue wool, to earrings, to mirrors, and everything would be supernaturally fashioned into a place God would dwell. He wanted to be close to his people, close to their things, to what mattered to them that they gave willingly.

The next portion is called Pekudei, which means "accountings of," saying, quote, "These are the accountings of the Tabernacle." Moses was told to take an exact accounting of the sum of what had been contributed. The sages explain that Moses is teaching us that leaders must be beyond reproach and keep accurate records of the funds that pass through their hands. There was such holiness that was attached to the Tabernacle and its individual parts that it survived intact over time and through war. Unlike the two temples that were destroyed, Moses's Tabernacle was never captured or desecrated.

Now today, we shift our focus to the Kingdom where our Lord has gone to prepare a place for us to live with him. What will that place look like? I think our lesson here is that he has assembled everything that we have willingly given him throughout our lives. Our gifts, offerings, contributions, talents. He's taken account of them and he's telling us, if we have ears to hear, that we will feel like home there because we will see those things that we gave him of ourselves that he assembled and took account of. There is no safer place on the planet than to be busy learning how our contributions matter to him and how we will recognize them in the heavenly Tabernacle. Let's recite the Shema together.

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Baruch shem kavod malchuto l'olam va'ed. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I set up for you this day shall be upon your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your arm and as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and in your gates.

Matt McKeown: Good morning, dear friends, and welcome once again to Shabbat Shalom. The program where we journey through the Torah and discover the Jewish roots of our Christian faith. I'm Pastor Matt McKeown and today we arrive at the closing chapters of the book of Exodus with the combined double Torah portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei. This is a powerful moment in the story of Israel because just a short time earlier, the people had fallen into one of the greatest failures in their history: the sin of the golden calf. The covenant had been broken, the tablets shattered, trust damaged. But now something remarkable happens. God does not abandon his people. Instead, he invites them to build his dwelling place together.

The portion begins with the word Vayakhel, which means "and he assembled" or "and he gathered." Moses gathers the entire community of Israel, not just the leaders, not just the priests. Everyone. Men, women, craftsmen, families. The entire nation comes together. This gathering itself is significant. After the golden calf scattered their loyalty, God regathers their hearts. Sin divides, but God restores unity.

The first step in rebuilding covenant life is community. Before Moses speaks about building the Tabernacle, he reminds the people about Shabbat. This is fascinating. You might think the most urgent thing would be construction, materials, labor, plans. But God begins with rest. Why? Because sacred work must flow from sacred time. The people are about to build the most important structure in their history, yet God says, "Six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy."

This teaches something essential. Even work for God must not replace time with God. And this, brothers and sisters, is something that we pastors really need to look at. Work for God cannot replace time with God. Holiness is not only what we build, it's how we live. Rabbinic tradition draws an important conclusion here. If even building the Tabernacle must stop for Shabbat, then Shabbat is greater than the Tabernacle. The Mishkan is sacred, but time with God is more sacred. This principle shapes Jewish life to this day. There's an old saying in Judaism: "Even more than the Jewish people have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jewish people."

God desires relationship more than he does productivity, even spiritual productivity. Moses then invites the people to bring offerings for the Tabernacle: gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, wood, precious stones, oil, spices. But notice something important: this is not taxation. It's invitation. The scripture repeatedly says, "Everyone whose heart moved them," "Everyone whose spirit stirred them." This giving is voluntary, joyful, from the heart. God does not force generosity. He invites it. And remember what we see in the New Testament: God loves a cheerful giver.

Then something extraordinary happens. The people bring so much material that eventually Moses must tell them to stop. Imagine that. In most communities, leaders plead for more giving. Here, Moses says, "Please stop bringing offerings." Why such generosity? Because repentance has awakened gratitude. The same people who used their gold to build a calf now bring their gold to build a sanctuary for the Lord. God redeems even the materials of failure.

One of the most beautiful aspects of this Torah portion is that the Tabernacle is built by a community. Not one hero, not one leader, but many hands. Artisans craft fabrics, metalworkers shape gold, carpenters cut wood, women spin yarn, families contribute resources. Everyone participates. The dwelling place of God is built collectively. This is the power of covenant community.

Jewish tradition often notes that the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, is unique among ancient religious structures. Most temples were built by kings, by forced labor, by imperial wealth. But the Tabernacle is built by volunteers, from free offerings, from grateful hearts. God's dwelling is not built by power; it's built by love. As Parashat Vayakhel continues, Moses now introduces the people to two men whose work will shape the very dwelling place of God. Their names are Bezalel and Oholiab.

These are not priests. They're not prophets. They're not kings. They're craftsmen. And according to Jewish tradition, they're very young. God speaks of them in remarkable terms. He says, "I have filled them with the spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and skill in every kind of craftsmanship." This is one of the most fascinating details in the entire Torah. The spirit of God comes upon an artist.

When many people think of the spirit of God in scripture, they imagine prophecy, miracles, leadership, preaching. But here, the spirit empowers craftsmanship: working with gold, shaping wood, designing fabric, creating beauty. This tells us something profound about our God. God values creativity. God values skill. God values beauty offered in worship. Work done for God is sacred. Rabbinic tradition often notes that the wisdom given to Bezalel mirrors the wisdom God used when creating the world. Genesis describes creation using similar language: wisdom, understanding, knowledge.

The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, becomes a miniature reflection of creation itself. Just as God created the universe with wisdom, the Tabernacle is created with spirit-filled craftsmanship. This is not accidental. The Mishkan becomes a symbol of restored creation, a sacred space where heaven and earth meet again. The name Bezalel is itself meaningful. It means "in the shadow of God." This is a beautiful image. To live in the shadow of God is to live under his presence, under his protection, under his guidance. Bezalel does not create independently. He creates in alignment with God's design. This is the difference between artistic expression and sacred craftsmanship. One seeks personal expression, and the other reflects divine intention.

God not only appoints Bezalel, but also Oholiab, whose name means "the tent of the Father." Oholiab's role is particularly interesting. He's not only skilled himself, he's gifted to teach others. This means the work of building the Tabernacle is not limited to a few elite artisans. Skill spreads through the community. Knowledge multiplies. Creativity becomes collaborative. This is a powerful model for spiritual life. God doesn't concentrate gifts in one person. He distributes them throughout the community.

The Tabernacle was not built simply for functionality. It was built for beauty. Fine linen, intricate embroidery, gold overlays, precious stones, colorful fabrics. Everything was crafted with care. This reveals something important: beauty honors God. Throughout scripture, God delights in artistry: music, poetry, architecture, design. Beauty reflects the creativity of the Creator. When people create beauty for God's glory, they mirror his nature.

As the artisans begin their work, something remarkable happens. The people continue bringing offerings day after day: gold, fabric, jewels, wood, spices. Eventually, the craftsmen come to Moses with an unusual request. They say, "The people are bringing more than enough for the work the Lord commanded." Imagine that. For once, the leaders are overwhelmed by generosity. Moses must make an unusual announcement: "Let no man or woman bring anything more." The people had given too much.

Why such overwhelming generosity? Because, as we said, the people remembered the golden calf. They remembered their failure and this gratitude has replaced guilt. Their hearts are moved. When people truly experience forgiveness, something shifts. They no longer give reluctantly. They give joyfully. Generosity flows from restored relationship. Remember, the one who has been forgiven for much loves much.

One phrase repeats again and again in this portion: "everyone whose heart stirred them." In Hebrew thought, the heart is not just emotion. It's the center of will, decision, desire. The Tabernacle is not built by obligation, but by willing hearts. And this matters to God. Love cannot be forced. As Parashat Vayakhel continues, the Torah now begins describing the construction of the Tabernacle itself. At first glance, these chapters can seem repetitive: measurements, materials, curtains, boards, sockets, clasps, hooks, layers of fabric, frames of acacia wood. For many readers, this can feel as exciting as architectural blueprints. But the Torah rarely includes unnecessary detail.

When the Torah slows down like this, it's inviting us to pay attention because every detail reflects something deeper about the nature of God. The Tabernacle was not simply a religious structure. It was the center of Israel's life. When the camp was arranged in the wilderness, the Tabernacle stood in the middle: three tribes to the north, three tribes to the south, three tribes to the east, and three to the west. And at the center, the dwelling place of God. This arrangement isn't random. It declares something profound. God was not meant to be a side activity. God is meant to be the center of life. Everything else in Israel's life was organized around his presence.

Rabbinic tradition often points out that the construction of the Mishkan echoes the story of creation. Just as God created the world in stages, the Tabernacle is built carefully through ordered instructions. Just as God finished creation and rested, the Mishkan will be completed and filled with God's glory. The Tabernacle becomes a microcosm of creation itself, a small world where heaven and earth meet again. After humanity was expelled from Eden, the Tabernacle becomes a new place of meeting, a restored connection between God and humanity.

The Tabernacle included multiple layers of coverings: fine linen embroidered with cherubim, goat hair coverings, ram skins dyed red, outer coverings of durable hides. Why so many layers? On the outside, the Tabernacle may have appeared plain, but inside, it was breathtaking: golden walls, beautiful fabrics, intricate artistry. This teaches us an important spiritual principle. God's glory is often hidden from casual observation. But those who draw near discover beauty that others may never see. The deeper you enter God's presence, the more beauty you encounter.

At the heart of this Tabernacle stands the Ark of the Covenant, covered in gold, crowned with the Mercy Seat, guarded by cherubim. This is the symbolic throne of God on earth. But notice something remarkable: God's throne is not surrounded by armies. It's surrounded by mercy. The covering of the ark is literally called the Mercy Seat, in Hebrew, the Kapporet, the place of atonement. God's throne is a throne of justice, but it's also a throne of mercy. Grace covers judgment.

Next comes the Table of the Bread of Presence: 12 loaves placed before the Lord, one for each tribe of Israel. This table represents fellowship. God invites his people to share his presence. In the ancient world, eating together symbolized peace and covenant relationship. God is not distant. He invites communion. This reminds us that the goal of faith is not simply obedience. It's relationship.

The Golden Lampstand or Menorah stands opposite the table. Its seven branches shine continually in the holy place. This light represents divine revelation: truth, guidance. God's presence illuminates life. Without that light, the sanctuary would be dark. This is symbolic. Human life without the light of God's guidance is spiritual darkness. But when God's presence shines, understanding grows, paths become visible, hope appears.

Jewish tradition often associates the Menorah with the Torah itself. Scripture says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." God's teaching illuminates life. The Menorah becomes a symbol of wisdom and revelation flowing from God. Even today, the Menorah remains one of the most enduring symbols of Jewish faith.

Outside the Tabernacle stood the Bronze Altar. Here, sacrifices were offered, sins were confessed, atonement was made. Sacrifice reminds us that broken relationship requires restoration. Sin carries weight. But God provides a way back. The altar becomes a place of both sorrow and hope. Sorrow because sin is real, hope because forgiveness is possible.

The Tabernacle was more than a place of worship. It was a visual lesson. Every element taught something about God: holiness, mercy, light, fellowship, atonement, presence. As people moved through the Tabernacle, they learned about God's character. Sacred space shapes sacred understanding.

As we move toward the second half of this double portion, the Torah now shifts from construction to accounting. The portion Pekudei begins with a detailed inventory of the materials used in building the Tabernacle. Once again, we hear about the gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, fabric, wood. Everything is counted. Everything is recorded. Nothing is hidden. At first, this might seem like a simple and perhaps boring bookkeeping exercise. But the Torah includes this section for a deeper reason.

Sacred work requires integrity. Moses presents a full accounting of how the offerings were used: every ounce of gold, every piece of silver, every contribution from the people. This establishes an important principle for the community. When people give generously for God's work, leaders must steward those gifts with honesty. Trust is the foundation of spiritual community. Transparency protects that trust.

Rabbinic tradition highlights this section as an example of ethical leadership. The sages taught that Moses didn't need to provide this report; the people trusted him. But he chose to do it anyway. Why? Because leaders must not only be trustworthy, they also must appear trustworthy. Integrity requires openness. God's work must be handled with humility and accountability.

After months of careful work, the Tabernacle is finally finished. Every curtain woven, every board assembled, every piece of furniture crafted. The sanctuary stands ready. Scripture repeats a powerful phrase again and again: "The people of Israel did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses." This repetition emphasizes their obedience. The Tabernacle was not built according to human imagination. It was built according to God's design. True worship aligns with God's instructions.

Before the Tabernacle is erected, Moses examines everything. He looks carefully at the construction. He checks the craftsmanship. He confirms that every detail matches God's instructions, like an inspector. And then scripture tells us something beautiful: Moses blessed them. Imagine that moment, the entire community standing together, hands tired from labor, hearts full of anticipation, and Moses pronounces a blessing over their work. Faithful work brings blessing.

Jewish tradition often emphasizes the importance of blessing work done for holy purposes. When people offer their skills and effort for God's glory, their work becomes more than labor. It becomes worship. The Tabernacle was not simply a building project. It was a spiritual act. Every hammer strike, every thread woven, every piece polished, it all became part of sacred service.

At the beginning of the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt, Moses sets up the Tabernacle. The ark is placed in the Holy of Holies, the table is set with bread, the lampstand is lit, the altar of incense is placed before the veil, the altar of sacrifice stands in the courtyard. Everything is arranged exactly as God commanded. The dwelling place of God now stands in the middle of Israel's camp.

Imagine that atmosphere. The people gather around. They watch as the final preparations are made. For months they have worked together. They've given generously, built carefully, and now they wait. Will God truly dwell among them? Will his presence fill this place? Everything depends on what happens next. And then it happens. Scripture says, "The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle."

This is the moment everything has been leading toward. The presence of God descends. The sanctuary becomes alive with glory. So powerful is this moment that even Moses cannot enter. God's presence fills the dwelling completely. This is the fulfillment of God's promise. He had said earlier in Exodus, "I will dwell among the children of Israel." Now that promise becomes a reality. The Creator of heaven and earth chooses to dwell in the middle of a desert camp. Not in a palace, not in a mountain temple, but among ordinary people. This reveals the heart of God. He desires relationship. He chooses proximity. He loves to be near his people.

The portion ends with a powerful image. Whenever the cloud lifts from the Tabernacle, Israel moves forward. Whenever the cloud rests, the people remain. Day and night, the cloud and fire remain visible over the sanctuary. God doesn't simply dwell among them. He leads them. His presence becomes their guidance, their direction, their assurance. The journey continues under his watchful care.

As we reach the final verses of Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei, we also arrive at the closing scene of the entire book of Exodus. Think about the journey that they have traveled. Think about the story that began with slavery: Israel groaning under oppression in Egypt, no sanctuary, no priesthood, no visible presence of God among them, only bondage and longing. But now, at the end of Exodus, something extraordinary has happened. A redeemed people stand in the wilderness. A sanctuary rises at the center of their camp, and the glory of the Lord descends to dwell among them. The story that began with suffering ends with presence.

This double portion brings the book of Exodus to a beautiful conclusion. A people once enslaved are now free. A community once divided by sin now works together in unity. A wilderness once empty now contains a dwelling place for the presence of Almighty God. This is the story of redemption. May the God who filled the Tabernacle with his glory fill your life with his presence. May the God who guided Israel with the cloud and fire guide your steps in every season. And may we live each day with God at the center of our lives, walking in his light, following his lead, and reflecting his glory. My dear friends, Shabbat Shalom.

Candace Long: You can hear Pastor Matt teach the Torah every Saturday morning from 6 to 6:30. Coming up next is part four of Families Under Attack with mental health counselor Rejanne Morrison. Here's what one listener wrote whose question we discussed last time, quote, "Wow, my husband and I listened closely and I took many notes. Rejanne heard my pain, how I do not feel respected, but reminded me that I am not powerless in the Lord," unquote.

The disruptor that Rejanne and I are talking about today is anxiety, which is very timely given the geopolitical climate we are living in now. Just the other day, I did an informal poll among my fellow Levites who have sensitive spiritual antennas like I do, and I asked them, "Have you been wrestling with anxiety more than usual right now?" Every one of them said yes, it was off the charts.

I want you to see the correlation between spirits of anxiety in the atmosphere and the appointed time of Purim that we have been celebrating. During that time in Persia, known as Iran, the Jews were threatened with complete annihilation. Anxiety and terror were in the atmosphere. Same time period as the US attack on Iran. Coincidence? Not with God and not with Torah study. We were feeling the anxiety the Jewish people felt during this season of Purim. Join me in welcoming back Rejanne Morrison.

I'm Candace Long, welcome to Families Under Attack with Rejanne Morrison, giving you perspective on how to minister to the disruption that your family may be experiencing. And the disruptor we're going to discuss today is anxiety. Rejanne, welcome back.

Rejanne Morrison: It's great to be back.

Candace Long: Before we begin, I want to set the stage of where we are in our Torah studies, because we're finishing up by the time this airs, we're finishing up the book of Exodus and we are at the end of the month of Adar, which is the last month of the spiritual year when God is preparing his people to celebrate Passover. It's a very important month of preparation.

And there has been a horrible disruption within the people of God because of the incidents incident with the golden calf and God sending his plague among the people to root out the uncleanness. And 3,000 people were killed during that plague. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come and stand with me." And all of the Levites, the priests and the ministers came to him.

So here we are now in a very similar place of separation where the families are dealing with various mental and emotional plagues and the Lord is purging it all because he wants to be in our midst, but he requires holiness and purity inside of his people. I just find it very significant that this is exactly what you are training us to do. You are helping us spot what's wrong and learn how to deal with it because God does not cover anything up. He opens it up. So talk to us about anxiety, what is it and why is it so disruptive now?

Rejanne Morrison: It is the spirit of the age right now because there are too many voices, too much trauma going on all around us that we are privy to see because of the news. Everything is available and it's too much. And it creates this dis-ease. So I want you to think of anxiety first as dis-ease, which is no peace, no calm. "When is the next bad thing going to happen?" And that's the world that we live in. And does the enemy love to supercharge that? Absolutely.

So let's say we all have some anxiety. The question is, when is it healthy, when is it not? I think the Holy Spirit wants us to be aware. Everything you read is "Come to me," "Be my people," "Let me lead you, let my Holy Spirit be at work in your life." And he's the change agent that helps us work with all this noise, so we can better hear him and have that peace that surpasses any kind of understanding for the time that we're living in. So, when is stress trouble? When is anxiety the symptom that just stays with us?

In the last session, we talked about neural pathways and we have these little glands called amygdala that are on in either hemisphere of our brain. And really very simply put, what they're doing when we encounter life, they're determining "is this fear or is this love?" and "where is that going to land in my brain?" Caroline Leaf has done some amazing work with showing brain mapping, which is pretty common now for us to see that, but that when we live in fear, I want you to think about anxiety being a product of fear ruling, that our brain mapping looks like a dense dark forest.

Whereas when we begin to work on that, she talks about being able to change even how our brain looks in four days as we encounter the Lord and his truth and that overrides those fear-based messages. And and that is like a forest of trees that are open, the light comes through, it's not dense. So that's literally a neurological sign of anxiety that really can lead to depression. It's like your gas pedal of your brain can't shut off because it's so "fear, what's happening? I'm not safe."

Candace Long: Okay. How does that show up in a family? How would a parent recognize whether the child is anxious or that it's destructive anxiety? I'm as a performer, because I used to perform a lot, you always get nerves. I mean, there's never been a time that I'm performing or in front of people teaching or whatever that I don't feel it. It's horrible. I want to go crawl into my cave because I'm more comfortable in the cave. But it's like what Joyce Meyer said long time ago in one of her teachings, she said, "Just do it afraid."

Rejanne Morrison: That's right. But to be able to do that says something about your healthiness because you have some ability to, one, know you're up tight and that stress is there, and two, make a choice to push through. That says something about resiliency and strength. When it's a problem is when that regulation is not there. You don't see the bounce back.

I told the story last time about the child who for about 45 minutes was walking the halls because she didn't want to stay in her Sunday school class. She wasn't able to have that emotional regulation to calm down. So we need to watch for patterns like that. Are they able to be upset because we all get upset, but then calm down, maybe listen, regroup? What's the pattern happening with that would tell us how big that stressor is. Is that child staying home from school sick because they have a test and they're just afraid to face it? Are they doing that socially with their friends? We're talking about children, but this is the same thing for us as adults or adolescents. What is that fear doing to us?

Candace Long: I'm reminded of when I was in college, I was a freshman and I went to a women's college. And you know how catty girls can be, mean girls. So we had a class called public speaking and we each had to get up and give an extemporaneous speech. I was so terrified to stand up in front of that room with all of those girls saying, "What has she got on? Look at those shoes. They're just ratty." You know, I worked myself up to such a state that I cut class.

Now, this is not like me because I'm very conscientious. So I ran into my teacher later and I said, "I'm sorry, I" and I admitted to her, and I wasn't a believer at this time, I admitted to her, I said, "I was terrified. I couldn't come." And she said, "You've got to push through this because you have something to say. You come to class, you do this." So she pushed me and I did it and finally got over it. But oh, that fear is horrible.

Rejanne Morrison: It is. And you know, I think of something we do a lot on our retreat is we refer back to Robert McGee's book, best time seller back in the mid 80s and 90s, "The Search for Significance." The brilliance of that book is he talks about four traps and we've worked with people in our ministry from like 95 countries. We haven't been to that many, but we've worked with those people. And these traps, everybody says in all these different nations, they can identify with them.

Listen to them. Performance: a trap that works with the fear of failure. Approval: fear of man, biblically. "What do they think of me?" This is what you were talking about, right? And blame game is all about it has to be absolutely perfect, okay? Shame basically says "I am what I am and I can't change." Each one of those, this is the brilliance of the book, goes against the truths and the love message of the cross. So it becomes man's way of finding identity and living in that. And for believers, I mean, we can have a lot of head knowledge of the Lord, but if our heart, this is like the world's system, those false beliefs: "I am what I do." I mean, we have an American culture, Nike "Just Do It," right?

So we make it happen. But here's what I love about your story. Your teacher was like the voice of God. Jesus was skin on. There was secular school, and she said, "Get it together, girl. You got to do this." Because you have something to say. Those "I ams" were, "Wait, I do matter more than how I look," right? That's a God message. And you know, somebody believes in me and sees this. Somebody bigger. Her voice was bigger than all those mean girls. But I'm thankful now because I was so young and immature at the time and my first time really away from home and from people who believed in me. So there was no self-confidence, but I did admit my fear. If we can admit our fear, then we know our need and that's where the Lord comes in.

Candace Long: Repeat Dr. McGee's book again for listeners.

Rejanne Morrison: It's a great book, "Search for Significance." Search for Significance by Robert McGee, M-C-G-E-E.

Candace Long: Thank you. And he was your mentor, so you were colleagues.

Rejanne Morrison: Yes, he was. We were good buds as colleagues. We did a lot of pioneering with Christian mental health back in the day.

Candace Long: So where do you rank anxiety as far as disrupting families? Is it pretty high up now?

Rejanne Morrison: I think absolutely because it can manifest in school failure, academic problems, relational problems like isolation, and all these kind of things can be fodder for budding mental illness. So we need to pay attention to it. Agoraphobia, all the phobias come out of fears, right? OCD, one of the ways that manifests with anxiety is if I do certain things, then I'm okay, right? So we all have anxiety, we're all going to experience it. We need to be aware of it and God, God is our peace. He is our peace, he is our comfort. How can we experience him to feed us with that peace?

Candace Long: What do you do with a child, whether it's probably, I would think it would be at its height in teenage years or middle school where you've got this bullying, you've got the teasing and the peer pressure and all of that. How do you help a child through that? Do parents reach out to you and say, you know, my child is struggling with anxiety? Do they even have that word in their vocabulary or they just are noticing something that is troublesome?

Rejanne Morrison: I think well, I'm thinking of one one particular case that I have right now, which is a teenage girl. She is very involved in sports. She's let's say a ninth grader and excels in her sport. I want to keep this as anonymous as I can.

Candace Long: Absolutely.

Rejanne Morrison: And there is a lot of performance, remember we talked about that. And that a lot of that comes from her. Now her family does put pressure, but doesn't. And I think that's the way we all are. You know, if you see your child doing well in something, you want them to go for it. But they're certainly not saying "you have to do all these things." But she's internalized, "I have to prove I can do these things." So she's that's within her.

And now we get into cyberbullying, the mean girls you were just talking about, that peer pressure. And she's had such significant anxiety attacks that her one of her legs would just start shaking out of nowhere, involuntarily. And they spent a lot of money trying to figure out what that was. And it really is from those internal beliefs. Now she's wired type A, you know, we have to look at many factors of what's going on. She doesn't know how to rest. Her brain, she has some ADD kinds of tendencies. Do you hear kind of what am I dealing with here? To really get a good assessment of a full picture.

And she knows the Lord. So one of the things that's been really helpful for her is we've done a lot of what I'll call experiential work. She's a very visual, tactile girl. And so we worked with pictures of the Lord. Where does she see the Lord with her as she's doing her sport? Good. When you're in this stress zone, think about what you shared personally, you didn't go to class. For her, she'd get in the bushes while class was going on. To be quite honest. Well, we can we can hide, we can not go. Think about the energy and the enemy is in this. We can not go. He's at work, right, holding you back. You can get sick or sabotage everything, right? The sabotaging cycle can be there.

Or we can drive ourselves. So if there's an "I'm not good enough" belief in there, which this young person had, "I'm not enough," but by God she wants to be a Marine when she grows up and show how tough she is that she can do it. Well, of course her break pedal isn't going to work. She's on the gas pedal. So we did some experiential exercises, but we also did something some exercises with her vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is at the back of your brain and goes down into really all of your body, nerves, okay, that is responsible for what we call fight, flight, freeze. And she was in fight mode all the time.

Candace Long: I have been there. I will share a story. This was probably one of the lowest points of my life, early early on, very painful divorce situation and you know all the stress that goes on with that and trying to figure out this is not how I wanted my life to be and all the stress. So I'm driving my son to a soccer game and all of a sudden the left side of my body is numb. And I start seeing everything's closing around me in my eyes. So it looks like the world is caving in. I've lost my peripheral vision. I mean, these were very real physical symptoms.

And I had called my doctor, my primary care, just to tell the nurse some of my symptoms not knowing really what to do. And this was at a time when we had car phones. So I'm driving my son to the soccer game and the phone rings and I answer it and it's the nurse and she said, "I've talked to your doctor about what you're experiencing. You need to go to the emergency room." Well, all of a sudden now my head is pounding and I'm convinced that I'm going to have a stroke in front of my son. My symptoms get worse. So I I pull off the side of the road, I call a dear friend and I said, "Please come get me. I I can't move."

So I'm in front of this store. This is how the Lord works. There was a man that came out of the store with a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck. I rolled down the window and I yelled at the man and he came over the car and I said, "I think I'm having a stroke" and I describe my symptoms to him. And he looked at me and he said, "I am a physician's assistant for a neurologist. I can almost assuredly tell you you're not having a stroke. But you should go to the hospital and just get them checked."

Well, he left and I rolled up the window, my son looked at me and he said, "Mom, was that a miracle?" I said, "Yes, son. That was a miracle." So anyway, I got to the hospital, they wired me all up. I was in the hospital for a couple of days because they didn't know whether I was having a stroke or a heart attack or or whatever. My pastor came by to to visit me. And he was quoting First Peter 5: "Cast your cares upon the Lord." I was so angry with that. You know, it was like, "Don't quote a scripture to me, my body is falling apart." I'm dying here.

So anyway, he left. And the Lord kept speaking that: "Cast your cares on the Lord." And I developed a casting ceremony where I got a legal pad and I said, "Okay, Lord, what am I carrying on my shoulders? What am I trying to accomplish here?" I filled up three pages, front and back, of the legal pad of everything that I'm trying to control and manage in my life that's falling apart. And I said, "This will not do. No wonder my body is short circuiting." Neurologist had told me your nerves have short circuited and they need time to heal.

I put the list in my file folder and I put it in the file cabinet. And I said, "I'm casting this to the Lord. I will not pick these up anymore." And that was my casting ceremony and that helped me immensely. But the other thing that I will admit is that the doctor had told me where I carry my stress. And that these are physical symptoms. When I walked into his office he said, "You're a type A personality, you are overly conscientious, you're a perfectionist." And I said, "Yes, yes, yes, and?"

So he said, "You are high risk to develop stroke if you don't learn to manage your symptoms, recognize it and then take immediate action to to do whatever you can to chill." The book that helped me and I'll recommend this book, it's an old book, it's by Dr. Claire Weekes, and it's called "Hope and Help for Your Nerves." It lifted off of me the stigma that there was something mentally wrong with me. My body needed time to regroup and let the nerves heal. Because we can go through all kinds of things, whether it's heart palpitations or whether, like in my case, the numbness on the left side of the body, which does mimic a stroke. So I was having ocular migraine attacks, never having the headache, but experiencing all of the symptoms of a migraine.

Rejanne Morrison: This is this is huge because more and more in my practice, I'm seeing people struggling with anxiety and then finding very unhealthy ways like developing into OCD, paranoia, all kinds of you begin to go down that mental illness road rather than recognizing something's really wrong with me. And there there's nothing more horrible than having a panic anxiety attack because you do feel like you're going to die. But but Dr. Weekes talks about "Okay, you're going to go there, you're going to feel that. It's okay." It's kind of like Joyce Meyer, just push through it. You will live. You will live.

And all kinds of strategies for the listeners if they can identify with this, that, you know, you can just go on the web and look at some tips. I have some, you know, that are really whole body when it comes to managing anxiety. And the first one relates directly to what you're saying. For folks, I'm going to go back to those beliefs: "I'm responsible," "I'm alone in this," "It's up to me," "I have to I have to do this." The urgency of the "this" can create a real imbalance in our ability to rest, really rest. We can go to sleep, but that doesn't mean we're resting, right? We can have fitful sleep because we're so thinking about this thing that we have to do.

So getting that brake pedal engaged, like take breaks, get outside, go for a walk, feel the sunshine on your face. Exercise is hugely important. And I know in my life, I think we could be sisters. I'm that type A "make it happen, urgent, get it done. This is for the Lord!" my goodness. He expects the best. Yeah, "I'm supposed to sacrifice." But then that that becomes a real out-of-balance way of living. We don't breathe when we are struggling with anxiety. We're on guard. Well, we're getting too much oxygen in the body with the flight or fight symptom, which throws our body out of kilter.

That's right. But that deep rhythmic breathing and imagining, one of the things a little exercise I tell people to do is, I'm sitting in my office chair and it's really comfortable. We don't think about having faith that the chair will hold us up, it's just supposed to do that, right? We don't realize how tense we are all the time. And I tell people, do it do an exercise where you just get really tight with your muscles: arms, legs, shoulders, back, and then let it go. And do that a couple of times just to let your body know you know it's up tight and then do that rhythmic breathing. And that's four for me, four in and seven out. That's just mine what I do. But then it's "Lord, you are holding me. Like the chair's holding me. Your arms are around me. You are my stronghold. I want to breathe in your peace, your rest, your love for me, my safety in you. And I want to feel that. I don't want to just know it in my head. I want to feel it in my heart and gut."

For me, I love my tea in the morning and I can feel it going down into my tummy. And "Lord, I want to feel your presence in that way." So we want to practice the presence of the Lord and his peace.

Candace Long: That's what I was just going to say, because what you're talking about is really practicing the presence of God and that is beautiful. If you have a situation in your family that you'd like Rejanne to discuss, go to our main page at ShabbatShalomRadio.com and look for the button at the top that says Email the Show. I'm Candace Long and you've been listening to Families Under Attack with Rejanne Morrison. Join us next Saturday morning from 6:30 to 7. Shabbat Shalom. To listen to this program again, it's available in our archives at the bottom of our main Shabbat Shalom page. Our episodes are arranged by date, teacher, and topic. Coming up in the next hour is Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Michael Washer. Today, Rabbi and I conclude our lively discussion on the Hebrew Roots movement, which promotes the Two House Ephraimite doctrine. Get ready to learn. Stay tuned for the second hour on WEZE AM 590, our media partner for ShabbatShalomRadio.com.