Too Blessed to Be Stressed by Debora M. Coty is a delightful book written to teach us how to get the negatives of stress, anxiety, worry, etc., out of our lives. Short, winsome chapters all start with a Scripture quotation and end with a few questions to help us get our minds in order to put these ideas into practice. I’ll whet your appetite for getting de-stressed with a few tidbits from the book.
From “Gray: The New Blond”: “… there are far too many other things to worry about [than gray hair]. And I should know; I latch on to vexation like a gator on a goose. Over the years I have honed the art of worry into a science. I’ve systematically and diligently transformed molehills into mountains. I’ve whipped pesky irritants into frothy, acetic colon-coaters and fretted over annoying burdens until they invaded my dreams.” Can you relate?
From “The Back Forty: Years, Not Acres”: “Wrinkles form in the dead of the night. You know, if I listen closely, I can hear my flesh creasing and crinkling when I pad to the bathroom in the wee hours. (It must’ve been a woman who coined the phrase wee hours on a midnight potty run.) And “There must be a way to use gravity to our advantage. Maybe ditching our bras would pull the wrinkles out of our faces. But then we’d have to tuck our bosoms into our knee-highs to keep from tripping over them.”
“Humility Becomes You” gives us this instruction on humility: “My friend Rich, a teacher and father, has an infections attitude of humility. When teachers at the Christian school where he worked were told that budget cuts necessitated that staff assume janitorial duties, grumbling broke out among the ranks. During the protests and discussion that ensued, Rich quietly disappeared with the cleaning supplies. When discovered scrubbing toilets on his knees, Rich replied, ‘Kneeling at this throne is no different than kneeling at God’s throne—it’s all for His glory!’”
“Nurturing Girlfriends”—a very important de-stressor. [Talking about those runs in the wee hours] “Girls bond over such dribble, er, I mean drivel. Yes, girlfriends fill in the holes in our relationships with others … especially the sinkholes. Girlfriends make us laugh when we least expect it.” Aren’t you ever so grateful for yours?
And your last tidbit—you need to buy the book!—from “Dead Last.” “… our God is not a random God … For His specialty, His forte, His marvelous operational technique is to use inadequate, frightened people to serve as His hands and feet. Yahweh’s courage is more than enough … brilliant, really. Then there’s no doubt whom the real rescuer is.”
I laughed out loud, giggled endlessly, and had “doh!” moments reading Too Blessed To Be Stressed
. You will, too! You’ll also want to pick up the Too Blessed to be Stressed edition of The Bible Promise Book: Too Blessed to Be Stressed Edition
Debra and I giggled and yakked our way through our interview. Turning serious, Debra said that today stress is a front and center problem for many, many women. We have to take active steps to decompress ourselves. She writes women’s issues books that have sold more than 80,000 copies. As a matter of fact, Too Blessed to be Stressed has given birth to eleven offspring!
“What did you learn from writing this book, Debra?”
“Deb, I confirmed that there is no one way to become an expert in de-stressing. There are a variety of techniques and coping skills. I found you never really have a handle on it and have to be flexible and keep trying new things.”
Debra started writing at age forty-five. She said God told her, “Debra, it’s time.” Prior to starting to write, Debra was an occupational therapist specializing in hands for twenty-five years, The book that has most impacted her life other than the Bible was Christy by Catherine Marshall. She has been married to Chuck for thirty-six-plus years; they have two children in their 30s, Christy (named for Catherine Marshall’s heroine) and Matthew. Debra has had ten articles published in the last year and writes a column for the newspaper called “Grace Notes.”
Debra has an AA degree from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Florida. She has taken the Brandeis course for Christian writers and faithfully attends the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference. One of her de-stressors is playing tennis—she admits to being an addict. She always wears a hat and has them in every imaginable color. When I asked her why hats, she replied, “I never have a bad hair day and don’t even have to touch up my roots very often.” With a last giggle and a wave, she was off to brighten someone else’s day.