CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 19 faith Summertime and the livin' ain't always easy! Consider Gershwin's lyrics, "Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." When managing prolonged difficulties, don't parents share partial truths for believ- ability? "e cotton is high" has a triple meaning. e first is that the cotton crop is thriving. Second, the cotton is ready to harvest at summer's end. Lastly, the selling price is high. Even though the boss is likely happy, the work is about to become taxing and stressful for the workers. Admittedly, the next line, "Oh, Your daddy's rich and your mamma's good lookin'" begins to stretch the truth. We can relate! Summer has a lot to celebrate, but it can zap our energy and seem to wear out its welcome well before au- tumn temperatures offer relief. As sum- mer mercilessly bears down on us, we utilize positive thinking to encourage ourselves to persevere. e burdensome circumstances of life are much like the effects of a pro- longed summer. We are ready for the resolution well before the breakthrough comes around. We feel faint! e emotional heaviness problems cause is much like heat exhaustion. Under normal circumstances the hu- man body can regulate its temperature. When the body overheats, it utilizes pro- cesses to cool down, including sweating. But if a person spends too much time in the heat without taking in enough flu- By PasTOr aL & Tava BrICE ids, the body's cooling processes can't work properly. When the body becomes dehydrated, it can no longer cool itself by sweating. When this happens, body temperature can rise perilously high re- sulting in serious ramifications. Neuro- logical and physiological imbalances are the result of prolonged stressors of heat and exertion. So how's YOUR summer? Is the heat index of peak temperatures and per- petual problems beginning to weigh you down? Your emotional response to endless tribulation is as normal as your body's response to heat exhaustion. We need to seek hydration and shelter. We need to cool down our emotional over- load. Quick! Take shelter under the shade of God's presence and drink this scripture deeply: Hope Mills Urgent Care & Medical Clinic Esther Oduche-Okons, FNP Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner Toby B. Okons, M.D. FAAC Board Certified Internal Medicine www.hopemillsurgent.com Accepting New Patients • Walk-Ins Welcome • Accepts Most Insurance (910) 429-0647 | 3758 South Main Street | Hope Mills, NC 28348 Primary Care Women's Wellness 2D Echocardiogram Sleep Center Physical Examinations Bone Density Test In-House Laboratory X-Rays Psalm 107 e Message (MSG) 107: 1-3 Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out. All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, en rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas. 4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live, Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion. en, in your desperate condition, you called out to God. He got you out in the nick of time; He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. So thank God for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves. He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat. S urely, that's how Momma's lullaby would've been worded if she were going to be completely honest while rocking her lil' darling. George Gershwin's "Summertime," composed for the musical Porgy and Bess hallmarked the difficult lifestyle of African-Americans in the 1940s. One might surmise that Gershwin's lyrics glossed over the hardships of these families, but isn't it just like a good parent to calm fears and inspire courage and hopefulness in their children?

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