#TuesdayTreasures Guest Post by Saundra Dalton-Smith

Good Morning Friends,

As you know I always love bringing new-to-me authors to your attention and today is no exception.

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is an author, speaker, and board-certified physician. She has an active medical practice in Alabama (near the Birmingham area). She received her B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Georgia, and graduated with honors from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Baker College and Davenport University in Michigan teaching courses on health, nutrition, and disease progression. Dr. Dalton-Smith is a national and international media resource on the mind, body, spirit connection and has been featured in Women’s Day, Redbook, and First For Women magazine. She is the author of “Set Free to Live” and “Come Empty” (winner 2016 Golden Scroll Nonfiction Book of the Year and 2016 Illumination Award Gold medalist). She is a member of the Christian Medical and Dental Association and a repeat keynote speaker at their annual gathering. She has shared her tips on merging faith and medicine with over 16,000 health care professionals to encourage the current and next generation of doctors to treat the whole person. Find out more about Saundra at http://ichoosemybestlife.com.

Welcome Saundra! So happy to have you share something you treasure with us today....

This little gift was hand-picked by my 11-year-old son after learning about my publishing contract for Sacred Rest. It perfectly captures his love for science and his adventurous nature. His ladybug pen was an excellent reminder that God speaks through creation.  We are often just too busy rushing to enjoy the beauty around us. We don’t see the small wonders because we are so focused on the big picture.  One of the challenges from Sacred Rest is to make space in our lives to allow God to revive us through rest. I describe seven different types of rest, one of which is creative rest. I define creative rest as the experience of allowing beauty to inspire awe and liberate wonder. What better example in nature than the ladybug?

When writing, I can spend hours pouring out over my laptop, and it can quickly drain my creative reserves. This little ladybug pen would encourage me to take breaks from my word count goals. I would head outside and ask God to show me the small doses of beauty hidden in my yard. God was faithful to use those moments of rest to restore my energy and revive my creativity.

I now keep a copy of the pen on my writing desk as tangible evidence that my writing journey may happen in solitude but it is a family journey. They may not be in the room with me when I write, but they are dreaming with me and supporting me with their love and acceptance along the way.

Awww....Saundra, how sweet!  This is definitely something to treasure always! Thanks for sharing! Now tell us a little about your newest release, Sacred Rest.....

Staying busy is easy. Staying well rested— there’s a challenge.
How can you keep your energy, happiness, creativity, and relationships fresh and thriving in the midst of never-ending family demands, career pressures, and the stress of everyday life? In Sacred Rest, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine doctor, reveals why rest can no longer remain optional.

Dr. Dalton-Smith shares seven types of rest she has found lacking in the lives of those she encounters in her clinical practice and research-physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, creative—and why a deficiency in any one of these types of rest can have unfavorable effects on your health, happiness, relationships, creativity, and productivity. Sacred Rest combines the science of rest, the spirituality of rest, the gifts of rest, and the resulting fruit of rest. It shows rest as something sacred, valuable, and worthy of our respect.

By combining scientific research with personal stories, spiritual insight, and practical next steps, Sacred Rest gives the weary permission to embrace rest, set boundaries, and seek sanctuary without any guilt, shame, or fear.

Learn more and purchase a copy HERE.

Sounds like a book we could all benefit from reading. Thank you so much for dropping by. I pray you enjoyed today's post as much as I did and that you'll stop by often for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.
PamT