Sep 6, 2018
By Sarina Villalpando
Maranatha Community Church, Colton, CA
Step back and take a breath. Inhale. Exhale. Now, didn’t that feel great? Did you do it? No? We will try again. Inhale. Exhale. Good.
This year the SCSC team name was Breathe. For those who don’t know, every year all the students of SCSC agree on a general team name made up of the amount of letters of how many teams there are. We decided on Breathe—for multiple reasons, but let’s break this down.
We were created by a single breath. Genesis 2:7: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” One single breath helped bring the world into creation. Billions of people populate the earth because of a breath. It just shows how powerful God is. Imagine having so much power in one breath. Well guess what? You do. When it comes to the “overwhelming-ness” of life, it can be solved through breathing because breathing is what keeps us alive. God gave us this power of breathing and we need to take advantage of it.
The main reason our team chose the word breathe is because we needed to be reminded to do so when our projects got overwhelming. We were going out into action and needed to remember to pause and not let moments go by—but stop, take a second, and breathe in what is going on and see where God is working. We learned to not just see moments as busy, overwhelming, or too much to handle. Instead, we were taught to take that challenge as a God-working moment. Because in those most challenging moments, God is working.
Another reason we appreciated the word breathe is because a good handful of us deal with anxiety, panic attacks, or even just stress. It’s times like those that we forget to breathe. But just being able to look back at our team name brought this reminder to us to breathe. When you are having a panic attack, an anxiety attack, are panicked, nervous, or stressed— remember to breathe. Take a second and breathe. Breathe in the air that God created for you. Breathe in the air that was created because you are loved.
Remember to breathe. Inhale and exhale. Take that moment and make it your own. You are a child of the one true King and do not forget that.
For the purpose of this article and my own general curiosity,
I decided to ask people what the word breathe means to them. I need to share the responses I got in their words, not mine. So enjoy.
What does the word “Breathe” mean to you?
For me, most of the time, “breathe” simply means to empty and fill the lungs.
Sometimes, in emergency situations, “Breathe!” is a command given to help someone realize they are overwhelmed and overwrought—and they need to focus immediately on regaining a basic degree of composure.
Every now and then, as asthma kicks in, “Breathe” is what I tell myself, bringing deliberate focus to a system that is not automatically working correctly.
Once or twice a year, “Breathe” is a call to peace—recognizing that action, activity, decisions, and decision-making are not necessary—a call to simply live, watch, and enjoy the
activity of God and His people without feeling the compulsion to add to what is already complete.” — Andrew Camenga
“Breathe” is one of things that keep us alive. —Amanda Barbee
I think it’s something that we say to people when they need to take a sec and rest. Like when people are feeling like their lives are out of control—we remind them to “breathe.”
— Michaella Osborn
To me it means stop. Stop being afraid, stop stressing, or feeling like you want to give up. To me it means stop and just “breathe and move on…God’s got it” — Neda Carr
It’s a reminder we are human. Nobody is superhuman—we all have needs and desires that need to be fulfilled. All of us. We are all here attempting humanity together.”
—Willy Villalpando
“Breathe” means to pause, inhale what God gave us…life. To embrace it and exhale the negativity and chaos that this world has made us believe we have to live by. It’s a difficult thing to do…because, well, we are human.” — Angelita Garcia
To pause and collect yourself. To pause what you’re doing so you can come back to it with a clearer mind and more understanding.” — Rachael Osborn
As you go into action this year, remember to breathe.
When it gets tough, remember to breathe.
When it’s easy, remember to breathe.
Inhale in the moment and exhale out the word of God.