June 2026
Issue 243

Hobbies help your mental health

This month's feature article may not be as unexpected as last month's, but it's an equally important anxiety tamer.

It's indisputable: Hobbies help your mental health. Not only do they distract you from your worries, but they increase the good natural chemicals in your body and decrease that dangerous stress hormone, cortisol.

I've been a hobbyist all my life: fishing, photography, reading, drawing and painting, owning a dog, and even cooking. A few years ago I discovered colored pencils and have turned out dozens of drawings since then, giving many of them to friends. Not one has conked me over the head with one yet.

June's feature article will show you why you need a hobby, and why you may need a different one if your current hobby isn't doing what it should.

Oh, and there's a bonus article on how to choose a hobby too. Check out how hobbies help your mental health.

Make the most

We spend our days in old routines
on tasks we've always done.
We never pay attention
to how fast the hours can run.

Then you look into the mirror
and find out your hair is gray.
What happened to the things
that you were gonna do someday?

So spend your treasure wisely
in the time you travel on.
Make the most of every minute,
before your days are gone.

~ Jack Zavada, inspiration-for-singles.com, 2026 ~

How to get your enthusiasm back

We singles tend to do things that are comfortable. Yeah, I like my routine too, but even household chores go easier when you do them with enthusiasm. I get energized by thanking God I have a house that requires chores!

You too can banish dullness and drudgery. You can put pep in your step and pride in your stride. You can make people look at you and ask, "What up with that one?"

How? Read this article then do it!

"You can't be happy by making yourself miserable."

We singles make ourselves miserable in a thousand ways, from replaying the past to being our own worst critic. What we focus on tends to color our life, even when it isn't true.

Hope for Hurting Singles can help you stop that. It's a Christ-centered guidebook for change, showing you step-by-step how to overcome:

• Loneliness
  
• Shyness
  
• Rejection
  
• Depression
  
• Fear
  
• Bitterness
  
• Low self-esteem

Stop making yourself miserable. Use the techniques Jack Zavada discovered during 45 years of the single life, weeding out the ineffective by trial-and-error until he identified a dozen biblically sound principles for change—permanent change.

You'll learn how to detect harmful thinking in your own life and how to replace it with constructive self-talk instead. You'll build the confidence to be assertive, knowing Jesus Christ is the bedrock of your self-esteem.

Hope for Hurting Singles delivers. The paperback is $10.99 and the Kindle version is $3.99. Order your copy today and invest in a kinder, happier future.

Tips on growing closer to God

It works the same way with God. God already loves you. In fact, he's head over heels in love with you, so to speak. He proved that without question when he sacrificed his only Son to die for your sins.

But how can you grow closer to God? How can you make your relationship more real, more intense?

This short article is jammy-packed with practical tips on how to do just that. It's not as hard as you think, but it does require a decision on your part.

Here's one in our "Food for Thought" series, Keep growing closer to God.

June QOTM: Distract yourself

Bill Malone, of Chicago, started stage magic as a hobby at 17 and turned it into a successful career, appearing on network television, in clubs, and entertaining at corporate events all over the country.

While all of us won't take that route with our hobbies, they're definitely a smart way to reduce stress and add enjoyment to your life. My hobbies include drawing and painting, reading, cooking, and taking care of my dog, Neville.

If you don't have a hobby now, I strongly recommend you investigate this worthwhile pastime. It will introduce you to interesting people and help you develop hidden talents. See this month's feature article for more.

Great for reading, coloring, giving to a BFF

To my surprise, it became one of the most popular freebies I offer on inspiration-for-singles.com. It's biblically sound, reverent, and tells the gospel story in 10 pages.

It makes a great grown-up coloring book. You can also give it to a friend who doesn't yet know the Lord.

Download your F/REE pdf copy at F"REE Jesus comic book.

Make wise use of a precious thing

Long before I hit my 75th birthday last month, I realized time is a precious thing, and like water, we take it for granted and tend to waste it. You have roughly eight hours a day that's your own. You work eight or ten hours, sleep seven or eight hours (most of us less), and have time between the two to yourself. What are you doing with it?

Here's a rare thing: I'm not going to scold you. I simply want you to rethink how you're using your time. As this month's feature article points out, hobbies can not only improve your mental health, but they can enrich your life at the same time. Sometimes a hobby can even turn into a business.

We have to deliberately make time for God. I use my time during breakfast to squeeze in some Bible reading—I always have. Yep, that means you have to get up earlier so you're not ramrodding a muffin down your piehole while you're dashing out the door. Trust me. Spending 10 or 15 minutes in God's Word before you start your day can be so encouraging.

You and I don't have to make sparkling conversation across the breakfast table because there's nobody there. I use a bookstand so I can read while I eat. That's multitasking, single friend.

Try it. You'll get fed twice.

Singles and debt

Credit cards and phone apps have made it sinisterly easy to overspend, and that's exactly what creditors want. While it may feel cool to just tap and walk away, it's not so cool when the bills show up. Indebtedness can turn into a nerve-racking problem, one that takes a change in attitude to solve for good. To get a lasting handle on debt, you'll have to act very differently from your friends. You'll be in for ridicule, and you may even have to end some relationships. That's the test of how serious you are about getting out from under.

If you're scared about a mountain of bills, here's some tough love truth about debt.

Maybe you'll need this some day...

Prayer is how we communicate with God the Father, the Worker of Wonders. He wants to hear from us, as any loving father would. What's more, he has the ultimate power to change things.

The singles listed below have asked for prayers from you.. Please call on our mutual Father to help them. On behalf of these folks, thank you.

Here are the requests for June:

Natalie: Freedom from pride, anger, despondency, shame and depression.

Dawn: Peace, calm, direction.

Lisa: Physical healing for her brother.

Jenny: Emotional healing.

Cherlyn: Physical and emotional healing.

If you'd like to be listed on the Inspire-O-Gram prayer list, send your request through our secure Contact Form..

That, fellow single, concludes the June Inspire-O-Gram. Thanks for allowing me the privilege to visit you via email. It's a treat for me, and I hope for you.

I've got a soul-healing message planned for the July issue. Watch your inbox about the 22nd. Until then, God bless!

PS: Not a Christian yet? Find out how to become a Christian.