I do not feel like I have always been an anxious person, I actually do not think I really ever was an anxious person until motherhood. And it is interesting because I trust God is fully in control of the big things in our lives, I know that He has a plan for my marriage, and for my kids and their future. It is often the smaller things that I feel anxious about, getting things done around the house, when to do the grocery shopping, managing that time after school and before dinner when its so chaotic and there is a lot to get done, it is the many times during a day where I feel over stimulated that I need to take a step away in order to pray and calm myself down.
One thing I have learned as a mom is how much our kids are reflections of us. One of our kiddos will worry about so many little things, and as an adult I find myself thinking “why is she worried about that?!?” She spends time worrying about things that may not even happen or something that does not sound like a big deal. At the same time though I am so able to relate to her! It is easy for me to think “why is she worried about her water bottle running out at school” because I know she can refill it. But at the same time I will worry about little things at home. I love how God uses our children to refine ourselves, I have to remember that I am often turning to prayer over little worries throughout my day and teach her to do the same.
This week we all have been feeling a bit anxious as Eva has to have a tube removed from her ear. When she was two she had the tubes put in and one tube has fallen out but not the other. In my head I know this is a simple procedure and fully trust that everything will go according to plan. I know we will be back home that same afternoon resting and my gut is telling me that she will be back to her normal self by the next day! My greater prayer is that overall this helps her ear pain because that ear is very sensitive to water and pain in general.
I recently saw something online that talked about “mom time” which basically showed what time you have to leave and then subtracted how long it takes to get everything ready before that. I think that is often how mom’s brains work and that is where some of the anxiety or worry comes from. It’s not necessarily the surgery itself (which does have some worry, I hate to think about a kiddo hooked up to any tubes or IVs) but its also everything else that goes into it. The multiple phone calls with doctors, the surgery center and insurance, getting the other kids situated, prepping meals ahead of time, etc. Honestly, there is so much that goes into motherhood and the home on a normal week, when something different is going on it typically means more to get situated. There are so many mental gymnastics that happens getting everything in order, it is only natural for anxiety to come with it. And that doesn’t include the amount of work that has gone into helping you little ones walk through emotions as all of this change in routine is happening!
I have shared this resource before but I am going to share it again because this is one of our most used parenting books. Parenting with Scripture is not a book you read front to back in order, but it is broken down by topic, so you can jump to the pages you need based on what you are working through with your children. It gives multiple pieces of scripture that you can read and then some action items based your kids age. A few weeks ago Eva was having a very tough time just with things in general. Our kids, just like any kids their age, are going to get emotional or act out when they are feeling big emotions that they aren’t able to articulate. Eva had done something to a sibling and I sent her up to her room to wait for me, and the Holy Spirit prompted me to look up “worry” in Parenting with Scripture. It struck me that when I am feeling worried and anxious that I also will “act out” or feel emotional. We read the scripture together and talked about it and then did the activity.
This book allows us to pray before disciplining because we often send the kid to their room and that gives us time to grab the book, look up the topic and read the scripture before going to see our kiddo. It gives you time to take some deep breaths and turn to God before disciplining which also helps to not discipline out of frustration. If I didn’t have this book with me on that weekend, I certainly would not have been making a worry bag with Eva. I didn’t even know what a worry bag was! But the main scripture we focused on was 1 Peter 5:7
“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
I focused on the second part of that scripture highlighting that we can give our worries to Jesus because he CARES for us. The activity was to take a lunch bag and have your kiddo decorate it, it would become their worry bag. Then you take pieces of paper and write down your worries. Once Eva had decorated her bag and written all her worries down we prayed over each one before she added it to the bag. Then we left the bag on our island all week as a reminder that we can cast our anxieties on Jesus. At the end of the week we opened the bag up and talked about each worry. As we took each one out she shared with me how it worked out that week and whether or not it’s a worry she still has. It turned out that all of her worries had been worked out in very practical ways. She had a new confidence that worries may feel big but can be worked out.
We will be doing another worry bag the night before her surgery and while I do not make worry bags it can translate into my prayer journal. Writing out my worries and then praying over them helps a lot, and I love looking back on previous entries to see how God walked me through that anxiety and led me to a place of peace.
I am going to leave you with some of my favorite scriptures to pray when I am feeling anxious and pray that you feel Jesus taking worries from you, I pray that you can do just what 1 Peter says and cast them on Him, remembering that He cares for you.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” - Philippians 4:6-7
“But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” - 2 Corinthians 12:9
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” - Matthew 11:28-30
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” - Isaiah 12:2
Blessings, Ellen
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