Worry

To worry or not to worry, that is the question. Whether tis nobler..(somehow that phrase keeps going through mind.) I'm doing a Bible study called Controlling Your Pests ( Ridding Your Life of Bad Habits) by Ross Brodfuehrer. Today's lesson was on worry. We are told very specifically in the Bible, not to worry. So why do we? I'm kind of over worrying about the big things-death, taxes. Both of those are inevitable and out of my control. Taxes- way out of control, that's a whole different story, and country. It is amazing what you find out about the tax system when you have income from out of our country. More than you don't want to know....

Matt.6:34 tells us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So what are your greatest treasures? Mine are my kids, husband, extended family and friends. So where are most of my worries? With them. The older kids get, the more there is to worry about. My almost 27 year old son has recently taken up mountain bike riding. In Utah- BIG mountains, narrow paths, a mother's nightmare. He is so enthusiastic about it that I have to keep the quiver out of my voice when he tells me about his adventures. Probably the less I know the better. And I thought sending him off to kindergarten was hard.

Then there is the aging parent thing. Many of my dear friends have gone through extremely difficult circumstances that I have yet to face. When it will happen and what it will look like for me ?

There are the life decision worries for myself , husband, and my kids- jobs, retirement, relationships, education, happiness, the list goes on. So I thought about what worrying has done/ not done for me. I want to try the bullet option, so here goes:

Worrying

• Doesn't change anything
• Causes stress
• Takes my focus off what is important
• Drives people crazy when I am complaining all the time (ask my husband)
• Makes me bake
• Makes me gain weight ( see above)
• Keeps me awake at night
• Racks up my phone bill (well it use to, now it uses up my minutes)
• takes my focus off my trust in God
• turns hair gray-oh wait, already there
• makes for bad manicures
• makes me tired

There is a diddlybop thing (like the That Was Easy Staples thing) that sits on my desk at work that says worry with a not sign through it and it plays this song ( sorry, don't know who to give credit to):

Push button; you hear lively Jamaican music, a man, whistling , singing:

"Here's a little song I wrote . Might want to sing it note by note, don't worry be happy."

And I push it again and again and again.

If I worry, I am not content. So I will trust and continue to be content even in my state of worry.