"My Help Comes From the Lord"

Wow! What a crazy weekend. It began with a sick baby and vaccinations, and ended with a windstorm, raging fires and a possible evacuation. It is these kinds of days that remind me that I can do nothing in my own strength and how glad I am that I serve a God who is in control of it all.

There is nothing worse, as a parent, than the helpless feeling of not being able to help your baby feel better. I may seem like a fairly calm mom most of the time, but it all changes when Lillian gets sick. This will be about the third cold she has had in her short ten months of life so far. Each time, despite the fact that it is nothing worse than a cold, I always feel like it is the end of the world. I'm worried, I stress, I get emotional and weepy. I'm realizing more and more that this stems from a lack of trust in God. How foolish to not trust the God who created the world, the God who knows all and sees all, the God who loves me enough to send His only Son to die for me. How can I not trust Him with my daughter, with my family? He, after all, was the One who gave them to me in the first place.

It was an almost surrealistic feeling tonight as her daddy and I listened to the radio and checked the news sites to see that we should be preparing for possible evacuation. The crazy wind was not helping as fires raged throughout our southern regions. As I packed some things, her daddy was completely calm, as is pretty usual for him, while I paced and packed and fretted over what I would want to have if our house burnt down. Her daddy pointed me to the One I needed pointing to, again. Thankfully the fires were able to be brought under control and we never got the official notice to evacuate.

Nevertheless, all of this craziness from the weekend got me thinking about where I seek my comfort. I feel as though I am somewhat of a control freak. If I'm not in control I tend to panic or worry. Is God trying to wake me up? Is He trying to get a hold of me by placing me in situations that I can't control? As I cuddle my stuffy-nosed darling and she snuggles into my shoulder seeking comfort, I think of how much easier my life would be if every time I was "sick" or distressed, I looked to my Father for comfort before anyone or anything else!

Smoke from one of the fires. This fire later jumped the coolie

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"Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is." Anne Voskamp

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enought trouble of its own." Jesus (Matthew 6:34)