The Cure for Anxiety

Don’t worry about your life

what you will eat or what you will drink

 or about your body, what you will wear.

 Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 

Look at the birds of the sky: 

They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, 

yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Aren’t you worth more than they? 

Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 

And why do you worry about clothes? 

Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: 

they don’t labor or spin thread. 

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon 

in all his splendor 

was adorned like one of these! 

If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, 

which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, 

won’t He do much more for you

 — you of little faith? 

So don’t worry

saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ 

or ‘What will we drink? ’

 or ‘What will we wear? ’ 

For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, 

and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things will be provided for you. 

Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, 

because tomorrow will worry about itself. 

Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25-34

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"When you operate in the principles of Jesus, you will change your brain."

Dr. Caroline Leaf  

Cognitive Neuroscientist

**Interesting stuff in the above YouTube link by Dr. Leaf. Take some time to watch ...I have a few opinions on this, but I do love the connection of science and Jesus.

fog

I've been in a strange fog,
I feel like I've been in a fog since last spring when my chipper, not-so-athletic self went out for a anger-aversion run. You know the type - either yell inappropriate things at your child or anyone that gets in the way, or get outta Dodge and run like ...
It's better to run I tell ya.
I put on some shorts. I laced up my running shoes and got out of the house.
On that run, I fell. Not just an awkward, can't believe I did that and boy will I feel bruised tomorrow kind, but the slam my body to the ground and break a shoulder kind. I screamed and yelled and cried the whole way to ER while my sister just nodded, and winced (she has serious shoulder issues) and empathized, never once sending a judgmental comment my way ... thank you very much Karen!

The broken shoulder landed in the midst of a few years of chaos, sadness, uncertainty and often fear for my family - for ones I love so much. Months of beautiful moments and months of impossible moments have followed. Exhausting.

...

I've been writing more lately. I've been playing with my sweet grandbaby whenever possible.

I went for a walk yesterday, then again today.

Sometimes that's what it takes. When the fog starts to dissipate - even just a bit.
Lace up your running shoes and go for a walk, just be very careful.

Thanks for answering my prayer God, but no thanks ...

I'm a blasted wretch! 

What happens when you're told that this is your last day at work.
You didn't see it coming
You need the money
You like where you work and you thought  you were doing a good enough job, maybe even - pause - a great job (this is coming from a woman in her 50's who hasn't worked full-time for a very, very long time - insecurity can be a menopausal woman's very best friend I'm telling ya)

Me
That happened to me.
But I have to apologize for misleading because, well
God listens, and sometimes His answers come so quickly and are so obvious

On the way to work that miraculous, heart-wrenching day,
   after a chiropractor appointment that followed a car accident earlier that week,
   that came on the heels of a nasty drug withdrawal (don't judge)
   immediately preceded by a few weeks of bronchitis ...

I was exhausted. I had the audacity -insert sarcastic tone- to ask God for help
God I'm exhausted. I can't hold all this together any more.
Not 4 hours later I found myself packing up my desk!
What is that?
When my boss first called me in to let me know (small company, limited resources) I was Blown Away! I could go home early. I didn't have to come back the next day with my feel-like-I-was-hit-by-a-truck-body.
It was so direct. It was so obvious. I was so grateful...
For all of two hours.

Like a a good whip-lash story, the pain isn't always immediate - but let me tell you, it does show up.
Like a good God-took-care-of-it-fast story, we don't always hang around to thank Him, to give Him credit. I think I was caught up in my what will people think brain. And that stupid self-esteem thing? It slithered in and took over. It actually knocked the beauty of the answered prayer right out of me.
I'm a blasted wretch! 

Thank You Jesus that it's not too late to say Thank You for the pause. 
Thank You for giving me what I needed when I needed it.
Thanks for giving me a great job with some great people for the time I had it. 
Forgive me for not trusting you with my self worth, our money, my tired body. 

And finally, if I try to take all of this back in the next couple of hours, 
please restrain me.  
Amen.