When Worries Multiply
Mothers, we have the gospel: we need not fear. And yet we do. A lot.
Our mothering fears are conceived with our children. We see two little blue lines, and we are tempted to worry. We worry about eating something bad, lifting something heavy, sleeping in the wrong position.
Then our baby is born, and we fret about her life outside the womb—her eating, sleeping, talking, walking, developmental progress.
Our child starts school and we fear he will never finish. Will he make friends, make good grades, make something of himself? No sooner does high school start and we begin to worry about college.
We worry about our children’s health, their education, their friends, and above all, the state of their souls.
But once our children leave home, get a job, get married--then we can stop worrying, right?
Not so fast. Instead of leaving with our children, new worries move in. In my case, I now have 16 people (including sons-in-law and grandchildren) to worry about instead of four!
And the world in which my grandchildren are growing up seems much scarier than the one in which I raised my children.
Mothers, we will never out-grow our need to trust God for our children.
But neither will we ever outgrow the faithfulness of God: “the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children” (Ps. 103:17).
Our mothering fears are conceived with our children. We see two little blue lines, and we are tempted to worry. We worry about eating something bad, lifting something heavy, sleeping in the wrong position.
Then our baby is born, and we fret about her life outside the womb—her eating, sleeping, talking, walking, developmental progress.
Our child starts school and we fear he will never finish. Will he make friends, make good grades, make something of himself? No sooner does high school start and we begin to worry about college.
We worry about our children’s health, their education, their friends, and above all, the state of their souls.
But once our children leave home, get a job, get married--then we can stop worrying, right?
Not so fast. Instead of leaving with our children, new worries move in. In my case, I now have 16 people (including sons-in-law and grandchildren) to worry about instead of four!
And the world in which my grandchildren are growing up seems much scarier than the one in which I raised my children.
Mothers, we will never out-grow our need to trust God for our children.
But neither will we ever outgrow the faithfulness of God: “the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children” (Ps. 103:17).
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