Friday, February 25, 2011

"Scare Tactics"

Motherhood is downright scary. Questions constantly creep into the mind and paralyze decisions. What if I don’t breastfeed for the full 6 months? What if I don’t breast feed at all? What if I don’t give my baby organic , hand-blended food? What if my child doesn’t start crawling as soon as my sister’s kid? What if they roll over, pull the blanket on their face, and can’t get it off? What if they fall out of their crib? What if they fall off their bike? What if the car door accidentally swings open and they fall out? What if you accidentally drop them? What if the stroller gets away from you while you’re pushing the cross walk button and a giant truck that decided to take the back road detour is coming by at that exact moment and barrels into the stroller? What if you leave them too long in the jumpy thing and their legs don’t develop properly and they are bow legged? What if a strand of hair gets wrapped around their toe, cutting off the circulation which leads to an inflamed and swollen toe that needs to be amputated? (it can happen people…I just read the “It happened to me” blurb in Parents magazine) 

WHAT IF?????

Gosh! If you were a worrier like me before you had kids, you’re a manic worrier now. I guess everybody is at least a little scared. Many times what makes it so frightening are the books upon books written or websites upon websites dedicated to answering all the “what if” questions one has.  It would be much less terrifying if the “what if” questions I have didn’t have case scenarios and examples; especially the “what if’s” that are so out of this world!! Seriously, does Parents magazine need a “It happened to me” section?

To make matters worse, there is a “googling” epidemic among us. Panic is rampant when you google an illness, symptom, or common complaint. The answers you find put a person with a common cold possibly bald, crippled, or dying within 3 months. 

We have created our own episodes of Scare Tactics. Have you ever seen that show on the Syfy channel? I now live with an imaginary Tracy Morgan in my brain that comments on the “what if’s” that play out in my mind. (here is a link in case you're unaware: Scare Tactics) In the end, the truth is that I was set up and I really had nothing to be worried about to begin with.

Oh the scariness that is motherhood. Motherhood is a laden with worry because our kids depend on us to know what to do and when to do it and how to do it and if we should do it and…..*deep breath.* Motherhood is scary because we love our little ones so much that we worry we won’t do what we need to do when we need to do it! In the end, the truth is that God is in control and He has set us up to be able to have nothing to be worried about to begin with! This is not to say I won’t ever worry, however, there is no need for Tracy Morgan to be living in my head!! 

Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message) Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. 

2 comments:

  1. Everything you said is so true. I worry....a lot, about a lot of things, but like you said, in the end, God is in control. Caleb is SO rough. He is all boy and bumps his head a lot and falls when he plays, typical kid, boy things. I don't even need to tell you what I worry about when this happens. I cringe every time though. Thank you for that verse....it's so perfect and so right on time. Not only for my baby worries, but all of my life worries! :) I hope you've had a fabulous weekend!!!

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  2. Robert had a hair toe tourniquet. We took him to the ER in Michigan. They called in a surgeon to remove the suspected hair. It all turned out okay! We called him "Robertoe" for a while :-)

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