Avoiding Overwhelm

A friend of mine taught me some interesting statistics about "worry".

• 80% of what people worry will happen doesn't happen.
• Of the 20% that does happen, 80% of it isn't as bad as what people worried it would be.

Because "worry" is an unproductive pastime incapable of changing anything, when we engage in the practice of worrying, we rob ourselves of valuable solution-finding time and resources.

I met a young man today who has a daughter about the same age as Talitha. The nature of the conversation was such that he needed a history of what was happening with Talitha and so I gave him substantial detail very quickly. He clearly was disturbed by what he heard. I can only imagine he was horrified at the thought that such things could happen to someone as young as his baby daughter. (In other words, my story was hitting a little too close to home for him.)

I've done my share of worrying through the years. To date, my parental worrying has not prevented mishaps from colliding with my children no matter how carefully I "knock-on-wood".

While I've not been able to place my children in a protective bubble, I've learned that regardless of the trial, Christ has the power to effectively repair, heal, restore, balance, improve, teach, console, inspire, redeem, provide, and forgive. Trusting in the Lord is a great substitute for worry. Trusting in Him promotes pro-active preparation that doesn't prevent challenge but does provide rapid access to His infinite supply.

So we're trying to learn to trust more and worry less and that helps us avoid some of the overwhelm that tends to lurk along the dark hallways of extended trial.

I hope the pictures posted with today's entry can help clarify that joy is a part of the journey. Between all the Methotrexates and Cisplatins are pocketfulls of smiles, goofy fun, and tight hugs from little arms.