I was already a world-class worrier
long before the current crises we face …
before the Coronavirus …
before the tornados hit my middle Tennessee neighbors.
I remember the nights in my childhood,
when I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid.
I remember my mom helping me cut out
a scripture passage from my Sunday School lesson.
We taped it to the dresser mirror in my bedroom.
“Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”
Mom and I would read the scripture when she tucked me in.
I could read it in the night if I was afraid.
I repeated the passage until the words became a part of me,
until the words began to pray themselves in the silence of the darkness.
“Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”
These days, I light candles.
The light of them shines
into the darkness of this world,
into the darkness of my worries.
The light says, “Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank God for the answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. God’s peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:6-7, The Living Bible
All the Wonders 
Thanks Beth. Blessings to you.c
Oh Beth. I can be a world class worrier too, and I was especially good at it as a child. I would get up a lot at night, to tell my parents something I was worried about. My Dad would say “Why do you always worry about these things at night? You have all day to worry about them.” But then he would ask “Will this matter in 100 years?” The answer was almost always no, but of course, some things really matter now, whether or not they will be long lasting. Praying for everyone in Nashville, and all across our country, as we are confronted with so many things about which to worry. May God help us turn our worry into action wherever we can make a difference!