an overactive imagination

I read this quote the other day,
"Worry is a misuse of imagination. "    (Dan Zadra)


   Well...than I must have a pretty good imagination because it is embarrassing the places my mind can go to  sometimes out of fear and worry. You know like picturing Mark dead on the side of the road when I can't get a hold of him on his cell phone...yeah that kind of worry.
   But worry does not enrich my life today or stop things from happening tomorrow. I recently read an article in the Sunday paper about Micheal J. Fox where he is quoted saying, "Worry is pointless because if something bad does happen, then you've lived it twice." I never thought of it that way before.
   My mind is fresh on these thoughts after having just finished reading two different blogs about families facing adversity. I came away feeling both thankful and anxious...thankful for my current situation and anxious because there is no guarantees in life.
   But whenever I worry or let my overactive imagination run away from me I am leaving out a major part of the equation...God. And that was the common thread in both blogs I read...God had given them peace and strength to face the things life had thrown at them.

"A fear is a feeling about something that might  happen tomorrow or next week or next year. As you stand on the moment today and look ahead to that place, you feel afraid imagining that possibility. And you are imagining how you'll feel if that happens. But you don't know how God will prepare you or change your heart or provide for you when you get there....
God gives us the strength we need when we reach our place of need, not days or weeks or even moments before, when we are sitting around fretting about future possibilities.
And when we come face to face with the thing we fear the most He provides what we need.
And the fear disappears. Just like a mirage."

(quotes from Carol Kuykendall)

   The one blog I read was  http://nieniedialogues.com/  about a woman who was in an airplane crash and 80% of her body was burned. She just had her fifth baby, a girl, which kind of struck close to home. She writes and talks about how the crash as made her appreciate the gift of motherhood and thankful to be alive. She just came out with a book that I will probably now have to read.
   The other blog also hits close to home because it is Mark's cousin, Jeremy. The doctors found a tumor in his abdomen and are thinking it is cancer. Jeremy and Sabrina have three young children. We love these guys and are praying with and for them. If you want to read some of their journey check out http://js417.blogspot.com/  and keep this family in your thoughts and prayers!


And as for me, I am going to try to put my overactive imagination into good use and imagine holding this baby girl soon! I am choosing today to let go of fear and worry and trust the Lord who will never leave or forsake His children!