Worrying Away....

A couple nights ago, one of my very good friends called me to vent. She was having a bit of a panic attack because she was about to face a lot of big life changes all at once. These are all good changes, but any change, especially after being in a safe and stable routine for years, is a little scary.

I told her it was normal to be freaked out when a bunch of changes are in sight. I told her to focus on one change at a time and not to worry about everything all at one time. Pace yourself. Have confidence. Know that a little bit of extra effort will be needed in some areas of your life that wasn't needed before.

She said my advice made her feel a lot better. She had calmed down a little bit. I was happy to help my friend.

Sigh... isn't it funny how you can readily give out advice, but you can't follow it yourself?

So why can't I follow my own advice?

On Saturday night I couldn't sleep. I was awake with worry. What if I didn't get the job? What would I do from there? What if I did get the job? Moving would be stressful. What kind of contributions could I make to my job? Ryan and I were going to discuss getting pregnant again in a couple of months...would my job get in the way? Would something always get in the way of having children? What if I did get pregnant soon...could I find a babysitter? How would me starting a new job affect our finances? Will Ryan ever find a job with better hours? Could we ever buy a house? Are we going to be stuck in an apartment forever?

Here I was worrying about a job I haven't gotten, a child I haven't had and a house I've never seen.

Here I was freaking out about everything at once. I wasn't focusing on one thing at a time. At this point I need to focus on preparing to hear back about this job opportunity. Then we'll see where that takes me.

One thing that I failed to mention to my friend is that we are not in charge. That job belongs to God. I've mentioned it before- I need to "let go, and let God." He is the one who knows the best path for us to take and He will take care of us in our time of need and fear. Sometimes I wish God would just send me an email to tell me what I needed to do next. But He is such a loving Father that He gives us the freedom to choose how we move down the path of life. I sometimes fear that I am not following His will. But again, He is so merciful that he gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us in the right direction.

We all worry, and that's a normal part of life. We just have to remember to add God into all parts of our life.