I'm a bit of a worrier. My first anxiety: 1st grade. My teacher, Mrs. Bennett, was a stern woman with a knack for guilt trips. At the start of the year, she evaluated our "acheivement levels," and put the class into ranked groups. I was placed in the highest reading group, with the smart kids and the kids whose parents had done Hooked on Phonics with them at home. I was probably the dumbest (ahem..."lowest achieving") kid in the group.
Each week went as follows: Monday we took a spelling "pre-test" on the words for our group. My group always got the hardest words. One example: giraffe. (**Just now, I went to dictionary.com to make sure "giraffe" doesn't have two r's, and I was 6 years old at the time, and had just learned to read) Anyway, we had Tuesday through Thursday to study our list of 10 words, and on Friday mornings, we took a "final exam." If I didn't get 100% on the this test, the paper frog bearing my name would not hop to the next paper lilypad, and I would be left behind my reading group. The kids used to get so stressed out on Fridays that Mrs. Bennett would play "Don't Worry, Be Happy" on the boombox when we came in from recess.
Since then, my anxiety has covered a range of issues. I've worried about everything from good grades to finances, politics to gardening. Lately I worry about being a good wife and a good mother in the future, and I have irrational fears about Jeremy dying in a car accident on his way home from work (a three-minute drive where he never goes over 30 mph). My anxiety level has never been too extreme - nothing that interrupts my daily life - but I know I should be less worried about little things and more focused on enjoying my incredibly blessed life. I should be "counting it all joy." So that's what I'm working on right now.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endourance.
James 1: 2-3 (NIV)
Don't worry about tomorrow or get caught up in what might or might not happen. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:34 (The Message)
1 comment:
I totally agree! Mrs. Bennett was horried...at least you were placed in the top reading group, I was in the lowest with all the other stupid kids. To this day I think she is the reason why I don't like to read!
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