Thinking back a few years I reflected on how I had the unsettling experience with my daughter's FIRST DAY college anxieties. No matter what I had to say, it wasn't the words she wanted to hear to calm her nerves. Even reminding her where and from who "fear" comes from, she still was not responsive. She had it set in her mind that this FIRST DAY was going to be the most AWFUL DAY, EVER!!
As she sat in class I was praying for her to be enveloped in Christ's presence to comfort her. I picked up a book and began reading a wonderful book written by Angela Thomas called "When Wallflowers Dance." It never ceases to amaze me how we can be in the middle of something and the Holy Spirit will lead us to a passage to read or we will run into someone who has just the right words to guide us. It just so happen this was one of those days.
Angela wrote of how her son was complaining that she had packed the wrong crackers in his lunch and he was adamant that because of it he was just going to have an AWFUL DAY! Her response was so beautiful that I just wanted to share it with you. If you are like me after reading her response you will never see making the statement "I am having an Awful Day" the same again.
Angela's response to her son regarding his Wrong Crackers/Awful Day experience was this: " …if we have an accident on the way to school, that's Awful; if someone we know gets very ill and ends up in the hospital, that is Awful. If a tornado blows our house away, that is the worse day ever…You will have an awful day only because your choosing to believe that in your mind!"
Then she followed up by saying these instructive words, "I want you to go into that school happy and thankful for every good gift God has given you. This is not an awful day. This is a day that the Lord has made. Believe in Him and His promises to you. I want you to smile at people and walk into your classroom looking for the person who needs your encouragement."
WOW! I needed those words that day and especially the beauty in her very last statement of looking for the person who needed His encouragement. What a blessing from a mother to a son the guidance wrapped in love. What a blessing to me in giving me insight as to calm my own child's anxiety that day. I later shared the story with my daughter and her response was very accepting and now the seed in planted for her to no longer see "Awful Day" the same again.
No more AWFUL DAYS because every day is a DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE…and he makes everything in perfection!!
(( hugs until next time ))