From Fear to Trust
As a young mom, I was fearful a lot of the time. This was new territory for me. When I was a teenager, I was often fearful of what other people thought of me but not afraid of the daily pace of life.
Now this helpless little baby depended on me for everything, and I was afraid. Would I drop her? Was I feeding her the right foods? How did I keep her from running away in the parking lot and maybe getting hurt by a car?
Oh moms, I can feel your fear, taste it even. Your crushing anxiety, your postpartum blues. I’ve been there, lived that.
Two years later, another little girl arrived, and I had to face those fears again. This time I was overwhelmed to the point of tears. No one had told me it would be this difficult to have parts of my heart outside my body and then have to watch them crawl and run around.
But then, God stepped in.
I had friends, slightly older women from church, who recognized my signs of distress and stepped in to help. They held my hand, prayed for me, sent me encouraging notes. Some even offered their own teenaged children to watch my little ones so I could relax and get back to focusing on our women’s Bible study group and what we were learning together.
I took a step away from fear and towards trust.
Each year that passed brought new challenges. They also brought new opportunities to learn to trust God more. In one ten-year span, my husband was laid off four times. Not because he had done anything wrong at work, simply because of downsizing. Oh, the opportunities to choose between fear and trust were waiting around every corner!
Over the years, there have been many times when I fell back into choosing fear over faith. I am so thankful that God is faithful even when I am faithless. He has never abandoned me. He always sends me reminders of His love through His people around me.
Today, are you the fearful Mama, or the one who chooses to trust God? Who in your friend group or circle of influence is behind you on this journey and needs you to shine some of Jesus’ light on their path to help them walk towards trust? Who do you know that is ahead of you on the path that you could ask to pray for you?
We are on this journey together. No woman is too far lost to fear that she cannot be redeemed and learn to trust our Heavenly Father. None of us are so refined that we are finished. There is always room to learn to trust Him more.
Today, yes today, take a step away from fear and towards trust.
I’ll be praying for you!
A veteran with 16 years of experience, Carol writes with a practical look at the whole journey of home education. She spent the years with her daughters focused on experienced based education and frugal ways to teach and learn well. Her writing offers encouragement that anyone, even working moms, can homeschool successfully. Carol writes for her local newspaper, the Homeschooling with Heart Blog, and other outlets. You can find her love of nature, field trips, and lifelong learning on her blog: Home Sweet Life. Follow along on their adventures on Instagram.