Calm My Anxious Heart

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  (Philippians 4:6-8)

This verse was our focus during my women's bible study this past week, which started back again 3 weeks ago.  It's a commonly referenced verse, but one I hadn't truly dissected or meditated on before now.

It tells me what to be anxious about, what to do with those anxieties, tells me what I am promised if I do that, and what to think about instead of those anxieties.  It's truly freeing for me. 

The study we're doing is called Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow and if "anxious heart" describes anyone, it's me.  Two chapters into this study and the things being revealed are giving me feelings of confidence and changing and renewing my mind.  I hope I am never the same after this.

One of the things my women's small group has talked about is the saying, "if mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy", but how the opposite can be true to.  As a woman, as a wife, as a mother I have been given the power to exude a spirit of peace in my home.  My very thoughts and responses to circumstances have ripple effects on those surrounding me and this is something I should take very seriously.

I prayed this over our meal, over Elyse when putting her to bed and in my quiet time.  I want this verse to become so much a part of my thinking that there is no room to have any other response. 

On another note, we battled another high fever with Elyse this weekend but thankfully it was rather uneventful and lasted less than 24 hours. 

From what I understand my car is repaired and we should be able to get it back this weekend.  Turns out some sort of exhaust thing or another (obviously I have no real clue) just needed to be cleaned out which didn't end up costing us anything.  For that, I am very thankful.