From Betsy K.
By the time we heard the decision to close school until April 27th, I was already riddled with anxiety about the uncertainty ahead. Now I was going to have to put my own agenda aside and teach my kids for the next six weeks. I was so nervous and worried that I was pacing around the room. Then I felt a familiar tug. A tug to sit down, to write and to pray. I used to have a daily ritual of waking early, journaling, reading the Bible and praying, and I had somehow fallen out of the habit. I hadn't done it in a while.
When I journal, I am writing a big, long worry prayer to God. After I sat down that night and wrote out all of my concerns, those fears seemed smaller, and more manageable, because they fit onto the pages of a journal, and were not reeling around in my mind, gaining weight and velocity. I had given them up to God, at least for the moment. And I felt lighter.
So, since that day, I have woken up early every morning, read the day's essay in the Daily Bread book, and written down not only my worries and fears, but what I am grateful for. Then I open the Bible to the day's scripture passage from Daily Bread and read for a while. This takes me only about 30 minutes, and I am grounded and ready for the day. Ready to be steady, strong and present for my kids. Totally worth it, and totally necessary for my survival right now. God is feeding my soul, so that I can feed my family.
