Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
Anxiety is something most of our kids have in common, even if they express it in very unique ways.
A mostly-nonverbal friend we knew in Pennsylvania would ask the same question over and over again when she was ready to leave the place she was and go home. “What time is it?” were the words she said, but she was really communicating the anxiety she felt about being in the place she was and that she didn’t understand how much longer she had to stay there.
James’s anxiety comes out in OCD behaviors, most noticeably that he wants all the doors closed wherever we go. That’s easy to give in to at our house, but much harder when he’s walking down the hall at school.
And some of our kids have the cognitive and verbal ability to tell us why they are anxious, but can’t calm themselves down like most typical kids can attempt to do. They can say, “I don’t like that noise,” but they may not be able to stop it and their anxiety increases. Or they may have social anxiety, or performance anxiety, or a dozen other experiences that cause them stress and worry.
But God doesn’t call us to lives of stress and worry. Through His power we can be calm and confident. It isn’t always easy, but the first step is to pray for our children and ask God for wisdom in how to decrease the anxiety they feel and express.
Let’s focus on this request today for our kids and ourselves:
“Help our children not to be anxious, but to be calm and confident in You.”
