Don't Ruin Your Mountain Top- A Mother's Day Post

My mom is a worrier.  

I call her, "Sue Worst Case Scenario Otis".  If there's a possible path of death or destruction in what any of her family are doing she's sure to think of it and verbalize it.  We mostly laugh off her scenarios because usually they are obscure and so left field and we love her more for it! She has said that if she didn't have Christ that she would live without hope and full of fear and that capturing her thoughts is difficult for her to do.  Even though it wasn't easy for her to do I remember her always telling me to take my thoughts captive when I would be struggling with something or going through a hard time when hurtful words would still pierce my heart long after they had been said.  She still tells me this even as a 29 year old!  I used to get phone calls and texts from my mom when I started driving and the foundation of those texts and calls would be that she would want me to be careful and aware of my surroundings.  I would get annoyed (what teenager wouldn't, am I right??) but  I was a horrible, HORRIBLE driver.  God help me if my children drive like I did. How I survived the first years on the road is explained only through God protecting me and my Mom and Dad's endless prayers over me.  I shudder to think about my old driving habits and my narrow escapes.  So my mother's texts were valid.

Now, as a mother myself, I fully understand my mother's mind set and endless desire for me to be safe when things were out of her control.  Through battling Postpartum Depression and experiencing trials in life, I have had to train my mind to take my thoughts captive.

I really struggled with some serious postpartum depression after my girl's births.  The depression after Lucy was worse than what I had with Wendy but the depression that came after Wendy lasted a lot longer.  I would think of awful scenarios in my head of my children dying and be crippled by the fear that followed.  I wouldn't sleep so I could stay up and make sure they didn't die.  It became a habit and it was hard one to break.  Once something is part of your thinking it's hard to stop it.  It takes 21 days to make a habit, right?  My children are 4 and 2 now and I still will have terrible thoughts pop into my head.  I quiet those thoughts now because they are irrational and not a reality.  But they still make their appearance.  I'm sure other mama's know what I'm talking about.

The Beasley's have endured some trying times, some that lasted years, low points and moments of desperation.  Our valleys have been real, dark and scary.  But we have always come out of them stronger and with our heels dug deeper into our faith.  We've emerged from the darkness of the valley and climbed our mountains to get to the top so we can see the big picture of what we have gone through so far. It's a beautiful view of our lives.  And the time on the mountain tops are so sweet.  But I tend to find myself fearful of what our next valley will be.  I get scared that I'm the next Job and my family will disappear.  I let these thoughts ruin my mountain top!!

This is when this verse comes into play.

Every pretension of fear that enters our brain is a claim against God's promise that He is in control and loves us and is taking care of us.  God is not the author of fear. Our thoughts obeying Christ is so important because that leads us into this verse:

We have POWER, Mama's!! We have LOVE! And a SOUND MIND!  Through Christ we find these attributes.  We find so much more strength when we envelop ourselves in Christ and His goodness.  When we let our thoughts run a muck in our heads we are letting evil have dominion over us. Starting each day in the word is a great practice and a way to set yourself up for a positive mind set and to armor yourselves against attacks of fear in your mind. It becomes easier to quiet those thoughts as I have been able to do now.

When these thoughts enter our minds and fear drives us, it steals our joy and ruins our mountain tops.  Life is full of mountains and valleys,  Prepare yourselves for the valleys, but fiercely celebrate and relish your mountain tops.  Don't live in fear and just wait for the next "bad thing" to happen.  Rather thank the Lord for how He has held your hands through life already and guided you when you couldn't see in front of you.  Offer your children back up to the Lord because they are His.  He has his plan for their lives before they were born and our fearing and fretting will do nothing to change what is ahead. Hold them close.  Read them a book and cherish your days and moments.  Our time on earth is so fleeting and it happens so quickly.  Live it to its fullest potential and don't allow fear to paralyze you and keep you from living.

Don't be a worrier.

Be a warrior through prayer and mental discipline.

Love you, Mom! And Happy Mother's Day.