Emergency

 "Anxiety is not a sin; it is an emotion........We have been taught the Christian life is a life of peace, and when we don't have peace, we assume the problem lies within us. Not only do we feel anxious, but we also feel guilty about our anxiety!"

If you've been following along, we have had a spiral of car issues. I'm currently car shopping. So, this week I am driving Xman's "new to him" car. Yesterday I got us loaded up to take him to school, dropped him off, and reached to check my phone before heading home and realized I left my phone at home.

I had a small panic attack. What if something happened while I was out? How would the kids reach me? How would I reach someone?

As I was walking myself through my 3 senses centering activity (roll the window down, feel the air, take a deep cleansing breath, look up and out), I reminded myself - I somehow learned to drive WAY before cell phones.

I made countless trips from Stone Mountain to Carrollton. Down I-20. Often solo. No phone. And a very poor understanding of 285.

On at least two occasions my 1988 Dodge Omni broke down on either I-20, 285 or HWY 78. Never near an exit.

For those of you who haven't driven a clunker in the years before cell phones - you pull your car safely off the side of the interstate.

Then you begin to think - Is it closer to walk to the last exit or the next one? You HOPE you paid attention to your surroundings. You get out of the car and you begin to walk. With your change for the payphone when you get where you are going. And back then you knew people's phone numbers AND you prayed someone was home to answer.

In those moments, when I was walking alongside a major interstate or highway, I was never having a panic attack about not having a phone.

Because the truth of the time was that in an emergency, you kept moving.

Somehow I think the technology of today has trained us that in an emergency, you sit and panic.

You call/text/message others. You social media post. You google.

I think we've lost the ability to TRUST because we have too many other options.

In 1993 if you broke down, you were alone and you, alone, had only Jesus and yourself to rely on.

As I sat in the Xman's super cool new to him car yesterday, I reminded myself all I REALLY need is Jesus and me.

I said a prayer for protection, peace and confidence and drove home.

I thought on that drive home how many examples of not trusting I could list throughout an ordinary day.

How many times I google before I pray.

How many times I message and worry/complain before I pray.

How many times I let the emotion of anxiety become a prison rather than presence.

Mama Warriors, I'm searching for words lately as my interactions with so many seem to be so tense. I'm watching the mass departure from facebook as people want "truth."

I think as a people, as a nation, we are searching for the wrong truths here lately.

We are looking to the wrong sources for truth.

We are looking for worldly truth rather than spiritual truth.

Not that worldly truth isn't needed BUT is it needed at the expense of spiritual truth?

I think we could all use to be stranded on the side of I-285, unsure of what direction it's going (does anyone REALLY understand N, S, E and W with that one? ) and have to rely on Jesus and ourselves.

I think we'd fare okay.

Maybe even better than okay.

Maybe then we'd remember that we were created to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

Not a color or party.

We were created to be the Church, not a divided people.

We were created in the image of Him.

We were made for more than this.