Most everyone I know in Birmingham has a story to tell of how they survived the ice storm last week. My friend Lenzie left work at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to pick up her children, two who were in daycare and one who was at school. It took her eight hours to get to the daycare and another two hours to get home. She couldn’t get to the school. Her second grader had to spend the night there. Her husband was stuck trying to get over the mountain on Highway 280. He abandoned his car and walked five miles to his home. Lindsey said, “It was chaos in slow motion. I was scared at first. Would the kids be frightened when I didn’t get to them? Would the daycare stay open if I didn’t get there by closing time? Then I worried if I would make it home at all. When we finally made it home, I was exhausted by worrying. The only thing that kept me sane during those 10 hours was I just kept praying The Lord’s Prayer over and over again.” Whether our difficult circumstances come in fast or slow motion, God has a message to us about worry. God tells us to pray, to turn our thoughts to Him. Philippians 4:6 says, “Tell God what you need and then you will experience God’s peace. His Peace will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
– Dr. Tim Thompson