Throw your cares away

I fear and stress over everything.I distinctly remember a time in my younger years where every night before I went to bed I would ask my older sister if our house was going to burn down. Most nights she said no, some nights she said yes (because what else are older siblings for) but every night I had this fear implanted into me.Call it normal childhood fears, call it just being a kid, maybe I have some crazy underlying fear of fire, I really don't know but that attitude of fear has travelled with my throughout my whole life. Some small little things like will a boy ever like me to the larger and crazy things like is my husband going to leave me because I am slightly crazy and completely wacko sometimes. I feared what direction my life would go in, I feared accidents, break ins, change. I feared for my family and those I loved most. But then I had kids - and boy o boy if I thought I was stressed and fearful before...I stressed over everything from when was the right time to get pregnant to was my baby ok to how the heck am I going to handle labour to how the heck am I going to keep a mini human alive. What do I feed them, how do I feed them, when's the right time to start to feed them. How do I make him sleep, will I ever be functional again, what do others think of me. You know, just the regular run of the mill mom stressors we have. But then my stress and fear started to take over.It began to affect my confidence, the way I saw myself and how I carried myself. It began to affect my child who problem never slept because he sensed the anxiety 200% of the time. Most importantly, it began to affect my marriage in a very negative way. Fighting was a common theme in our house because I was so stressed about getting my kid to sleep, about sticking to the routine, about every little tiny thing that if it didn't go as planned life was not easy for those around me.It wasn't until many many months of being a mother that I realized when Jesus said to cast our cares, our fears and our anxieties on Him it was really a suggestion or just a nice thing to say it was a command. Cast it all on Him, He can carry it, He can handle it, and most importantly He can help me fight the fear that controlled my life so that He could be begun to control my life again.Now, a few years later I'm still crazy, a little stressed and slightly fearful (and trying to keep two mini humans alive) but I try every morning to give myself, my marriage and my boys to Him - the guy who can truly handle what's coming my way and truly knows what's best for my family because who else would I really want to control my life then the God who controls the universe. So, my house never burnt down, my husband still puts up with me everyday, my kids are happy and healthy and no amount of fear or stress can diminish the power of my mighty, loving God or change the wonderful life He gave me.As I lay my little handsome Asher down tonight I am reminded of the meaning of his name - happy and blessed (and not full of stress)