Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina!

I promised myself I wouldn’t do it, but I did it anyway.  I made that stupid sound.  You know the sound.  The one people make right before they think another car is going to hit theirs.  The sound they make before they drop several stories on a roller coaster.  The sound they make before a small child goes down a slide for the first time.

As I tightly hugged my eldest son yesterday, that annoying sound escaped my inner being.  He was leaving for a six-week study abroad program in Argentina and… he was leaving without me. 

I would like to tell you that I patted his back and cheerfully exclaimed, “Have a great time!  See you later!”  And though I did speak pleasant words to the boy, on the inside I was pleading, “Always travel with a friend…don’t go anywhere unsavory looking…don’t talk to strangers…say your prayers…Skype me everyday...be careful…be careful…come back to me…be careful…”

If you’re a human over the age of three, you’ve quite possibly made some form of the “sound” yourself at one time or another.  And regardless of a faith history you may have with the Creator, you probably still battle worry more than you care to admit. 

And it’s not just moms who worry.  Or even women in general.  In this economy, men are fretting more than ever about job security, financial provision for their families…the list goes on.  I teach in a public school, and I’m saddened by the worry I see even very young people saddled with. Worry is everywhere…eager to distract us and, if at all possible, render us useless.

My husband is constantly reminding me that worry is just the result of a deeper issue…lack of trust.  I hate when he’s right like that.  But, it’s so true.  I do have a faith history with my Creator, and I know He loves and cares for my South American-bound boy even more than I ever could.  But, still…

Sigh. I already have to buy two boxes of color each time I want to cover the gray in my hair.  I can’t afford the number of grays requiring three. 

Still, as long as there are cars, roller coasters, slides and children who have the nerve to grow up and get a life of his or her own…that sound is going to be waiting in the wings.

And to keep it in the wings and out of my lungs as much as possible, I try to remember this: “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit.  Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.”  Isaiah 26:3-4 MSG

I have to “keep at it.”  I have to intentionally keep at trusting in the God I know is a sure thing. We all do.

What helps you “keep at it?” Feel free to share, because the more encouragement spoken in our caves, the better. 

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