Don't What If

  Jordan is always telling me to not worry about "what ifs." I tend to overthink things (I know, shocker), so his constant reminding me to live in today and not tomorrow is needed. Sometimes I get into a rut of negative thinking that is made up of "what if" scenarios that are silly to be concerned about because we can't magically reach into tomorrow and change anything, if it's even there to be changed to begin with.

  What if we don't find a photographer for our wedding?

  What if I'm not smart enough to be a nurse?

  What if we can't have children?

  What if Jordan or my family dies in a car crash?

  What if our house starts on fire?

  What if I accidentally filled in the wrong bubble on my ballot when I voted?!

  My excuse for these thoughts is that, technically speaking, all of these situations are feasible. These things could happen. We live in an absolutely broken world, which isn't how the Lord wanted it, but here we are, surrounded by death and suffering. I read an article the other day about a seriously disturbed woman who faked a pregnancy, killed a new mom, and kidnapped her baby. Naturally (it's actually probably not...), I got all worried about my safety and told Jordan that now I was scared to get pregnant. He's very good about getting my train of thought back on the rational track, and I quickly got over the thought of not wanting to get pregnant and am very excited to start a family...once we're married, of course. ;) 

  Anyway, the point is that horrible things surround us, whether it's as small as a paper cut or as huge as a car accident that takes the life of a loved one. But when we try to look into the future, we think we see things that may never be.

  Matthew 6:34 is one of my favorite Bible verses. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." It comes at the end of a scripture passage basically explaining why worrying is senseless. God has got everything figured out! Today has so much to focus on. He knows what our tomorrows hold, and we should rest in the peace of knowing that simple fact. Not only that, but when we reach tomorrow, He is already there.

  He is already there.

  The Lord knows how many tomorrows we have and what they are filled with. We don't, and that is the way it should be! That's one of the things that make Him God and makes us humans. When we worry about the "what ifs" of tomorrow, we take away from what is surrounding us today. Not only that, but the worries filling our minds may not even happen! But then again...they might. 

  Is that scary? Sure it is. Possible suffering in any form can be scary. For example, many people hate getting shots at the doctor and spend countless hours worrying and stressing before an examination. How often do we get there and find that, surprise, we're all up to date on our immunizations and don't need a shot, after all! What a waste of all that time worrying about the "what if" of a shot that never came to poke us. Worrying takes away from everything we're blessed with in the present.

  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a national day of contemplating and celebrating what we have to be thankful for. It's a day to be thankful for the "what ifs" that happened and became a source of graces we never saw coming, a day to thank the Lord for the many blessings we have now, a day to be thankful for the "what ifs" that never materialized. Thanksgiving is a time set aside to be thankful for today, because we aren't guaranteed anything past that.

Let's remember that every day is a day to be thankful, because we are all so very blessed. Don't worry about the "what ifs." In fact, don't worry at all. God's got it all under control in His perfect plan for each and every one of us. Be at peace, and have a very blessed Thanksgiving!