Fears

My mom taught me something important about fear. She has encouraged me not to view things in life as fears to be reacted to, but rather, concerns to be proactively managed. I try to approach daunting challenges that way--with a mindset of "take a deep breath, we can take care of this." (Never mind my last post and how I told Blake I was "afraid." Ahem.)

I think it's fairly safe to say that all of my concerns generally have to do with the future. What can I say?... I'm a typical worrying female. (Sorry to all of you chill ladies out there. That was an unfair generalization.) Most of my concerns also regard raising my family safely in such a messed up world that is only getting more messed up as time goes on.

A lot can and will happen in the next five years. What will (or won't) be being taught in public schools when it's time for Eliza to start Kindergarten? Will our society have degraded so far that a public education will no longer be a feasible option?

What about pornography, immorality, and immodesty? Shielding and protecting my children at home won't help them be capable adults in this world. They have to learn to live in this world without embracing or being poisoned by its ideologies.

What about large-scale catastrophes that could completely change life as we know it? EMP's, natural disaster, biological warfare... I'm sounding like a paranoid fear-monger, but I'm not meaning to be. I just understand that we are literally in the thick of the last days. Christ IS coming (thank goodness!) but I feel strongly that the state of this world is going to get astoundingly insane before He gets here. How do Blake and I prepare to keep our family safe and provided for in these turbulent times?

***

I'm lucky. Each of the concerns I have for my future and my family's future has an answer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Things are going to get nasty, to be sure, but we can be prepared as we "take the Holy Spirit to be our guide." We are given counsel and direction so often. Obedience isn't a safeguard against suffering, but as we follow the counsel we are give we can have the assurance that in the end, all will be well for us.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."