When Anxiety Is Sky High, Try Something New
I made a big decision. One I didn’t feel ready for, but I knew God was telling me to go ahead and take the leap. We had recently adopted our son. Fresh into kindergarten, he had some struggles at school. At first I thought it was the typical stuff like talking too much or just getting tired and a little moody in the afternoon. But the daily notes from the teacher made me rethink if school was going to work out.
With my three older children, we had done it all when it came to school choice. Homeschool or traditional school was a year-by-year decision, and we let God direct each year. When homeschooling my newly adopted son seemed to be what God was saying, I struggled to settle on a decision.
I finally took the leap. Ordered curriculum. And dove in head first. Within one week, I began to realize my child’s struggles were not the things typical children struggle with. The anxiety he held was big. Every day, the battles to just complete one subject felt impossible. At the simple sight of a worksheet, my son would shut down and believe he could not complete it.
Soon I knew we had to do something drastically different if we were going to survive the year together. We set the school books aside and changed the way we did everything. We began each day with worship music. We made our playlist of our favorite worship songs and danced the morning away together.
For our next subject this year, we dedicated time to work on a gratitude list. With our praise music in the background, we drew ten things we were thankful for. By the time we sang, worshipped, and offered up our gratitude with crayons and markers, we were beginning to make some progress.
The anxiety that had sat heavy at that table day after day before, began to lift. I saw a change in my son’s eyes and facial expressions. His confidence in schoolwork skyrocketed. He not only changed during school time, his behavior during other activities and family time changed too. The simple daily practice of worship and gratitude, little by little, made a lasting change in my anxious son’s life and mine too.
Bible-Based Remedy for Anxiety
What I love so much about what we experienced is that it is not something that we came up with. It’s something we find beautifully taught by Paul in the Bible:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)
Paul doesn’t say, “Be thankful and all your anxiety will go away,” but he does encourage the readers that we can bring everything to God. Even when anxiety seems to be taking over every part of life, God reminds us it is not too big for Him. He is able to offer help and relief.
You might not be facing a struggle like we were with daily notes from the teacher, or trauma so thick you can feel it in the room, but I imagine in some way anxiety has touched your home. I want to encourage you today: no matter if the anxiety is your own that you have begged God to take away, or someone else you love struggles regularly, consider trying something new. It doesn’t take any special skills. All you need is worship music and paper and pen. Start writing your list or try drawing like us.
Whatever you do, don’t wait. Start today! Gratitude isn’t just something that seems good. It is a gift from God that has the potential to transform the heart and mind toward the peace of God.
Meet Micah Maddox
Micah Maddox is a mom who gets it. As an author of multiple books, pastor’s wife, and mother of five children, some by birth and some through adoption, she knows the journey of parenting kids with complex needs. Whether she’s teaching the Bible at her home church or speaking at women’s events across the nation, her greatest calling is pointing her own children to Jesus. Her book Calming Your Anxious Child: A Biblical Game Plan for Parenting Through Big Emotions gives parents on-the-spot tools and encouragement for the hardest days.
Where to find her . . .
- Website
- Calming Your Anxious Child (new book)
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
