They are off to school. How are YOU feeling?

By Letisia Ford

Scripture Reference: Philippians 4:6-9 CSB

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

As a parent, I’ve been excited for my son to return to school. In Southern California, this school year is the first school year all schools are open full time every day. He’s finally going to be around his friends and participate in social events, something he has missed so much. Despite being excited for him, internally, I’ve been so nervous.

Over the past year, I’ve been able to safely keep my child healthy and COVID free. The thought of him being out and about around more people is scary. I know he knows how to properly wash his hands, wear his mask, but what I don’t know or what I can’t control is the school. Are they following all the rules to reduce the risk of my child contracting COVID? Are they going to remind the kids to follow all the protocols they have in place?

These thoughts started to play tricks on me. Fear was starting to creep in on me and it didn’t feel good. I had to remember who to call on during these times of uncertainty. God! I prayed to God asking him to ease my heart. I read scriptures that spoke to trusting in him. I knew that I had to let go trying to control the situation and allow God to be God. I recognized that my anxiety and stress was not what God wanted for me. I was allowing the news and/or social media to negatively influence my thoughts and potentially the choices I needed to make for my family.

When we start filling our soul with God’s word, we will start to see how fear will start to lessen. Although the situation of sending our children to school in a COVID world is still the same, how we start to prepare for it is different. We start to trust. We don’t overthink the situation. We teach our children what our expectations are for them and we let God be God. He already has a plan. Our overthinking isn’t going to change that. Now is the time more than ever to trust God. Pray for his protection over not just our own children, but the other children, the teachers and administrators. Allow God’s word to comfort your heart in these uneasy times. He has it all under control.

Letisia’s Bio:

Southern California native. Single mother of a tween. Educator.

Connect with Letisia on IG @ https://www.instagram.com/living.room.talks/