Friday Five: Scripture for the What-Ifs

Running is full of the exhilarating unknown. Hanging over every race are questions of whether we trained enough, fueled correctly, rested adequately. And each time we step up to the starting line, we have the chance to outdo our expectations, to run a personal record, to place in our age group.

The unknowns of everyday life are somewhat harder for me to handle, and nothing has made me more aware of this than jumping into motherhood. If I let it, worry over all the things I can't know and can't control about my pregnancy and delivery will cripple me. And pregnancy worries are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the unknown, uncontrollable, and unexpected in parenting.

A Facebook friend linked to this blog post last week. It was just what I needed to read, a reminder of truth I know but all too often cast aside in fear.

And it reminded me God's word is overflowing with promises and reminders to combat every kind of fear and worry. Here are five of my favorite:

1. Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

My absolute favorite; the words I repeat when I catch myself caught up in worry. Every time, I am astounded anew by the phrase "in every situation." That means even the small things, and to me, that means so much.

2. Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

3. Psalm 91

The entire Psalm describes the Lord's protection, but my favorite verses are 11 and 12: For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

4. Jeremiah 29:11-12

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

5. Matthew 6: 25-27

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Share your favorite scriptures for dealing with worry in the comments!

October Summary

Happy End of October! Yes, I know it's Halloween.

This year, though we don't have kids, my husband and I have been talking a great deal about Halloween, and what exactly Christians should do with the holiday. I dislike the gory, grotesque imagery it's become steeped in recently. (I say recently, could it be I just didn't notice this stuff as a kid?) A house in my neighborhood has severed heads on its lawn. But I do like costumes, and it could be so fun for kids, minus the scariness.

In the course of our conversation, we've read several articles about the topic. This one is a good place to start. It gives the history of the holiday and discusses Christian options. I like to hear thoughts on this, so if your family has a cool Halloween celebration or alternative, let me know in the comments! As for us, we participated in a Trunk-or-Treat last week and tonight we're helping at our church's fall festival.

The least-scary car of them all: we decorated as a Texas A&M tailgate party.

Anyway, on to the summary!

October Running Things

1. About 80 miles. I cut my running mileage and did some cross-training (pool and weights) to let my foot rest and heal. Which brings us to...

2. The foot is feeling a little better. That is, when I take care of it. When I forget to ice and stretch, it lets me know.

3. I bought my first pair of ankle-length tights in, well, ever. Yes, I had been braving winter runs in leftover high-school tights--you know, the extremely shiny ones that are impossible to get your foot out of. It was time.

October Non-Running Things

1. Suddenly, new readers! In October, my blog views more than tripled. So if you're a new reader, welcome! And thanks for reading!

2. Nine books. I kind of went through a reading slump, which might have had something to do with reading Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales: Part 1 of The History of Middle Earth. It was dense. I finished, but I don't recommend it unless you're really, really into Tolkien.
Highlights:
Looking for Alaska by John Green. This summer, John Green broke my heart in The Fault in Our Stars. (If you haven't read it, do it! But only if you want to cry). Looking for Alaska was his first novel, and I loved it.
Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive A Mass Extinction by Annalee Newitz. Though this was not what I was expecting (I expected more strategies for surviving things like earthquakes, asteroids, and the zombiepocalypse, and it's actually about how the human race will survive), it was still an interesting read.

3. I discovered baked apples. At a corn maze and rib cook-off in Las Cruces, we sampled about eighteen different ribs (that's too many ribs, in case you were wondering), and where I traded both of my dessert tickets for this deliciousness:

Don't let the rib distract you from the amazingness of this apple.

I think baked apples just sounded dry and not desserty enough in the past. Oh, how wrong I was. I'm going to try to replicate it in my kitchen sometime.

 4. And finally, my favorite image from fall so far:

Hiking in Cloudcroft, NM