Devotions with Pastor Delinda Jeronimo

It’s amazing to watch my kids and how polar opposite they are. One is high strung and wants to be known and be in control of EVERYTHING, the other, almost literally walks around all day “ho hum” shrugging his shoulders; however both are very busy and still into everything so quickly. They are both free spirits in their bare feet (or rain boots whichever the weather permits), running all over our yard playing in the mud and the dirt, riding their little jeep until the battery dies, climbing trees, looking for frogs and bugs hollering the whole way (ALL BOY!). I’m sure our neighbors think we have no control over our children and no idea how to parent.

I called my mom a while back and said, “I just don’t know what to do, I feel like all I say all day is ‘No, no don’t touch that, get down from there, you’re going to get hurt, please stop’….” Her advice to me was “If it’s not dangerous, let it go.” (In my mind I thought, “But it’s all potentially dangerous!” But I knew what she meant; don’t try to control their every move.) My high strung worry wart and I often have similar conversations with one another (maybe he gets it from me?).

When he’s worrying about something (“Mommy when you die will I…? What are we doing after nap time? After that? Tomorrow? The next day? Who am I going to marry?) I remind him, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, today has enough troubles of its own.” And every time I tell him that, I step on my own toes.

Some days I worry our family is going to end up on a Dr. Phil show. I worry about finances, the car breaking down, what to do about school for my kids, what I will make for dinner, when my parents get to a point that they can’t take care of themselves what are we going to do…the list goes on. I’m like the meme of the guy standing at the edge of the ocean with a mop and a bucket frantically trying to mop up the “mess”. The meme says “How you look trying to control things you can’t.” I have to take a step back, breathe deeply and remember, none of this is mine to control in the first place. I gave it to God a long time ago, why am I still trying to “mop” it up?

When the waters begin to creep up on you and you start to reach for that mop, give it back to Jesus.

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”Matthew 6:31-34

Giving it all to Jesus,
Pastor Delinda