I’ve just come in the door from a long walk. A much-needed walk. Not for its cardio or muscular benefits this time…but for its emotional break. Exercise is often the only thing that can take my mind off of my problems.
Last night I shed enough tears to make my head hurt. Tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my bathroom floor as I chastised myself for mistakes my children have made. I questioned my parenting and all the things I could have done differently to help them stay out of trouble.
You see, my 18-year-old twin sons made some really bad choices last week and I just don’t know what will happen.
As parents we hope and pray and warn our children about the consequences of their actions. But we cannot live their life for them.
Knowing that my husband and I have raised our children to honor God gives me some comfort. When my family was building our new home we decided to write Scripture verses on the concrete walls of each room before the drywall was hung. There is one Scripture verse that is still visible in the unfinished storage part of the basement. “But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.
I remembered this verse while sitting on the bathroom floor. My tears began to slow and I got up to wash my face. As I stared at my puffy face in the mirror I said out loud, “Lord, you are my strength. Please help my children and direct each step they take.”
And so I will pray and take walks and surround myself with encouraging friends. This is my tried and true remedy for stress, the path to God’s rainbow after the season of hard rains.
Blessings,
Theresa
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Theresa is a former model and nationally certified fitness professional who teaches people to use their faith to inspire fitness and their fitness to strengthen their faith. She is the author of Shaped by Faith: 10 Secrets to Strengthening your Body & Soul, and two exercise DVDS: Pilates for the Soul
She and her husband, Robin, have seven children and live in Calhoun, Kentucky.
