S04E013, Rocking Chair Worries, Andy B 2 Minute Video

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Andy B took Jo for her return trip to the dentist, but while Andy and Jo share many traits and interests, one thing Jo does REALLY well, is not worrying about things she either has no control over, or things that haven’t yet come to pass.

With a hyper-sensitivity to needles, Andy would have been worrying for two weeks straight, letting the anxiety grow, thinking through the various things that could go wrong. Positive side of that trait, is the ability to read ahead, see the problems before they happen and prevent them – which makes event planning really easy.

But much like that rocking chair, how much time have we lost, or energy spent, getting busy with action on that rocking chair, until we start t feel seasick from all that rocking, but making absolutely no progress.

Worry does that to us. While it is great to be able to plan ahead, we can’t know the future, as scripture reminds us repeatedly, so worrying about future events, that haven’t happened is utterly pointless.

While on route to the dentist, Andy and Jo received a phone call that unfortunately, the crown that had been ordered fro Jo’s tooth had not yet arrived, so the dentist was having to call, to cancel the appointment.

Jo, being ever Jo, wasn’t phased, at all! As she pointed out to Andy, she had another 15 minutes before she had to think about what the dentist was going to do.

But how often do we lost inordinate amounts of time, or expending endless amount of emotional, or mental energy, preparing ourselves – and exhausting ourselves - for things that don’t even come to pass.

Much like that rocking chair, where is God asking you to get off, stand up, and start walking – rather than simply sitting and worrying?

Where is God asking you to live, instead of waiting for a future date when living may be more convenient?

Just a thought...

Andy B

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So another Andy B 2 Minute Video, and I've just brought, erm, Jo back from her trip to the dentist. She went last, er, a week, 2 weeks ago, erm, to the dentist and discovered that she needs a crown fitting.

We've got that ordered and we were driving, er, to the dentist today. And we're about 15 minutes away from where it is. It's a little bit further from where we live. And we're about 15 minutes away, and we get a phone call, and they say, 'oh, we're we're really sorry, we expected it back in the post today, but it's not arrived, so we're going to have to cancel it, can we, er, can we call you back when it's, when it's ready, and we'll we'll get you back?'

No problem.

Really sorry. Fine.

OK, so we turn the car around and and we we make our way home. But, erm Jo is not like me. She's, er, much better at this sort of thing, but me? I'd be worrying all the way from 2 weeks ago, through to today. I'd be getting more and more nervous, and anxious, about it. I've got real hypersensitivity to needles, so that would be really bad for me. And Jo is kind of chilled in the car. That's kind of part of our character, and personality, and that's really good.

But it got me thinking, about how I would have been in the car, and I wouldn't have been as calm as Jo was. Because, in her words, 'well, I had 15 minutes yet before I needed to start thinking about what was going to happen'.

So she was living in a moment. Something I'm not quite so good at!

But rocking chair worries.

How often do we have these worries that something's gonna happen, some't bad's gonna happen where we gotta brace ourselves, and prepare ourselves, and we do all this worrying. And it's like being in a rocking chair, and you're going back, and you're going forwards, and you're going back, and you're going forward and you're rocking like a mad thing. And all these actions happening, and you're making no progress! Except for tiring yourself out. And maybe, if you've got a weak stomach, feeling a bit nauseous, like you're seasick.

But how often do we get worried about things that are going to happen, that never happen?

How much of our lives are we wasting, and are we losing, by worrying about those things that don't happen?

Now, God willing, Jo will get her crown sorted, and we'll get the dentist back, and we'll get all that done.

But if she'd have been worrying about today, like I would have been, she'd have lost lots of time. But because she was living in the moment, and thought, 'well, I'll deal with it when it happens', she was really peaceful and she's lost no time.

So where are you struggling with those future worries, those things that are going to go wrong, but they haven't happened, and they may not happen. And although they're almost a dead cert', until something happens, it hasn't happened.

Just a thought…