What is it about babies that makes you want to create something beautiful? Why are new beginnings so exciting – even when they aren’t your own?

Whether it’s a new baby, the start of a new school year, a new job, career, or chapter in one’s life – the start of something new can be filled with wonder, butterflies, and joy. Sometimes these new experiences can even bring fear. For the new mother: will I be enough? For the older mother: will there be anything left to give? For the teen adult starting college: can I do it all? For the person starting a new job or embarking on an entirely new career: am I qualified?

How do we keep our anticipation from turning to fear? What is the tipping point? I think it may be when we use ourselves to balance the scales. I find that I give in to nerves when I feel that I am in control. We are constantly confronted with more than we can handle, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If we could do it all – what would we need God for? There is comfort in knowing that something is beyond us – in knowing that we must call on the great healer, the God of all knowledge, the great provider, the God who sees, God Almighty.

When I think back to when my children were infants, toddlers, and even now that they are teens, there are so many times when they were overwhelmed and just needed me to lift them out of the situation and hold them in my ready arms. I am thankful that I will never be so old that my father in heaven can’t lift me up as well.

Isaiah 43:18-19 New International Version (NIV)