Bethany, Jeff, and I arrived back home just before the clock struck midnight, narrowly escaping being turned into pumpkins.

My mind and heart filled with what I’d learned at the Christian Writer’s Conference and the upcoming week of real life played a constant kaleidoscope of images in my very tired, overloaded brain.

I kick-started Monday with 2 cups of coffee and  jumped back into my daily routine.  (I found out I don’t jump as high or quickly as I used to. )

Before Jeff leaves in the morning, we usually share and pray about our day.  As we shared, the anxiety and stress began mounting as we reviewed all the upcoming things (practical, important, and urgent) that we needed to handle.

Immediately, the anxiety began to rise, we decided we should stop talking about and start praying!

 [Tweet “The first step to defeat #anxiety- take it to the #Lord in #prayer.”]

As we laid our hearts out before the Father, we began to be flooded with peace and heard His still small voice – “You need to put your eyes on Me and I will go before you and lead the way to the things I would have you accomplish.”

So many times, I look at my list of things to do, I tune my ear to the screaming voice of the urgent, I obsess about accomplishing the necessary, my heart beats out of my chest, synching itself to the chaotic rhythm of this world…

And I forget.

I forget to lift my eyes to Lord- He is where my help and strength come from.

[Tweet “#Anxiety begins when we forget where our #help and #strength come from #GodsLove”]

As we were surrounded by majestic mountains on every side, I couldn’t help but meditate on the scripture- “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from?  Not from the mountains but from the Maker of the Mountains.”

(    Cindy paraphrase of  Psalm 121:1)

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I know, from God’s word and 56 years of experience, victory over life’s challenges is dependent on what/where/Who my eyes and heart are focused on.

One day, we were eating lunch outside our cabin.  I took a picture of Jeff and Bethany and commented what a beautiful, sunny day we were enjoying.

Jeff said, “What?  It looks stormy and cloudy to me!”

I turned 180 degrees and saw what Jeff was looking at.  It did look like a storm was brewing.  But when I turned back to look in the opposite direction, it was “blue sky beautiful”.

It all depended on my perspective, my point of reference, my focal point.

Isn’t that the way it is in this life?

Friends, our reference point- our focal point has to be our Father, whose goodness is great and His love is lavish.

[Tweet “When we make #Gods #goodness and #love our #focus- nothing can overwhelm us.”]

When the storms begin to roll into our lives, we must turn our eyes toward the One who is for us and the maker of heaven and earth.  Surely, nothing is too difficult for Him.

 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

II Corinthians 4:18