Do you have irrational worries or fears that get the best of you sometimes?
Today’s example is brought to you by a tiny mosquito in a minivan.
This morning on the way to school, I was actually feeling pretty relaxed. I turned up the music for the first time in a long time. I am sure I was totally impressing my boys with my passionate rendition of Mr. Jones (a classic that never gets old!). Suddenly, I heard a shriek behind me. “What the?” I said as I looked in the rearview mirror. “A mosquito!” one of my twins shouted. “It’s right next to me and it’s gonna suck my blood! It’ll hurt so much and then I’ll have no blood left!”
Sigh.
I turned down my music and preceded to calm the freak out behind me while jetting down the highway. “You’ll barely feel it if it bites you. If you see it, just swat at it. You’ll be fine.” At one point, one of my twins was convinced it flew into his ear. It was quite the amusing to see and hear him try and get it out while strapped in tight.
When we got to school, they immediately wiggled out of their seatbelts, begged for the doors to be opened, and ran a safe distance away from the minivan and the devilish mosquito (a mosquito whose existence I still hadn’t verified).
It was all so irrational and unexpected – this fear of a tiny little bug. But in their eyes it was a really big deal.
So where did this fear come from?
It came from a misunderstanding of what mosquitos actually were or would do to you (evil devils that would suck all your blood until empty).
It came from outlandish lies from the older brother who was simply egging the twins on (you better get away from that mosquito – it’ll do such bad things you’ll never recover!)
It came from closing their ears to the real facts mommy was so calmly trying to give them (Boys they are too tiny to take all your blood tor one).
Once they finally recovered and got off to school, I started to think of how many times as adults we fall pray to the same irrational worries or fears. My prayer this morning is that each time we encounter a “mosquito” we take a breath and consider if how we are reacting to it or what we are believing about it is really based in truth and in love.
