![]() I sat before him in the adoration chapel with a Bible and a notebook. Even though God repeatedly instructs us in the pages of Scripture to not worry, his words won’t do any good unless we know where to find them.Īs I started to write the book, I wanted the Lord to choose the verses. I knew there had to be many others who were battling anxiety and didn’t know how to find relief. I had just gone through the most frightening health crisis of my life and was able to feel peace by staying close to the Lord. Just as quickly, the book’s title came to me: A Worrier’s Guide to the Bible. One day I was walking my dog and had an idea: Why not write a book for worriers? It would consist of a collection of Bible verses and meditations to be used during periods of anxiety. Problem was, I didn’t have any ideas for the subject matter. I felt that the next step was to write a book. I began writing articles for other Catholic websites and doing radio interviews. My newfound love for the Lord motivated me to create a Catholic website as a means of sharing my recently acquired knowledge with others. After years of having no serious desire for a personal relationship with Christ, I finally got to know and love him in a very real way. In the meantime, my life changed dramatically. Eventually, the symptoms disappeared with no diagnosis ever being made. ![]() I listened to Catholic radio on the way to work, watched Catholic TV constantly when I was home, and I prayed-a lot. I didn’t know much about my Faith, but I knew enough to understand that my judgment day would probably not go well.Īs a result, I immersed myself in things Catholic. I was convinced I was going to die.īut although I was concerned about my mortality, I was even more concerned that I was a lukewarm Catholic. My anxiety grew as the initial results indicated that there could be a serious problem. As a hypochondriac, I promptly visited the doctor. I began to experience unusual medical symptoms and lost ten pounds in a week. And while it started as something frightening, it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. As he does so often when he wants to teach us something, the Lord used an unconventional approach to get my attention. It’s a lesson I’ll never forget and one that impacts every day of my life. In 2004, the Lord intervened in my life and taught me it was possible for me to stop worrying. Like so many others who struggle with anxiety, I resigned myself to thinking, “That’s just the way I am.” On the surface I seemed relatively normal, but I spent a great deal of time in private worrying. ![]() I worked as a computer programmer and eventually got married and had children. What if I had a panic attack during a job interview or while I was on a date? How would I survive?Įven though I was living in fear, I forced myself to go out in public and function as normally as possible. I remember the hopeless feeling of thinking that I’d never live a normal life. Trying to escape my fears, I resorted to alcohol, medication, and other distractions. Each time the medical tests came back negative, my symptoms disappeared for a while, only to return. On several occasions I ended up in the emergency room feeling certain that I was having a heart attack. By the time I was in my twenties, I was dealing with panic attacks. As I grew older, the worries changed but didn’t go away. When I was a child, I worried that my parents would die or that I would be stricken with a life-threatening illness. I have struggled with anxiety most of my life. ![]()
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