Facade

I am often described as a person that seems calm and collected and most of the time that is true. After becoming a husband and father, I suddenly had to deal with anxiety attacks. Living on 9th Street allows us to hear many sirens because of the location of the police department, hospital and fire station. When coming home from work on 9th Street it is not uncommon to see an emergency vehicle heading in the direction of my house. I will usually have waves of thoughts wash over me wondering at first if it is my house and eventually this first thought will grow into a vain imagination of horrific proportions. Fortunately I recalled being told that this is the time to pray. So my routine now is to recognize that these thoughts do not originate from my heavenly Father. (Philippians 4:8) Next I spend some time thanking God for every moment that I have had with my family thus far (I Thessalonians 5:16-19) and affirm that I will worship Him whether or not He gives me another moment with them. (Habakkuk 3:17-19) This usually puts things in perspective and causes my adversary to flee. My last 2 incidents were when Velda and Michaela drove to McPherson with a spare tire. Nothing out of the ordinary. Michaela and I drove to KC with a spare when we had a flat on the way to the airport. Still it was a test for me. The other one was with Joshua. Joshua received his driver's license on December 30. Yesterday he drove to Whitewater by himself for a campout. Joshua's character includes a healthy amount of caution and He has been a very good driver. I was the one who decided to let him drive. It seemed like a good idea at the time. He has driven there a few times with me. Both Joshua and the car returned in about the same condition that they left. While he was gone, I got some good practice on the above concepts.