Hubs and I always say our daughter carries the weight of her world on her shoulders. For one so young, she worries about EVERYTHING. Will I get in trouble if I tell my mom? What if I fall out of this gymnastic move? What if my teeth fall out and it hurts (yup – she’s got her first wiggly teeth)? What if I don’t make any friends when school starts again?

The what-ifs are nonstop, and I have to catch it because she doesn’t verbalize any of these fears. They come out as not wanting to go to gymnastics anymore, a look on her face of her internalizing her fears and withdrawing from things that she enjoys. It’s been a struggle for her to trust me when I talk to her about things. She won’t listen to reason – she has to experience things herself. I dread the teenage years.

But tonight, I found a game changer. I was provided an advanced copy of the book What Do I Do With Worry? by Josh Straub and Christi Straub. Thank goodness! Like a true teenager, my daughter will listen to anyone that isn’t me. And this book worked!

In this book, you meet Willow and all of her what-ifs from making new friends to fitting in. It was like reading a story about my daughter, and she recognized that too. She perked up and said “hey! I feel that way sometimes!” We read on, and the story gave her a clear idea of what to do when she finds the what-ifs getting to be too much.

This prompted us to start talking about her what-ifs, as she had previously shared some fears about her wiggly teeth. That’s when she confided in me about her fear of gymnastics and why she was not wanting to go to class or practice anymore. We had a good talk, and I could feel some of that weight lifting off of her. Her next step is to try and follow the steps the book gave her, and see the results.

*Please note: part of the steps do discuss God’s involvement.

Fingers crossed that this book works! I will be buying a copy when it comes out in April.