Finding
Joy
When Nothing Makes Sense W
hat do you say to your children about what is happening to our country when you do not understand it yourself? How do you make sense of a world that has fallen off its rocker? In short, you don’t. These things that are happening now to our world seem very chaotic and make us feel adrift, but the thing that we anchor to is where we go. Children tend to anchor in their families when the world around them is chaotic and unpredictable so they will look to you for answers and the truth is the best thing for them to know, but not the whole truth nor the details of it. I remember the morning of 9/11 when I settled in my second-period class to teach reading ,and another teacher next door told me to turn on my TV, that history was happening. We watched in horror as the twin towers were struck, people leaped from windows to their deaths and the towers fell. My students all were silent and in tears as the unthinkable happened before them and yet there was a sense of unreality. The immediate impact and my actions as the teacher in those moments would stay with my students forever and how I addressed this at my own home with my own young children would impact them in their perceptions of security. I did what every person has to do in these unthinkable times. We have to set our minds on the things of truth. I told each one who was feeling completely overwhelmed that they were safe. Safety is the highest priority in the fight/flight mindset that we get into when the unthinkable overwhelms our senses. We struggle for normalcy and a sense of peace because we believe those bring safety. These times we are living in make this harder and harder to meet but the truth is you are safe. When you lose someone you love, the sense of security and peace is shaken to the very core and what you anchor to in those moments is where the peace comes from in these moments. In 2015, I watched my mother
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struggle with stage 4 breast cancer and I saw a woman who never wavered or had her sense of peace disturbed. She was like a placid lake that showed no ripple despite the hurricane force winds and pelting of boulders. I heard her say then that peace isn’t the absence of storms in your life but rather the confidence in what/who you are anchored to during that storm. What do your tell you children about the storms around you? You tell the truth and you tell them they are safe. One of my favorite songs says it best: “I’ve anchored in Jesus, the storms of life I’ll brave. I’ve anchored in Jesus; I’ll fear no wind or wave. I’ve anchored in Jesus for He has power to save. I’ve anchored in the Rock of Ages.” If you look back at history, people have managed in much bigger storms than we have in our lives right now. The biggest part of our issues today come from the maelstrom of information and how it is presented. You are the anchor for your children until you give them their sea legs so that they might anchor independently of you. It is up to you to show them the how.
