Casting Some Cares

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." I Peter 5:7

I think I've been doing the wrong kind of "casting." The image I get with the word "cast" is a fisherman casting his line. The problem I'm having with this verse is that I don't think that is the kind of casting God is asking of me. Why? Because the fisherman never intends to loose his line. He casts it out with the intention of reeling it back in.

Worry creeps in constantly. I'm human, it finds me. It always will.

I don't doubt that God is in control. I don't doubt that He has a plan and that He alone is trustworthy.

And yet, I cast my worry on Him and slowly (or sometimes not so slowly) reel it back.

I need a new definition of "casting."

I looked up "cast" in the dictionary. There were quite a few definitions. Here's the definition of "cast" that I first thought seemed appropriate:

Cast - to throw or set aside; discard or reject; dismiss: He cast the problem from his mind.

As I reread it, though, I noticed a problem. That definition leaves me handling my worry on my own. God is asking me to give it to Him.

These two, then, seemed the most fitting for this verse.

Cast - to part with; to lose

and

Cast - to bestow; confer: to cast blessings upon someone.

When God tells me to cast all my anxiety on Him, it's because He is able to handle it and He doesn't want me to hold on to it. I need to part with it by giving it to Him.

So I'm putting away my fishing pole.

Yesterday we got to see our little girl. She is adorable (seriously, I can tell how cute she is from an ultrasound) and even has quite a bit of hair already! She is perfect and they estimate that she is about 4lb 9oz. With 7 weeks left till her due date I find myself becoming more and more anxious to meet her! I want so badly to hold her, snuggle her, feel her soft hair on my cheek while she sleeps on my chest, and hum "Amazing Grace" as we rock together while the rest of the world sleeps.

(Seven weeks seems so long! Of course, there are also 7 weeks left of school, so it will probably just fly by.)

There were also 2 other things we got to see at yesterday's ultrasound.

Our little one is breech and appears to have her cord wrapped around her neck.

I'm going back in a week and a half for a non stress test, and another ultrasound and was told that if nothing has changed I will go in every week after that to monitor her. I know all the things that could happen. I know the very, very, very worst case scenarios and I know that babies can be born with cords around their necks, looking beautiful, but purple, and with a little oxygen, pink right up and go on to be healthy and wonderful (and enter Kindergarten with the dream of becoming a paleontologist)!

I'm casting all the anxiety of the "what if's" on my God. The truth is, there really are no "what if's." History and statistics only tell what has happened and God is not limited by that. And of all the things that could happen, there is only ONE thing that will happen. God's plan will unfold for this sweet little girl that He has knit together.

So, I'm praying for my little girl to flip and untangle and I'm praying for a beautiful birth-day for her. I'm also trying the positions that encourage babies to flip (with the exception of doing a headstand...seriously, a headstand? I think a c-section sounds safer!) and my midwife will be keeping a close eye on this little one.

As for the One who is able to take the best care of her....

I am thanking Him for the gift of this little one, praising Him for His wonderful works, and I am casting any anxiety that creeps in on Him.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21