Cancer Files: Calm My Anxious Heart

I have a book that sits on my shelf.  It has been pulled down now and then during the last 15 years to use as a reference when I let my emotions get a little out of control.  On rarer occasions I read through it again cover to cover.  I love this book.  So many of the points the author Linda Dillow writes are the type that make you say to yourself "duh!" but so often slip our minds when we are out living our everyday lives.

Here is an example of a quote she includes from George MacDonald: "It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day.  It's when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.  Never load yourselves so, my friends.  If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's He begs you to leave the future to Him and to mind the present."

Here are a few more gems of wisdom to remember: "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength", or "Paul commands us to have nothing to do with anxiety and everything to do with prayer.  Sadly, many of us reverse this and worry about everything, praying only as a last resort!" or, "Goethe, the German philosopher, put it: 'things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.'"

Today I got my book back from a dear friend who has borrowed it for the last few months when she was going through a difficult time.  What a treasure to sit down tonight and again read through the first chapter.