What's that on the floor over there?

It's a thumbtack!

What if I hadn't seen it? I almost always wear shoes or slippers, but what if I had been walking around barefoot? I could have stepped on it!

And I might not have realized that it punctured my skin, so I wouldn't have thought to put antiseptic on it.

And then if I happened to be barefoot again and step outside for something, I could get infection in my foot.

With the numbness and weird feelings, I probably wouldn't notice the infection right away, and it would quickly spread.

Could gangrene result from that kind of infection? It probably could! I could lose my foot!

If I lose my foot, I wouldn't be able to work for weeks (maybe months!) and I might lose my job!

If I lose my job, we'd lose the house for sure, and if we lose the house, we'd have to move into an apartment. The only apartments are in town, so we'd have to move to Newport.

Bob would never survive living in town, he would pine away and surely die. And if anything happened to Bob I wouldn't survive it!

What a horrible thing that would be for the kids! They would be traumatized forever, probably end up in an institution and...and...

Wait a minute. Is it a thumbtack? Let me take a closer look. Oh. It's a button.

One of the worst things I do to myself on a regular basis is to weave scenarios...the worst possible case scenarios. I believe in preparing for realistic potential situations in life, but sometimes I get carried away. Then my motto becomes "Why pray when I can worry?"

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6,7

Lord, help me to learn to take care of the buttons before they become thumbtacks, and let You take care of the rest.