My friend, Mary Larmoyeux, asked a question on her grandparenting blog, Grand Connection, "If you could go back in time …what would you do differently?"

Mary explained, "Sometimes I wonder what I would do differently if I could somehow turn back the hands of time and be a young mother again ... knowing what has taken me decades to learn." Mary also asked her readers, "What would you do differently as a young mom ... knowing what you now know."

As a young mom, I often found myself worrying about many things. But when I faced the terminal illness of my dad in my early twenties, I came to experience the power of prayer to bring peace in the middle of a crisis.

At that time, I had a three-year-old son, and I was expecting my daughter. And as I cried out to God in my sorrow and grief, God calmed my heart and mind with a peace that I'd never experienced.

Phillippians 4: 6-7 says, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus" (NLT).



Although I’ve experienced the power of prayer to bring peace many times since my dad's death, often I still get caught up in the emotional cycle of worry. In fact, many times I've "begged the Lord to take (my worries) away. (Yet each) time (He) said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me … For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT).

If I could go back in time, I wish I could say that I would not worry so much. Yet I am well aware that this tendency toward worry keeps me "on my knees" and totally dependent upon God.


"What would you do differently as a young mom (or dad) … knowing what has taken (you) decades to learn?"

Photos/DanJordan