“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who if you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knos that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” – Matthew 6:25-34
If someone were to ask me, I would tell them that the above verse could be one of my life verses. It always seems to pop up at just the right time. Usually it is around the time of a big change that God is preparing for me. Typically, I have made a big decision and God is reminding me that I can walk forward in my choice and not WORRY about how everything will fit together. It typically is a very beautiful reminder for me that brings much joy to my life.
I have recently been reminded how much ugliness can come from worry. We just returned from a 5 day trip to the capital, Port-au-Prince. It’s only about 160 miles from Cap Haitian but can take upwards of 6-8 hours. The roads are terrible for the first 80 miles. This part alone can take between 3-4 hours to complete. Combine that with narrow, winding mountain roads and fast driving busses and it makes for a very stressful drive. One also needs safe housing, safe drinking water and a safe place to put a car. In addition to this we were doing all of our paperwork for our 1-year visa. So, I was a little stressed and worried.
I did not realize just how stressed and worried I was until I returned home and started to notice several cold sores beginning to form on my lips. Typically after a really stressful event, I will get a cold sore. They are not pretty and can be very painful depending on where they are in your mouth. I can count 6 of them on my lips and in my mouth right now. This is by far the most I have ever gotten at one time since I was very little. It is an ugly, painful reminder that God did not create us to be stressed or worried about things. He already has it under control.
We had a fairly uneventful trip to Port-au-Prince and our visa paperwork only took 2 hours to complete (I have heard stories that it can take a whole day or multiple days if your paperwork is not in order). We are now waiting 2 months for them to process the request and send it back to us. The drive to Port was very beautiful and I got to see the kids at the last orphanage I worked at as well as several friends. I also go to attend a dear friends wedding! It was a wonderful trip and in the end I had nothing to be worried about or stressed about.
Sin is an ugly thing and I have a not so fun reminder of that hanging out in my mouth and on my lips right now. Maybe this will help me to remember that God has it all under control and I need not worry about things that in the end will not matter anyway 
