I’m Worried

I’m Worried is a picture book from The I’m Books, a series that focuses on feeling and why they are okay.

Author: Michael Ian Black
Illustrator: Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s

From Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Potato is worried. About everything.

Because anything might happen.

When he tells his friends, he expects them to comfort him by saying that everything will be okay. Except they don’t. Because it might not be, and that’s okay too. Still, there’s one thing they can promise for sure: no matter what happens…they will always be by his side.

My Thoughts: This is a fun picture book to read with your child.  The illustrations are well done, and the eyes move over the entire page.  I really liked that even though it is a picture book the reading level is for a 1st or 2nd grader. My son read it to me.  The overall message was important.  It stressed not to worry about what could happen. We can’t control what happens all of the time, and we should remember that we have gotten through bad things in the past and can again in the future.

Religious Connection: I haven’t done a picture book on this blog yet, even though I still read them to my 6-year-old often.  We read this book the same week he told me I didn’t need to be afraid.  Everything came full circle that week. This inspired me to blog on this book.

I had a nightmare that involved evil spirits.  What was weird is that in my dream, I was not afraid at all.  My thought process was matter-of-fact.  I remember thinking as I was being held down by evil spirits that I should pray.  After two Hail Marys the attack didn’t end. I thought I must need to say them out loud for them to work.  As soon as I thought this, fingers were clasping my lips together, and fingers were holding onto my tongue so I couldn’t speak.  I just continued to pray in my head two more Hail Marys.  Then I thought, “Okay God.  This is taking longer than I thought it would.” Once I thought that the evil spirits were gone.

The next morning at breakfast I had this conversation with my 6-year-old:

Him: “Mom, did you know that spirits are all around us always?”

Me:  “What do you mean? Like your guardian angel?”

Him: “No, evil spirits.  But you should know mom, you don’t have to be afraid of evil spirits when you are sleeping.”

He is right.  We don’t need to be afraid.  The reason given in  I’m Worried states, “Worrying doesn’t help! Since we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, maybe we should just enjoy the now.”

As Christians, we have a different reason. We don’t need to worry, because we do know the end of the story.  God gives massive spoilers in the bible.  God has been giving spoilers since the beginning.

He spoiled the outcome of the Fall of Adam and Eve.  He gave us the promise of a Redeemer for fallen mankind in the Protoevangelium:

Gen 3:15
“I will  put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.

Jesus was overly clear what was going to happen to Him:

Mt 16:21
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.

The ending for all of humankind is spoiled in Revelation: there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Rev 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.  
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and
God himself will always be with them as their God. 
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.

We don’t need to have any worries.  God has already told us the end of the story.  We can hope in God and bear our sufferings.

The thing we do need is patience.