Nothing sent me into panic mode than when the siren went off in town while I was in school. Back in the day, I had transferred from Bernard School to Columbus; I wasn’t ready for life in the city. No, I still lived in the country, but things were different, even if it was in school. I went from a classroom-student ratio of six students to one teacher to 30 students to one teacher. There was no longer having that oneon- one with the teacher.
I did not know then that the town siren went off at noon. Each time I heard it go off, I could only imagine that Mom got in a car wreck or something happened to Dad. Worse still, I imagined the house burning down with Mom in it.
I started having actual panic attacks when I got into the workforce. Before going into law enforcement, I worked as an electrician’s helper. I almost fell off a scaffold that was a thousand feet high, and ever since, I have had panic attacks when I climb up a ladder over two feet high.
For those who have never had panic attacks, imagine if you had a heart attack and you felt your whole world imploding and your life coming to an end. You seem to have all the symptoms of a heart attack, but you are not having a heart attack.
Anyway, the other day, I left my cell phone at the house while I ran the grandkids to school. It sent me into a tizzy, and thoughts ran through my head about what would happen if I had a wreck and the grandkids had no way of calling YaYa! No. I didn’t have a panic attack. Those stopped long ago.
It just made me realize how connected we are to those devices like cell phones. I can remember the time when I carried quarters when I worked in Houston so I could call Dianne from a place called a phone booth. Dianne wouldn’t know if I died in a car wreck on 610 Loop until I got home or found a phone booth to call her long distance. No kid today knows the struggles with communication we had!
I mentioned I no longer suffer from panic attacks. Years ago, I turned my life deeper into faith in the Lord and turned everything over to Him. It was a learning process to “Let Go and Let God” take the wheel. I was used to being the pilot. Now I am the co-pilot and Jesus got the wheel.
If you are experiencing anxiety or stress in your life. Try turning it all over to God. I mean, turning it all!
Matthew 6:25-27 - “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature?”
