Think Positive

"Mom!" Eloise shouted from the darkness of her bedroom. Mom ran upstairs to find Eloise hiding under her covers, shaking. "Eloise, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Mom asked anxiously."No, I'm not sick. I'm, um, scared," mumbled Eloise."What has you so scared, sweetie?" asked Mom."I don't want to tell you." Eloise peeked out at her mom. "You'll get mad at me.""I promise I won't get mad," Mom assured her. "You can tell me anything.""Well, when I was at Madeline's today, we watched a movie. It was all about people getting chased and hurt. Now I can't get those thoughts out of my head!" Mom was quiet as she smoothed the blankets on Eloise's bed. "Do you remember last weekend when your softball team was in the playoffs?" asked Mom. "Yeah," replied Eloise. "We were so nervous--our opponents were undefeated!""And do you remember what your coach told you before the game?"Eloise nodded, remembering her coach's words. "He said, 'Don't think about all the games they've won or the home runs they've hit. Instead, think about how well you guys play as a team. Remember what you've practiced and focus on getting the bat to make contact with the ball and your glove grabbing the ball out of the air. Think positive!'" Eloise smiled. "I think it worked, because we won!" "You sure did," said Mom. "The Bible tells us to do the same thing." "It does?" asked Eloise with a puzzled look. "Yup," said Mom. "A verse in Philippians tells us not to worry about anything, but instead to replace those worried thoughts with things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. You traded in your worried thoughts about the game for the truth of how well you're able to play as a team, and you can do the same thing with the thoughts you're having about the movie.""I can?" Eloise sat up. "How?" "Whenever we have scary or bad thoughts, we can focus on good things instead--like the truth that Jesus is always with us and wants us to give our fears to Him so we can feel His peace."Eloise brightened and settled back into bed. "Thanks, Mom. I'm going to lie here and think about good things!" -Laura Kuehn