Being a parent is expensive. It means having another mouth to feed, body to clothe and head to shelter.
And with all the expenses attached to parenting—diapers, formula milk, education, clothes, and all the necessities for a growing and happy child—anxiety can too often find its way into a family's home. Money, or the lack of it, starts becoming an issue that seems all too big for us to ignore.
Even if we don't want it to, anxiety starts creeping into the way we treat and raise our children. We start scolding them for being wasteful, tell them about how much we spend on them when they start making demands, and complain and grumble when they ask for expensive things.
All these things might seem like a natural response, but believe me when I say that there's nothing natural about it. Anxiety is such a treacherous and toxic feeling that it can affect and stain any relationship, most especially our relationship with our children. Anxiety is also highly contagious. The more anxious we feel towards money, the more anxious our children will be towards other things as well.
Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us saying, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
The true alternative to anxiety is the peace of God. When we walk in God's peace knowing that He is able and more than willing to provide for our needs and our children's needs, we start becoming a brighter light to our kids. Anxiety is best avoided when we walk in an attitude or gratitude and faith.
As a parent, I know what it's like to worry about money even when there seems to be nothing to worry about at all. We hate seeing that bank account figure go down and it bothers us when unforeseen expenditures overtake what's coming in. But God has assured us over and over that as long as we remain faithful to Him, He will always be more than willing to provide.
Anxiety can too often stem out of our deep care for our children and starts when we have challenges meeting their needs. But let's not forget that God loves our children more than we do and desires that all their needs be met as well. If we love our children enough to provide for them, God loves them infinitely more and will never leave them nor forsake them or us.
