The Mind of a Child

Leslie Dudley Corbell: [00:00:00] Today we're gonna talk a little bit about anxiety, the importance of spending time with God and some how-tos of journaling, plus a bonus question from a listener.

Hello, I'm Leslie Dudley Corbell. And I'm Diane Doucette Matthews, welcome to the Mind of a Child.

We're so glad you joined us today. Diane, one of the things I wanna talk about today comes from some questions that I've been receiving from moms.

Mm, and

Leslie Dudley Corbell: especially from a question I received from my daughter, Madeline is expecting her first child, our first grandchild. Woo. Yay. That's so exciting. And I'm realizing just how much pressure there is out there for young moms.

She asked me a question about children overheating or infants overheating. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. At night or during the daytime, and how do you know what to put on them and what the temperature of the room should be? And it occurred to me [00:01:00] that while this is a, you know, obviously a real concern. Yeah. And something to pay attention to.

It wasn't a thing we worried about when our children were little.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And so I tried to reassure her in that moment that you'll know, I mean, you'll be so. In relationship with your child and God has given you this ability to nurture them and care for them, and you will know yes, what your child needs as far as dressing.

So while that wasn't a thing that I worried about when Madeline and Hans are little, there were plenty of other

Diane Doucet Matthews: things that I worried about. And there's always things that the world's gonna throw at us for us to worry about and get sidetracked. Mm-hmm. And so, yeah, I did not worry about that one either.

That was not on my list of worries. And you know, what did our grandmothers do without the internet? Yeah, they probably lived a more peaceful life.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: In some regard. Well, and I think we would say that there, it, it got me going because we do get a lot of of messages from, and emails from listeners of the show.

We have conversations with moms locally and this is [00:02:00] a big thing, the stress anxiety. Worries, busyness. Yeah. Yeah. There are a lot of moms who are dealing with that, so we wanted to go a little bit deeper into that topic.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah. And it's not really the ho overheating, which I thought at first was overeating.

Mm-hmm. Uh, it's just what that does to our hearts and what we need to do with that. So, yeah. I, I, I think it's a great topic today to talk about anxiety and what do we do with it. Yeah. Yeah. So what do we

Leslie Dudley Corbell: do with it? What,

Diane Doucet Matthews: what does

Leslie Dudley Corbell: sometimes in the world, what does it look like we might do with it in the

Diane Doucet Matthews: world?

I think it's, first off, ugh, I need some rest. I need to take a vacation. Mm-hmm. Or I need to go have a spa day or get a manicure, a pedicure, or go to the club and work out. You know, all these things are so good and they help us physically to deal with stress, but we need help. I know I did for my heart and my soul and my mind, and the only place that I found.

Some peace is from God, you know? And so that's what I think we need to go to. [00:03:00] But that's not where we always get to.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: We'd like to reframe the way we look at anxiety. Mm. And just have a conversation about that. We can think of anxiety. I mean, it's a symptom of fear. I. We have fear. Is it a horizontal fear or vertical fear?

Because really the only fear that we should have is fear of God, and that fear of God is a reverential, awe filled, all encompassing worship of God, not something else. When we're starting to look at our circumstances or our, or inward at ourselves, that fear can give way to anxieties. That distract us from him.

The times that I have felt anxiety when I was a young mom were the times that I was not in the word.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Same with me. You get busy or you get sidetracked, distracted. I know I did. And then, you know, 1, 2, 3 days a week could go more and then you're. Pulling in all those [00:04:00] horizontal fears. Yeah. And you're not looking upward.

I wasn't. Yeah.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: So, yeah. So let's explore that a little bit more. So what is, what are some concrete examples that we're talking about? This fear, these horizontal fears. Money losing.

Diane Doucet Matthews: I mean, if we idolize money, if it's jeopardized, then we go to fear quickly, you know, and it's, it could be, looks. How do we look?

How do we dress our house, our clothes, you know, just anything that we focus on horizontally. I. Can turn

Leslie Dudley Corbell: into that and change our focus. Uh, I know one thing that you mentioned before is that fear and anxiety itself is like an alarm bell.

Mm.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And when it that bell rings, it's a signal to us. It's, it's an invitation from invitation God and Perfect.

Yes. Turn back to him. So in some ways you might even say that anxiety's a blessing. It is because it alerts us to our, that we are. Facing horizontally too much. Yeah. And we need [00:05:00] to look back to God and

Diane Doucet Matthews: a lot of people, I mean, I didn't really put anxiety and a blessing together. It's the Lord saying, come to me.

And yeah, it's like an alarm. And if we reoriented ourselves in to that idea of, oh, we feel anxious, oh, the Lord's calling me. Oh. That would,

Leslie Dudley Corbell: that would be great. That brings us to why do we journal what, what this practice of journaling does for us each day? After our last episode, I had quite a few questions.

She got me thinking about that practice and so I wanted to bring those questions to her and I thought many of our listeners might also. Appreciate. I'm hoping you'll share some information with us about this in this episode. And then we're also going to have a listener question at the end of this episode that was, how do I build a quiet time with my 4-year-old?

Hmm. Or for my 4-year-old? Four. Yeah. When did this begin and what prompted you to start this practice?

Diane Doucet Matthews: Well, when I [00:06:00] first became a Christian, I was so privileged to get involved in a campus ministry. Called the Navigators and it's a one-on-one discipleship program. It just involved my whole day. It was like a schedule.

How do you live your Christian walk? A big part of it was writing things down and journaling them. Our Bible study. Our questions, our observations, everything was involved a pen and a, a piece of paper. So that's how I got started. So writing down things were very important in this ministry so that you could take the time, slow down and process it.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: So you mentioned this in our other episode, but I want you to say again, what are the three benefits of journaling?

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah,

Leslie Dudley Corbell: and these

Diane Doucet Matthews: are huge for me and I hope it will bless others. Number one, it slows you down and I need that sometimes my brain and my activities can just distract me all over the place.

Number two. [00:07:00] Because you're slowed down, there's a deeper processing going on. You're forced to, 'cause you have to slow down to process things more. And then the final one is memory retention. You know, if we're using our senses in this process, the memory retention's gonna be greater.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: I love that because when you pour out your heart, God transforms it to him.

And I think about that, especially in the Psalms. Many of the Psalms, but in particular Psalm 77 where you can see that the writer. He starts out looking inward, but he, over the course of the Psalm, he changes his gaze to that of God and his worship of God. And so he, through that whole Psalm, you see that transformation where God changes him.

And I think that's what we're talking about. This journaling is not so much an inward look, right? It is an external look, a looking to God.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yes. And a lot [00:08:00] of the Psalms, David wasn't really looking inward all the time. Some of 'em are. Mm-hmm. A lot of he's looking at at circumstances like, whoa, they are doing wonderful out there.

What's the problem? You know, why are the wicked increasing in. Wealth or you know, winning battles, why is that happening? And then whoa. Then all of a sudden you see the big, but then he gazed on the Lord, you know? Yeah. It changed his whole perspective. I love that. Going back to the journal, and I did wanna say these, these two quotes, one quote, a pen transmits the voice of the soul.

I love that. And then one that I've, I've written is the tip of a pen is the eye to my heart. It's just so important 'cause it just forces you to slow down and focus and think. And what are some of the prompts that you've used over the years? I. Well, I've used a lot of different prompts, but the one that I always go back to, the good old observation, interpretation, and application, those that just pops into [00:09:00] my mind if I'm not doing something specific.

So that's probably the one that I use the most. So first you just pick a verse. Foundational questions that you can start with when you're observing the who, what, why, when, where, and how. I mean, that can take a long time just observing a verse and just going through those questions. And then it's good to, I like to pick out key words or key phrases or things that have been repeated.

Just observe it, just spend some time observing it. And then of course the interpretation. I love the blue letter Bible that's on your phone. It's easy to go to, but also any kind of commentary that you can just dig a little bit deeper, trying to interpret what things are being said. And then the application, which I think application is very, very important because you can measure.

Where your heart is almost, you know, you want it real simple and specific and you wanna be able to measure it. A lot of times maybe, you know, well that's not, that's not necessary. It isn't [00:10:00] necessary, but it's very helpful 'cause you're, you're making yourself accountable to the Lord, this is what I'm going to, I'm gonna memorize a verse, I'm going to do something instead of just, oh yeah, that was a great idea and move on.

So anyway, uh, the next one is the soap method. Which Leslie, you're gonna walk through force, and that's just a good acrostic. The SOAP, scripture observation application, and then prayer, praying scripture. Whatever scripture you're looking at, you can rewrite it, meditate on it, and then pray the scripture back.

But if you're writing it, that's the idea with it. Art journaling. Through the Bible, you think of art? Well, I'm not an artist. No, this is doodling. Or any kind of illustrations or anything that comes to mind. So like we just studied revelation, you know, well, let me just picture what's going on around the throne, the 24 elders and the lightning.

You know, just doodle it in. It doesn't have to look pretty, but just doodle in it. It makes you remember it. [00:11:00] Gratitude, journaling through the Bible, writing down things that you're thankful for. Thanking the Lord. In the midst of this verse, wow, I'm so thankful you, you've revealed this truth to me. So just any kind of gratitude journaling through the Bible's great topical journey that's really good for today.

Because like if anxiety is a problem that you're working through now, look at different verses that cover anxiety. Read them, write down questions. Maybe pray about it. You know, so you can do topical, which is real good forgiveness, you know, hope. I mean, faith, I mean, there's so many that you can pick, so that that's a real fun one to do too.

Character study, that's another one. Pick a character out of the Bible that you're interested in and just cross reference. Where's this person? Throughout the whole scripture? Daily reflection, journaling, which is real good. For me, I think with doing like Bible studies, because it works with it, you can work it in a combination with another study.[00:12:00]

'cause you're reading and doing Bible study and you can just write what you're thinking, your prayers, your, you know, repentance God moments. Those are a few. Well, you really

Leslie Dudley Corbell: got me thinking about journaling and it seems like the main idea is to commune with God. Mm. Through reading of scripture. Yes, through prayer and to write it down.

I'm just gonna walk through soap with Philippians four, six, and seven s would be the scripture. So Paul is writing to the Philippians and he's exhorting them and encouraging them. And he says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So I would write that scripture in my journal. Then I would do an observation. So in the observation, like [00:13:00] you noted earlier, I'm gonna note themes, repeating words and emphases. But another thing about scripture study is that it can be helpful to look at the verses before and after.

Mm-hmm. Because we wanna make sure we're not taking a scripture outta context. So one thing that you read in the proceeding verse. Paul writes, the Lord is at hand. Mm. And so that's verse five. So we notice with this, while Paul is exhorting them what to do when, when they feel anxieties, he's first reminding them of one of God's attributes, his presence.

Mm. And so what a beautiful encouragement that is, is that when we find ourselves feeling anxious. That he is near. And then we bring our cares and our worries to him with prayer and gratitude. And so when they do God's peace, which transcends all of our understanding, it will guard your heart and your mind in him in Christ Jesus.

We start looking that and go [00:14:00] deeper and deeper during our observation, so then to apply it. What would that look like? Well, as a young mom, when I would feel stressed or overwhelmed, my usual response was to try to control things. Mm. You know, I was trying to schedule to control behavior, to control this and control that, which I couldn't do.

So my application of it would be to, okay, when I feel anxious, that alarm bell going off, I'm gonna turn to him with prayer supplication with Thanksgiving. I'm also gonna remember that God is near mm. And when we trust in God, when our trust is our first go-to that we know he is near the anxieties fall away.

And I would say so, you know, an application isn't so much finding me in the Bible and applying it to my life. Really more is finding God. Mm-hmm. And how he's gonna transform you.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah. Because the, uh, when that alarm goes off, it redirects [00:15:00] your vision. Not inwardly, but to the Lord. To the Lord. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

It,

Leslie Dudley Corbell: the, the gift of application is a turning to the Lord. Yeah. And being in his presence. Mm-hmm. It's more of a posture of humility, I think. Mm-hmm.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Wouldn't you say?

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. You're not thinking of, you know, you're not number one, you're. Submitting and humbling yourself? No, God's number one.

I'm, I'm gonna go and find out what he says about this.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And, and over time, I would say the sanctification of the Holy Spirit would transform me inside so that I don't have as many anxieties and worries. I think over time God has transformed that to a trust in him. Mm-hmm. And I think that's why that verse five is so important.

God is near because it's that trust in him that replaces your fears. And you know, I wonder too, if

Diane Doucet Matthews: it's. The disciplines and the habits that we form. You know, if we are starting down this road and we realize, okay, it's an alarm, I. I'm gonna go to God, I'm gonna pray. That's gonna, and over time, that's gonna become a [00:16:00] habit.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And then the close out soap would be with the P for prayer. Mm. And so I would close by writing a prayer to God. Yeah. In my journal

Diane Doucet Matthews: with young kids growing up, my favorite prayer or my most frequent prayer was. Help, Lord help me right now. And it, it sounds kind of funny, but it was whatever situation I was in when I was feeling anxious or confused or, you know, you put the word in there, help Lord, help me right now.

And just to develop that is okay. I'm gonna go right to the Lord quick. So I just walk through that pretty quickly.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Mm-hmm. The soap,

Diane Doucet Matthews: how much time do you spend journaling? Depends on the day, definitely. But, you know, it could, I could do 10 minutes, 15 minutes, I can go for an hour. You know, it depends on when I get into it and I start.

Just, I enjoy it now. I mean, now it's not like a, a box a little that I need to put a check mark in it. I mean, I look forward to spending time, so it could, uh, last a long time and I, I could lose track of [00:17:00] time very easily, which, you know, that I've been known to do and get me in trouble too. So, yeah, it, it depends on what you can accomplish that day.

Do you have a certain time of day you do it or is? Well, I try to do it first thing in the morning after I make my bed and I thank the Lord I'm alive and he's in control. Um, yeah, and then I, I'd go and sit at my desk. What did your children do while you journaled? When I was journaling, when my kids were younger, these were two different activities I'm gonna talk about right now.

When I was serious about journaling, that was mostly at night. When I could really give my full attention, I could slow down and, you know, spend some time. But during the day with the kids, we would have a focus time or a quiet time. There were a couple of reasons for doing that, but also to start training the kids to learn to focus on what they were looking at or reading or slowing down.

So there were two answers to that question actually.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Now, one other [00:18:00] thing that you mentioned in our previous episode that really kind of peaked my curiosity, you mentioned your desk drawer. I know. What do you keep in your desk drawer?

Diane Doucet Matthews: Well, you know, I'm kind of embarrassed to even admit that I have this, but it is so helpful for me personally, yet it's a little sticky note.

On my right side drawer. It's my schedule for the day that I think are the most important things for me to get done in in that day. Do I have to tell you what it is? Yes. Tell me a little bit more about that. Number one, it says Make my bed. And number two, it is really giving thanks to the Lord that I'm alive and he's in control.

And then devotion Scripture Journal in my Bible. Recap that I'm reading through the Bible this year on. Exercise and stretch, and then whatever lesson I'm working on at that time, review podcasts and then get dressed. You know, you'd think, okay, does she really have to write down getting dressed? But this really helps me so much [00:19:00] because I'm a tyranny of the urgent person.

I can get sucked into that quickly. In other words, just putting night fires, put night fires, what's the next thing? And then I'm totally distracted. To the most important things that I need to get done, I wanna get done. 'cause I wanna know God, you know? So, uh, yeah, during the day I'll just go sit in my desk, open my drawer and go, okay, where am I?

I look at my, you know, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that, but you know, life brings distractions.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Yeah. But you. Found a way to kind of keep pointing you back, kinda get you back on track. And

Diane Doucet Matthews: you know, it's remembering, and I know I've said this before, I think we both talked about this before at another podcast, the Bible talks about remembering or just some variation of that word over 250 times.

So the Lord knows that we are forgetful individuals, and I know I am. So it's a way for us to remember who he is, what he's done, and what he's promised that he's gonna do.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: I wanted to read some [00:20:00] verses. So here's one. Hebrews four 12 For the word of God is living inactive, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints, and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Wow, I love that verse. I mean, think about what that's saying.

It's living, it's moving, and it discerns our thoughts and intentions. You know, we have blind spots, so who else can really reveal those areas to our lives, other than the word of God, the Holy Spirit. So love that verse

Leslie Dudley Corbell: reading the Bible, it's like a mirror. So rather than looking inward at myself. I'm looking outward at God reading his word and it's revealing to me then, like you said, those blind spots.

And so here's another verse from Psalm 1 39, 23 and 24. Search me oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts [00:21:00] and see if there'd be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Wow. You know, I get a lump in my throat just stopping and slowing down and hearing you read that, um.

There's a lot there for me. Um, in the NASB where I memorized it instead of, uh, grievous, it says hurtful ways in me. And I know that I can be hurtful to people. I can, I can be unkind at times. So, um, I was challenged to memorize that scripture early on in my, my faith walk, and I did. And now I use it as a prayer, often search me, oh God, help me.

You know, I'm hurting people. Reveal those areas to me. So, um. Yeah, that's another one of my favorites.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Anytime we do Bible study journals spend time in prayer, we are focusing on the character of God on his attributes. Rather than ourselves in our, in our circumstances. Mm-hmm. We're dwelling in God's character.

You know, we, we begin to see [00:22:00] God's faithfulness. We see his goodness.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And again, I know I said this earlier, focusing on God builds our trust in him. This trust replaces our worldly fears. Mm-hmm. With that godly fear, that reverence of him, the worship of him.

Diane Doucet Matthews: That gives us peace. Yeah. I mean, 'cause we're talking about anxiety and fear, you know, fear's real, you know, it's a real thing out there.

I know for me, I, I didn't mention this earlier, but I dealt with anxiety, fear, anxiety attacks for quite a season. I've had to work through those, or the Lord worked me through those. Um, but. Pastor at our church said that out of all the issues that parents come to him to talk to him about, it's fear. Fear surrounding their child, you know, protection, spiritual protection, academic excellence, peer pressure.

[00:23:00] Moral living and if they, if they're gonna parent properly incorrectly. So there's so many fears that we can just get pulled away and bound up in. Yeah, there's so much stress out there that can get our eyes off the Lord. The other day, somebody shared this illustration with me about. Fists our hands, how we hold them.

So picture your hands closed real tight, like you know, tight and gritty, and you have them real close to your body and you're thinking about anxiety and stress and worry and just the cares of this world. What's happening is you're isolating yourself. You're pulling yourself in. At least that's what I do when I'm anxious and word and all this.

And then open your hands up and relax them and put them out in front of you. And that's like surrendering. To God and asking for his help. You know, what we've talked about many times, focusing on on him, that opens us up to not only God speaking to us, but God speaking through us to other people and loving them.[00:24:00]

So I thought that was a good example of fear versus peace and surrender. So before we

Leslie Dudley Corbell: close, let's answer that question from a listener. How to build a quiet time for my 4-year-old. Mm. I think we can speak some practical advice into that. Yes. Um, so what would that look like?

Diane Doucet Matthews: Well, we are gonna list a lot of fun things to do, but first off, just what are you gonna name it?

What are you gonna call it? You know, are you gonna have a focus time? Are you gonna have a quiet time? You're gonna commune with God, you know, so make sure you name it and have the same name so the kids aren't confused so they kind of

Leslie Dudley Corbell: know what you're gonna do. Yeah. And I think naming it sets it apart as a reverential time.

Invite them to join. You don't force it. Mm-hmm. Make it something that they want. Let them see you enjoying this time mm-hmm. And want to join you in it.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah. And set up a special place. Even with our times, with the Lord. A quiet time. It's good to have just a, a good comfy place that you go to all the time, and then when you enter it.

It'll be just irreverent

Leslie Dudley Corbell: place. I think having a [00:25:00] basket with things in it that you will use for that quiet time, everything that you need be in that basket. So your Bible, your children's Bible pen. Paper journal. A journal, a notebook. Yes. Whatever you're

Diane Doucet Matthews: using.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Yes, yes,

Diane Doucet Matthews: yes. So good. And then have ob simple objects for them to hold in their hands.

What's the importance of them holding something in their hand?

Leslie Dudley Corbell: When our hands are busy, and especially for some children, our minds can focus. Have anything, it can be something relevant to the story. And you had some wonderful examples, Diane, that you thought of? Yeah. Well I kind of got carried away and I thought, oh,

Diane Doucet Matthews: this is so fun.

I'm just gonna keep going. Joan and the whale have a boat and a fish. No, and they are animals. Blocks to build the Tower of Babel. There you go. Creation a little male and a female doll and just, oh, creation. You can have flowers, you can have rocks, you can have animals of, and birds. So just different things like that.[00:26:00]

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Yeah. So you can either work them into the story or they can be. Be something that's not related to the story. Yeah, just something to keep your child's hands busy. Yeah.

Diane Doucet Matthews: You know what I'm thinking? It could distract them from the story at hand if you get too elaborate on those things. But yeah, those are some good ideas.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Yeah, and just be creative. And I think one fun thing to be in the basket. It would be a candle. Mm. It's good battery or real, whatever works for you and your family. Mm-hmm. Light the candle to make this a special time.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Yeah. And have a, a cup of tea, have a little something to drink, something warm. Maybe the kids could have some warm milk or some cold milk.

Just something to have.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: So what's that time gonna look like? Of course you're gonna have a Bible passage or a Bible story, or a verse that you're gonna read through with your child. Mm-hmm. And talk about God's character.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Mm-hmm. And be thankful. Start with adoration and thankfulness. But you could even stop there and say, okay, let's thank, let's go around and everybody thank the Lord for one thing today you could be surprised at some of the cute little things they come up with.

I. [00:27:00]

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Take prayer requests. Mm-hmm. You know, what can you pray for? Mm-hmm. See what their ideas are. Yeah. And I would write those down in that journal, along with the things that they're thankful for. That's right. These things that you've written in your journal and with reading through all of them.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: And then go into prayer. Of course, you have to have a time prayer, have a specific beginning and a specific ending. You're gonna be growing that time that's in between. Mm-hmm. And so if you're going through your quiet time and your child is done, do that ending right then. Yeah, that's right. All done. Yeah.

Yeah. And, and, and make it a win, a success.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: What? 'cause as your child grows up, the time in between that beginning and that ending will start growing.

Diane Doucet Matthews: That's right. And so whatever you accomplish with them, with the word, with the Lord is a win because you're bringing glory to God. And that's so important.

Yeah.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: I think it could be helpful too, to make a, a checklist or schedule you talk about your drawer, so, you know, making that visual of what the things that [00:28:00] we do in our quiet time and those four little things, just write 'em down, check 'em off as you go. Yeah, that can be helpful. And if they wanna skip one.

It's okay that

Diane Doucet Matthews: day.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: That's right.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Just, you know, make it a, make it fun. That's right. Make it enjoyable. That's right. Yeah. Yeah.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: So we wanna let you all know that we hear all of you moms out there talking about the pressures and the expectations.

Mm-hmm. The

Leslie Dudley Corbell: corners of the internet that come out and give you a new, new thing to worry about.

Um, and trying to keep up with that. Ever changing information and opinions because it changes daily. The, the advice that you receive, he does not change. He does the same yesterday,

Diane Doucet Matthews: today, and forever. So, as changing as the internet is. He

Leslie Dudley Corbell: doesn't, God does not change. We know you need encouragement. Mm-hmm.

So one thing that we hope with this podcast and one of the reasons that we read scriptures on this podcast is we want you to have many opportunities to hear scripture read over you. We give also parenting advice and little practical tips here and there. Take them with a grain of salt. Yeah. You know, take what you learn [00:29:00] and take what you hear and apply what is what is helpful to you.

Mm. And know that one of the greatest desires that we have is for you to walk away from this podcast feeling encouraged. Mm. And we want you to know and trust in God's faithfulness.

God has blessed you and equipped you with your children. We want you to know that and he will gently lead you with your children.

Diane Doucet Matthews: Lord, we need you. We thank you that you invite us to come to you every day. I pray that when our peace is turned to fear, worry, or anxiety, that your Holy Spirit. Would remind us to quickly come to you because only you can give us the peace that passes understanding.

Teach us to abide in you. In Jesus' name, the Prince of Peace. Amen.

Leslie Dudley Corbell: Thanks for listening. Check out our Instagram at the [00:30:00] Mind of a Child Pod, or you can email us at the Mind of a Child podcast@gmail.com.