Our key verse in Fearless Mom is Proverbs 31:25:

 “She is clothed with strength and dignity,

And she laughs without fear of the future.”

Most of the moms that I know wrestle with fear and worry on a regular basis. “Am I doing this right? Is this even working? Is my child developing on schedule? Is my child going to get into the right school? Will they make the team, pass the test, have good friends? Have I equipped them to make good choices?” The list goes on and on.

My kids are now young adults, and I still wrestle with worry and fear…daily. (And they’re really great kids!)

So, how do we learn to “laugh without fear” when we’re always worried?

Well, I can just tell you what I’ve learned to do, moreover, what I am still learning to do.

When I catch myself worrying and feeling fearful, I remind myself that God loves my kids even more than I do. That He has each of them in the palm of His hand. That He chose me to be their mom. That He will fill in the gaps, not if but when, I fall short. That He’s in control. That He is God and He is good.

“She laughs without fear of the future.” We often say that she laughs not because she knows what her future holds, but because she knows Who holds her future. She laughs not because she’s got it all figured out, but because she knows the One who does. That’s not just a clever saying. It can truly provide peace and hope when we’re feeling worry and fear.

Fear is defined as “the feeling caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, harmful, or unpleasant; an emotional response to a perceived threat.”

Fear is a FEELING, a BELIEF, an EMOTION. Sometimes our fear is based on fact, and sometimes it is based on fiction. What we must do – as we do with any emotion – is choose to identify, process, and express the feeling/belief/emotion of FEAR in a healthy and productive way.

We shouldn’t ignore fear, yet we can’t give it so much power that it begins to drive our decisions. We see it and call it what it is. Then we figure out how to keep moving forward with it and, perhaps, in spite of it.

Any feeling is okay to feel, it’s what we do next that matters.

You can feel fearFUL and act fearLESS. You can be a Fearless Mom! And no, it’s not easy. Even so, it’s necessary for all moms of all life stages to figure out how to laugh without fear…or laugh in spite of the fear…or even laugh in the face of fear.