Marcus Redding’s Solution For Worry

Big changes were on the way.

Lauren worried. Not so much about being a mother. She worried more about Marcus. He didn’t handle change well. He had this reliable job ever since he sobered up. But now between losing the job and the thought of raising a child for the Lord…. She knew Marcus was so serious-minded and good-hearted that he would be stressed out. Stress, change, feeling out of control. That’s what led Marcus to drink. She knew that temptation would always be there. She worried about other things, but she worried about Marcus most of all.

Marcus worried too, but for different reasons. He had faith and he was pretty laid back. He knew he could find a job. Eventually. More than anything he did not want Lauren to worry. He knew she would worry about him finding a job or getting so stressed he would start drinking again. He didn’t want her to worry about working from home to help them make it. He wanted her security. He wanted to keep providing her the stability she never had when she was growing up. Other things bothered him, but he worried about Lauren’s mindset most of all.

But Marcus had come up with a deal. When Lauren worried they would go through a three part procedure: vent, pray, move on. So on Saturday morning when he got back from the shooting range he found Lauren working on her computer at the kitchen table. As soon as he walked in the door she closed the laptop and said, “I’m worried.” He said, “Okay. Vent.”

And she vented. “I so much want to stay home…It’s hard to find jobs…I’ll work from home if I have to…How are you going to find work…I don’t want you to have to work at my uncle’s chicken farm…My life is going to be devoted to our children…I love you so much…I love this baby so much…” The venting session was interrupted by bouts of hormonal pregnant weeping, which panicked Marcus at first. But between sobs and tears Lauren reassured him, “I’m crying because my hormones are out of whack.” Marcus was relieved but wondered if he could look forward to seven or eight months worth of emotional venting sessions.

After an intense 20 minutes, she was done. He hugged her and said they’d be okay, that he would do everything he could, and that he had confidence God would take care of them. Then he did for Lauren what she had done for him so many times. He opened her laptop, clicked on Firefox, opened biblegateway.com, typed in Philippians 4:6-7, and angled the screen so she could read it.

She read it and sighed. Not a resentful sigh but a determined sigh. “Okay,” she said. And Marcus sat down across from her and held her hands. And she started saying the same things all over again, worries and weeping and all. But this time it was a prayer. Pouring her heart out to God. When she was done she squeezed his hands and then Marcus prayed. He thanked God for Lauren and the baby, asked for wisdom, asked for open doors to a job. Then he was quiet for a long time. Lauren opened her eyes and looked at him, “Are you done?” Marcus kept his eyes closed and continued, “God, all we want to do is have a godly family for you. That’s all we want. Please give us what we need to do that. Please. We know you will. We trust you.”

He finished praying and looked up. “Okay?” he said. “Okay,” she said.

“I know one thing for sure, Lauren.” She looked at him funny, “What?”

“I can beat you at Wii Bowling.” She scoffed at him, “Okay, pal, let’s go.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.