I have a choice...

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. --Psalm 121:1

I have a choice.
Yesterdays message inbox from my kind friend in Texas...

Hi, Sherry,

One of my dear friends sends me once in awhile what she calls Thoughts from my Rocker. She is one of my heroes and I especially enjoyed this one. I immediately thought that it might speak to you also.....hope so.

Love and hugs,

Evalene

I can focus my mind on the day's headlines:
FUEL COSTS
PRESIDENTIAL RACE
UNEMPLOYMENT
GLOBAL WARMING
NATIONAL SECURITY
IMMIGRATION
WAR
FORECLOSURES
HEALTHCARE
SALMONELLA
They are hard to miss - they're in bold print in the paper and shouted by TV anchors.
They pop up on my computer screen first thing every morning.
But they stir up such anxious feelings that I choose to turn away from them after a brief update.

Instead I focus on my personal headlines:
- How many more Medicare quarters must I earn to be eligible when I reach 65?
- What should I wear to the outdoor wedding next month?
- I wonder how the kids at church camp are bearing up working in this heat.
- How will my daughter and her husband make mortgage payments on the fixer-upper
they just bought if he loses his job?
- What if Illinois cuts my teacher retirement pension?
- What do I say to my friend who is hurting?
- I need to schedule a dental appointment.
- Do I have time to run to WalMart before work?
It's obvious, of course, that my world view is so small.
The thoughts and concerns that rerun through my mind and my heart all day and
disturb my sleep at night are all about me and mine.
I choose to turn from the anxiety created by world news, yet at times I'm in danger of drowning
in the anxious thoughts I collect in my own little kiddie pool of a mind.

I've been reading the words of Isaiah, the Israeli news anchor back in 700 B.C.
In the middle of all his anxiety-producing pronouncements, there's this:
"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord - commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him - forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting rock - the Rock of ages." Isaiah 26:3-4 Amplified

Stayed on - focused on - planted on - grounded on - firmly rooted in - standing on - remaining in - GOD.