God vs. Google: Casting Our Cares Upon the One Who Knows Them All

The urge to Google during pregnancy is about as strong as the urge to push out a baby during labor.

Before we had even conceived our second child, I would spend hours at night Googling all the signs and symptoms of pregnancy.

After sifting determinedly through each and every search result, I'd either a.) fall asleep convinced that I was pregnant, b.) fall asleep convinced that I wasn't pregnant, or c.) fall asleep mid-read and drop the phone abruptly on my face.

For expectant mothers, the questions, fears, and curiosities only seem to escalate as a pregnancy progresses. Both of my daughters have now managed to stubbornly evade their expected due dates, thereby leaving me to question, fear, and wonder all the more about everything imaginable up until the very (very) end.

This week, I waddled into my 40th week of pregnancy. They did an Ultrasound to check the health of our little lady and estimated that she is weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds and 3 ounces. My doctor didn't waste any time explaining some of the possible complications that could arise from delivering a larger baby (Don't worry--I won't subject you to the same graphic images). Let's just say that her risk analysis did nothing to put this overdue, walking incubator at ease.

Quite the contrary. Her news sent me into another all-too-familiar frenzy of online searches. Once again, I found myself running to Google for answers, encouragement, and comfort instead of running to God.

I know I am not alone in this. You don't have to be pregnant to understand the obsession we all have with instant gratification.

We want answers to our questions--and we want them now.
We want relief from our fears--and we want it now.
We want assurance and comfort in the midst of our trials--and we want it now.
We want guidance through our troubles--and we want it now.

We hastily consult every available resource we have access to--whether it be search engines, blogs, books, or the listening ear of a close friend--prior to consulting the One who has all the answers.

God has been using this final stretch of my pregnancy to reveal just how unreliable and unsatisfying every other resource is compared to Him. This past week, He has beckoned me to return to the nourishing balm of His word and the surpassing peace of His communion.

Here are six verses that God has been using to redirect and reassure my anxious heart as we wait for the arrival of our newest little blessing. Although most of my reflections on these verses are tailored specifically to my personal pregnancy experience, these truths are not exclusive to pregnant women.

These verses are applicable to any earnest believer who has been struggling to fully and abandonedly trust in the sovereign and capable God of the Bible. So, my fellow believers, consider these truths in the context of your own questions, doubts, fears, and trials. Commit them to your heart and your mind and be blessed by the incomparable flood of comfort and assurance that God alone can supply.


Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the Lord's purpose that will stand." 

From the beginning of my pregnancy, I have planned to have a vaginal, pain-free, labor experience that would mimic my previous labor experience. But this verse reminds me that the Lord has beautiful, immovable purposes for my upcoming birth experience that may or may not synchronize with my plans.  Whether I end up being induced or not, whether I end up with an epidural or not, whether I end up with a c-section or not--the Lord has a purpose in all of it. His purposes cannot be changed. Therefore, I will lean on the certainty of His purposes rather than the uncertainties of my own plans. 

Pslam 139:13-16 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." 

What a comfort to know that God has already written every single day of my daughter's life. She will breathe every breath God has planned for her to breathe. She will experience every season that God has planned for her to experience.  She will boycott every nap God has planned for her to boycott! She won't live a second too long, or die a second too soon. God is the sole creator and author of her life, and--as such--I must learn to entrust her life to Him completely.   

Psalm 139:1-5 "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me." 

When my mind is flooded with worries, I can cling to this truth: God knows my every thought. He knows the sum of all my pregnancy-related concerns. He knows what my Google search history will look like before the day has even begun. Not only does He know the burdens of my heart, but he cares about them. 1 Peter 5:7 confirms this: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." He also promises to sustain me when I cast my cares upon Him (Psalm 55:22). Because He knows my every thought, cares about them all, and offers to sustain me, I ought to first consult Him for the answers, relief, and comfort I seek.

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

There are so many 'what-ifs' about tomorrow that I could burden myself with today. But thankfully, God knows the propensity of my mind to do so. Therefore, He has graciously commanded me not to worry about tomorrow. Period. This command frees me from wasting precious moments with the ones I love today. It enables me to live, love, and serve fully in the present. Like the gentle nudge of a shepherd's staff, this verse keeps my thoughts from straying to anxious pastures.

Psalm 135:5-7 "For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses."

Oh, for faith to believe in the sovereign control of God. Much like He's doing in the vast, unknown depths of the sea, God is doing all that He pleases in this final stage of my pregnancy. Much like there is a sovereign appointment for every bolt of lightning and every gust of wind, there will be no accidents in the remainder of my pregnancy.

Philippians 4:4-7 "The Lord is at hand; 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."

This verse has been so instructive to my heart this week. It has taught me, ever so practically, to transform my worries into prayers and to humbly present God with my requests. When I've worried about my baby getting stuck on her way out, I have let my requests be made known to God--God, please keep her from getting stuck during my delivery. When I've worried about my epidural wearing off at critical moments, I have let my requests be made known to God--God, please allow any medicine I receive to work promptly and effectively. Prayer is God's full-proof, prescribed method for experiencing His peace--a peace that far surpasses what that of any opinion/experience-driven pregnancy discussion board can provide.


There is no mystical formula for experiencing the peace of God we all crave. We must simply be intentional to consult Him and His truth as our primary source.

One day this past week, I carved out some time in my schedule to jot these verses down on some index cards. I've made it a point to consult these scriptures multiple times a day. I've paused expectantly over each line to meditate and pray--allowing my mind to be captivated by what is true.

As a result, I've been consulting Google less and less. And while there is still no baby in my arms at this moment in time, there is a surpassing peace in my heart.  

Teaching God's Truth to Our Children

It has brought my husband and I tremendous joy to watch our firstborn daughter grow and develop from a newborn to a toddler. We praise God continually for her capacity and eagerness to learn. As any parents can attest to, it is a remarkable experience to witness your child approach and conquer various milestones.

My husband and I are beyond excited to watch her continue acquiring knowledge throughout the span of her life. We are especially eager to see her discover the truth about God--who He is and what He's done for her through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Convinced that God has entrusted us with the responsibility of training our children to know and love Him, we recently set out to establish a system of spiritual instruction that would work for our family in this season of life.  As we've pursued this God-given task of instructing our daughter, God has been abundantly faithful to provide our family with helpful ideas, materials and scriptures to implement.

As an encouragement to other parents who desire to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, I wanted to share some of the practical principles that have helped to shape our family's current regimen.

1. Depend on God to Give the Growth-It is clear from God's word that our parental responsibility is to merely plant seeds of truth while praying and trusting God alone to grow our children's faith. This truth keeps me anchored to my teaching mission, helps to alleviate my worries, and stretches my faith in God all at once. God is in the business of making dead hearts come alive-- through faith in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have only to commit ourselves to the work of Godly instruction and place our complete hope in Him to grant our children new life. 
2. Consider Your Content-When I first started praying about what to teach our daughter specifically from God's word, I settled upon the Gospel of Mark.  I literally spent hours trying to put each subsection of Mark into "toddler friendly" language.  Admittedly, I began to overcomplicate and over think the concepts in the text (sin, forgiveness, repentance, etc) and how to effectively communicate them to a toddler. I started to doubt myself and my decision to teach Mark. I humbly took a step back from my initial plan and began to consider the core components of the Gospel. I broke down the Gospel into 12 main points, which could be formulated into 12 guiding questions. Then, I found simple memory verses that captured the essence of each point. Since toddlers learn best with consistent exposure to concepts over time, I decided to devote an entire month to exploring each question with our daughter. Once my content was clear, it was easier for me to plan out related activities and lessons. 
3. Consider Your Season-With the impending birth of our second daughter, we knew that the system of instruction we created would have to be sustainable. If it required excessive, unrealistic amounts of time to plan and implement, then it probably wouldn't happen on a consistent basis. I developed a template that would enable us to stick to a predictable, manageable rotation of activities from Monday through Friday. For example, every day we review our memory verse and use our Bible felt board to explore the question of the month. On Mondays, we do a coloring sheet related to the question of the month. On Tuesdays, we use playdough to explore the question of the month, etc. This systematic approach to instruction has kept us organized and prepared, has given our daughter access to various creative platforms, and should allow us to maintain a sense of routine once our newest little blessing has arrived!
4. Consider Your Gifts-As a former Early Childhood Educator, I am well accustomed to creative tasks. I thoroughly enjoy creating things--schedules, learning activities, crafts, and the like! So, when I started scanning Pinterest for instructional inspiration, I was drawn to the thought of creating and utilizing a felt board to help facilitate our daughter's spiritual learning. I recognize that not all parents have the time, desire, or ability to trace and cut out billions of miniature Bible figures--but this was a project I knew I would enjoy designing to meet our family's needs.  If you're gifted in music, use music! If you're gifted in technology, use technology! Use the gifts, talents and passions the Lord has given to you to do the work He has called you to do.
5. Consider Your Child-Just as God has designed my husband and I to enjoy certain tasks and activities over others, He has designed our daughter with her own unique preferences as well. So, with that in mind, it has been helpful to plan activities that cater to her current likes and interests. If your toddler despises painting, it probably wouldn't be the most effective teaching tool for you to use. I think it's safe to say that most toddlers are enthusiastic about coloring, playdough, drawing and making tangible crafts. Since we've observed this to be true with our own daughter, we have made those things central to our instruction. As she gets older, we can reevaluate her evolving interests and talents and adapt our teaching strategies as needed. 
6. Treasure What You Teach-There's so much more to Godly instruction than imparting mere facts about God to our children. Our Children need to see that we treasure the spiritual truths we are teaching them. Over the month of March, we were exploring the concept of Creation. As we were teaching our daughter that God created the day, the night, the sun, the animals, and the plants, I couldn't help but stop and consider: was I personally in awe of God's creation? As I accompanied her on walks outside to observe the vibrant array of flowers and the endless expanse of sky above, I couldn't help but stop and consider: did I myself gaze upon God's handiwork with wonder and amazement? Yes, it's important for our children to know the truth about God in their heads, but it's equally important for them to treasure the truth of God in their hearts. We have the opportunity to model this for them by treasuring what we teach. It has been helpful to spend personal time reflecting on the content we are teaching--thereby allowing God's word to dwell richly in our own hearts first.
7. Be Flexible, Yet Faithful-The schedule we follow from day to day is flexible. If we have errands or a playdate scheduled for the morning, our instruction can take place in the afternoon (and vice versa). On some days, we might not even get to our spiritual actvities at all! Life happens--and that's OK!!!! However, there is an undeniable temptation to let one lax day run into the next. Laziness has a subtle way of creeping into our lives and preventing precious seeds of truth from being planted and watered. So while there is much room and grace for flexibility, we have learned that we must also fight against our laziness daily in order to remain faithful and intentional about our spiritual instruction. 
8. Ask for New Mercies Each Day-Difficult days will come. I can remember sitting down with our daughter at the felt board one morning, eager to start our Bible time and brimming with patience. We began to talk about God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit--placing the corresponding felt pieces on the board. Well, my daughter couldn't quite get one of the pieces to rest on the board in the exact way she wanted. And so, she attempted to reposition it. Still no luck. She tried again. Then again. And then again, still. She was fixated and I was getting frustrated. I finally snapped and shouted something along the lines of, "Just leave it!!!!" She stopped dead in her tracks and her little eyes began to well up with tears. You can imagine how horrible and hypocritical I felt in that moment--attempting to teach her about our inexhaustibly patient and gracious God with the most impatient and ungracious attitude. But God supplied me with mercy, right then and there, to confess my sin to her and ask for her forgiveness. Yes--difficult days will come. But His mercies are new every morning. 
9. Plan Ahead-Throughout my 3 years as a professional educator, I had to learn the critical skill of planning ahead. Effective planning yields effective learning. So, before Monday rolls around, I try to look at the week ahead and lay out all the materials I'll need. When I fail to plan ahead in this way, I tend to become paralyzed by my own lack of organization and I'm prone to abort my teaching mission entirely. 
10. Stay Humble-The power of any changed heart lies in the Gospel. Our resources and methods, as "perfect" or "impressive" as we may secretly think they are, pale in comparison to the transforming power of God's word itself. God deserves all the glory for every abiding seed of truth that is planted within the soil of our children's souls. So then, we must remain humble, not haughty, when it comes to the instruction of our children. We might be tempted, at times, to compare and contrast our own family's teaching methods with those of another family in a prideful, critical way. We must resist the urge to do so and instead pray for God's word to be faithfully and effectively proclaimed by all of our fellow, God-fearing parents.

Helping our daughter learn about God has been a learning experience of our own. Although the content of what we teach our children as believers is non-negotiable (we are to teach them the truth of God's word as revealed to us in the Bible), the process we use to teach them can (and should) look different for every family!

I do not share our family's current methods in a boastful way, but in a "I'm so encouraged by God's guidance through our journey and want to encourage other parents to persevere in discovering and employing what works best for them" kind of way! 

Below, I've shared some of the resources I've developed to guide our designated "Bible Time" at home. If you have any questions about how we utilize these templates and tools, I would be more than happy to explain!

Also, I would love to hear what has worked for your family! So please feel free to leave your comments below!

This is the content of our instruction right now. We spend an entire month exploring each question. We also spend a whole month memorizing the verse that corresponds to each question. 

This is a calendar template we use to plan our instruction each month. I use this to keep track of the question we are exploring, the verse we are memorizing, and the sequence of related activities we are doing each week.  

This is the 5x7 frame we have displayed on our dining room table every day. We attempt to set aside time at the beginning of every meal for reciting and memorizing our monthly verse. It was Jesus himself who said, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." It is our family's conviction that we, too, must feast on God's word as if our lives depended on it. It is a low-maintenance method of memorization that we have found to be fruitful for our daughter, as well as for us!

This is our "Bible Board" that we utilize Monday through Friday. This is a great visual for young children and has helped us to more effectively unpack the question of the month. As you can see, this month we are exploring the creation of Adam and Eve!