A new school year is off and running – new teachers, new friends and new opportunities to learn and grow.  It’s a wonderful feeling of renewal and adventure.  But newness can sometimes bring feelings of uncertainty, inadequacy, and fear of failure. 

I’ve had my own challenges with new situations.  I’m happy to experience new challenges but at the same time there’s this queasiness in the pit of my stomach that makes me hold back.  Is this the right thing to do at this time?  Do I have the talent or skills necessary for the task?  Will I see it through when challenges come?  These are the questions that hold me back from experiencing life to the fullest.

So, how can we approach new situations with a sense of freedom and expectancy of good?

If we don’t take advantage of the opportunities we are given, we lose the opportunity and have nothing.  It’s so important to not let fear control our actions.

My son has started band this year. He’s very excited about it and is making wonderful progress, but the first time he hit a more challenging piece of music, he was ready to quit. I didn’t want him to lose this opportunity to develop this talent. My husband and I helped him to work through this challenge and he was so joyous when he succeeded.

Then he came to another piece that was challenging and it seemed like we were starting all over again.  I talked to him about how he had succeeded with the first challenge but he wasn’t convinced.  “Mom this is different – it’s soooo much harder than the other one!”  I prayed and listened for ideas from God that would help us both.  Well, we got through that one and then a few days later it happened again. By the fourth time we were both frustrated. To me each instance was similar and if we applied the ideas we had received, we could make it through again. But having been frustrated with mastering a new skill myself, I could understand my son’s feeling that it was impossible to move on.

But how could I help him get past his fear of facing a new challenge, even if the challenge must be faced again and again? As I continued with my prayers, I realized that I was taking too much responsibility for my son’s progress. So I started acknowledging God’s power and presence and knowing my son has direct communication with God, just as I did. He didn’t need me to be the mediator between himself and God. 

With prayer, I found it easier to help without pushing my son.  We were both blessed by turning to God for help and saw another example of God’s care for each of us.  Each of God’s ideas is protected and guarded by this inspired mother love.  We feel it because we express it directly from God. And our talents increase to meet each challenge.

Martha Sarvis is a free-lance writer who lives with her husband and son in Boerne. She is a student of Christian Science, the method of healing explained in Mary Baker Eddy's book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."  Send her an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .