Whatif

What if...

by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

and pranced and partied all night long

and sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I'm dumb in school?

Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?

Whatif I get beat up?

Whatif there's poison in my cup?

Whatif I start to cry?

Whatif I get sick and die?

Whatif I flunk that test?

Whatif green hair grows on my chest?

Whatif nobody likes me?

Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?

Whatif I don't grow tall?

Whatif my head starts getting smaller?

Whatif the fish won't bite?

Whatif the wind tears up my kite?

Whatif they start a war?

Whatif my parents get divorced?

Whatif the bus is late?

Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?

Whatif I tear my pants?

Whatif I never learn to dance?

Everything seems well, and then

the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

What if?!

As the girls get older, I find this question filling my brain more often.

Some parents seems to ask this more when their children are babies...

Whatif they don't wake up?  Whatif they choke on that grape?  Whatif they fall down?

Those just didn't pop into my head as much.

But now...

Whatif someone is mean to her at school?  Whatif she doesn't believe in herself?

Whatif she isn't happy?  Whatif?

Luckily, they are fleeting, momentary questions that are followed by a peace.

A peace that our God is good and knows the answers to all these questions before I ask them.

And no matter the answer to each one, God will be there to walk with her through each one.

So I have a peace for my questions.

  I just hope and pray I will be able to pass along that peace

when the girls start asking me their Whatif's.