Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Overcoming Fear in a Fear-Okay World



by Gina Welborn

In the last eight years, since moving to Virginia, we've taken family vacations each summer. Virginia Beach. Kill Devil Hills, NC. Myrtle Beach, SC. Pigeon Forge, TN. DisneyWorld, FL. This past year's vacation was to Souix Falls, SD by way of LeRoy, Illinois, where we visited hubby's cousin and family. For the sake of brevity, I'll sum of the trip by describing the states: Virginia--beautiful, West Virginia--mountainy with practically no bathroom rest stops, Ohio--corn fields, Indiana--corn fields, Illinois--corn fields with an occastional windmill farm, Iowa--corn fields, Minnesota--corn fields, and South Dakota--corn fields, pig farms, and one wheat field that we might have imagined because we were sick of corn fields.


Cousin Mike's house was the halfway point between home and my grandma's house in South Dokata. While I do enjoy staying in hotels, staying with family makes for a fun time. (A loud time, too!)

Three summers ago, a family from church loaned us the use of their beach house located where the Rappahannock River dumps into the Chesapeake Bay. I was three/four months pregnant with chiltlin #5 at the time. Let's see. Four bathrooms, six bedrooms, and thirteen people related by marriage or blood. Sounds like a fun time.

One afternoon hubby, me, our two boys, and hubby's dad (FIL) decided to go riding explore the river on our Sea Doos (personal watercraft). Oldest son (12) rode with me. Younger son (6) rode with my FIL. Hubby knew I don't like riding in rough water so we took a tributary of the Rappahannock. After a bit, hubby told me to take the lead because the Sea Doo I was riding had a depth sensor.



I freely admit I'm fine with not having depth sensor reading skills.

Anyhoo, the sensor showed three/four feet so I knew I was okay, but the water around me looked like an oil spill, I slowed a bit and looked around. Something wasn't right. Since hubby was waving frantically like he wanted me to stop, I did. Apparently his "get out of there" sign is the same as my "stop" sign. Whoops!

Oil sludge? Nope.

Mire.

Ever heard a pastor quote a scriptures about the mirey pit? Well, I have, although I never really understood what a mirey pit was/is. What we were in was...well imagine a bucket of water with the bottom half mud sludge, the top half muddy water.

Needless to say, once I retarted the engine, I couldn't go anywhere. We were stuck. So was my father-in-law. Hubby who wasn't stuck tried throwing us a rope. Sadly, not long enough. Ended up hubby said we were gonna have to walk the Sea Doos out. Uggh.

I tried sticking my feet in the mire. Totally freaked out. If anywhere is the best place to have a panic attack, this was it. No matter how many times I said to myself, "you can do this, Gina," I couldn't do it. Prayer did not help. At least I didn't feel it helping, but pain medication doesn't always feel like it's working until we no longer feel the pain.

Oldest son Matt told me to stay put. He'd gone with his sixth-grade class that past spring to a marsh land south-east of Richmond near the James River, which made him an "expert" on mire. He walked about 20-30 feet through the sludge to my FIL, who was unable to walk in the icky stuff. Then Matt and his younger brother, Jadan, pushed my FIL and his Sea Doo far enough for them to reach the rope so hubby could pull them out. Then Matt walked back to me. He insisted I could stay on the Sea Doo and he'd push me out.

Well, despite my utter fear and my understanding the my little boy wanted to be my rescuer, I knew I had to get off the boat. Only not one itty bitty part of me wanted to get off.

I was fear's willing captive.

Still, I backed of the back of the Sea Doo and slid down. My feet sank until I had sludge up to my thighs and muddy water up to my chest. While tears poured down my face, while I repeatedly prayed "Oh, God, help me," and while Matt kept telling me how proud he was of me for getting off the Sea Doo, I trudged through the mire until we reached (mostly) clear waters. Matt told me to climb back on (and I did) while he pushed/swam me and the boat out to deeper water. My hands shook. My heart raced. My eyes woundn't quit watering, although I'm sure that was because it was so sunny.



Once we reached hubby in the mire-free zone, Matt told me snakes live in murky depths. I laughed hysterically...and then threw up. I could have been eaten by a snake. Uggh. Certainly not one of my top ten ways to die.

Looking back, I see that day as the moment in life where I started my journey of learning to stop letting fears rule me. (More on my fear confrontation in February during our Sing a Song theme.)

So why did I choose to slide off the boat into the mire when I didn't have to I need to. For me. For my boys because I know I set the example for what they're gonna look for in a wife. I want to be a godly woman of character, of courage, of convictions. I want to be strong enough to go on an adventure with my boys yet honest enough to cry in front of them and tell them I'm scared. And I most certainly was scared.

Yes, I still feel rather stupid for leading us into the mire, for not recognizing what mire was, and even for stopping. (Although I did later recommend to hubby that he work on his hand signals.)

As we approach the beginning of a new year, let's all take inventory of our lives. What fears hold you back? What fear holds you in bondage? More so, why do you choose to stay in bondage to your fears, worries, "what ifs" when you know what a lack of peace you have?

 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. ~2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

In scripture when an angel of the Lord appears, he tells the person(s) he's visiting to "Fear not." Sure that's probably because angels are pretty visually intimidating. No cherubs are they. I like how D'ann so excellently introduced this theme by mentioning the rest of the story, rest of the angel's message beyond the "Fear Not," but I can't help but focus on the middle of the message.

Fear not FOR BEHOLD I bring you good tidings of great joy.



Why "for behold"? My translation of the middle part of the angel's message is "Hey, stop focusing on what it is that you fear because when you do, you're too busy to hear what I have to say next. God is at work, in you, in the world around, in your circumstances. He has a purpose and a plan to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. How can you have any hope when you're focusing on what you don't know, don't see, don't know how to solve? Listen. Yes, listen to the message God sent me to tell you, but listen also for God's voice."

If an angel were standing before you and said, "Fear not for behold ____________," what would he finish the sentence with? Or answer it this way:

*I can only fear not and behold what God has for me IF I __________.

*I will only be able to fear not and behold who I can become WHEN I __________.

*I need to fear not and behold how much BIGGER GOD IS THAN __________.

*I must fear not and behold that I CAN TRUST GOD TO ____________.




7 comments:

  1. Gina, I have no doubt God put his fierce angels there to watch out for you and your son while you were walking through that mire. Can you imagine if you knew the snakes were there? I shudder to think. And somehow your son knew not to tell you. God whispering in his ear?

    I'm so proud of you for getting out of that boat and walking through the muck. I'm sure it's an experience you never want to repeat, but you did set a wonderful example for your kiddos.

    I saw some of those snakes in the bayou last summer when I went on the swamp boat in Louisiana. They are the things of nightmares, and when I saw the picture you posted, it sent shudders down my spine.

    Great post, Gina. Have a wonderful day. I'm off to work now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My heart was pounding with you as I read this post. GOD certainly protected you that day....as well as the the lessons HE taught you and are now teaching us through you.
    Blessings, andrea

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gina,
    I love how you overcame your fear so you could set an example for you kids. Sometimes it takes something bigger than our fears to push us past our comfort zone.

    When my kids were small I picked up frogs and garter snakes, handled spiders, cornered a mouse and put it in a breathy-holed plastic container and drove across a river and fifteen miles on dirt roads to set it free instead of trapping or poisoning it - all so my kids would have a greater sense of respect and wonder for God's creation than I did (do!)

    I am a skilled skier and will tackle any slope, but I hate the trees. I skiied through trees so my daughter would follow me instead of staying on the safe paths.

    Those are the small ways God challenged me to let go of fear to show my kids a better way to live. In doing so I was prepared to let go of other fears that threatened to overwhelm us: the possible failure of our business and my husband's cancer diagnosis, to name a few.

    What greater gift to our kids than to allow them to grow up fearless--in life and in faith!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If the angel came to me today he would say, "Fear not, for behold, your books will be published someday."

    ReplyDelete
  5. I must fear not...
    and behold that I CAN TRUST GOD TO SAVE MY LOVED ONES. He wants it more than I and loves them more than I can. So I can't let fear take away my joy.

    The scariest thing I ever did was install stovepipe from my coal stove to the 18' high ceiling in my great room. I had to do this while standing on an extension ladder FACING OUT, No hands, and using a power drill to put metal screws through the stovepipe. You better believe my leg muscles were sore after that balancing act. I will never do it again, if I have to take a loan out of the bank to pay someone!

    If we could see the supernatural, I'd have seen angels around me, I'm sure. I was praying pretty hard.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Why does everyone at your agency reject me????!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry, ladies, for not responding yesterday. I tried. Really tried. But something else consistently demanded my attention.

    ReplyDelete

Share This Post

How Our Giveaways Work: The Official Rules

We, the ladies of Inkwell Inspirations, would love to give free stuff to everybody. Since we can't, we will often have a giveaway in conjunction with a specific post. Unless otherwise stated, one winner will be drawn from comments left on that post between the date it was published and the end of the giveaway as determined in the post. Entries must be accompanied by a valid email address. This address is used only to contact the commenter in the event that he/she is the winner, and will not be sold, distributed, or used in any other fashion. The odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. NO PURCHASE, PLEDGE, OR DONATION NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Pinterest