Thursday, August 14, 2008

Fear

This week we have been hosting vacation Bible school at the church. We have 20 kids who come for two and a half hours, eat, sing songs, learn Bible stories, do crafts, and have a great time overall.

Yesterday was water day at VBS, and our intern, Amy, planned a special time for the kids - with waterballoons. At the end of the night she had 300 waterballoons filled and they were given the chance to soak themselves and all the other kids.

When she opened the lid to the waterballoons, the kids did a mad rush to grab as many as the could. It was pure chaos. Sierra happened to be in the middle of all of this, and it scared her. Way too many kids running and screaming, and she just stood in one place and cried out for us to get her.

So I trudged into the fray, picked Sierra up, and carried her out of the mess. We got to the side and she started to calm down right away. Amy brought her a couple of balloons, and she and another little girl went off to the side and played catch with the balloons. At that point everything was good in her world.

There are times in our lives when we are overcome with fear. We feel the world crushing in upon us, and all we can do is stand there and cry out for help. The beauty of God is that he is always there to pick us up out of the chaos, and bring us back to the safety and the sanity of his grace-filled life.

So today, may you be blessed with the presence of God's love. May you be carried out of moments of fear, and may you always know that God's grace and love is given to you.

2 comments:

chrissy said...

I can feel Sierra's fear....I have that fear on occasion when I am overwhelmed by something--usually by crowds of some sort so I think I would have been crying for my father in that mosh pit of water balloons.
I think the Lord saved me from something today. We were suppose to take Taryn to the campus tomorrow to move her into her dorm, along with all the other 4,000 or so freshman. Talk about a little fear and anxiety, especially with crowds. But, I convinced myself that it would all be okay and we would just manouver around the crowds and enjoy the experience with Taryn. Well, today while on campus doing a few last minute things for Taryn, we saw some kids moving into their dorms so we went and asked if Taryn could move in early. They just gave her the keys and off we went. We moved her in, did a little grocery shopping for her and beat the crowds. What a blessing! I am so thankful that we were here a day early and able to do this. We still have to go back tomorrow with a TV and a few more things but at least the fear is gone and we can relax about it. When I lean on the Lord, the fear will just disappear. Just like Sierra leaning on her father for security.

lula said...

Fear--It's interesting how I've grown--I think back 15 years and knew there would be no way that I'd ever be able to deal with a dead mouse in my garage without having a dad around to move it. I remember calling my dad with whatever emergency--whether it be a dead mouse in my garage or a dead bird in the lawn--and he'd be there the SAME day to move the carcass--however he would tease me a bit! If I couldn't get my car started, Dad would be there to help me figure out what to do next. Now, with no dad to come to the rescue, God and I handle things--I can remove the dead mouse with God's help--though I still scream a bit while I'm doing it. With God's help, I can calm down and call a tow truck for my stranded car. I still have problems changing the license plate on my car. However, God has provided me with a good friend who helps me do that and cheers me on as I try--she laughs a bit at me too! :-) I guess I haven't trusted God enough to know that He and I can move dead birds! BUT, God has given me a great neighbor who comes to the rescue!