Today I want to talk about fear.
It is not a very fun subject, but I have been thinking about it a lot lately. Or rather . . . maybe God has been bringing it to my mind lately. This weekend we went to Disney World for Epcot's food and wine festival.(I will have a full update post later in the week). While we were there we spent a day at Animal Kingdom.They have a ride there called "Dinosaur." It is a pretty intense ride that is very dark and twisty. George went on this ride in September when we were there with Tim's sister's family. All his cousins rode it with him, and he didn't really seem scared at all. He told us he wanted to ride it again this weekend, so I took him while Tim took Ethan to a playground somewhere else in the park. While we were on the ride, George grabbed my leg a few times, but he didn't scream or cry or give any real inclinations that he was super scared. After it was over I asked him if he liked it and he nodded his head "yes." There was a short line, so we decided to ride again before meeting up with Daddy and brother. While we were in line the second time, he started getting squeamish and said he didn't want to ride with me again. He wanted his daddy to go with him this time. We found Tim, and he took him back to the entrance to ride. About ten minutes later Tim and George appeared in front of me. I asked how they liked the ride, and Tim said George chickened out. He decided he didn't want to ride again. I was sort of taken aback by the fact that he didn't want to ride something he had already experienced twice before. Why would he be afraid of something he had already come through? Doesn't that sound backward? Shouldn't we be scared of the unknown, not the known? But aren't we like that too? Sometimes after I experince something I am more scared I will have to experience it again. Before it happens I can live in ignorance on the subject. After it happens, I have to face the facts that it was hard, and it was ugly. I can think of so many instances of this in my life. For example, Childbirth - George's delivery was not pretty. I was definitely more scared for Ethan's. As I began thinking through these different scenarios, I wondered if this is God's design or our manipulation. I truly don't think God wants us to fear circumstances. Ever. Especially after He brings us through them. We should breath a sigh of relief after He carries us through the storm. Sometimes we feel like we could never live through _____________. (You fill in the blank because we all have them). If we go through something we don't think we could ever make it through, we have seen the distinct evidence of God's grace in carrying us through. That is something to be cherished, not fearful of. His arms are our strength and confidence. He can bring us through anything. Anything. Even the things we don't think we could ever handle. Especially not the second time around. 
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