Day 7: Something I Fear

If I went to Hogwarts, I would have been in Huffelpuff.  I'm not smart enough for Ravenclaw.  I'm not evil enough for Slytheryn.  And I am certainly not brave enough for Gryffendor.  The dementors would have loved me.
Fear is an area of struggle for me. I am fearful of a great many things.  I will limit myself to three.

• Something happening to my husband and/or children.  I do not obsess about this, but every time I can't reach my husband on his phone when I know he is driving home from work, my mind goes into overdrive and I can't stop it.  He was 30 minutes later than he said he would be one night and wasn't answering his phone and I was in tears by the time he finally got there.
• Bees.  I have no idea where this came from (maybe from never being stung?), but I have a ridiculous and completely irrational fear of bees.  Literally - I am terrified.  One reason I don't keep flowers or like to go outside in the summer.
• Raising my daughter to believe that her worth is internal, no matter what society tells her. I struggled greatly with this as a pre-teen and teenager.  I didn't know how to deal with it then and I am terrified at the prospect of dealing with it in the next decade.  My mom would tell me I'm borrowing trouble fretting about it now, but there you have it.

My three-and-a-half year-old has been listening to an audio drama in the car called GT and the Halo Express. Side note: if you are looking for an easy way for your children (or you?) to memorize scripture, check these out.  (I used to listen to them when I was a kid and I can rattle off verses like nobody's business. Thank you, GT.)  The theme of his favorite one is fear.  He has memorized verses like:

• Hebrews 13:6 So we say, with confidence, "The Lord is my helper - I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"
• Matthew 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them, "Take courage, it is I; don't be afraid." (This is his favorite one.)
• Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
• Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Just for the heck of it, I searched "fear" at biblesearch.com:

And that was just "fear," no synonyms.  Translation?  It's important.

I have no reason to fear!

I wrote this before I read Amy's fear post.  I love it because a) there is also a Harry Potter reference, and b) I also had a baby in the NICU.  It touched my heart.