No Fear

Had the neatest experience the other day. A friend called to say that her son had been experiencing bouts of fear. Um, no. That’s not the neat part (silly); it’s what happened next.

She and her husband spent time with their child, praying and talking with him, and showing him they cared. The next day, she opened up her copy of Focus on the Family Magazine and noticed an article on childhood fears. Huh. She flipped to the page and began comparing the list of suggestions to what she and her husband had done, checking off as she went. “We did this.” Check. “We did this one.” Check, check. “We did that too.” Check, check, check.

Then she noticed that I was the author.

She called that same day to tell me that God had used that article to confirm much to her and her husband. Can anyone say, “humbling?”

It was.

Frankly, I’d been a bit cranky about that piece, noting just days earlier that my jokes had been edited out (well, I never…) And some of my cute little anecdotes didn’t make the cut either (so it’s really not about me?) Obviously, though, what God wanted in, stayed in, and he’s already begun using it as only he does: to instruct, to comfort, to confirm.

In spite of me.


(p.s. I wrote this piece a few years back. My daughters are older, and they'd like you to know that :-)