Fear = Faith

What? Fear = faith? How is this possible? Let me explain...

Faith. Without faith, conquering our fears will be impossible.

 "Jesus said to him, 'If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'" Mark 9:23

Encourage. By participating in this Gap Study, sisters, we are able to support and encourage one another as we kick our fears to the curb. I have seen this going on as we comment in response to what is posted by our Gap Team and others. Keep it up! :)

"Therefore encourage on another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 

1 Thessalonians 5:11  

Accept. Be open to what God is saying to you as work through this study. Accept it - embrace it. Use the wisdom and insight you are gaining to force fear back when it starts creeping in.

"Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." 

Proverbs 19:20 (ESV)

Refuge. When you find fear and anxiety weighing you down, seek God and take refuge in HIM. Rest. Refuel. Renew. Scripture and prayer provides all of this to us - use it! Psalm 46 is one of my favorites.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

It Wasn't "Just a Barn..."

This is what is left from my beloved barn that I played in while growing up. The barn was located on my mom's family farm 5 miles north from where I live now. Today, a bolt of lightning turned it into a pile of smoldering rubble. It wasn't just a barn.

This barn, over 100 years ago, housed cattle, hay and grain. It held straw and the combine, cats and mice when I was growing up. I played house in it, taught the cats school in it, got ticks in my hair in it. It was a great hiding place from my mom, until Duke-dog (the Saint Bernard) would give my mom the look so she knew where I was at. More recently it held machinery for my uncle who is farming the land and my dad.

Not so many years ago my dad and uncle spent hours tediously removing each stone in the wall and foundation and resetting them. Restoring the barn for future generations to enjoy and love just like I did. There was talk that it was time to get the "cat barn" repainted. It wasn't just a barn.

I can remember the cattle that used to come to drink on the south side of the barn and the salt blocks the barn stored. I can remember what I called the "closet" where we kept the cat food, shovels, buckets and brooms. I just remember.....

It was insured, there is talk of rebuilding, but it won't be the same. A piece of my childhood that I loved dearly is gone. I am so thankful for the DeWitt Volunteer Fire Department and the neighboring departments from Welton, Charlotte, Goose Lake  and Low Moor for their help in keeping the fire from spreading to another building just to the north. The ambulance from Genesis and the Clinton County Sheriff's Department also responded. I am thankful that no one was injured while saving the machinery or fighting the fire.

For those of you who say, "Oh, it was just barn.", no it wasn't. Not to me. It was my beloved cat barn that can never be replaced. It was like my second home while growing up. Tomorrow I will go and look at the rubble again and look for something, anything that I can keep at my home from my barn.

So as tears glide freely down my face, I remember.....it wasn't just a barn.