The Balance Between Fun and Fear

An essay from our vacation, Summer 2017

Our summer vacation made me ever aware of the need to balance fun with fear. Sometimes what my family thought was fun caused much fear in me.

Our pastor says "Fear is faith in the enemy," and that is not a good thing. Yet he also reminds us that God lets us have free will, and sometimes we live with unpleasant consequences when we do unwise things. So how do we balance this?

In my profession as a physician, I simply know too much sometimes. I have seen people with severe injuries from accidental causes. I don't want to be too cautious that I steal my kids' fun, yet protecting them is one of my jobs as their parent.

When they see a large glacial rock or a large, knobby tree with low branches, they see a fun climb. Yet when they go up too high, I see a tibia sticking out of their leg or a devastating traumatic head injury. That fear takes away my fun. Which of us is right?

I found that this trip helped me learn more about my kids' abilities. They are stronger, have more balance, and more endurance than I knew. Once I learned that I was less fearful.

But sometimes, I still see a tibia sticking out of their leg. Look away, Mom, look away.

It's Good To Need Help Every Now and Then

This past spring (May 2017), my husband took a two week mission trip to the Philippines.  I remain grateful to those family and friends who helped me with the kids when he was gone.  Thank you!

It's good to need help every now and then. In those times, we are reminded of the people who love us and who we can count on, and others are blessed by helping. I am fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends.

I am, by nature, a type A personality, and I do not like to ask for help very often. It is good for me to be pushed to the point where I simply need to reach out. My husband's recent two-week mission trip to the Philippines gave me several opportunities to do that.

For many different reasons, my parents have not yet had an opportunity to stay with the kids and take care of them full-time for more than a few hours. It made their hearts happy to spend several days with us, and take care of the kids while I was on a two day business trip. They did an excellent job getting them ready for school, taking them to evening school events, and meeting their daily needs.

Sometimes my work schedule required me to have a helper to transport kids to school or to other events. Several people stepped up to volunteer.

One day my son was ill and had to be picked up from school. He had a high fever, and needed to be assessed at urgent care. One of his aunts jumped at the chance to help out, and went above and beyond simply taking him home. She brought him to me, had him seen at urgent care, and gave him some medicine, soup, and Gatorade to make him feel better. And she did it cheerfully.

It is good for us to need help every now and then. This gives the people who love us an opportunity to shine, and it helps us remember how truly blessed we are to have them in our lives.

Talk Where Your Feet Are Walking You

I continue to think about the "armor of God" and all of its parts (Eph 6). The "feet fitted with the gospel of peace" always puzzled me, but I think I'm starting to understand that now. Our communities could use more "feet" focused on peace.

Your feet are what take you places. They are what carry around your helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, and belt of truth. And they are what take your mouth to places so that you can breathe life into people with the Word of God. The problem is that many times our feet are on a path in the opposite direction of peace.

What are our goals for this country? We cannot assume that everyone that enters our paths will be walking with integrity. But we should be sure we are doing so ourselves. I believe we will have a greater chance of peace if we try to find the integrity in those around us. And we need to trust that God will work all things for good, regardless of the actions of other people. We cannot let our mouth speak poison! James 3:8 makes it clear that would be a "ruthless evil" and certainly is not befitting of God's people.

Talk where your feet are walking you. May it always be with intention of reconciliation.