Fearless

I leave for the Des Moines airport in just about 6 hours. Naturally, I can't sleep. I always have a hard time falling asleep the night before I fly somewhere. I think it's because of a mix of anxiety, eagerness, excitement, and maybe even a little bit of fear. Not a good combo if you ask me. But I'll deal. I might get 4 hours of sleep tonight... but I can always sleep on the plane! :-) I am very excited to get out of Iowa and to spend 6 days in the beautiful state of North Carolina. However, seeing as my days really are numbered until I leave for Iowa State and leave behind many wonderful, dear friends of mine... I will miss my friends a lot while on this trip I think. A LOT.

On a different note, last night one of my dearest friends spent the night at my house. It was a great night, we had so much fun just being goofballs and such. But when we got into bed and turned the lights off, somehow we started discussing some really deep, heavy things about our lives. It turned into a pretty intense talk on lots of things, but one thing that stuck out to me was when my friend talked about fear. Fear creeps its way into our hearts, does it not? It can consume a person. But anyway, this subject prompted me to look over one of my favorite verses ever.

"Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one." --Isaiah 44:8

I think if you really believe that, you will have no fear. Fear comes from lack of knowledge, from not knowing something, from being uncertain and unsure. Fear, you could say, comes from lack of affirmation maybe. Whatever it comes from, it's ever-present in our world. But if you truly believe that God is the ROCK, and there is no one like him, not one, that he is the only God the only Rock, and you believe that everything that happens was foretold long before you were even born... then you have no need to tremble, to have fear inside of you. I think Satan feeds on our fear. So why give him the opportunity to get a foothold on you? The next time you think of fear being present in your heart, take a breath and try to tell yourself Isaiah 44:8. DO NOT TREMBLE, DO NOT BE AFRAID. like it's clear as glass, don't give fear a chance to eat away at your soul. I wrote a poem I actually really am proud of during this past school year for my AP Studio Art class, and it's all about being fearless and why I can be that way. Maybe I'll post it in the next blog or something, because I really think it's worth sharing. I think God fills me up with so much good stuff that it then shows up in my poetry and when I write things. I don't think my poetry, or anything I write that has such value and worth, comes from me- it's gotta come from the One who created me, my Father. I really do think that. I think that God uses our gifts to reach other people and further the kingdom of God. Isn't that cool, to think about your own unique gifts being used for something heavenly, for eternal glory?

I really need to go to sleep. <3