I woke up this morning thinking about fear, not being fearful but just pondering the concept. I think one of the most crippling things in the life of a believer (and really anyone for that matter) is fear. Fear is the one feeling we have that not only effects us in and of itself but it also taints all of our other feelings as well. Think how much more fully you would experience joy, love, and hope if you did not fear sadness, rejection, and doubt. How many more jokes would you tell if you weren't afraid of looking foolish? How many more friends would you have if you weren't afraid of rejection? How many more people would you witness to about your faith if you weren't afraid of what they would think about you? And how much more deeply would you love if you weren't afraid of loss? Fear robs us of the life God intended for us. The battle with Satan is no longer about eternal life, Jesus won that fight 2000 years ago. The battle with the enemy is now about THIS life, here on earth. He can no longer "steal, kill, and destroy" our eternal life so he attacks our every day life with fear, doubt, and lies to keep us from living as God intended. This morning I found myself wondering about the fear in my life. Why am I being so "safe" in the things that I hope for, the things that I pray for? Who am I trying to keep from looking foolish? God or me? Why am I afraid to whole-heartily believe in the healing for Riley that I am praying for? Isn't that what faith is . . . being certain of what we HOPE for, not just what we know will come to pass? So for today I choose to hope fearlessly and to love recklessly. And tomorrow I will have to choose faith over fear again as the enemy continues to try to pick a fight with me.
Thanks for all your love and hopefully "fearless" prayers for our family!
Love,
Becca
"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." -Isaiah 41:10
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." -2 Timothy 1:7
5 comments:
Becca,
I love your faith. You are right, too!
Becca,
I agree with Josh...you SHOULD write a book! What an inspiration you are to those who are trying to keep up with Riley, Ayden and their parents by logging on. I also wanted to thank you for letting us "borrow" your remarkable husband at HighPoint yesterday: What a powerful message he shared! Afterwards, I told Pastor Mike that what amazes me is that the two of you truly GET IT..."IT" being what Christian faith is all about! I marvel at the spiritual maturity that goes way beyond your years!
You have blessed me and countless others by the sharing of your faith through honest, heartfelt words. I pray that in all things His will is done and that He is glorified in the midst of it all.
~Cathy Coggin
Faith is not without worry or care,
Faith is Fear that has said a prayer.
--Unknown
I will pass this along. God is amazing!!
Dear Turner family,
My name is Amanda and my family and I attend Celebration. I think my friend Kelly talked to you about me at Shine this passed weekend. Your daughter's story has touched us so much and it reminds us a lot about what we have gone through with our boy/girl twins in the last 4 years. They were born 3 months early and barely weighed 2 pounds each. Immediately the doctors told us that our son's head ultrasound showed that he had holes in his brain and he was never going to walk or talk or be a normal boy. Of course, this was absolutely devastating to us. We researched everything that we could about his illness and, more importantly, prayed and prayed and prayed. Like you, everytime I saw a little boy running around I would be so sad and think "not fair!" Six weeks went by and the head of the NICU (at Wolfson's) called us out of the blue and said that he has looked at our son's ultrasounds and he doesn't see any holes at all! He has a perfectly healthy brain! We couldn't believe it. What a miracle! However, as we were getting good news with our son, our daughter's condition was worsening. She had trouble with her breathing from day one. Both of her lungs and her airway kept collapsing. She kept getting on and off the ventilator and CPAP machines. The doctors could not figure out why she couldn't breathe. Finally they brought in a pediatic ENT (Dr. Maddern) and he said that she was going to need a tracheostomy tube. I just remember being so upset. I felt like the Shumanite woman that Pastor Stovall preached about on Saturday. After all, wasn't this God's dream? We had asked for a baby--He gave us 2! He healed one child but now the other was going to suffer so much! Our daughter had the surgery and could immediately breathe so much better! However, that also meant a huge lifestyle change for all of us. I can definitely relate to that scary first car ride home and several thereafter. I have some stories about medical equipment that are quite funny now but were an absolute nightmare to live through! After several unsuccessful attempts to get the trach tube out the doctor decided that she was going to need trachea reconstructive surgery where he would use her rib cartiledge to rebuild her trachea. It was a major surgery and we were not looking forward to it. Around that time our neighbor, also a Celebration Church-goer, told us to pray big. Don't just ask God to let her surgery go well, ask Him to heal her. Ask Him to make it so that she doesn't even need to have this surgery at all. Well, this sounded crazy to me, but that was what my husband and I prayed for. The following March, after really getting plugged in to a women's group and having them pray for her also, we had a pre-surgery appointment to set up the date. The doctor looked down her trach tube one more time and then looked very surprised. He said that her trachea looked really good and that he was 90% sure that she was not going to need this surgery after all! I think I could have fallen over on the floor! So, a few weeks later she was able to get it out. All together my daughter had 6 surgeries and my son had one. But four years later they are both outside running around with their dad right now! I'm sorry this is so long-winded but I just want to say one more thing. About a year ago I asked God why they had to go through all of this, why would He let such tiny little babies go through so much. He directed me to John 9:3 which told me that all of this happened so that the glory of God could be seen in them! My husband and I were not saved before the twins were born, we believed in God, but we didn't "get it." It was our children's situation that led us to Him! Please know that you are not alone in this and there are a lot of people "praying big" for Riley!
~Amanda and Steve Ottie
how was the dedication?
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