FEAR...
Why do we live our lives letting this four letter word control us?  Fear of the future, fear of the past, fear of ourselves or others, fear of doing what God has called us to do.  We all have it but how do we get past it??  How do we truly live free of fear?

Ten years ago, while pregnant with my first baby then, 3+ years later while pregnant with my second baby, we received  terrible news about the baby I was carrying at that time. During both pregnancies, the babies were diagnosed with medical conditions which could only be cured by a miraculous healing touch from God. During the first pregnancy, it was Spina Bifida and many other comorbidities which added to the toughness of the situation. Our sweet baby girl was not expected to live further than the hospital. This was the toughest, most gut-wrenching time of my life. At receipt of the news we began praying, along with many other people, for a miraculous healing of this little baby I was carrying. We continued going to doctors appointments, every time, expecting to receive incredible news that she had been healed and there was no sign of any medical conditions. However, at every doctors appointment, we were slapped in the face with continued bad news sometimes worse that the previous appointment. There came a point, a month or so in, that I started to doubt God and I went back and forth, believing then wondering and doubting. FEAR consumed my heart about what was to come for our little girl. I remember a conversation with a pastor who instructed/commanded us to decide what we were going to believe, the doctors or God's word. From that moment on, I decided that no matter what, God was my anchor and my hope.  I am not going to say it was a cake walk from that point on or that the remainder of my pregnancy was easy because IT WAS NOT!!  Every appointment continued to be difficult with nothing but bad news.  But what did change was my fear was superseded by my HOPE in Jesus. We started putting sticky notes around our house with scriptures on them, which we still have to this day. One in particular is Deut 31:8, The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  We stood on that and other scriptures for the duration of the pregnancy, holding tight to God when fear presented itself. This continued on for 5+ months until April 25, 2007, when we ,and a waiting room FULL of loved ones, welcomed our baby girl into this world.  We took her home with us where she continues to live almost 10 years later.
The second time around, when we received our report with my son, his was honestly a much worse initial report than with my daughter. His report was one of certain death either at birth or shortly thereafter. My first response was, "Really, GOD, are you serious??"  After the initial heartbreak and fear from the doctors report, God's hope set in. We started praying, standing on God's word, and believing for a miracle. Shortly after getting the report, we had an ultrasound which finally delivered us some good news. The specialist who read the ultrasound reported to us, "I'm not sure why your doctor gave you the report he did, there's nothing wrong with this baby." 
Since being mom to both my kids there have been and continue to be other doctors' reports, some good and some bad. The bad ones have sometimes allowed fear to creep back in. There are a lot of unknowns for my daughter's life and future. These things sometimes allow that fear to sneak back in.  And, if I am completely honest, there have been times when I have allowed that stupid, enemy provoked fear to either knock me down or to hang out a little longer than I should. But, when I stop and get a God perspective on the situation, it helps me to remove fear with God's word.  Living without fear does not change my situation but it allows me to live with joy in my life that only God can grant me. Without leaning and standing on God's word for mine and my children's lives, I would be a hot mess and my life would be miserable. I am so THANKFUL that I don't have to live there.