6/26/13:

TFTD: "But you , Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off"; fear not, for I am with you; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:8-10

Fear is crippling. It paralyzes you and causes you not to do some things that you really want to do. This morning was my first attempt giving a message to the kids in our summer care program and they range from 2 years old up to 5th graders. Personally I am much more comfortable being with high school kids because they can hold a pretty good conversation and can make me think about things in a different way, but I am not nearly as comfortable, sometimes even fearful, of the younger kids because I struggle to connect with them. I struggle to get on their level and meet them where they are at. Thankfully, I have people who encourage me to just be with them and give them the message because they need to hear it even if they are little. Jesus even said let the little ones come to me. Isn't it great that our God isn’t afraid to come to us and meet us where we are at! He tells us through the prophet Isaiah that  "I am with you; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand". He comes to us in our fears, big or small, and reminds us that He is a personal God. He takes us under His wing and lets us know we are capable of anything, even giving a message to the littlest ones. I'm sure thankful for that!

"The only thing to fear is fear itself."- Franklin Roosevelt