The Year I Faced My Fears

This past year, God called me to begin facing my fears and stepping INTO them, so that He could bring freedom.

It was one of the hardest, yet rewarding years of my life so far. I hope it inspires you.

Here’s a few of the fears I have faced in the past year…

Roller coasters… I know some of you are like… really! For some people, roller coasters just aren’t your thing, but you could actually get on them if you wanted, right? For years, I haven’t been able to ride roller coasters with my family.  The fear was beyond just personal preference for me. The anxiety & panic would begin to overtake me as soon as we entered the theme park. By the time, we got to the loading area for a ride, I was typically in full blown panic attack mode where I couldn’t breathe and I would begin shaking uncontrollably. Over the last year, I have taken small steps INTO this fear, I started with the little kid coasters and worked my way up to the more intense ones. Full Disclosure: there are still a couple of big coasters that I haven’t conquered. But, we went to Orlando this year and I finally rode 99% of the rides with my family. The freedom I felt was unbelievable and I actually enjoyed it!

Being in front of a camera… Last year, I received an email asking if I would participate in a video shoot to talk about my experience with If:Equip, which is a daily bible reading plan. This video was to be shown at the If:Gathering and would be viewed by thousands of women all over the world. My initial reaction was “No way… someone else will step up to do that.” As the day went on, I knew God was calling me to say “Yes”, but I argued with Him a bit first. My internal dialogue was “God, you know this is prime opportunity for a panic attack. Why should I say yes to this? I’m not even sure that I have anything to say…”  God laughed and said, “Just go, I’ll give you the words to say.”  So I stepped INTO that fear and God proved himself faithful. He carried me through that day and the video shoot without the least bit of anxiousness or worry & He gave me the perfect words to say. Thank you, Lord that I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of thousands of women… take a look at the final product, I’m in the purple sweater about 1 minute in talking about a sweet moment with my son Caleb.

Public speaking… In March of 2015, I was asked to share my testimony during our church’s Ladies’ Night Out event in front of over 100 women. Again, I hesitated in my response, but knew that God was calling me to obedience once again. So stepping INTO the fear, I stood on that stage & nervously shared my story with a room full of women. Through facing that fear and sharing my story, God has allowed me to have such amazing conversations with women struggling through the same battles. You can hear the audio from that night HERE (forgive the endless uses of “umm”), I was slightly nervous and said “I would NEVER speak on stage!”

Fast forward to 2016, I am now the host/emcee for that Ladies’ Night Out event, and on that stage every single month. Yikes! It has stretched me, but each time that I step on that stage, I truly feel God growing me and releasing me from this fear. FREEDOM, do you see a theme?

Opening myself up to criticism on the world wide web… Seven years ago, when I put my daughter on the bus to kindergarten, God laid it on my heart that prayer would become my only sanity to trust my little girl to the big bad world of school. That same day, He laid it on my heart to purchase this domain name (ThePrayingMom.com). I had no idea how to do that or what I was supposed to do with it, but I purchased it that day. Every year since, when the renewal date rolled around, I thought I should just sell it because what am I ever going to do with it. I was running… running from the calling God placed on me seven years ago out of fear. So here I am, still clueless as to what He has planned for this space, but taking a step in obedience and into FREEDOM, no longer letting fear control my life.

Are you ready to take a step INTO some of your fears? I want to walk with you. Share what God is calling you to step into in the comments below.

Read this post on facing your fears.