Fear can be a good thing. And fear can be a warning. Fear of falling off a cliff is a good, healthy fear. Natural and normal. Recently on the Tower of Terror I faced that fear. I didn't like it. And don't worry, I'm not about to skydive to try to conquer it. Fear of snakes is a normal fear. God gives us those natural reactions to help protect us.

But what happens if we have a fear that isn't so normal or natural? I've faced down a lot of those fears in the past few years. I've learned to embrace fear, realize it's often doubt and fear from the evil one, trying to stop me from doing what God wants me to do. So with a lot of prayer, I step into those fears.

My eight year old daughter has been battling a fear lately. Just so you know, she loves to perform. She enjoys her dance classes but she lives for recital. She's also been in little musicals and never gets nervous. She just loves performing. I marvel at her because I'm so different. God gifted her with an ability to sing. It did not come from me. Or my husband. A recessive gene somewhere? Anyway, she's always loved singing. She's even told me she thought God wanted her to sing for him. But in the last couple of years she's grown shy about singing in front of people. Believe me, she can belt out a song and I can hear her all over our house. But she turned reticent. So believing this was a fear she needed to get over at a young age, I signed her up for voice lessons. She loved the lessons but all year she dreaded (shall we be honest...sobbed, cried, pleaded) the recital. It was drama of the highest level. I kept reminding her how she loves to perform. Our whole family encouraged her. But still the fear persisted. I asked her who she thought might not want her to sing since God has given her this gift. She answered, "Satan." So we prayed about her recital and the day finally arrived.

Let me just say, God is so good. He is faithful when we cry out to him. We prayed for his shield, his protection. Yesterday was her recital and she was calm and sang clearly and beautifully. It bolstered her confidence to get through that performance just like it bolsters our confidence in the Lord when he helps us through difficult situations, things we fear.

Remember: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

update on Hershey, the sick cat: I forcefed her this yucky looking (and smelling) high caloric food all weekend. She utters a low, pathetic growl but she's fairly compliant. She's a good patient. But she's still not eating on her own. She's not worse, but she's not really any better either. So for now, I guess we'll just continue on. Thanks for the prayers!