It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
² proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,  Psalm 92:1-2 esv

Here is a photo of me visiting a preschool in India and teaching them a song with actions!  God has brought me a long way in having boldness in a group.

I thank God that He has helped me overcome so many fears in my life.

My mom was always sick when I was growing up and I became afraid of hospitals.  She had 19 major operations while I was growing up and was always afraid of anesthesia and that she would not wake up after surgery.

I was also very short in elementary school and felt rejected by most of the kids.

I was an early reader and actually skipped a grade but it alienated me from kids my age, and I felt lonely.  I had anxiety about school.

So, after I grew up I would literally shake when entering a school or a hospital.

I wanted to overcome these fears, so first I started working for doctors and going into hospitals daily delivering reports until I was not afraid anymore.  I was a transcriber for several years during college and while Rick was in seminary.

As I had kids and they went to school, I was so afraid and nervous when I had parent teacher conferences.  I would cry every time.  So, as the kids got older I started volunteering in the school and kept going until I was not afraid anymore.  I ended up becoming a substitute teacher and taught at the biggest high school in Georgia for ten years.  

This is how I overcame my fears of hospitals and schools.  I knew that I could not let His light shine in my life if I was full of fear.  In college, I had read a book called Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World about sharing our faith.  I knew I needed to change.

God met me there and helped me to overcome so that I can share His light.  I am still pushing myself to share His light as I walk around my community in Chicago.  Praying for people outside is a stretch, but I want to keep stretching myself to do these things for His Kingdom.  I ask God to give me stories I can share with others about sharing God’s love in a practical way in my everyday life.  We are living in the city for the first time and encountering so many people from all over the world.

What about you?  What kind of fears do you want to overcome?  What steps should you take to move in that direction?

My prayers are with you to overcome in order to shine His light everyday in your community.  This is a photo from a Christmas in the 1970s when God was beginning to work on giving me boldness and He is still helping me today!