Things have been a little stressful lately. Christmas is coming, and the gander is getting mean. Once the Christmas music started playing, I was enamored with the season; however, when the rubber met the road (shopping for many), that blissful state went out the window.
This past weekend was tough, trying to clean things up so we could decorate and get the tree. Well, some work got done, but amidst a lot of bickering and sibling squabbling. After one such altercation, one of the kids took off for a bike ride. Normally, that would be fine, but he didn’t take his phone, and he was mad and hungry.
For a helicopter mom, this is a recipe for distress. After I got the other ones occupied, I took a ride down to Linda Mar where I thought my son would’ve gone. While I was driving, all those fear-generated thoughts began to surface. Bike accident, won’t come home, or worse; my mind can go to town. Stress levels were rising.
And then….I remembered Éowyn and Joshua 1:9. I have been combating fear for decades. Having children only exacerbated this very weak weakness. But as I was driving, I remember Éowyn and how she stood up to the Nazgûl, fearless, ready to die, pulling off her headgear and exclaiming, “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”
Equipped with this image and the powerful and en-couraging words of Joshua 1:9:
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
I pulled out my mental sword and began slaying those fear-mongering thoughts. I entrusted my son to the Lord, went to Taco Bell and had a burrito with Ellie, and then went home. He showed up soon after. He was fine. And I had won a small battle.
We are commanded to be strong and courageous. For folks like myself, that is fearsome in itself, I am such a wimp, I will never be brave. I am a runner, I run from fear, from discord, from difficulty. Sometimes you gotta turn around and fight. I have been en-couraged by this verse many times, and by the grace of God, I will become fearless and noble like Éowyn.
FROM THE SHOE 