I was being terrorized by a pumpkin! Can you believe it?!?!? Then I had a revelation: to DO ONE BRAVE THING.
Is anyone else afraid of the unknown? Scared of new things? Worried you’ll mess up? Be imperfect? FAIL?
Are you as ready to be done with it as I am?
Last summer we had our first garden on the homestead. Raised pumpkins for the first time so our granddaughter could pick her own. Grew these beauties of brilliant mottled orange with squat bursting shape. She got to carve and share them with many friends.
Now midwinter, the last one lay dying by spreading ugly spot. Decision time – waste him or learn to save his seeds and transform him into new things. But I didn’t know how. I fretted. Procrastinating for weeks.
Ridiculous I know. To be stressed out wasting life in dread of unknown things. On a pumpkin for heaven’s sake!
That dastardly fear demon. Lurking behind a pumpkin, blog post, tax deadline, new cheese, fat rendering, soap making, meat curing, knitting, quilting, anything never mastered before. Can you relate? Have your own weird list you wouldn’t want to show to your friends? Gut punchers. Life wasters. Joy killers?
The cure? Simple. DO ONE BRAVE THING. Even the tiniest thing. Because sometimes…
Being brave takes action not courage.
Let’s choose to call it an adventure.
Discover what’s possible.
Give up fear for Lent.
It’s the only way to grow into our destiny.
Perhaps we are like this pumpkin. When fear wins we stay small, hard, unusable, where glorious color, sweetness and shared seeds are meant to be.
We must choose to be stretched or die small on the vine. Unshared.
To inhabit our full glory we must let go of being small.
So here’s the challenge: once a day, a week, or a month, let’s step out, stretch, grow. Do one brave thing.
And repeat.
And one day we shall see what we might become.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. ~ Zephaniah 3:16 ESV
Amen.
QUESTION: What small thing have you let fear keep you from attempting? Who might you become if you choose to do one brave thing instead?
Hi Joanna,
I can so relate to your post. Fear has kept me from many things.
An opportunity was presented to me awhile back, and I felt called to go and visit an elderly woman that I didn’t know very well and hadn’t seen for over a year. BUT, I chose to step out and allow God to work in this heart of mine. I pushed the fear aside and went to visit her in the care facility that she now lives in. God gave me the words to say and we enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship and prayer. And my heart was so blessed! Looking forward to another visit with her soon ?
Thanks Tawny for sharing your story. I love hearing testimony of how God blesses our stepping out in faith in spite of our fears and following where He leads. That’s what life down here is really all about. I’m convinced of it!