No More Fear

I'm done with being afraid. I will not obsessively worry anymore. I've said it before - but it was always 'I'm trying to stop' or 'I'm working on stressing less'. But this time I'm being aggressive. I know that God did not give me a spirit of fear (although I can't give you the book and verse - it's in there), and I'm tired of wasting my life imagining horrible things that might happen while missing the good things that are happening.

A few days ago I was making brownies and as usual I decided to have a few licks on the spoon after loading up the pan. My girls had 'helped' me mix it all up and came in wanting to taste too. I, of course, started to say no - because raw eggs are dangerous. BIG SCARY RAW EGGS. Then I realized that my fear of eggs (which Alton Brown on Food Network dismisses as merely ruining some good recipes that call for raw eggs) was keeping my children from experiencing something that was definitely a highlight of my childhood. I loved, as I'm sure many kids did, licking the spoon/whisk/bowl with my mom after making cookies or cakes. Yes, there is a risk to it. I know that raw eggs can potentially make you sick. But my kids are almost 4, and I know not to use cracked eggs. And, for crying out loud, it turns out it's just as dangerous to eat raw tomatoes. AND they have already been fed homemade ice cream with raw eggs by their grandparents (against my better judgement - and yes, I worried a lot about that one), and they survived.

My point is that I know, and really have always known, that you can't protect yourself or your kids against everything that might get them. So, starting yesterday I'm going to pray and move on. Yes, I believe in safety first- but I'm done with extremes. Besides no matter how safe I try to be I still have a mind lapses and dangerous things happen. Or I turn around at the pool after rescuing one kid from taking off to find the other one totally gone. Disappeared - and not afraid of being submerged. My children have absolutely no fear of drowning. They think it's fun to go under - they know someone will pull them up. So I do my best - but my confidence is in the Lord - because He's the only one who can really keep us safe.



****The kids took one tiny taste of brownie batter and decided they didn't want it. When they received their cooked brownies, they didn't want them. A. said "Mama we don't want those brownies, we need the ones from Wal-Mart." (step-mom pointed out that cosmic brownies from Wal-Mart have fun colored sprinkles on top - so I shouldn't be too offended)