She Laughs in the Face of Fear-by Heidi McLaughlin

The nausea was relentless. As if that wasn’t enough; my heart was pounding like a jack hammer and I felt light headed and disoriented. Claws of fear clutched at my throat and heart. This ugly fear was determined to stop me dead in my tracks and sabotage my first big speaking engagement. I believed with all my heart that God had prepared me and orchestrated this weekend Conference for me to inspire hundreds of women to become the women of influence that God had created them to be. Yet, here I was the one disabled and fearful and not able to step into this divine God appointed opportunity.

I decided to take a long, hot shower; perhaps that would stop my beating heart. As the searing hot water hit me from all angles it became glaringly clear to me; fear was the invisible enemy determined to stop me from bringing messages of love and hope and cross our wonderful nation of Canada. Then I got angry and declared out loud, “Fear, you are not going to steal my joy. I declare in the powerful name of Jesus that I will not give in to this fear but instead I will boldly go into the Conference and speak with a Godly confidence, and joy. I will not let the enemy of fear sabotage my God given appointment.” My heart stopped its persistent beating, and with a new resolve I dressed in a snappy outfit and stepped out into the world with confidence and joy.  

That shower monologue was a defining, hallmark moment for me. I saw fear for what it was; an invisible rehearsal of a negative future trying to stop me from fulfilling my God given purpose. Fear is a deceitful, enemy that can make us feel powerless. If we don’t recognize it and learn to “walk through it”; it can stop us from fulfilling our purpose in life and all those wonderful things God has available to us for our pleasure and fulfillment.

If you and I are going to be God influencers we need to learn to identify fear. Yes, there is good fear; the kind that tells us to look both ways before crossing the street; but there is a slavish fear that the bible says, “that spirit is not given us of God.”[1] Slavish fear is the kind that paralyzes our imagination, robs us of our self-respect and swallows up our purpose in life. I choose to be a woman of influence as described in the bible: “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future” (Prov. 31:25 NLT).

What are you afraid of? It is very empowering and healthy to write down all our fears; look them in the eye and tell them that they will no longer have any power over you. Beyond our fear lies our greatest power. Instead, look to God and ask Him to give you the strength to push through that fear, so that you can move into becoming that beautiful woman of influence I believe you were designed to be.

Heidi McLaughlin lives in the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagan Valley in Kelowna, British Columbia. She is married to Pastor Jack and they have a wonderful, eclectic blended family of 5 children and 9 grandchildren. When Heidi is not working, she loves to curl up with a great book, or golf and laugh with her husband and special friends. You can reach her at: www.heartconnection.ca

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[1] Heidi McLaughlin, Sand to Pearls: Making BOLD Choices to Enrich Your Life (Sisters, Oregon: Deep River Books, 2010), 149.

Answering Your Call and Buckling Down — MANN

Sometimes the position of between writing projects is as scary as the excitement of beginning or finishing an assignment. With the latter, I have my story down, I know my characters well and the setting is somewhere I’d like to spend the next month without a cell phone or Blackberry. However, that in-between position is a problem. It gives me too many options that take me nowhere, except to the flowerbeds to weed, or maybe the upstairs closet to fill that bag for Value Village. Feelings of regret that I can’t get going again, or fear that I’ll have nothing to write, or worse yet that the birthday I’ve just celebrated with my family, including my great grandchildren, tells me I’m tired of writing. Maybe I should just climb into our RV, turn on the engine and say, “Go West, old man, go West . . . and take me with you.”

Some of you who read this will say, Been there, done that. Either some of you will still be there or you will have taken a right turn and come full circle back to respond to your call of writing. Call is something that doesn’t go fishing, or hide in excuses or dismissals. Call is a gift. A fisherman became a disciple, a seller of purple cloth became a church leader, a Tax Collector became an author, a wife became a judge. They were someone else and they became something different—because of their call.

Writers in the between position have only to wait until the moment. Perhaps the key is using everything you do, see or feel in the in-between to reflect upon later. Then you will begin to think and dream and ask those funny questions of why, when and where. Pick up your pencil to write, boot up your computer, knuckle down because it’s going to be hard work to response to your call and give words new life.

Like a new baby that can’t do everything he or she will be able to do when mature, the new writing project goes through growing stages as well. Each time you pick it up and nurture it, it becomes a little more independent and takes on a life of its own. Until it is developed, enough to stand alone with out your help, and speak its voice to the world, it needs you.

Then you are back in the between position again. But, now you’re practiced at letting go and beginning again with the knowledge that your call will continue to draw you out to give birth to something new. Behold I make all things new, even those old dusty manuscripts in the back of the closet.

Keep in touch: www.homestead.com/the_meadows/mann.html
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