It was a week of fighting through fears, and it continued towards to end of the week in a different way, dealing with my fear of flying. Yet this time, what was on the other side of the fear was clear - Kate.

And as we flew from blue skies through hurricane clouds, I was reminded that life isn’t going to always be smooth. There will be challenges - including fear - that can try and stop us from moving forward. And yes the fear can be thick to work through, yet as the turbulent ride reminded me, the challenges aren’t meant to define us but refine us. Fighting through the fear is hard and exhausting yet as this weekend reminded me, usually on the other side of fear is something good we wouldn’t experience if we allowed the fear to win the battle for our hearts. And for me, Kate was on the other side of this fear and I give thanks to God for helping me through it, again.

I share this to anyone else who has fear gripping them in some way, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we never allow fear to win. May we access the resources we have, especially prayer, to help us through. And may we remember that often fear is the cloud trying to stop us from seeing what’s on the other side. The journey through the fear may challenge us, yet as I was reminded this weekend, it will refine us and be worth it.

With love and hope,
Shawn