courage

It's raining today, which is fine by me because I am still in my pajamas...

My brain is attempting to make me feel not-so-good- you know: the rain, the problems in the world, the issues facing our country.  Add to that, I am taking advantage of said rain to attempt to organize a bit for the upcoming school year (yikes! Did I really sign up for that?  Do I really think I can teach that? Are there seriously 16 kids in my little co-op dance class?!?) wow- Am I so easily frightened? And overwhelmed? And feeling not-so-good?

I think that sometimes it is easier to give in to the despair of emotions that plague us than it is to spiritually fight them.

Yet, God commands us to be not afraid.  He is bigger than all of this.

Robin Williams- a man that always made people laugh- died yesterday. His demons won.  It's so, so sad. Children are being killed and trafficked and attacked.  Families are being torn apart.  Christians are being persecuted.  The economy is falling apart. Again.

Yet, there is still so. much. good.

For starters, my baby (she's eleven) is happily putting together her Kragle Lego set she got for her birthday. My oldest (17) is reading, and reluctantly looking at some college choices.  My middle (13) is crafting, and art-ing, and piano-ing, and guitar-ing.  The husband is unpacking from his recent trip, and cleaning.  I'm writing.  Franklin Graham's foundation is aiding refugees in Iraq. Whole communities are praying for each other.  People are reaching out in support of the hurting and the broken. Campaigns to free slaves are growing, and they are making rescues.

Why do we, as a nation, it seems, focus on all the bad stuff?  The bad stuff is awful, don't get me wrong.  I am horrified, and admittedly feeling a bit incapacitated by all that bad stuff! I can't explain it, or understand it, but I know that the bad stuff doesn't win in the end.  I know that. It's promised.  And, in the meantime, people that are sensitive (like me, and most of my family), need to know that good is fighting the bad.  On every front, if you look just past the bad news, you can find the warriors that are fighting for the good; fighting for the right; striving to "seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God".

We were made to be courageous!