Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, we all need courage to face our fears; we need to stand our ground. Your word has many Bible verses to encourage us to have courage; like Deut. 31:6 (NIV) "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified ... for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." And Matt 28:20: "Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

We're unique, we view Your Word one way one time, then differently another time - depends on our situations. We fear the unknown: actually, we all face fears at one time or another; some could be lingering fears from childhood; we're afraid we're not being good enough, or maybe it's just things that go "bump" in the night, or maybe we're afraid of the dark.

We had a dark cellar when we were little kids; store-bought groceries were kept in order on shelves among Mom's canned fruits, vegetables and pickles. Behind the shelves a sand box held carrots and potatoes Daddy had dug, with our help, of course.

About supper time, now and then, when Mom needed something from the cellar, two of us would go down in the cellar - very carefully we went, down, down, down, with a flashlight; this all happened 'way last century'; before electricity was in our house. We'd scan the shelves, grab what was needed, then race for the stairs. Invariable one of us would yell, 'Wolf! Wolf". We'd race UP the stairs, frightened to pieces. We knew there was no wolf down there but little kids are afraid in the dark.

We little ones didn't know Hebrews 13:6b: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Thank You, Lord for being our refuge, strength, and an ever-present help in trouble.

Love, Mara