What Do You Fear?
It was my Mamma that first taught me
how to face my fears. Miss Winifred T. Crank was my third grade teacher. She
was tall ‘n had shoulders like a football player. Her hair was short ‘n gray.
Her face looked like a square fryin’ pan ‘n she wore a whistle ‘round her neck.
She terrified me!
Every time Miss Crank talked, her
eyebrows would go up ‘n down in a capital V on her forehead. She’d always call
on me to go to the chalkboard in front of the class to do a math problem. I was
afraid 'cause math was not my favorite subject, 'n I knew I was gonna’ mess up.
My legs felt as limp as rubber bands.
Miss Crank scared me so bad, I decided
I wouldn’t goin’ back. The next day, after Daddy dropped me off at school, I
watched him drive away. As soon as he
turned the corner, I started walkin’ toward home. I spent the day in the woods across from our
house. In those woods I wasn’t scared. In those woods I was Annie Oakley!
I found a tree that was bent
over. I climbed up on it ‘n bounced up ‘n down like I was ridin’ a horse. As I
was ridin’, I made up this song.
In
the wild, wild west, I’m the best.
I
ride the range all day long.
It
calms my fears, ‘n drives my troubles away.
There was only one person that could
bring Annie Oakley down with just a look - my Mamma. One of our neighbors
spotted me ‘n called her. When she found me at my tree, she took me by the hand
‘n walked me home without a word. I was
scared I was gonna’ get a whuppin’ when Daddy got home. Nothin’ was said ‘til after supper. Mamma ‘n Daddy sat down with me ‘n asked me
why I wasn’t stayin’ at school. I told
‘em I was afraid of Miss Crank. Mamma
said I should put my trust in God. If I fully trusted in Him, my fear would
disappear! That night before goin’ to bed, I told God that I trusted Him to
take away my fear.
The next day when Daddy took me to
school, he walked into the classroom with me. Daddy spoke to Miss Crank ‘n
explained to her ‘bout my fear. Then
Miss Crank knelt down ‘n looked at me in the eyes ‘n smiled. From that time on Miss Crank wasn’t so scary
after all.
Psalm
56:11 "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do to
me."
Lord, help us to remember that you're with us always. We don't need to be afraid. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Things To Think 'bout:
1. What are you afraid of?
2. Have you talked with God 'bout your fears?
God's art is all 'round you! Take time to be still. To take it all in.
In our school, it was Mr. D. He stood by the garbage at lunch making sure we didn't throw away food. My sister was so afraid of him, she took all her baloney and ketchup sandwiches on white bread home and put them in a bookbag in the closet. After a few months, mom noticed...sniff sniff... lol But we grew up in an atheist home so we didn't know God.
ReplyDeleteBless your heart JoJo! So glad you know God now!
ReplyDeleteLove ya!
I loved 1st grade with a passion, but when I got to 2nd grade, I hated it. The details are sorta fuzzy, but several days in a row, I refused to get out of the car and go in to school (we lived out in the country so I couldn't walk to school.) Three days in a row, the principle - and man who walked with a limp and cane - came out to the car and physically carried me into my classroom, telling me to stay put. I just cried and begged to change classrooms - I just did not like my teacher. (My 1st grade teacher was young, lively and pretty, my 2nd grade teacher was 1000 years old and harsh, smacking rulers on the desk.)
ReplyDeleteNo one did anything. And I don't remember what changed, but I started walking to class by myself again the next week, and hated every minute of that year. To this day, just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. But I felt horrible guilt at the nice principle having to carry me with his bad leg. And so terribly embarrassed that I carried on so.