Browsing Tag

Jesus

Fear is optional

fear is a prison

What are you afraid of?

I’ve been scared all my life.

When I was a child and growing up, I had a lot of fears. I was afraid of:

the unknown;
the dark;
storms;
strangers;
loud noises;
big dogs;
failing in school;
getting in trouble at school;
being called on at school to answer a question;
public speaking;
heights;
crowds;
rejection;
my parents;
and more.

As an adult, my fears are much more intangible, things like me not mattering (not making a difference here on earth) nor leaving a righteous legacy. Of my children not loving me or having nothing to do with me. Of failing as a mom. Of something horrible happening to one of our children or grandchildren. Of never fulfilling my calling and purpose from God. Of never succeeding as a speaker and author. Of growing old and unloved. Of declining health. Of news headlines, such as the Coronavirus, violent shootings, terrorism, persecution for my faith, and natural disasters. Fears many people share.

God has delivered me of many of my childhood fears, but I still have to fight against new fears the enemy Satan tries to throw at me, such as the one above. I must keep my gaze on Jesus and choose to trust in Him!

Leah at our house with her ankle elevated, pre-surgery

Leah’s heavy black ankle boot

I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety and fear lately because our youngest daughter Leah fell on ice and snow near Christmas, and it broke the fibula in her right ankle. The fracture required her having surgery, which was extremely scary to me.

I know that God is going to completely heal her, but that doesn’t mean I am not battling fears, such as her falling again and re-injuring herself. But I must choose to trust that God is going to protect her and quickly, completely heal her!

Fear is something Jesus addressed a lot with His disciples. One of the most well-known passages is when they were on a boat in a storm in Matthew 8:23-27, NASB.

The Bible describes it as a “great storm.” This was not just a little summer shower. The men were experienced fishermen, and had been in plenty of storms. But they were afraid in this storm.

^“When Jesus got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?””

The men were scared out of their wits that they were going to die. And there Jesus was, asleep! They woke Him up, asking Him to rescue them. Jesus challenged them. He called them out for their fear, asking why they were afraid.

Why are you and I afraid, too? Jesus is always with us in the boat of life! He is at peace, and we should be, too, trusting in God!

storm

In my email inbox today, I received the Faith Gateway ezine in which author Max Lucado writes, “Storms are not optional, but fear is.”

On my Facebook wall today, one of my friends didn’t agree completely with this quote. She said, “Fear is a natural human emotion. It moves us to take action. To seek safety. Fear can alert us to REAL danger. Ignoring it, burying it, or minimizing it won’t save us if we’re in a serious situation. Fear can prompt us to make quick decisions. Some people have physical strength during scary moments and they can rescue others from a fire, car accident, and dire conditions.”

This is true. And in fact, my friend Judy in Florida just experienced this during a storm. She and her husband Bob are staying in a mobile home right now and were going to a concrete building storm shelter during a tornado warning about 10:30 at night. As her husband was getting his sweat pants, Judy went outside to knock on a neighbor’s door.

The wind became powerful and she saw rotating clouds. Judy laid quickly on the ground and prayed for Jesus to help them. She was pelted with debris but God protected her. About 15 houses away, a tree was uprooted and mobile homes were damaged. It was later confirmed that a tornado was on the ground in their area. If Judy hadn’t paid attention to her feeling of fear when she saw the rotating clouds, she might have been seriously hurt or even died. Her fear did alert her to make a quick, and potentially life-saving decision: to lay down on the ground for protection.

Fear can be useful to caution us. We need to pay attention to our fears, because God gives us emotions for a reason. But God doesn’t want us to stay stuck there. He wants us to rise above the fear and intentionally choose to trust in and believe in Him, God Almighty, who is all-knowing and all-powerful. God is greater than any fear or danger that we may be experiencing. Fear is the opposite of faith and is our enemy to trusting in Jesus.

faith deco in sunroom

Yes, fear is a natural response to frightening, dangerous situations. God understands this and doesn’t condemn us for the fear. But we can’t stay a slave to our fears. We must master them and choose to believe in and trust in God. We must get our eyes off the dangerous storm, whatever it is, and keep our eyes on Jesus, who will never leave us. This is not an easy task. But with God nothing is impossible. Renewing our minds with the truth of God’s word is the key to conquering our fears. (Romans 12:2)

Here are some verses on fear and faith that you and I can meditate on to help us renew our minds and to conquer the enemy of fear.

“So do not fear, for I AM with you; do not be dismayed for I AM your God. I will strengthen and help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3)

“Peace is what I leave with you; it is My own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

“But now thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

*******

my butterfly book at Amazon

Are you struggling with fears, anxiety, or stress? Be sure to check out my book, Metamorphosis: Transformed from Fear to Faith, available for sale at Amazon here.

February 8, 2020 by Beth Jones

Blog, Ebooks, Faith, Family, foodie, Parenting, Travel, Walking With God, Writing

Killorglin: flies, a spider, a moving bed, and a French couple!

This is post #11 of a blog series I’m writing including pictures of the recent amazing trip I took with our precious, beautiful daughter Leah. Here are posts:

#1, My daughter Leah and I went to Ireland,

#2, Ireland: Dreams Come True,

#3, We visited Bunratty Castle in Ireland,

#4, Bunratty Folk Park: the waterfall, the lamb, and the fairy village,

#5, The Gorgeous Cliffs of Moher,

#6, Galway Girl,

#7, Galway Girl, Part 2,

#8, Treacherous Corkscrew Hill, and

#9, The ferry in Kerry County.

#10, Torc Waterfall

We took so many pictures with our phones that I need to break up the posts, to make it easier for you to read, as I know you live a busy, hectic life like mine and you don’t have lots of spare time!

I hope these blogs inspire and bless you. I thank my Lord Jesus Christ, who made this amazing opportunity and prayer possible.

The recent trip I made to Ireland with my precious daughter Leah for the first time in our lives was incredible. I had booked our trip through Great Value Vacations, choosing their B & B’s package, which I believe was the right choice. It allowed us to travel throughout the southwest of Ireland at different Bed & Breakfast places.

I read lots of reviews to decide which ones to stay at as we traveled in a direction that resembled a Shepherd’s Hook. Every one of them was immaculately clean, with a full Irish breakfast served in the morning and tea/coffee and cookies in the afternoon to welcome us there.

Road in Killorglin

There was only one B & B that we stayed at where I couldn’t wait to leave! It was in the town of Killorglin, which is located in County Kerry, located on the famous Ring of Kerry and The Wild Atlantic Way. It is founded on the River Laune, known for its salmon and trout fishing, and the Reeks District is renown for outdoor activities, mountain walks, and sports activities.

I loved the canopy of green trees driving to this B & B, pictured above, as well as the unusually beautiful roses in the driveway. It was beautiful.

gorgeous roses

yellow roses

There were palm trees and beautiful, majestic, blue-purple mountains in the background. It was one of the prettiest places we visited.

mountains

The owners of this B & B near Killorglin had a sheep farm; they had a sheep dog, a breed of dog that Leah loves. To my amusement, they also had a cat that looked just like my black cat Natalya. She even had green eyes and the little tuft of white hair on her chest like Natalya’s!

sheepdog

The cat in Ireland that looks just like my black cat Natalya!

black cat in Ireland

I noticed a pretty topiary plant at the entrance of the front door, which are plants pruned or shaped into certain forms. To me, this was a symbol of the entire house’s decor: elegant.

topiary plant

As soon as we knocked on the door of this B & B and entered the house, though, I noticed right away one disturbing thing: flies. HUGE flies–everywhere! Maybe it’s because this was a sheep farm. Leah said it was because they had the front door open when we first arrived. I assume this was to let in fresh, cooler air; most places in Ireland don’t have central air and heat.

Even though there are flies in the United States, LOL, and we have had flies in our house at times if the door is left open (especially in summer), the flies left a really bad first impression in my mind. I tried to just ignore them and be gracious, mindful that I was leaving an impression too–as a guest and an American.

The hostess was wonderful and so welcoming. She had tea and cookies for our arrival, as did the other B & B hostesses. However, she didn’t have enough tea and sugar set out for us. I wondered about this, as she knew we were coming (along with other guests there).

The room she gave us was beautiful: two single beds, as I had requested. It had large windows letting in the sunlight, and the decor was in beautiful, lacy white.

Killorglin B & B

In fact, the room was so beautiful and clean and WHITE that I was afraid to touch anything. I didn’t want to dirty it with our muddy boots!

white lace

white satchel with lavender

Leah was intrigued with the pretty lamp with faux glass on our table beside the beds, that resembled a chandelier.

“chandelier” lamp

We brought in our luggage and settled into our room, and then decided to go into the town of Kilorglin, which was only a few kilometers away. Leah really liked the fine dining restaurant that we went to there. They were so polite to us and seemed to go out of their way to serve us well. It also had a very nice atmosphere.

Restaurant in the town of Killorglin

Killorglin restaurant table lamp

They had HUGE cheeseburgers, which we both got. As usual, it was served with some type of potato, so we chose French fries. We noticed that a small, fresh salad is often served with any entree in Ireland, which I enjoyed.

Leah ordered a drink called a “Double Dutch,” consisting of gin and watermelon flavor. She liked it. I love the pretty glass bottles which water is served in and the little table lamp, pictured above.

huge burgers in Killorglin

The older couple in the picture below chatted with us, with all of us laughing over how big the cheeseburgers were!

Leah at restaurant in Killorglin

Quaint town of Killorglin

We sat awhile in this restaurant. Leah seemed to relax here. Then we went back to the B & B, and as Leah was doing her college homework, suddenly a giant spider fell on her bed and then ran under it. We both screamed. I tried to kill it with a shoe, but to no avail. We couldn’t find it. I think it came through the window, which we had opened to cool off the room. I prayed the Irish spider wouldn’t crawl on or bite one of us during the night!

Then I went into the bathroom, which–oddly for a B & B–was across the hall. I got locked into the bathroom! Leah and the owner had to help me out. The owner tried to tell me that I just wasn’t unlocking it correctly, but Leah told her she had trouble with the lock, too, when she tried to come out. This is definitely something they need to fix if they are going to have a B & B for guests!

As I tried to lay down to sleep, each time I rolled over, the little single bed squeaked and moved, bumping into the wall! There was a couple in the room next to ours, with a little child. I was afraid the noise was going to wake them. I felt frustrated. Despite the spider, Leah liked this place. This was the one B & B that I could not wait to leave!

Killorglin bed

There was another full Irish breakfast the next morning (you could also order other items of your choice). We met other guests staying there, among which there was a young French couple. To my delight, I was able to speak to them briefly in French as we were leaving. It blessed me to be able to show Leah that if you study a foreign language, even a little bit, you can converse with foreigners. I need to brush up on my French again—and maybe learn Gaelic, too! (And Spanish!)

I apologized for our noise to the couple who were in the room next to us, and explained about the squeaking bed and then the couple. They said I didn’t wake them or their child, and laughed about the spider. Then they shared their own horror story of having a flying roach in their hotel when they traveled to Hawaii.

The hostess came into the room then to serve us more hot coffee, smiling and pleased that her guests were laughing and obviously enjoying themselves, but having no clue what we were laughing about. After my incident with the locked bathroom, I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the spider!

As I looked later at the key that was supposed to unlock the bathroom, I thought how Jesus is the key to everything in our lives! After we left there, Leah and I laughed about the things that happened at this B & B, but at the time it wasn’t funny! But this place stands out as one of our vivid memories in Ireland!

Jesus is the key

I decided that the next morning we’d retrace our steps and go back to the town of Killarney to shop, which was only about 25 kilometers from Killorglin. In my next post on this Ireland Blog series, I’ll blog about the town of Killarney which I loved and share pictures of beautiful Saint Mary’s Cathedral with incredible stained glass windows.

November 18, 2018 by Beth Jones

Blog, Faith, Parenting, prayer, Travel, Writing

The ferry in Kerry County

This is post #9 of a blog series I’m writing including pictures of the recent amazing trip I took with our precious, beautiful daughter Leah. Here are posts:

#1, My daughter Leah and I went to Ireland,

#2, Ireland: Dreams Come True,

#3, We visited Bunratty Castle in Ireland,

#4, Bunratty Folk Park: the waterfall, the lamb, and the fairy village,

#5, The Gorgeous Cliffs of Moher,

#6, Galway Girl,

#7, Galway Girl, Part 2, and

#8, Treacherous Corkscrew Hill.

I hope these blogs inspire and bless you. I thank my Lord Jesus Christ, who made this amazing opportunity and prayer possible.

“I’ve only been to Ireland once, and I felt I would wake up with voices in my head, almost like music, and that if I were a songwriter, I would be very inspired.”–Morrissey

Ferry going to Killarney National Park

During our pleasant stay at the Riverdale Farmhouse B & B near Doolin, the owner Mary told Leah and me to take the ferry to get to Kerry County so we could visit the Killarney National Park, which would cut off about 45 minutes of our driving time.

Car GPS

During this drive, Leah and I butted heads because sometimes the GPS and the road signs didn’t match each other. By this time, although the Waze app for GPS on my iPhone was a God-send help and I’d never have tried driving there without it, I was tired of driving down tiny “R” roads, as it can be stressful.

There are five types of highways/roads in Ireland:

“M” are the motorways with two or three lanes in each direction, that are between cities and have the highest speeds.
“N” highways which are the national primary roads linking larger towns together that are good, wide roads.
“N” highways that are the National Secondary Roads link smaller towns to each other or to larger towns.
“R” which are regional roads–the rural, winding roads with much lower speeds. On these narrow roads, hedges and walls encroach on the road and if a bus or big truck is coming toward you, it is scary!
Unclassified roads that often lead to a dead end, like a road to a beach, pier, or isolated farms. These are an adventure; you never know what to expect! On one road like this, I wondered if we had somehow gotten off a road and were on someone’s driveway! It was barely wide enough for one car, much less two. Eventually, we got off this road, such as it was, onto a bigger highway; what a relief!

Leah would tell me to listen to the GPS directions, but when a road sign indicated something different, I’d want to follow the road because I was afraid of getting lost in Ireland, so we’d argue and things got a little loud! Later we apologized to each other!

I finally decided that I was just “going with my gut” instead of the GPS, as God and my gut have never led me wrong in my life!

If we had followed the GPS directions to go on a rural road, we would have missed one of the most amazing views we had in Ireland–a gorgeous coastal area. My gut was right. Pictures don’t do it justice!

Are you listening to God’s “directions,” the enemy Satan’s, or the world’s? Let God be your GPS each day, and enjoy the view as you travel this adventurous life!

This pic doesn’t do the view justice

Beautiful mountain view

Kerry County coastal town

Along the way in this area of Kerry County, we saw a lot of windmills and factories.

windmill

windmills and factories

I’d watched videos prior to traveling to Ireland and knew that you have to watch for sheep, goats, and cows as you are driving there. Leah and I were both amused when we had to stop the car for cows crossing the highway. Leah was delighted to see a sheepdog in action helping to herd the cows.

cows crossing the road

sheepdog herding cows

Pretty clouds in Kerry County

pretty blue-purple clouds

pretty blue mountains

Leah had never been on a ferry before, and she thought it was interesting.

Leah by our car on the ferry in Kerry County

This is a GREAT pic of Leah on the ferry! Our beautiful daughter!

Leah on ferry

I thought it was funny that the ferry had a little store offering ice cream and other snacks. No, this time I actually did NOT get ice cream ~ I restrained myself!

The ferry staff were very nice to us. Overall, I found Ireland to be an extremely welcoming, warm country. I can’t wait to go back!

store on ferry and ferry staff

We saw what looked like to be a lighthouse from the ferry. I love lighthouses.

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

lighthouse seen from ferry

back of ferry

We saw a boat while on the ferry. This was a relaxing time for us both, not having to drive and just enjoying the view.

boat on the water, seen from ferry

In my next post in this Ireland Blog Series, I’ll share pics of the Killarney National Park, including the beautiful Torc Waterfalls–and how Leah discovered the bigger waterfalls through a pretty, red-headed Irish woman playing the violin in the woods!

Torc Waterfalls, Killarney National Park

October 24, 2018 by Beth Jones

Older Posts

Newer Posts

I'm an International Speaker, Author of 30 books (and still writing!), traveler, wife to fire chief/paramedic Ray, and a blessed mom of 3 beautiful daughters, Heather, Eden, and Leah. I encourage women to use their gifts for God's glory, fulfilling their great purpose, and living a life they love. I help aspiring Christian speakers & writers to share their hearts' unique, powerful messages. The ocean is my happy place and place of peace and refilling. I love Jesus, my family, my cats Natalya and Nichodemus, traveling, chips & salsa, coffee, chocolate, nature, music, and art. My husband Ray calls me an enigma: I love to laugh and cry a lot. What about you? I'd love to connect more with you and hear how you desire to make more of an impact here for God's glory. Thanks for stopping by here. I pray you will find the hope, inspiration, and motivation you need to become all God created you to be. Dream big because we serve a big God!