Do NOT fear!

Dear Diary

My little teddy = little fears

After my pondering over the pigeon and the airplane (see my last post) I carried on travelling through Doha airport in the Middle East. Now you must know first, that I have this cute little yellow teddy at home which is only about 25 cm tall, but when I travelled through Doha airport I encountered a massive big version of it! It actually almost filled the entire hall at the centre of the airport and you can barely make out my head at the front of its feet. I took a selfie with it (ok, it's more teddy than me 😉) and pondered about it on the next flight. Thinking about that massive big teddy, I realized that sometimes childhood fears can become completely oversized in one's mind, even if we are all grown up and adults by now!

Big Doha teddy = big fears

Fears or even people, especially if they held any kind of authority over us, can take up larger than life proportions in our minds. I have definitely logged some fears around from my childhood that never ought to have grown to the size that they did. The questions is - how do I bring them back from this scary dimension to the size of my little cute teddy? It has been my experience that I can't, but God can, every time I have a quiet time! In the stillness of these moments alone with God, my fears usually tend to shrink. Quite quickly. Anxieties have a way of creeping in, but quiet times have proven to be a great remedy! 

So, travelling through Doha in Qatar, I added pondering no. 2 to my list...do not allow Satan to blow up your fears! But when they are on the increase...have a quiet time, as soon as possible, and see them shrink! I hope you like my pictures and I would love to hear what you think about them in the comments below.

I wish you a VERY HAPPY week!

"The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? 

The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" 

Psalm 27:1 (NIV) 

(All photos are my own.)

Do NOT compare!

Dear Diary,

When I recently traveled to Europe and back I noticed some things, I call them "ponderings"...just little things, but they were very helpful to me! I would like to capture them here over the next few weeks. The first thing I noticed was a rather small pigeon compared to a rather large airplane right in front of it.

(Photo is my own.)

Sitting at the airport, waiting for my plane to start boarding, I spotted this pigeon perched on a ledge just outside my window. I can't say for sure that she (or he) was looking at the airplane, but for a moment I imagined...what if she was? Would she have any jealousy issues like I seem to have sometimes? After all that big orange bird would fly so much higher and further today than the pigeon could ever hope to.

That day, that moment, watching the pigeon, something "clicked" inside of me and I laughed. Because it felt as if God was whispering to me, saying "If you keep looking at others, you will miss your own purpose!" Wow! That was really true for me! I have often felt like a "nobody" in  comparison to "spiritual giants" and I suppose I have allowed jealousy to creep into my heart every now and then. But I do realize now that every time I did allow myself to feel like that, I have, in essence, failed to recognize my own purpose. 

So, sitting at an airport, waiting to board, I have finally learnt to stop comparing myself because every time I do, I fall short of my own purpose! I am unique and so are you and...

...I DO wish you a HAPPY WEEK!

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, 

and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. 

Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility 

for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG)  [Emphasis added]