FEAR FIGHTING
Today I am happy to welcome Kelly Balarie as a guest. I met Kelly at Allume in 2015, and she is delightful. She has a new book, Fear Fighting: Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears. It will be available January 3, 2017, and can be pre-ordered. She has a heart for encouraging people, and this book is one of the ways she does just that. I hope you find her words uplifting and full of encouragement.
FEAR FIGHTING BY KELLY BALARIE
I blame it on TV. I grew up watching the princesses. You know them, right?! They were the ones whose complexions looked like porcelain, whose lips were the color of rose and whose lives were a hot mess. Until, the prince came in and swooped them up into his arms and forever changed their lives.
They always looked perfect. You see, they had dresses that swooshed in the wind and 90% of the time their voice sounded like an angel sent straight from heaven. Usually, I was jealous of them.
I guess I still am. Because, in so many ways, I try to be them.
I try to doll myself up, to show the world there is not a fold in my face. I try to pretend I have Pinterest Christmas when really my focus is on having Christ in Christmas. In reality, I’m the centerfold for T-shirts with yoga pants. I live in the model house of toilet paper adorned floors, little droppings of paper my kids rip up and leave behind like trails of their journey.
Ugh. I fall short.
I don’t think I am fooling people either.
My sister came over just the other day. When she got to my porch, she said, “Kelly, you do know that Halloween was over weeks ago?”
The frozen pumpkins on my stoop threw her for a loop, I guess.
Whoops.
I want to fool people though. I want to fool you – real bad. Because then you’ll aspire to like me. This is what I tell myself anyway. If I look all great for you, you’ll approach me like that prince and you’ll want to give me things and bless me with kind words and pour out love on me. I’ll take that. Sometimes, I convince myself I need that.
I need your approval. I need to feel good about myself.
Or, do I?
I am not so sure lately. Because, what I am coming to terms with is the fact that – there ain’t no woman who can do everything. Because, what I am coming to terms with is the fact that – there ain’t no woman who can do everything. You find her and I’ll buy you whatever material item you’ve convinced yourself you need to have to finally reach the pinnacle of…dun, dun, dun…“perfect woman.”
The lady is imaginary. She’s an illusion. Yet, still, we all chase her as if she worthy of our highest praise. And, this is what I am realizing – if I am praising this image of the woman I want to be, I can’t really be the image of whom Christ has created me to be.
Dang! I could truly spend my whole life chasing carrots, rather than partaking at God’s feast? His bounty. His spiritual riches.
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.. (Eph. 1:18)
I wrote the book, Fear Fighting: Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears to find God’s truth. In so many ways, God answered. He showed me there is a glorious inheritance awaiting me and it is not found through appearances, airs or goods. He showed me there is a glorious inheritance awaiting me and it is not found through appearances, airs or goods.
It is the…
- joy found in the lopsided nature of my nose – a nose God adores.
- grace covering the moments I forget things.
- peace dug up from a heart that knows God is in charge.
- hope God will shape me into the likeness of him.
- knowledge God loves me just as He created me.
- belief that he chose me.
- understanding, in Him, I am secure.
It is in the need, we find our prince, Christ Jesus. Will you let him rescue you?
Interested in fighting fear? Join the 4 Days to Fearless Challenge!
About the book, Fear Fighting, Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears:
Author and Speaker, Kelly Balarie didn’t always fight fear – for a large part of her life, she was controlled by it. Yet, in her book, Fear Fighting: Awakening Courage to Overcome Your Fears, with God, Kelly charts a new course.
Join Kelly, on the journey to go and grow with Christ’s bravery, the Spirit’s counsel and God’s unending love that squelches fear. This book reads like a love letter from God, while offering practical heart-calming prayers, anxiety-reducing tips, and courage-building decrees that will transform your day. www.fearfightingbook.com
About Kelly Balarie:
Kelly is both a Cheerleader of Faith and a Fighter of Fear. She leans on the power of God, rests on the shoulder of Christ, and discovers how to glow in the dark places of life. Get all Kelly’s blog posts by email or visit her on her blog, Purposeful Faith. You can also find a variety of resources for your fight against fear here.
Linking up with: #TellHisStory, #TestimonyTuesday, #FreshMarketFriday, #MomentsofHope
So well said and true! I think that as women we so easily fall prey to this. Sometimes it does come from those princesses and sometimes from comparing ourselves the the woman next to us in the Starbucks line, at church, or at the gym that seems to have everything we see as lacking in ourselves. We miss the delight the Lord has in us as His daughters, messy or broken, frail or feisty. He simply loves us!!
Kelly certainly has a heart for helping other women. I agree with you, too, that often it comes from comparing ourselves with others. Yes, He loves us just as we are. What a comfort that is! If only we could remember that all the time.
Blessings to you, Pam! xo
This was awesome! And I am your neighbor over at #FreshMarketFriday too, Gayl!
Yes, Kelly has a way of getting to the point and offering such great encouragement.
Blessings to you, Meghan! xo
Gayl, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts this year about our own fear fighting and brave writing here in this friendly space! Glad to be on the launch team with you!
Thanks, Michele. I’ve enjoyed your posts, too. 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year and many blessings to you!
Such a powerful message—it’s so easy for us to get caught up in the nightmare of perfectionism… this book looks great! Thanks for sharing. Your neighbour at #TellHisStory 🙂
I wonder what makes us think we have to be perfect or have everything done perfectly. It really sets us up for failure instead of learning from mistakes and moving on and really accepting ourselves as God does.
Thanks for stopping by, Laura. Many blessings to you!
Gayl, thank you for sharing these powerful words. What a blessing. Happy 2017!
Thanks for visiting, Stacey! Blessings to you!
I loved the book, too! I also love the thought of fighting fear in a sisterhood of support :).
Yes, I think joining together in a sisterhood really adds support as we fight fear together. Thanks for visiting, Anita!
Blessings to you in this new year!