Fire Drills

It was fire drill time a few minutes ago at the church.  On floors Two through Four, the lights flashing and loud sirens were just a minor inconvenience.  All of us on staff, however, have an important responsibility to keeping our day and play schoolers safe, so we each go to our assigned places to help the children up the steps, out the doors and into the playground or lawn areas, keeping them contained and calm.  In the two-year-old classroom to which I am assigned, there was deep wailing for being taken out of their comfort zone, which is highly understandable.  What surprised me was that some of the children started crying as we came back into the building! 

I chuckled as I climbed the flights back up to the third floor.  Change is hard, whether it’s for our own good or not!  And there are times when I simply don’t roll with the punches, but have to have a good cry to release the stress.  There are other times when I reach out for help in my unsettledness.  Another set of eyes can often help me see past the fears. 

The best help I’ve found, however, is to be still (in my body or mind), and surrender myself to God.  When I breathe deeply, God breaks through to remind me that in this moment, it’s okay.  If it seems NOT okay, God works through others to help carry me through, but more often than not, helps me realize that while it may not seem okay to me, in the bigger picture, it IS going to be okay.  If I calm down, I can remember that God has worked out and through my past fears.  And since the best predictor of the future is past behaviors, and because God is love and not fear, remembrance of history (my own and the world’s) provides comfort for the future.  Stories of fear are always conquered by good. 

So my unsolicited advice today is, as best you can, be still even if it takes a bit of a cry to get there, and know God.  Know love.  Trust God.  Trust pure love.  It WILL be okay.  After all, it may just be a drill, and not the real thing.

Grace and joy,

Julie