by Leslee Stewart
Recently I was playing with my son and during a quiet moment I asked him how he was feeling about starting at a new school in a few days.
“I’m kind of scared,” he shyly admitted. “I don’t know anyone.”
His comment reminded me of one I’ve heard lately from a few women I’ve met at church. They’ve decided not to go to A Beautiful Weekend or get involved in a Beautiful small group because, “I don’t know anyone.”
Sometimes the butterflies keep us from experiencing great things.
And let’s be honest, what we call the butterflies is nothing more than fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of rejection. Fear of not knowing all the answers. Fear of things not going the way we expect.
Those butterflies don’t seem so little when we start unpacking all of them. They seem big, bad and scary.
As my son opened up, I began to remind him of other times he’s been in this same situation. The first time he went to preschool. The first time we visited Grace Family Church. He even went to a sports day camp this summer not knowing anyone. I reminded him how much he ended up loving it and begging me on the last day if he could do it again next summer.
Then I told him one of my favorite scriptures, 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given me a spirit of fear. But he’s given me power, love and a sound mind.”
The more we talked, the more his confidence grew. I know those butterflies will probably show back up when the first day of school rolls around next week. But now I know he has more assurance that he will be okay.
In a few weeks, Beautiful small groups will be starting back up and there’s still time to sign up for A Beautiful Weekend. Are you letting fear keep you from experiencing all the great things the Beautiful ministry has to offer?
If so, it’s time to send those butterflies packing. Make this year the one where you step out of your comfort zone, get involved and see for yourself just how amazing Beautiful can be.
On Monday, Aug. 27, we will officially kick-off our next semester of Beautiful small groups. Please join us that night at 7 p.m. for food, fellowship and fun as we unveil all that is happening in Beautiful this fall.
Leslee Stewart oversees communications for GFC Beautiful. She is a wife, stay-at-home mom of two boys and former communications executive. She openly admits she owns too many throw pillows, loves junky old furniture and can sing all the parts of Bohemian Rhapsody.