It’s almost delivery time.

Fear. It's something everyone faces. We discover fear early in life. We fear the dark, we fear the monster under our bed, we fear our mother not coming back to get us. As we age our fears may grow, often irrationally.

As a child some of my biggest fears were doing an oral book report in front of my classmates and heights. I don't remember how many times I climbed up a tree and had to have help getting down. Graduation night was very stressful when I found out I had to deliver a speech in front of approximately a thousand people. I threatened to drop out of school. I cried. I declined a "nerve pill" a friend's mom offered me. Then I prayed and asked God for help. I got out my King James Bible. The pages opened to Isaiah 41. Fear not.

As an adult, I have a healthy fear of spiders and snakes. My fear of heights has grown into a phobia. This fear prevents me from hiking certain trails with my husband. I really can't explain what being on a narrow ledge with a drop-off does to me. I'm almost paralyzed. I can't move. I can barely breathe. It's irrational and makes me mad at myself for being so weak.

I like adventures and challenges. I've backpacked, gone whitewater rafting, kayak camped, and ridden in a 100 mile bicycle ride. In my thirties I quit my teaching job to pursue a master's degree in physical therapy.

I wanted to have children but honestly the idea of pregnancy and childbirth scared me. During my childhood and early adulthood, I feared needles. When I learned about an epidural and how it was administered, my husband and I quickly enrolled in a Lamaze class. As the size of my belly grew so did my fears of getting that baby out. I survived a relatively quick and easy childbirth. I arrived at the hospital around 5:30 pm and had a beautiful, healthy baby girl at 8:03 pm.

For many years I've dreamed of writing a book. I've attended writers conferences and spent countless hours studying the craft, writing, and editing. I've prayed and worked and dreamed. Now my dream is getting very close to becoming a reality. And I'm scared. I'll soon have a finished product that others will see (and hopefully read). I'm human. I want people to like what I've written. I don't expect for my novel to be a bestseller, but I also don't want it to be an embarrassment. I'm a rookie. There will be mistakes. Technical mistakes with character arcs, plot development, structure, and typos. I hope my inexperience doesn't take too much away from the story I want to tell. I've been asked if I will write another book or a sequel to this one. I honestly don't know. It's taken me thirty years to write this one. I'll definitely have to speed up the process if there is another one. I'll worry about that down the road.

Remember to be kind, enjoy life, and tell the Lord thanks for another day.