Facing fears

5 year-old David has developed a terrible fear of fire. I can relate to this because I have the same fear. I got mine when I was about 6 years old from two experiences - a 5th grader at my school died in a fire, and I watched an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" in which Mary's child died in a fire. I can still see the image of one of the teacher's holding the baby in the window and the fire burning behind them. It absolutely horrified me. David got his fear from watching a video about fire trucks and firefighters.

Now, every night before bed, I have to reassure him that he will be safe, that we have smoke detectors, that mommy and daddy will take care of him and get he and Isaac out if there ever was a fire. We also pray. I never go to bed without asking God to protect us from fire and burglers (and mice and bats - two problems that we had in our old house. We haven't encountered any in our new home, but I still pray just for good measure!) So, I have started adding a prayer to protect us from fires to the night prayers I say with the boys.

It is hard to be scared, and we all fear something. Trusting in God may not make the fear go away, but it can help us to at least be able to go to sleep.