I started a new book – “Walking with God” by John Eldredge.  It’s all about learning to hear God’s voice in your life.  A very wise woman in my life recommended it to me, after a long discussion we had about the subject of fear.  Something that I’m sure we all struggle with and yet no one talks about.  John 10:7-10 says: 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I don’t know why this verse in particular resonated with me on this particular week – maybe I was just so over feeling paralyzed by all I cannot control.  Letting those voices of doubt stop me from doing what I long in my heart to do because I am afraid.  Afraid of what people will think, afraid I will regret my decisions, afraid of judgment…  It dawns on me, that life is just so fleeting, so short – a blink of an eye and 2012 is half over.  Driving through my college town this past weekend, realizing it was 12 years ago that I left there, so full of promise and cockiness and sheer willpower to succeed.  12 years – gone like the mist coming off a lake in the early morning hours.  All of these moments we try to stretch out, hoping for a do-over, another chance to do it right.  When in reality, we never get that time back.  It’s gone.  Then I start thinking about the next 12 years. How do I want to spend my days, my time?  God said, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full.”  The word Full is defined as “containing or holding as much or as many as possible; having no empty space”. Having no empty space for the enemy to hide, to destroy, to devour all of the good that God has built into my life. I realize that I am not living my life to the full.  How can I when I spend so much time fretting over other people’s expectations of me? Spurred on by this newfound clarity, I made a decision.  I went from this: …to this: You may think, what does changing the color of my hair have to do with fear?  Ever since Reese Witherspoon colored her blonde locks for “Walk the Line”, I have wanted to do the same.  For 7 years.  And every single time I think I’m going to pull the trigger, I start to talk myself out of it: What if I hate it?  What if my family hates it?  What if my husband hates it?  What if it looks nothing like what I picture in my mind?  What if I can’t change it back and I’m doomed for the rest of my life with a hair color that doesn’t “fit” me?  I have only ever been a blonde.  My whole life.  Ask me what my “natural color” is and I’m not sure I can tell you.  That’s how long I’ve been a blonde. The day of my hair appointment my stomach was completely tied up in knots. But then, I was reminded of God’s Words in John 10 and knew that if I was going to live my life to the full, I would have to take risks and not let fear stifle me anymore. This might seem silly to some of you…but it really is a small picture of what God wants to teach us about fear.  God intends for our lives to be extravagantly and lavishly filled with Him.  To have no empty space, no vacuum for the enemy to fill. The end of the story is a good one – I love my hair.  Like, love, love, love a million times LOVE.  And I’m SO glad I didn’t let fear steal my joy.  What are you letting fear steal today?