July 4th was noisy around here! Neighbors started setting off fireworks around 5 pm and they lasted until after midnight. With each loud "BOOM" Max would fly around the room and land back on his perch. He then flew over an sat on me, thinking I'd stop the noises. That worked out fine, until I jumped at some of the "BOOMS"! When I jumped, Max would take off flying again. Around 7 pm, I put Max in his night cage and covered it. Max quickly settled down. At least with each "BOOM" he didn't fly around. He just hid in the darkest corner of his cage. Since Max liked it better in his cage, I left him there and returned to the living room to watch TV. It didn't take long for Max to start achooing. (He says "achoo" when he wants me.) I went back to the bedroom to check on him. Max realized he had to make a decision....be alone and feel safe in his cage, or be with me and endure the loud "BOOMS". Max decided he'd rather sit on my shoulder then hide in his cage. So out he came.
He sat on my shoulder waiting for the loud "BOOMS". He soon realized that although loud, they didn't hurt him. Instead of flying around, he would just move closer to my head. He spent the rest of the night snuggled next to my ear.
The entire evening showed me what fear can make us do. Fear is a strange thing. It can make us act irrational or even crawl into our beds and hide. And often we are afraid of is simply noise. Once we let one fear rule our lives, fear becomes more powerful, and we miss many blessings life brings.
Not sure about you, but I don't want to spend my life hiding under a cover. I'd rather spend it enjoying life. So the next time fear starts making noise, I plan to continue on with my life. If the fear seems "too loud", I'll ask a friend to help me overcome it, but I won't hide!
Fear is a negative, and I only want the Positive in my life!
"God hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind." 2 Tim. 1:7
