Fear Thou Not

Tonight was a decent night. : )

Wednesday was a pretty great day though. Well, more like a good night... Shall I explain? : )
- For the past month I've been praying that God would take away my fears. Everyone tells me how afraid I am of everything. I can't believe that I've been introduced as "Afraid of Everything"... MY NAME IS JOHANNA! ; )
Recently someone even called me Piglet; because I'm small and afraid of everything. So my mom was cleaning out her garage, and she had a Piglet doll still in the box, and she asked us if we wanted it. So I took it.
It now sits on my desk next to my bed. At first I didn't want it because I didn't like that it stood for "me being afraid of everything", but then I wanted it so it could motivate me to take my fear problem serious and pray on it. And I have been. My theme for this year is "GET OVER FEAR!".

So that's been on my mind for the past week or two.
On Wednesday night, February 3rd, I walked into Life Group at Amanda's. As soon as I walked inside, Amanda gave me a big, white envelope that said "To: Johanna Prousalis". She said it was in The Vine's mailing box or something, but she didn't know who it was from; and the only other thing written on it was "Vine". So I had no idea what it was. I shook it, it sounded like keys.
"Keys? That wouldn't sense, I have the only keys I own..."
So I opened it. I STOPPED BREATHING the second I saw them... MY DOG TAGS! I GOT THEM BACK!
What significance do these dog tags have? I'll tell you...
These were dog tags I had with me all the time. These are one of the most special things I own.
But as motivation for me to get my GED, I gave them to a friend and told her "Don't give these back to me until I get my GED. If I beg for them, don't give in!".
WELL that was back in August of 2007!
There were three dog tags:
One of them was a red one that said "Alpha" on it in Greek with a Bible verse on the back.
Another one was made by my old youth group leader on August 10th, 2007.
It says:
"Johanna Prousalis
God = My Strength
Phil. 4:13
Stay Strong
Trust God..."

And finally... the most important one (that I've had since early May, 2004)...
"FEAR NOT"! With a Bible verse on the back:
"Fear not, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10

EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO BE REMINDED OF! I know this verse by heart (in two versions : ), and I used to constantly hold on to this dog tag whenever I was afraid or nervous to remind me of that verse.
That friend who was holding on to them recently moved to Germany, but the last time I spoke to her, she told me she was gonna give my dog tags to someone else to hold onto. She made it clear she wasn't giving them back to me though... : (
So I don't know who she gave them to, but whoever it was, God decided to give them back to me instead. Not because I achieved my goal of getting my GED (pathetic, I know...), but because He knew I needed them to constantly remind me to not be afraid.
And you better believe I started crying when I got them back... : )

Yay! God listens! I knew He did... I'm just glad He decided to remind me though. : )

So that is my goal for this year... to "FEAR NOT"
2006 was my year of "Searching for God",
2007 was "Growing in God"
2008 was "Healing"
2009 was "Testing and Brokenness"
And 2010 shall now be "Facing Fears"... unless something happens and God decides to throw me in a crazy-different direction...

And now... I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE VINE RETREAT!!! : D