On Courage

I thought an awful lot about what I would name my blog before I put it up. “Stronger than Fear” actually comes from a story my older sisters and I used to listen to on cassette tapes when we were little (that’s right, I was alive when people actually used those) called “Alexander’s Amazing Adventures”. It tells the story of a young fellow named Alexander, who, through his adventures as the lost prince of Inland, learns new values that help him to handle difficult situations in the real world. Each episode is named after a different value. The episode on courage is the one that came to my mind as I was trying to find a good name for my blog. Alexander is asked to do many difficult and frightening things in this episode, and he really doesn’t believe in himself—he feels that he is too afraid to accomplish the task that has been given to him. But he learns that to be brave, he must be afraid. Courage is not doing something without fear; it’s being afraid, but having the strength to accomplish what we need to in spite of our fear.   

In the letter my mission president sent me he told me to think about the kind of missionary I wanted to be. I decided that I wanted to be a brave missionary. I’m not exactly the sort of person you would consider to be brave—anyone who knows me well enough can tell you I have worries about basically everything. But I knew that while I have allowed my fears to get in my way many times in the past, I could not afford to let them get in the way on my mission. For at least eighteen months of my life I want to be bold. I want to set my worries aside and trust God with every trial and struggle I face. I know that with His help I can be stronger than fear, and I can find the courage I need to accomplish the work that has been given to me.

Isaiah 41:13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

By the way, if you’re curious about Alexander’s Amazing Adventures, you can listen to the episode I mentioned here: http://powerofmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/AAA-Courage-Children.mp3 The story is a little cheesy, but it really does have some great lessons. I’m pretty sure you can still buy them on CD or mp3 (sorry, no more cassette tapes).