I saw lots of adorable scarecrows costumes this Halloween—dainty Dorothy’s with a Toto peeping from a basket spilling over with candy—and of course, spooky green witches—but not once did I encounter my favorite character—the cowardly lion.
In all honesty, I believe it’s the costume that best represents us all—a fearful people—raging and roaring in image management as we tremble in our boots and hope no one see through us.
We have moments of glory where we roar our terrible roars and knash our terrible teeth, and then reality rears its ugly head and we go back to worrying about the bills and our health, Obamacare and North Korea, our marriages, teenagers, and a million other concerns.
Fear steals our joy and anxiety makes tyrants of all, but courage—glorious courage—when it breaks through—shines like the light of a million stars.
I saw a glimpse of a courageous little lion stepping out of her comfort zone and into bravery the other night.
On Halloween evening, a friend of Kyle’s—a specific Girl friend stopped by the house to meet us. The beautiful young lady, accompanied by a friend and her mom, walked up to the door and introduced herself.
Grace and Kyle—while not officially dating—have a strong fondness for each other. I can see the sparkle in her eyes when she looks at my son. At the Varsity football games, when they call his name over the loud-speaker for a tackle, she squeals with delight. She wears his number #34 proudly on her cheek and she even dressed in one of old jerseys for Halloween.
They are sweet together—it’s high emotion and furious texting and the blood racing tingles of high school romance.
And to their benefit, these two are trying to navigate the space of family, church, age-appropriateness and really liking each other in a God honoring way
So what was so scary to Grace? Apparently us.
Meeting the parent’s—the scary dating experts—the pastor and the blogger—the mom of her crush—were all just terrifying to the poor girl.
I can’t imagine how awkward it was for her. I was dressed as a saloon girl and Tim was a cowboy. Our porch was covered in candles, strobe lights, pumpkins, bats and thumping ghoulie tunes. Kids and neighbors poured over our walkway.
It was funny way to meet the first girl he’s ever brought home—strangely formal, bizarre, and so endearing.
But I knew if Kyle was making the effort to include us we’d better pay attention.
And so little Grace—the competitive gymnast with the strawberry blond hair—bucked up, put on her big girl pants and braved the parents.
Although I don’t know her very well and I’m not sure I’m ready for dating, I like how Grace operates.
Fear does not define her. She moved at the scary ‘meet the parents “moment with quaking feet and a fluttering heart, (our son told us this all later) but the point is she moved. She planted those feet on our porch and stuck out her hand with a smile.
Grace defined her circumstances instead of letting her fear (or circumstances) define her.
The cowardly lion ends up learning courage because there is something MORE important enough in his life than the fear to make it worth the frightening journey.
And it makes this mama smile to think my son was the important thing that motivated her to be brave.
Is there something scary or overwhelming in your life where you need an extra dose of courage?
