It's gonna be random, it's a random book.

So I've learned a lot of things in my life. I've learned about math, science, logic, english (a lot), carelessness (several times, from experience), and even more abstract things like kindness and joy. Everything I've ever learned has been incredibly useful in my life. Well... algebra is debatable.

But all that aside, I've always enjoyed philosophy and theology more than pretty much anything else, particularly the nature of God and love. I don't even remember when or where I learned this, but it had to have been when I was fairly young, maybe in a Bible class. But the following is the greatest and most impactful thing I've ever learned.

"Can anyone tell me what the opposite of fear is?" Was the question that the teacher asked. I immediately thought, "that's easy. Bravery." Even as it went through my head, I'm pretty sure I remember thinking "that doesn't sound quite right, though." This was an adult class, and so I could hear several people around the room muttering their answers without actually speaking loudly enough to be understood. It annoyed me that they already knew the answer to this question.

The teacher gave us a few more minutes to speculate, and his expression was making me anxious to hear what he would reveal to us. If he knew the answer, why not say it?

"Love."

Normally this would be the part where young me would get confused and frustrated. I would lean over to my mom and say, "that's not right, is it?" or "what does he mean?" or "does the Bible really say that?" But this time, despite my confusion, I kept my mouth shut. And suddenly it made more sense to me than anything else in the world. Love is the opposite of fear.

The truth is that my parents, brother, and even my own life had already been teaching me this for years. My dad was never, ever afraid, and I think my mentality was "that's because he's a dad." In a way, that would be true, but the reason behind it was that his love for us kept him entirely unafraid. It makes all the sense in the world.

My mom was never scared either. Maybe just a bit sometimes, when a snake or a mouse somehow got inside (that was funny). But that makes sense too. A snake is a threat to Mom's children. She doesn't love it; therefore, she's afraid of it. Not for herself, though.

My brother was afraid sometimes just the same as me or as any kid. Children get scared. But not once was JJ afraid when he was watching out for me, and I can assure you, he almost always was. You will never find anyone who loves his sibling more than JJ. He's the best brother on the face of the planet.

As much as I've used all the things I learn at school, at home, and all over the place, I've never valued or prized any piece of information more highly than the knowledge that love is the opposite of fear. Every day I see the truth in it. Fun fact, I'm scared of the dark. Yes, I am over the age of ten, and I am extremely afraid of the dark.  But when the lights went out in a church I was in and a little girl started crying not far from me, was I scared then? Nope. She was scared and needed a hug; therefore, I was not scared. Love is the opposite of fear.

Let me tell you a story. Once my family had gone to the beach for a day vacation, and the waves were really choppy and salty. JJ and I were only supposed to play fairly close to the shore, so we did. Despite that, I was riding out a bit on my little foam board, just having a good time, when one of the waves snatched it out from under me and suddenly I was under water. I didn't know up from down and had no idea what to do with my arms, but I've never been less afraid in my life. I knew absolutely nothing about the laws of physics, but I knew that in a minute I would come up (and probably get dumped on the beach) and be able to go on with my day. I think the only thing I was concerned about was running out of air too early, but even that thought didn't last long. Obviously I'm not dead, so yeah, that's what happened. I landed on the beach with a few more scratches than usual, and then got up and walked back over to our towels and beach bag.

Mom, of course, was immediately there checking to make sure that I was alright, and I distinctly remember saying, "I'm okay, Mommy. I'm not hurt. I wasn't scared at all!" I kept trying to explain to her how I wasn't just not scared, but that I was something that's the opposite of scared. I don't think I can figure out how to word it even now.

I'm telling you, what I felt way more than water and salt in my eyes was love. And even as a little kid, as soon as I hit the sand and sat up I thought, "that was God picking me up."

God picking you up feels really good, guys.

Hope that didn't come off as me trying to tell a bunch of stories about mahself. The point is the awesomeness of God and the way he designed love. If any of y'all have stories about love and fear that you want to share, please do! I always love the encouragement.

Bye!
-Kat