F Words

Faith, my daughter, came home from school and was feeling bad because of a game she played. The game was to try to think of words that started with the first letter of a person’s first name. When they came around to her, a few of the children thought it would be funny to say some ‘not-so-nice words’ that begin with the letter F. (This wasn’t in the classroom).

So, that night the two of us started our own similar game to become fluent in thoughtful F-words: fabulous, fantastic, family, fireworks, fancy, forever, fun, forgive, and father just to name a few!

Fall is another word that begins with the letter F. While beautiful, the season is always a stressful time because Jeff and I are from farm families. And if my husband is not flying an airplane at work… he is farming. So, I reveal sometimes when the mood strikes me that I am an ‘F’-ing widow in the fall. And, then I fully explain what I mean by that of course… flying and farming and I should also mention hunting pheasants, which isn’t an F but sounds like one! Dear Friends, when the ‘mothership’ is flying solo for weeks I tend to fracture and not flourish.

Friend is a comforting word with an F. I feel if God puts the thought of a friend in your head, reach out to that person. Recently, after a morning of self-pity of solo-parenting, a girlfriend, who lives in Oklahoma, (an amazing God-fearing gal, Angie Lindskov, check out her book, “The Cutting Edge”) called me and said… “You’ve been on my mind, girl. It’s been awhile since we talked.” She then shared she felt “Called to call me!” She brought up a phrase, “paralyzed in fear” and we discussed the fact that I’m not taking action with my talents and gifts. I almost dropped the phone because “paralyzed in fear” are the exact words that I had praying to God about prior to this phone conversation. God reaches us through our friends.

Fear is a powerful F word. Dictionary.com defines it “as a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined”. Another definition of fear cited further down the page is a different kind of fear: “to have a reverential awe of… as in God-fearing.” This jumped out to me because AWE is one of my favorite words! Fear, is such a stronghold it is mentioned 365 times in the Bible. There’s a fear for every day of the year.

Is Fear keeping you from living life to the full? Which leads me to another F word: Failure. Is fear of failure keeping you from utilizing your God-given gifts? I know fear attempts to keep me from taking steps forward in my life. Fear distracts me from what God would have me doing. Did you catch that word ‘evil’ in the definition above? JOHN 10:10 says, “The thief (which is Satan-the father of lies) comes to steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Satan wants you to doubt yourself. God does not want you to live with FEAR.

Faith is one of my favorite words that begin with the letter F. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive a couple important F words, freedom to live life to the full and forgiveness.

So, you see, F words are good words! Some of the best words I know in FACT: Father, Forgiveness, and Foundation. Our daily lives can go one of two ways: lost in a fog of false fragments that cause us to falter and fall apart; OR feasting on the foundation of the Word whose fountains last forever.

Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.”

P.S. I cannot forget another cool F word: FROG. Fully-Rely-On-God