{"id":175,"date":"2011-07-18T10:36:57","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T14:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=175"},"modified":"2011-07-14T10:46:23","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T14:46:23","slug":"facing-the-big-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/07\/facing-the-big-d.html","title":{"rendered":"Facing The Big D"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Facing the big D can be a challenge at best.\u00a0 First we must decide if that D stands for Dragon or Dentist.\u00a0 I am probably equally frightened of both.\u00a0 Although I have never come face to face with a dragon, I imagine it would be quite scary.\u00a0 I know going to the dentist strikes fear in my heart.\u00a0 My dentist assures me that he does not breath fire\u00a0 nor have a long spiky tail, however he does sometimes\u00a0wear green scrubs.\u00a0 That’s sort of like a dragon…..Right?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know God says, “Fear thou\u00a0not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed;\u00a0for I am thy God.” Isaiah 41:10, but………….does that even apply to the dentist?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now my dentist is a wonderful man; very kind and gentle.\u00a0 He knows my fears and is careful to tell me everything he is doing and how it will feel.\u00a0 My fear has nothing to do with him.\u00a0 In fact, we would be great friends if he would just keep his hands out of my mouth.\u00a0 That is not easy for a dentist to do.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 My fear is from an early childhood experience with a huge, gruff dentist who terrified when I was 5 years old.\u00a0 Why it still bothers me, I do not\u00a0 know.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Going to the dentist for me is a necessary evil, an unpleasant task, a stressful situation.\u00a0 Still, if I want to keep my own teeth I must endure this torture.\u00a0 Like many unpleasant things in life, sometimes we just have to face the dragon and get on with life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 II Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”\u00a0 So I choose to believe God’s word and will continue to visit my dentist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Facing the big D can be a challenge at best.\u00a0 First we must decide if that D stands for Dragon or Dentist.\u00a0 I am probably equally frightened of both.\u00a0 Although I have never come face to face with a dragon, I imagine it would be quite scary.\u00a0 I know going to the dentist strikes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-uncategorized","tag-strength"],"yoast_head":"\nFacing The Big D - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/07\/facing-the-big-d.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facing The Big D - Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Facing the big D can be a challenge at best.\u00a0 First we must decide if that D stands for Dragon or Dentist.\u00a0 I am probably equally frightened of both.\u00a0 Although I have never come face to face with a dragon, I imagine it would be quite scary.\u00a0 I know going to the dentist strikes…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/07\/facing-the-big-d.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-18T14:36:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-14T14:46:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2011\/07\/IMG_0149-300x259.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dhanny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Facing The Big D - 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