{"id":855,"date":"2019-09-11T14:54:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T14:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/?p=855"},"modified":"2019-09-11T14:54:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T14:54:49","slug":"dear-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html","title":{"rendered":"Dear Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Fear,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Sick and tired of being sick and tired<\/em>
\nHad as much of you as I can take<\/em>
\nI’m so done, so over being afraid<\/em><\/div>\n
I’ve gone through the motions<\/em>
\nI’ve been back and forth<\/em>
\nI know that you’re thinking you’ve heard this before<\/em>
\nI don’t know how to say it<\/em>
\nSo I’m just gonna say it, yeah<\/em><\/div>\n
Fear, you don’t own me<\/em>
\nThere ain’t no room in this story<\/em>
\nAnd I ain’t got time for you<\/em>
\nTelling me what I’m not<\/em>
\nLike you know me well guess what?<\/em>
\nI know who I am<\/em>
\nI know I’m strong<\/em>
\nAnd I am free<\/em>
\nGot my own identity<\/em>
\nSo fear, you will never be welcome here<\/em><\/div>\n
Take a minute, let it settle in<\/em>
\nYou probably never saw it coming<\/em>
\nSomething’s gotta give so I give up you, oh<\/em>
\nThere’s no room for you here<\/em>
\n\u00a0F.B.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
You don’t knock. You just come right in announced. Like when the nurse called to tell me the end was near for my dad. You said this is the end for my dad but I knew better. I knew his life had only just begun. A few months later, you barged in again when funds were low and said, “You’re not going to make it. Just give up.” Remember those times when I would sit down to write and you’d whisper,” You’re not a writer. Who do you think you are?” Or when my mother told me she was lonely. Or when one of my kids called me crying. You were right there pressing down on me like a weight tied around my neck, trying to get me to take the bait. But guess what? I’ve got the King of the heavens and earth on my side. You mess with me, you mess with Him. He pours truth into me when I am afraid. He tells me to be still and let Him fight my battles. He loves me like no other. He is my watchman. He never gets tired. He is never surprised by your antics or the way you use people. He knows when I rise and when I lay my head down because He made me and I am His. So fear, you will never be welcome here.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Fear,   Sick and tired of being sick and tired Had as much of you as I can take I’m so done, so over being afraid I’ve gone through the motions I’ve been back and forth I know that you’re thinking you’ve heard this before I don’t know how to say it So I’m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Fear - You Can Sit With Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dear Fear - You Can Sit With Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Fear,   Sick and tired of being sick and tired Had as much of you as I can take I’m so done, so over being afraid I’ve gone through the motions I’ve been back and forth I know that you’re thinking you’ve heard this before I don’t know how to say it So I’m…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"You Can Sit With Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-11T14:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sstoddard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dear Fear - You Can Sit With Us","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dear Fear - You Can Sit With Us","og_description":"Dear Fear,   Sick and tired of being sick and tired Had as much of you as I can take I’m so done, so over being afraid I’ve gone through the motions I’ve been back and forth I know that you’re thinking you’ve heard this before I don’t know how to say it So I’m…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html","og_site_name":"You Can Sit With Us","article_published_time":"2019-09-11T14:54:49+00:00","author":"sstoddard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html","name":"Dear Fear - You Can Sit With Us","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-11T14:54:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-11T14:54:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#\/schema\/person\/456f131c2db57f2b40f018648fec06b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/2019\/09\/dear-fear.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dear Fear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/","name":"You Can Sit With Us","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Shannon Stoddard","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/youcansitwithus\/#\/schema\/person\/456f131c2db57f2b40f018648fec06b2","name":"sstoddard","description":"Shannon Stoddard is a mother, writer, author. 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