Art Notes: Escape by Kristin Cronin-Barrow {coming 6/15}
Grace by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
Newsletter freebie template by Crystal Livesay
Journaling: When we first moved to Manila, I felt so uncomfortable, so unsure of where the boundaries are. I never really felt safe, not even in my own home, since there are walls around all the homes. Walls topped with barbed wire and broken glass. I wondered if it was even safe for me to leave my home without my husband. People kept warning me about scams: scams to steal your purse. Scams to steal your car. Scams to steal your children. They warned me that it wasn’t safe to take public transportation, to watch out for pick pockets and hold upers and not to give money to poor people. I found my heart filling up with fear, so much so that I couldn’t sleep at night. When we bought new bikes, I was constantly afraid that someone was going to climb our fence and steal them. I began to be suspicious of all Filipinos I met, feeling like they were all just looking for an opportunity to take advantage of me. It started coloring my view of this place & its people. I began to hate it here.
One day, as I was pouring my heart out to God about it, He reminded me of 2 Timothy 1:7, which says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control.” When confronted with the truth, I could see how I’d been believing the enemy’s lies and that they were keeping me in bondage. So I confessed all my fears to the Lord; I confessed them as sin, and I repented. I refused to be afraid any longer. I claimed Psalm 56:3-4: When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” It was like a light was switched on in my heart, and any time I was tempted to be afraid, I chose instead to trust in the Lord. I stopped being afraid of going out of my house, and I stopped being afraid inside of my house as well. I left fear behind me, and I began to love the Philippines in a way I hadn’t before. I also began to love Filipinos again and to trust them & believe in the good in them.
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