Have you ever been gripped in fear? I’m talking heart jumping out of your chest, head pounding, and cold sweats fear?

Sorry I just sent half of you to a really dark place! But seriously we all deal with fear in our own way…or we should be dealing with the fear!

My fear is the dentist. I’ve had so much dental craziness for the past ten years and it has been a real source of anxiety. I blame Bill Murray and Steve Martin from the Little Shop of Horrors movie I saw as a kid! It’s one of my favorite all time scenes and scariest scenes ever.

The past two years I have made some leaps and bounds dealing with it though. One of the reasons I do so much better is from the hygienist herself at Lee Dental. She doesn’t hold back reminding me the importance of flossing (sorry ma’am if you read this…I promise I’m flossing tonight!). But what she does do is make me feel like a person. I’m not a number or a payment. We actually have real conversations. I told her my stress points and she heard me out and even has helped me work through them. This week was so much easier than a year ago. Because she made me feel comfortable and we talked ministry and laughed about our families. While she was cleaning my teeth she was telling me about a Shane and Shane song while I was talking about Tobymac (attempting to talk with someone’s hand in your mouth is always fun!).

“Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’

Matthew 22:37-39 MSG

She lives out this verse the moment I walk in the door. In fact I had to bump my appointment up due to work scheduling. No problem, she got me in. This time last year I would have moved it back because of my fear!

Thank you Caroline! May we be the Caroline’s and help spread His peace to everyone we come into contact with. Think about it, to biggest commandments is to love God and love others. Can you imagine if our communities took that to heart?!