Monsters in the Night

He was big, hairy and scary. And he was coming straight for me. 

At first, my feet were too heavy to lift up from the ground, my voice was gone as I stood there frozen by fear. This horrible monster had broken free from the milking parlor pit where he had been frozen in ice. No one was around to save me, of course.

Finally, I managed to break away from my fear enough to start running. I ran into the free stall barn. No cattle anywhere to hide among.

 Where should I go? 

Where could I hide? 

My short, stubby legs could not move fast enough. I took several steps for each one of his. He towered over me like a huge gnarly oak tree in the dark making me feel even smaller than I was. He growled at me as if I had awakened him from his winter hibernation.

With a sudden burst of energy that came from somewhere unknown to me, I jumped up onto the rafters of the barn.

"Maybe he won't see me up here." I thought. 

But to no avail. I was barely more then an arm's length away from him.

Forward he came.

 Closer and closer. 

"What could I do now?"

I jumped again just far enough to catch the next rafter. And just in time as he tore down the rafter I had just left behind.

Onward he came. 

I jumped again to the next rafter. And again he tore down the rafter just behind me growling as he came.

But now I realized that I was running out of rafters. I would soon be at the end of the building with nowhere to turn. I jumped onto the last rafter and wondered,

"What should I do now?"

I turned and stood, tall and brave,  on that last rafter with hands on my hips and shouted out to the grizzly monstrosity,

"If you don't leave me alone,

 I'm going to tell my Daddy!"

He stopped abruptly with a concerned look on his face. 

Made a grunting sound.  And then turned and ran off.

Obviously, this was one of the nightmares I experienced as a small child. It was commonplace for me to have them; especially if I happened to watch anything the least bit scary the day before. And trust me, EVERYTHING was scary.

I couldn't read Nancy Drew Mysteries without having nightmares.

I got scared by the monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz" as a child

and even as a young adult seeing "Raiders of the Lost Ark" affected me every time I closed my eyes for weeks, maybe months after I saw it.

I didn't go near anything that was labeled "scary", such as "Friday the 13th".

I learned that I had to be very careful about what I allowed to go into my mind. I found that reading scripture before bed was the best way to sleep in peace. The truth is, we should all be concerned about what we allow into our minds because it will affect us one way or another. Not just to avoid nightmares, but to be able to handle the struggles during the day.

Spending time in the Word gives us the trust that God can do anything.

He is our Shield and Protector! 

He gives us the courage to stand up against the bad in this world.

We need to believe in Him so much that we could literally, stand up and say,

"I'm going to tell my daddy!"

After all, don't the scriptures say...

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on You because they trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3

and the Apostle Paul said,

 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, 

but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

2 Timothy 1:7

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  #reflections

#raisedinabarn

 #monstersinthenight

  This Blog post is a Prompt from Reflections of a Mother's Heart
Describe a frightening experience from childhood. How did you deal with it?

Note: This dream was inspired by the monster films, my "brother" Pedro had. Thanks Pedro!