It's been awhile....

Since I've gotten this Examiner gig, I've been putting most of my writing efforts into those articles. In case you follow this blog (it is SO riveting, yah right), sorry it's been few and far between. Everything I post on Examiner comes from a very personal place or experience, but The Lord is keeping "Me" out of it right now. Still is, so in that fashion, this post is about someone else.

We ran into another monster tonight and at the rate I'm going, I am going to have a whole book series to publish on Natalie and it will turn into a library when Sophia comes of age as well! We call monsters those little voices in our heads that tell us we are no good. The first one was the fear of Natalie walking into the Cafeteria at school by herself. This second one is based on her comparing herself to her best friend, who is just a lot more quiet about getting in trouble than Natalie is! So, here is the latest - "Natalie and the Nasty, Big-Toothed Comparison Monster." Written just tonight - could always use the editorial help or suggestions! Enjoy!

Natalie has a lot of friends, she is a very popular girl. They each have special talents which make them cool to play with. But her very bestest friend in the whole wide world is someone she could spend all her time with and Natalie has known her all her life. Her name is Ryann. Ryann looks different from Natalie, she has brown hair while Natalie has blonde. She has brown eyes where Natalie has blue. She would do art projects all day when Natalie would like to run. They get along great because they are so different.

Lately, Natalie has noticed that she gets in trouble when Ryann doesn’t. Natalie’s Mommy explained that Ryann gets in trouble too, usually for the same reasons like not listening or obeying, but since Natalie is never around to see those times, she doubts it really happens. Ryann just always seems so good! At first, it didn’t really bother her – she knows her Daddy & Mommy love her as much as Ryann’s does. But one day, a few weeks ago, Natalie started hearing a funny voice inside her head. She couldn’t hear it very well, but it soon got louder and louder. Till finally, she could not only hear it, she could see who owned the voice. It looked to be a nice tiny little fairy. So, she started to pay attention to what it was saying – it looked nice after all. And anything that looks nice won’t hurt you, right?

Pretty soon, what that little fairy was telling her made her feel really bad. It said things like “See, Ryann never gets in trouble. She is so good and you are so B-A-D.” And “Wow, Ryann never talks too much and loses prizes in class.” And finally, “Ryann is so much prettier, smarter and better than you – I’m surprised she will even be your friend!”

One day, while riding the car, Natalie couldn’t take it anymore. She started to cry. Her Mommy, alarmed, asked her what was wrong.”

“Ryann is so much better than me!”

Her Mommy had a very surprised look on her face. “Who told you that, sweetheart?”

“No one, I just thought it.”

Her Mommy thought for a minute and then asked, “Why would you think that?”

“Because Ryann never gets in trouble!”

Her Mommy didn’t say anything at first, but she knew better. She knew Ryann was like every other 6 year old in the world, who occasionally, got in trouble. That didn’t make her bad either, it just made her, like Natalie, a little girl trying to figure out how to be big, who made mistakes and had to learn from them.

When she told Natalie all of this, she also mentioned she thought Natalie had another monster on her hands. You see, Natalie had a fear monster to deal with when she first started school. Her Friend, the kind man in black, helped her beat that monster by telling it to go away, that He wouldn’t let that Cafeteria Monster hurt her or any other kid in school.

When Natalie heard that, suddenly a new voice popped up in her head.

“SHE’S LYING! I WOULD ONLY TELL YOU THE TRUTH!” But this time the voice didn’t sound so sweet or nice, it sounded like fire and it burned Natalie’s brain to hear it.

Natalie’s Mommy went onto to tell her she was “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that God had a very special purpose for her, different from Ryann’s, but just as good. That made her feel better and the more her Mommy told her about what God had in store for her and Ryann both, the quieter that nasty voice got. She also felt a strong arm around her and realized her Friend was back.

Then He said to the monster, “You get back away from my Natalie. She belongs to me and you, Comparison, cannot bother her again.” Natalie then saw the little fairy turn into a big, goopy blog with big, blue teeth. Her Friend went on, “And Comparison, I’m going to tell her all about my special plans for her and Ryann and fill her mind with truth, not more of your lies!”

At that, Natalie heard Comparison scream – “No! No! Not the truth!” And it started to sizzle. The more she heard more about how wonderful and special she was to God and the more she thought about it, that monster started to really crackle and burn. Then all at once, she heard a “POP!” and he was gone.

As her Mommy finished talking, she felt her Friend squeeze her shoulders one more time and whisper “I am always here, I will always help cast away those monsters – you just have to listen for The Truth.”

Her Mommy told her to say these words whenever she felt Comparison coming back to lie to her, “I am Natalie and I am special to God. He has made me for a wonderful purpose and He will show me what that is. So are Ryann and all my friends, they are special to God too. Go away Comparison and don’t bother me again!”

In the coming weeks, Comparison tried to fill her ears with lies again but Natalie wouldn’t listen. She just kept repeating how special she is and she would feel her Friend squeeze her hand again. She never let Comparison bother her again.