Worry's Growl {Guest Post from Kathy Collard Miller and Book Giveaway!}
From Poppy: I’m glad to welcome fellow speaker and author Kathy Collard Miller to guest blog today. Kathy has kindly provided a copy of her book, Partly Cloudy with Scattered Worries, as our giveaway for November. 
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I headed out on my jog, eyeing the storm clouds that threatened rain above me. Oh, I so want to run, and I can’t run tomorrow. I’ve got to do it right now even if it rains. But by the time I’d run a mile, the drops started and got bigger and bigger.
Oh. I’m so disappointed, I mourned, as I turned and headed back. But then, a new resolve overwhelmed me. By golly, I’m going to run even if I get wet. It’s just too important for my health.
I continued running and the drops fell continually but were not drenching. As I ran, the rain slackened, yet clouds off in the distance were a dark, threatening color. Will it hold off? By the time I’d passed my three-mile mark, the sprinkles stopped, and when I looked up at the sky, the dark clouds were gone. Where did they go? I turned to look for them, but they had dissipated, though the sky was still overcast.
For the next two miles, no rain fell. As I reached the last half mile, the storm clouds opened up again and my clothes were reaching the wet category. But I didn’t care that my hair was wet; it had been an exhilarating run. Walking for my cool-down, a few rays of sun broke through the clouds, splashing the luscious, colorful hues of a rainbow across the sky. Wow. I would have missed it if I hadn’t risked getting wet.
My run could have been a really unpleasant experience but the warning of rain had turned out to be a worse threat than the actual rain. In the end, I was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow that I would have missed had I not run.
That day as I ran, I saw an analogy to worry. Its growl is worse than its bite. Worry can easily cause us to focus on disaster while taking away our ability to trust God. Yet even if what we fear happens, it’s often not as bad as we thought it would be. We might even experience the “rainbow” of God’s blessings in some unexpected way.
Kathy’s promise to you: It is possible to worry less through trusting God more. Regardless of the storms of trials, temptations, worry, uncertainty, confusion, or regrets that you're facing, you can trust God more.
Kathy blogs at www.KathyCollardMiller.blogspot.com.
Her book is available on Amazon.
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Now for our book giveaway! One of you will win one copy of Party Cloudy with Scattered Worries.
To enter: Sign in to the Rafflecopter widget below. Choose as many ways to enter as you want.
Please note: This giveaway is open from Tuesday, November 5th until Sunday, November 10th at 11:59pm PST. This giveaway is only open to US residents. (If you are an email subscriber, you must click through to access the post on the blog to enter the giveaway.)
Terms of giveaway: This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end at the end of the day November 10, 2013. All entrants must be 18 years old or older. Enter through the Rafflecopter above. Incomplete entries will be deleted. Once a winner is selected, I will contact them via email. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, I will select another winner.