The day had finally arrived and I was giddy with excitement. I can still remember standing in the long line outside the Civic Coliseum as we waited to get inside.

It was winter 1977 and my parents had bought tickets to an ice skating show. It was a treat for me since I loved to watch people ice skate. It fascinated me how they performed all those jumps and twirled around on a thin blade as they glided over ice.

Being the klutz that I am, I have never attempted to ice skate. I had and still have no desire to wear a cast for a few weeks.

Once inside, we walked out onto the balcony. I wasn’t too happy about looking so far down onto the ice rink below, but I thought I could handle it. We kept on walking until we came to some stairs. Then we climbed up and up. And up some more. The more we climbed, the more uncomfortable I became.

We didn’t stop climbing until we reached the back wall. No joke. Our seats were literally against the wall in the last row in the tip top of the balcony section. I sat in my seat and looked down. Instead of being excited, I was now anxious and scared.

I gripped onto the edges of my seat for dear life. I asked my parents why we had seats so high. They simply answered, “Because they were cheaper.” Yeah, I could see why they were. We almost needed binoculars to watch the ice skating show.

I know what you are probably thinking: “That girl had a bad case of Acrophobia.” Acrophobia is the fear of heights. Actually, I don’t think that is my underlying fear. Heights alone don’t bother me. If I feel secure, I don’t feel the terror. Yes, I am a little uncomfortable, but I can handle it.

My real fear (or terror) is of falling: Basiphobia. It started with a bad fall at my grandparent’s house when I was very small.

My mom and my mamaws were inside cooking lunch. I wanted to stay outside, so my dad, papaw, and uncle said they would watch me. Instead of really paying attention to me, they got to talking and didn’t realize I was watching a jet fly over. In doing so, I politely walked over the edge of the carport wall. On the other side was a 6 foot drop off to the concrete basement driveway.

To this day, I remember falling by the concrete block wall as I desperately grabbed for something to latch onto. I have no memory of landing on the driveway. The next thing I remember is seeing the blurry image of my papaw as he raced toward me. He was blurry because I was crying so hard.

Since then, every time I am up high, I feel the same sensation of falling like I did all those years ago. And that was exactly how I felt sitting in the back row of that balcony. Nonetheless, I sat there through the whole show. It wasn’t easy and I did a whole lot of praying, but I still did it.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

I think sometimes we get into fearful situations and forget just Who we belong to and His awesome power. Always remember, all you have to do is call out to Him.

There was a funny side to my skating show of horror. My hands had perspired so much that every time I clapped, my perspiration splattered into my mom’s face.