You are safe

NATHAN A. TALBOT

I always liked going to Gram and Grandad's farm. We had to get up early in the morning to feed the cattle. I got to ride on the tractor with Grandad; sometimes I even drove it. Since we were up so early I couldn't stay up too late. But one night I did. I watched a show on television. It was about our country getting into a war. It was supposed to be like the real thing. It showed a lot of terrible stuff that happened when an atomic bomb exploded.

When I went to bed I worried a lot about the bomb. I thought about all the people that would be hurt. And I wondered about my parents and my brother and sister and about my dog and my horse. Then I fell asleep and had a dream. No, it was more like a nightmare than just a dream, because I thought we really did get into a war and the bomb exploded. Then I woke up so scared I could hardly breathe. I wasn't really sure whether there was a war or not. So I started to pray.

I tried to remember that God was right there, and that He was good and would take care of me. This wasn't easy, because it seemed as if there was much more fear around than there was good. I tried to think, "God is everywhere, so He must be here." And the more I thought about God, the more I felt He was there. Finally I began to feel safe, and I went back to sleep. That was quite a few years ago. But what happened that night was special because I found out that God is real power. When I first started to pray I was thinking that fear had power over me. When I finished praying I was sure God was the only power. Then the fear disappeared.

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