Wings & Feet & 1 Arm

Once upon a time there was a girl in a small town who loved birds. Not too far away, in another small town, was another girl who develops a phobia of birds at age 9. One day these girls meet as adults & discover they have a lot in common, except for the love of birds. They become friends. The first girl, Crazy Bird Lover decides she is going to  make help girl #2, Ms. Wings & Feet Phobia see birds as wonderful creatures. Ms. Wings & Feet Phobia isn't sure how Crazy Bird Lover will do this, but Ms. Wings & Feet Phobia is always up for an adventure & a challenge. Ms. Wings & Feet Phobia put all her trust into Crazy Bird Lover & decides she is ready to work on her horrible phobia. 

Here's their story. 

It's not a secret that one of my biggest phobias is anything with wings & feet. Butterflies, moths, birds, they're all terrifying. 

I will scream & cover my head the second I see a bird. There have been times I haven't even seen a bird. I've just felt his beady little eyes boring into the back of my head & that was enough to send me flying for cover (see what I did there? I'm totally funny). 

It would be like me to become friends with someone who thinks birds are better than people. I like this lady but she is seriously nuts. She not only likes birds, she touches them. She has them in her house! Willingly, voluntarily, lovingly touches them & has them in her house. I told you she's nuts. 

There have been many times that I have said that God sits up in Heaven plotting ways to mess with me & then He calls over all the Angels to laugh at these obstacles in my life & see how I handle them. I just know that He plays videos of my life at the Heavenly Christmas parties every year. "Dude, you are gonna love this one. Watch what happens next...[chuckle, gasping for air]...isn't that the best?" I just know that is what happens up there. 

Meeting Crazy Bird Lover was one of His ideas of a joke. I know it. 'Cause there is no other explanation for how I ended up in a house, peeking around the wall into the room where FOUR birds were, jumping every time one of them fluttered around their cage.

Being determined & hating phobias, I went to Crazy Bird Lover's house to meet Gracie. Gracie is a bird. And I actually went there by myself, not forced into the vehicle & driven there by an evil person wanting to torture me. I did this to myself. 

First off, I have to say that when you are so afraid of something that you become paralyzed by it, it takes  a lot of trust to allow someone to expose you to the thing you most fear. I had to trust that Crazy Bird Lady wouldn't force a bird on me before I was ready or laugh at me when the fear took over & made me cry (it's happened). 

That trust was not misplaced. Because...

I did it! I'm not over the fear, but I actually held a bird & that's a huge step in getting over my phobia.

Thank you, Crazy Bird Lady!