Thought for the Day 3/27/2026

 Friday Tale ~ Not Frozen by Fear

On a summer morning as he was fixing his breakfast, Ray Blankenship looked out his window to see a young girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Ohio home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath the road and then emptied into the main culvert.

 

Ray dashed from his home and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the flailing child. Finally, he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. When he surfaced, he was able to grab the girl’s arm.

 

The two tumbled end over end and then, within about three feet of the yawing culvert, Ray’s free hand felt something protruding from the bank. He clung to it desperately, the tremendous force of the water threatening to sweep him and the child away.

 

 By the time fire department’s rescue team arrived, Blankenship had amazingly pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. In that heroic moment, Ray Blankenship was at even greater risk than most people knew – Ray couldn’t swim!

 

Today, let your courage respond to needs you see, not to the fear you may feel.

 

Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

~ from Jim Gentil

Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked,

when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence,

and will keep your foot from being caught.

~ Proverbs 3:25-26 (ESV)