Scarlet Hiltibidal wrote “Afraid of All the Things.” But many years before – as a first-grader – Scarlet read “Madeline” and became overwhelmingly afraid that she was having appendicitis.
When she wrote “Afraid of All the Things,” Scarlet began to unpack her life experiences and realized the many ways fear almost overcame her completely – through many cross-country moves, meeting and becoming engaged to her husband, cancer, tornadoes, sinkholes, adoption, and one big thing Scarlet and I have in common: ectopic pregnancy.
When Scarlet met her husband, Brandon, and they started dating, Scarlet says she “traded [her] fear of not being good enough for fear of not being pretty enough” and she managed to get engaged and married without Brandon knowing she was anorexic-bulimic. Finally, though, Scarlet realized she was going to die one day when she was drinking a double shot of espresso so she wouldn’t pass out. It became clear to her that God kept putting His word in her face (specifically Proverbs 28:13, Jeremiah 17). Scarlet says the day she confessed her anorexia-bulimia to her husband, was the day she was healed.
Some other topics we chatted about:
- How the Lord speaks to her
- Her thoughts in what she thought were her dying moments during an ectopic pregnancy, and how that experience with the ectopic pregnancy changed her life and her faith
- Her fears around adoption, and how God put people in her life to get her past those fears
- Scarlet’s current “ammunition” against fear
We also chatted about her daughter’s “Jesus Cheese” and how her entire family learned sign language when they adopted Joy.
I’m thrilled that Scarlet is releasing another book in July 2019: “He Numbered the Pores on My Face“, which is focused toward teenage girls and is all about finding your identity in Christ.
Scarlet and her three daughters and husband Brandon are the reason the internet is still a happy place so go follow her over on Instagram at @scarlethiltibal and be sure to read her books!
