Letting Go......

I've been thinking lately about letting go and how hard that is. Especially when we are not ready, willing or able to let go of whatever it is we are holding on to so tightly. Sometimes we want to let go....but on our time line and expanding our comfort zone ever so slowly (or so it seems!). Sometimes it becomes obvious that it is time (or past time) to let go.

What makes it so difficult to let go? Many times it is fear. We become familiar with a situation and the people in it and sometimes it seems easier to stay...even if it is not working out for anyone.

When it became very obvious that I was supposed to leave my job and be at home, I dealt with fear of the unknown. The job was a good-paying one with good benefits. Without knowing the situation, it would be easy to say just stay and make it work. It got to the point of realizing no matter how hard I tried, it was time to let go and move on. For the most part, that decision has been the right one.

Part of the fear issue is not always seeing the whole picture and how it will turn out. Almost like putting a really hard puzzle together....without the benefit of the picture on the box.

Letting go can be as easy as having someone else be in charge of the remote control when they really want it. Letting go might not be your decision as layoffs happen at your job. Letting go can be as difficult as helping someone make a decision to no longer receive treatment that will ultimately end a life.

When we finally do let go though? God is there waiting to help move us on to where He wants us to go next. He has the full picture on the box of the puzzle of our lives. Letting go requires trust that we are always in God's view and His plan is to help us find the purpose we're here for.

Is there something or someone you've been holding on a little too tightly? Are you willing to let go and not take it back to worry about? If it's partly your decision, start with the small stuff and work your way up to truly letting go once and for all. Because when we let go? God promises, He won't.

Hebrews6 ^18-20 (The Message) We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us.

Ecclesiastes 3 (NLT) A Time for Everything
¹ For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. .....²² So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why we are here! No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.

This song really explains a lot of what I've been feeling about letting go. (Britt Nicole: Walk On the Water) This girl did a great job on her video of it.

Life and Death....and don't miss out on sharing the ride....

I really should be in bed (what else in new?). But there are times when I realize why I'm up. This is one of them. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. We found out earlier tonight that our Grandma's boyfriend died. Grandma died a few years ago. Both of them had memory issues as they aged. When we would visit, we would have the same conversation about 3 times in the time we were there....and usually in the same order. It would be kind of frustrating, in a lovable sort of way. They could remember things that happened YEARS ago, but not things that happened just a few hours....or minutes before.

I always thought it was kind of cool that they found love again at their age. Both of them had been married before. It really said something about grandma because men were pretty much a high commodity where she lived. Men could take their pick. (lock that in memory for future reference, boys....hee hee!)

I would sometimes have to guilt our kids into going to visit on Sunday afternoons when there was usually something else they would rather be doing. Sometimes there was other stuff I would rather be doing too. However, when we would get there and the residents would be so excited to see the kids, it was all worth it. We still remember some of the residents and being counted by one lady as we walked by.

I would remind us that the time would come that they would not be here anymore for us to visit....and we would miss that. It did and we do.

After Grandma died, we would still visit him occasionally. He was worried we would forget him. He would tell us stories of the things he'd done. He was in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the war. He showed us pictures of himself as a young man. Later, he moved. We went to his birthday party. We told him we would get back to see him. We didn't.

Our older generations are a treasure of history and information. Sometimes we get so busy with today that we forget about yesterday.

^{Hebrews 6:10-12 (NLT) 10} For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. ¹¹ Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. ¹² Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

I received the following link in an e-mail from my sister (very timely)....and part of the reason I started out in tears. It reminded me of those times I took the time to spend with my grandma that lived with us for years, Jeff's grandma, her boyfriend, etc. It reminds me that the day will come when my ride is nearing the end....and I may be the one wishing someone would come visit.

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/

Life seems long, love while you can....even if it's while you're forgetting. Our Sundays are not the same. One day they really are gone.

Seeking refuge

^{Hebrews 6:17 - 19 17} God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. ¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. ¹⁹ This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. (NLT)

I have struggled for a few days now knowing I had something to write, but not knowing where to start. I am very good at avoiding. I know time is going by fast, but the last few weeks it has really hit me. The end of summer, back to school for the kids, the leaves are changing colors and don't seem like they've even been ON the trees that long. One day of the week is here, blink, and the same day, next week. Ugh. If you've seen the movie, Click with Adam Sandler, that's what it feels like. Only I'm not wanting to skip through life faster. I've found lots of time to read other books, but have not been opening my Bible.

Found some of my answer today online in the above verses (JQ's positive words to live by was verse 18...then I checked out the other verses). I just went back and read all of Hebrews 6 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6&version=NLT) Wow! Part of what I've been struggling with is the way the world seems to be heading in the wrong direction.
I know better....but sometimes I forget.

I especially picked up on the words refuge and hope. I'm thinking refuge in the Bible from what I remember was found in a cave. Not the best place in my mind to go and get in a better mood. I look up the word refuge on Webster. It is based on the words to escape, to flee. As a noun, it is shelter or protection from danger or distress. In the above verses, "we who have fled to him for refuge." Where have I been fleeing to? My cave of emotions where things can seem darker than they really are. Time to remember to seek a new source of refuge and hope. Refuge can be fleeing to something, not necessarily somewhere we stay.

Another verse (115) that mentions refuge and hope.

Psalm 119:113-115 ¹¹³ I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love your instructions. ¹¹⁴ You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. ¹¹⁵ Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God. (NLT)

May we receive strength to take on another day and enjoy! May it not take a huge crisis (Sept. 11) to get us to remember our need for God. Churches were filled those few days after that day. 8 years later are we back to where we were before? Refuge in this world is not even close to the refuge we can have.