LETTING GO
At 91 years old it was time….a time of letting go. With a sense of urgency, she asked me to help her select items that she wanted to give to others who might need them now. After a few hours we had seven bags filled with shoes, jackets and a variety of clothes. She sat back in her recliner and breathed a sigh of relief. I had been listening to my client for almost a month, story after story, with laughter, awe, somber, and sometimes tears. She had grown up in Illinois on a farm, with her sister, brother and her parents. Both her parents were nurses. Her father served in WW11 and suffered the effects of agent orange and eventually became blind. My client took care of them, as well as their large garden. She went on to become a teacher in Chicago, and then a dean. Upon asking her what has brought her the most JOY she answered, with no hesitation, “ the success of her students”. Many of them went on to be VERY successful. When she retired she and her sister moved out to AZ. And like Chicago, she had many wonderful stories of people she’s met, become friends with, and those who became her extended family. As she said, “ Life has been good to me”. As I looked at the bags I eventually gave to my friend Sandy, who donated them to Phoenix Rescue Missions, I thought of what I needed to let go. This process isn’t always about material things. It can also be anything that is destructive to JOY. Are you in need of letting go of that bad relationship, or job, or secret or dream that is hindering you from your God given purpose? Jesus had to make this choice too. His life or for our eternal life with God. He chose to give up His life so that we would have a life, a life of JOY, LOVE, PEACE, eternity with Him. What about you? Is it time to let go of all your reasons why you don’t need God and embrace His love…love that was proven time and time again…on the cross and then when He rose again? I pray that you will begin to fill your bags of those things that keep you from living your life of JOY…and filling it with Jesus…a decision you will never regret. Thank you to my client… for the stories, the bunnies, and quails…until we meet again.