A year and a half ago I began to create space in every part of my life.  We downsized from a 5 bedroom home to a three bedroom condo, from 5 kids at home to just 2 and I stopped the crazy pace that I had set for myself for the last 25 years.  I got really intentional about what to keep and what to let go of.  I spent the better part of a year sorting , giving, and throwing away all the stuff….and I mean ALL THE STUFF.

And as I did, I let all the feelings that came with every little shoe, pink dress, piece of art, book, paper and toy come to the surface. I didn’t try to hold it in, I let myself cry over each memory, I gave myself permission to grieve every lost opportunity, every missed snuggle and bedtime story and then…

I LET IT GO

I thanked Jesus for all he has given me, for all the time he let me spend with my kids as they grew up, I asked  HIM to forgive me for ALL my failures, cried a bucket of tears and then….

I LET GO.

I let go so that I could embrace this season….

the season of  #1 and #2 walking down the aisle and giving their hearts, their lives, their time to another.

precious #3 getting a place of her own and entering into all adulthood has to offer her.

The season of walking along side fiercely independent #4 as she struggles to accept that she can not do everything that others can. The season of helping her enter in to her grief as she heals from all the trauma from her past. the season of working together to figure out what amazing things GOD has for her in her future.The season of walking alongside #5 as she tries to figure out who she is,  The heartbreaking season of helping her struggle with the rejection she feels from her birth mom…..helping her begin to grieve that loss so that she can go into her future a healthy, healed young woman. The season of witnessing Each good choice she makes for herself. The season that brings her closer to becoming the young woman God created her to be…..

Embracing the season that holds the hard work of helping them both to not need me anymore…..the season of helping them see that God can meet their needs way better than I ever could.

But for me to be able to embrace THIS season I had to let go of a season that I loved.

 I had to learn not to fill up my FUTURE with all the stuff from my PAST so that there could be room for my NOW.

 I had to accept that my plan was not HIS plan. I gave myself permission to grieve the future i thought I was going to have in order to embrace the one I DO have.

This was  very emotional work but it was also very practical work. I can not express to you how important  it was for me to get rid of everything I did not need,  to let myself only keep what I loved.

My closet now holds only what fits me and makes me happy.. this meant I had to let go of my old body and accept the one I now have.   I have  extra space in my cupboards, both cars fit in the garage, we let go of everything that we did not use.  We also have more TIME because we stopped doing things just because we felt we OUGHT.  we get to have game nights and read books and hang out with friends and go for walks, because we know how fleeting these years with our kids are!  For the first time in our lives we have resources to bless others in the way we want to, to save and even to travel a bit.

Whether your past is full of blessing or hardships, or like most of us, a lot of both, don’t get stuck there. The past is a place to learn from, it is our best teacher. So, let it teach you what it was meant to teach you and then

LET IT GO

So that your future can be all it was meant to be.

It is so easy to get stuck.stuck in a season, stuck in hurt or anger or regret

TODAY is hard enough without weighing ourselves down with our yesterdays.

so would you let me encourage you today

whether you are letting go of that newborn and chasing the toddler or putting your kindergartener on a bus for the first time or watching your newly graduated senior drive off to college or walking them down the aisle or watching them become parents or watching your grandchildren do these things…. spend some time letting go of what WAS

so that you are free to enjoy what IS.