Friday, December 30, 2016

Letting Go for the New Year

Crises, big and small, good and not-so-good, seem to be pouring in at a faster pace than usual these past couple weeks. Can you relate?

There are always a few things on my mind: faith, family, health, finances. Add to them a few extra issues: my dad’s health is unstable right now (not good), my son is home from college for a few weeks (good), my husband caught the cold-going-around (not good), Christmas and time with family (good), my intentional approach to Advent and slowing down this year (mostly good) and now New Year’s considerations (some good, some not-so-good). A former pastor of mine used to call this situation “The pileup effect.” 

I used to think of God as being a bully with these overwhelming seasons. If things are already tough, why add to them? I finally had a lightbulb moment. Perhaps I’m listening more when I’m dealing with a couple tough things. When I’m already listening, why wouldn’t God want to give me a few more situations to exercise my “letting go” muscles?

And so when even more bonus events came rolling in last week: my credit card was fraudulently used, my freezer broke, and the insurance company started to call again about a car accident from six months ago—none of these things had an impact on my stress level. I dealt with them practically and without extra emotion. Pretty cool.

My favorite event from last week was during my drive to see my counselor. I was pondering these so-called crises to determine which I would discuss during my session. A car pulled in front of me, bearing this license plate: “SURENDER.”

Thanks, God.

Here’s a practical, witty, fabulous talk on Letting Go by Jill Sheerer Murray which I know you’ll appreciate and enjoy as much as I did today. Happy New Year! And here’s to Letting Go.


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