Author: shbcadmin

Note to self: let it go. Let go of the hurtful words that were spoken to you. Let go of the memories that cause pain. Let go of the people who only use you when they want you. Let go of the “what ifs” and “if onlys”. Every day, you’ll find there’s something you need to let go of…to drop like a hot potato! How do you know what it is? It’s whatever causes you pain or regret.

I know we love to give advice. I know we love to fix people and situations in our life. I know that our ideas are way better than everybody else’s. However, we can also mess up God’s plan by what we say and do. There are times that we’re way over our head and anything we say or do can just make things worse. Silence is golden and the person who learns to “let God” will quietly go about their own business, praying and believing that God knows best.

When a baby is born and begins to say it’s first words, somewhere in the mix will be the word MINE! It is accompanied by a death stare and a challenge that if you touch what’s MINE, I’ll scream at the top of my lungs. And Heaven forbid we even think about trying to take the focus off of the things that are MINE. I don’t think we’ve changed a whole lot. Oh, we don’t scream anymore, but we do HOARD things….MY car, MY house, MY ministry, MY pain, MY job, MY family. And Heaven forbid, we change our focus! We have built a world that extends to the end of how far we can see. But God’s kingdom is so much bigger. If He can get us to look away from what belongs to us, then He can change our focus to the things that really matter.

Worrying doesn’t stop the bad stuff from happening. It just stops us from seeing the “good” things in life. Worry is fear in action and that comes from the enemy. Worry never changes anything…except your sleep patterns, your outlook which goes from positive to negative and your ability to move forward with confidence. God is looking for faith walkers not worry warts!

It’s a Monday morning and time to face another week. We just left one holiday and are preparing to head into the next one. I have a little advise I learned the hard way. Years ago, I was asked to teach a class through a Jr.Achievement program. It’s a wonderful program and I was really excited. So I said YES. I was locked in for several weeks. I realized in the middle of that time that there were things that came along that I really wished I could do but I honored my YES. I missed out on some things that meant a lot to me, including time with my family. When you say YES to one thing, remember that you’re saying NO to something else. That might help you make better decisions. It sure helped me!

“Grief never ends but it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay.” As I was sitting in my office thinking about all the losses we’ve had in this area over the past several years, my heart just hurts for the ones left behind. If you think of it, please say a prayer for someone who finds themselves in that spot. Holidays are hard when someone is missing. It doesn’t matter if it happened yesterday or many years ago. Life goes on, but it’s never the same.