ood morning ladies. I hope you all had a great weekend. As I'm sure you realized, it wasn't working out for me to get the devotion out on Thursday or Friday. I thought for sure I would get one out on Thursday, but PK wanted to leave by 10 am and I still had a lot to do. And Friday, we were already up at the camp. It was a great time, but with a few added things that we weren't expecting. Casey asked his dad if he would tell the kids a funny story from his growing up years. Well, that's easy enough! You know that parents love to talk about their kids; I was just wondering if he'd be able to keep it short! Of course, he told them about the time that he left Casey at church when he was a baby; I was home with Nathan who was sick that day. Yep, he got all the way home and came in the door with no Casey. Back to church he went and he was still playing happily in the nursery. Thankful to that nursery worker who stayed a little bit longer that day. The other addition to our time at camp was that he asked his mom to share her life story...yep, that's me. I did that, a bit hesitantly, because sometimes you wonder if kids at this age will really understand or even be interested. Will it touch them in some way? I guess that was for God to work out. Afterward, my question was answered when several of the kids thanked me for sharing. And one of the counselors came up to me with tears in his eyes and told me that he had a rough relationship with his mom growing up, and just last year she was diagnosed with Lupus and MS. It gave him a better understanding of why she struggled to be more present in his life. Wow! On Friday, we all headed to Nate and Natalie's. This was an interesting drive. Since we left around lunch time, of course Casey was starving, so we decided that we'd stop at the first town. Mind you, this was South Dakota. Pretty much it's all flat land and cows for miles. There are no stops, not even shoulders on the roads. Casey said the closest town that had any possibilities for eating was DeSmet. We knew that also because we had stopped there on the way so we could see the Alliance Church. It was this building that Pa Ingalls, from the Laura Ingalls Wilder book series, Little House on the Prairie, had helped to build. Anyway, PK said we'd take another way that was shorter and we would find a town soon enough. Should've listened to Casey. We drove and drove....miles of nothing. It was two o'clock and we were just an hour from N & N's before we finally found a Subway. Good thing I had cheese sticks and grapes! And fortunately, no one had to go to the bathroom, because there wasn't one! We had a great visit with the kids and with our new little guy Elliott. He's grown so much already and making more eye contact. So much fun! I decided to come home with PK on Saturday because I was exhausted, but Uncle Casey is still there until tomorrow. So that was my weekend.
Devotion
The words today remind us that we can't control those things in our life that are in the past. We need to let them go so we can take hold of the things God has for us now. We have been made new. We are His precious daughters and He wants to provide refreshment for our souls. I love the key verse today! Have a Marvelous Monday ladies!
“How Do I Let It Go?”
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV)
Three-year-old Elle arched her arm and pointed her fingers. “You’re frozen, Gaga!”
I stopped in place, one arm behind me, the other in the air. She giggled, then quickly unfroze me.
If you’ve been in the vicinity of anyone under the age of 6, you’re probably familiar with the movie, Frozen. In it, two sisters struggle in their relationship with each other and in finding acceptance.
At one point Elsa, the older sister, sings these words: “Let it go, let it go … And I’ll rise like the break of dawn … ”
Let it go.
Those are words I sensed God speaking to me years ago.
“Let go of the past that you cannot undo.”
“Let go of the warped view you have of yourself. It doesn’t match the one I have as your Heavenly Father.”
“Let go of the hurts that hold you too tightly.”
Just as I playfully stood frozen while my granddaughter giggled, there was another time when I felt frozen. I couldn’t take a step toward healing.
“Let it go, sweet daughter,” was a whisper I heard from God to discover the Suzie He saw me to be.
Maybe you’ve sensed God asking you to let something — or someone — go.
“Let go of the mistakes you once made. I’ve forgiven you.”
“Let go of the anger that’s consuming your thoughts.”
“Let go of condemnation, so you can live free.”
You want that desperately, but it can be hard to let go when you don’t know what that means.
May I share my definition of letting go with you? It was freeing for me when I finally understood it.
Letting go is giving up what is beyond our control to embrace what we can change.
In Isaiah 43:18-19, God spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah saying: “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.”
The people held so tightly to the past that they missed the new things God wanted to show them.
God speaks the same warning and truth to us. We can’t control the past, but we can focus on the miracles around us today.
We can’t unhear the words that once shaped our hearts, but we can replace them with truth from Scripture.
We can’t control negative people, but we can choose joy for ourselves.
Letting go isn’t easy in the beginning, because holding on is our natural response. But there’s so much hope! Just as the prophet Isaiah describes new roads in the desert and rivers in the wilderness, as we give up what we can’t control to embrace what we can change, new ways of thinking, relating and living are carved into our very being.
And the beautiful thing about letting go?
It doesn’t just change us.
It has the power to alter the next generation, and the next after that, like the cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed darling chasing her Gaga through the house, singing, “Let it go!”
Dear Jesus, I’ve wanted to let go for a long time, but I didn’t know how. Now that I do, I’m ready to take that leap of faith. I give up what I cannot control to embrace what I can. Thank You for carving new roads in the desert of my heart and new rivers in the wilderness of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
Suzie Eller
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
Devotion
The words today remind us that we can't control those things in our life that are in the past. We need to let them go so we can take hold of the things God has for us now. We have been made new. We are His precious daughters and He wants to provide refreshment for our souls. I love the key verse today! Have a Marvelous Monday ladies!
“How Do I Let It Go?”
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV)
Three-year-old Elle arched her arm and pointed her fingers. “You’re frozen, Gaga!”
I stopped in place, one arm behind me, the other in the air. She giggled, then quickly unfroze me.
If you’ve been in the vicinity of anyone under the age of 6, you’re probably familiar with the movie, Frozen. In it, two sisters struggle in their relationship with each other and in finding acceptance.
At one point Elsa, the older sister, sings these words: “Let it go, let it go … And I’ll rise like the break of dawn … ”
Let it go.
Those are words I sensed God speaking to me years ago.
“Let go of the past that you cannot undo.”
“Let go of the warped view you have of yourself. It doesn’t match the one I have as your Heavenly Father.”
“Let go of the hurts that hold you too tightly.”
Just as I playfully stood frozen while my granddaughter giggled, there was another time when I felt frozen. I couldn’t take a step toward healing.
“Let it go, sweet daughter,” was a whisper I heard from God to discover the Suzie He saw me to be.
Maybe you’ve sensed God asking you to let something — or someone — go.
“Let go of the mistakes you once made. I’ve forgiven you.”
“Let go of the anger that’s consuming your thoughts.”
“Let go of condemnation, so you can live free.”
You want that desperately, but it can be hard to let go when you don’t know what that means.
May I share my definition of letting go with you? It was freeing for me when I finally understood it.
Letting go is giving up what is beyond our control to embrace what we can change.
In Isaiah 43:18-19, God spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah saying: “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.”
The people held so tightly to the past that they missed the new things God wanted to show them.
God speaks the same warning and truth to us. We can’t control the past, but we can focus on the miracles around us today.
We can’t unhear the words that once shaped our hearts, but we can replace them with truth from Scripture.
We can’t control negative people, but we can choose joy for ourselves.
Letting go isn’t easy in the beginning, because holding on is our natural response. But there’s so much hope! Just as the prophet Isaiah describes new roads in the desert and rivers in the wilderness, as we give up what we can’t control to embrace what we can change, new ways of thinking, relating and living are carved into our very being.
And the beautiful thing about letting go?
It doesn’t just change us.
It has the power to alter the next generation, and the next after that, like the cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed darling chasing her Gaga through the house, singing, “Let it go!”
Dear Jesus, I’ve wanted to let go for a long time, but I didn’t know how. Now that I do, I’m ready to take that leap of faith. I give up what I cannot control to embrace what I can. Thank You for carving new roads in the desert of my heart and new rivers in the wilderness of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
Suzie Eller
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
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