This morning I sat with a lesson I continue to learn over and over again this summer. It’s one that continues to show up, so I’m calling it my summer lesson. I believe we go through stages in our life and each step of the way we have a new lesson. It’s like a Mario Brother game- you complete one level and get to the next, but sometimes it’s necessary to go re-do old levels to practice and build up momentum for the next.
Let me first tell you what’s been going on for us. We decided to sell our home as a step in our path to simplify our life. We found that we really want to move closer to family, be closer to my favorite farmers markets, and even be in an area that could help Alan have a potential career shift in a few years. Cost of living is lower and we have the support we need from family, so the decision made sense for us.
Now that the back-story is out there, I want to tell you what lesson continues to appear. For those of you who don’t know me too well, I can be somewhat of a control freak. Yet, here’s a reminder I had from Brene Brown this week, we need to phrase things as a positive. So, for all the control-freaks out there here’s what we are doing: we are trying to manage life the best we can and create the best possible outcomes. That sounds better, now doesn’t it?
Even though my first reaction is to control, here’s my lesson:
When we release our grip and sit with open hands, that’s when God fills them
That’s a pretty big lesson for a control-freak, or I mean, life-manager, huh? I found multiple times that when I release, when I say “what’s meant to be will be,” that things seem to work out better than we think. This summer when I’ve let go, we ended up selling our house for more than we thought and then a house was dropped into our hands (we ended up not going with that house for reasons too long to explain here).
So, here are the shifts we need to make to live with open hands:
1) Go from “I want it I want it I want it” to “what’s meant to be will be”
The first part of that was me…just yesterday. Somehow as I’ve sat with prayer and even sang along to the Bebe Rexha "If it's meant to be it will be", I shifted. I know that God can do far more than we think or imagine, so I just had to trust that by me clenching my fists I’m actually showing a lack of trust.
2) Practice the physical motion: sit with clenched fists, then open them outward like you’re releasing butterflies to the wind. Allow your face to form a slight smile.
This physical act helps us create the actual feeling of releasing and living openly.
3) Go from planning out each step to understanding that things don’t always work on our timeline.
Any planners out there? Yes, me too. Color-coded planner, actually. I like to know my plans months in advance. But I continue to hear God say, “Ease up, my dear. Leave room for me to surprise you.”
4) Go from fear to faith
When I try to control, that’s an act of fear. I can continue to work to co-create with God, but I know that sometimes I overstep that co-creation mindset to think I am the sole-creator. WRONG. I can do my part, but the moment I release things in faith, that’s when things start working better.
All right, friends! My hope is that we can move forward in faith, knowing that living openly creates new possibilities…even possibilities we aren’t even aware of right now. Just this morning I came across this prayer in the book “Centering Prayers” by Peter Traben Haas:
Christ My Healer:
Remind me that, with you, all things are possible. Help me not limit your power in my life today with any language of despair, restriction, or defeat.
Amen
Let’s not live with restriction, but with possibility. Happy rooting, everyone!
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