I am a part of every place I have been: the path to the brook; the New York streets and my “short cut” through the Metropolitan Museum. All the places I have ever walked, talked, slept, have changed and formed me. ~Madeline L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet
Wherever your plans take you this weekend, may you remember that every moment is significant to the story He writes for you. And sometimes the first step to letting go is accepting that.
Welcome to the Weekend Friends!
This is #27 in the series 31 Days of Letting Go. You can read the collective here. If you are a writer, I invite you to link up
any post you’ve written on the theme of letting go in the comments on Friday. Subscribe to receive the series in your inbox or feed by adding your address in the side bar under Follow Redemptions Beauty.
How I miss taking a drink from here. If a whole moth or more has passed, that should leave parched and cracked.
I will soon retrace to the first day this series started. Thanks for the weekend thought about acceptance as the prelude to letting go.
Blessings!
I’ve been thinking about you every day Lolita. I’ve missed you. So glad you stopped by. Your presence is a breath of fresh air. Hope you are doing well my friend.
Oh Lo! You are back! Praise the Lord! I always love your blessed comments and joyful smile!!! They cheer me so.
Hi, there Lynn, I miss you both. It is impossible not to long for a drink from here. As the post says, “I am a part of this place too, because I walked here and I have uttered some words here too.”
Shelly has become a drinking spot for a weary and thirty soul….. that’s me.
Blessings to you, dear L.
Shelly, somehow you manage profundity even in the briefest of posts!!! How *do* you do it?! You say that the first step to letting go is to remember we are a part of God’s story. So often I think it’s *my* story, and so I cling to every vestige of self-awareness, self-aggrandizement, self-ambition, self-absorption. But I need to let go and remember that it’s *His* story, where loss is gain, last is first, and dying to self is living for God. Dying to self is tantamount to letting go. When I let go of my story by accepting His, then that’s when the adventure, healing, and mercy begin! You seem to do a very good job of it, Shelly, because when I think of *your* story (what I know of it, threaded throughout your breathtaking posts), and realize that you have let go of what has occurred (say, in your childhood) and accepted what has been as significant in the story that God has written for you, it’s apparent that He has REDEEMED it all–ALL, SHelly! Even the pain has been significant, because He is using you in a powerful way to point others to Christ. Your letting go has not only gained you Christ, but others have as well. And along with L’Engle, you are part of everywhere you’ve been and part of what you’ve endured, and it’s part of you–part of God’s story for you! Thank you for letting us read your story–*His* story–day after day after day. We are incomparably blessed.
P.S. In my journaling classes, I love to have participants write an “I am from” poem, similar to L’Engle’s quote here. It is amazing to see from where women have come and often what they have overcome through Him.
Love, that Sis, so much so…… profoundly and definitely.
Lynn, your words tell what God has been speaking to me through various people over the past couple of weeks. He knows I need repetition to get it. Thank you for being one of those He is using to help me hear it and accept it.
Oh, Shelly, don’t we all need repetition, and “doncha” just love it that God repeats His message in such myriad ways, especially through His precious women? Thank you for being there for us!
Have a beautiful weekend, Shelly. God is so good to His people! Love, Patricia
You too Patricia, He IS so good.
Love the quotes. Love the pictures. And such truth, that we are part of every place that we’ve been. To embrace and accept that is such a huge step in acceptance. Yes. A great way to begin my weekend Shelly. We will be leaving for the soccer fields soon for the boys’ games. 🙂 Hope you all have a restful weekend too. Love you much. Thank you for inspiring me with your beautiful words and pictures. As always. 🙂 xoxox
I opened up my emails on my phone while laying on my pillow, savoring the quiet in bed for a few extra moments. And you were on my mind, in my prayers and then right here, the first email I opened. God is so awesome. Love you lots Danelle.
What good thoughts to mull over this morning! I will take them with me as I go seek stillness. Thank you much, Shelly!
Sylvia, its a pleasure to have you visit today. Thanks.
God-Incidence here!!! I started reading Ann Voskamp’s ‘1000 Gifts’ again yesterday, Last part I read before bedtime, was where she says she realized she needed to thank God for EVERYTHING that had happened in her life, realizing those things had made her and shaped here and were a part of her. I KNEW I needed to do the same, so as I prayed on my pillow, I thanked God for it ALL, good and bad, beautiful and ugly. These things have made me who I am. They have ALL been a part of God’s story of my life here. And He continues to write my story, as I accept from His hand, and give Eucharisteo, for it all.
Oh Jillie, love those sacred echoes. God’s way of letting us know He is with us, listening and loving us. That Ann is so amazing isn’t she? Her words were a comfort to me this week too. I prayed for you this morning, before my feet hit the ground. For all of you actually. And it was the same prayer, that God would use all you are walking through for His glory revealed. He is with you my friend.
I needed this reminder today! Hope you have a beautiful weekend
So thankful for timely reminders. He is so faithful to give us what we need, when we need it. You too Alecia, hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Love the quote…will add that to “we are the sum-total of our life’s experiences”. And, you are right, EVERYTHING is a part of God’s story for our lives.
Even transforming Harrison’s bedroom into a teenage haven and reading my book on my rainy porch. It all matters.
‘Love the line: “Every moment is significant to the story He writes for you.” Reading between the words I’m reminded that even mundane tasks can become moments of significance if we’re practicing God’s presence, giving Him praise, and serving Him (albeit in the background). We never know how God might use those moments. That’s part of the fun of being a Christian!
Nancy, I agree. What an adventure we have the privilege of taking when we walk with Him.
Oh I love that, Lo–Shelly’s drinking spot, where we all imbibe living water….or I should say Living Water! Jesus is what our parched thirsts need, and Shelly points us to Him so beautifully. So glad to know you’re well! (And that Shelly provides the well, right?! 🙂 )
Dearest Shelly –
I have to tell you that more than once in this series God has met me at my point of need with your topic for the day. I was wrestling with the fact that my decision to leave an abusive husband was being misunderstood by someone “important”… until I read your wise words about letting go of the need to be understood. What a tremendous blessing. Easier said than done perhaps, but it needed to be said and I, for one, needed to hear it. Now I will work on the doing part. Thank you for being there. You are a tool in the potter’s hand.
Mama Sheep
Oh my, I cannot tell you how much this means to me, that you let me know this. I am moved beyond words. And know that you are in my thought and prayers today. And I am available by email too: shelly@redemptionsbeauty.com. To God be the glory, great things he has done.