Embracing the ALL.

So, I've been heavy hearted lately.

Nothing is wrong. This is not headed in the direction of "woe is me". I promise.

I'm completely and utterly grateful for life. All of it. The peaks, the valleys and everything in between.

There is so much learning and growing and refining and pruning and fruitfulness that comes from embracing ALL of life, not just the good, easy and known parts. 

I choose to embrace the ALL, but sometimes I catch myself embracing things I should not, things that become obstacles. Like worry. When worry takes root then from it grows a need to control, a need to have certainty, a need to feel validated, and ultimately a heavy heart. I sometimes find myself up high on a branch of a big old tree of worry that I allowed to grow.

Guess what though? When worry takes root I am also reminded that I am human. What JOY! I mean it! I am human, not God. Phew. I have a God who is enough, who restores my heart with joy, who can and will uproot the worry and replace it with peace. He has a way of gently helping us ease our grip on the branches of worry, doubt, fear, control that we grasp so tightly to, and leading us safely to the ground.

He will replace these things with His peace. We just have to let go of them.

Loosening my grip.

Find comfort in this truth, my friends.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Phil. 4: 6-7 (msg)

Love.