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I remember saying those words to someone quite some time ago: "Let go and move on." In other words, let go of your past and start afresh.
Sometimes, words are easier said than done, and sometimes, it is very hard to let go of the past. When my father passed away, my mother was okay to live alone for about a year, and then came the time when she did not want to stay on her own any more. She made a proposal to me and my husband: if she found a house with a granny apartment that we all liked, would we consider moving in with her?
The time came when we found a beautiful house with a granny apartment overlooking Penetanguishene Bay. Mom has the same view as we do when we look out our living room window. We have lived here for approximately four years now, and the time has come to sell our previous house and learn to let go.
Our old house contains many precious memories. We raised two girls in that house, and with only one bathroom! Our dog and cats and budgies, as well as fish and turtles, were raised there. Our grandchildren came in the summer to spend time with their grandparents and, of course, to spend the day on the beach. Bed-time was spent downstairs in the basement, which housed a tent and fake evergreen trees on the carpet. There are marks on the wall where we measured our grandchildren to see how much they had grown since the last time they had come for a visit. The time came when we had to put a price tag on our house. I found it a little easier to move on than my husband, who found it a lot harder to let go. The price tag was too high, and therefore, the house did not sell.
As I am writing this, the price tag on our house has come down a lot. My husband is finally ready to let go and move on. I guess God needed a little more time to work in my husband's heart!
This incident made me think of the familiar phrase that is going around these days: "Let go and let God!"
Isaiah 55:8-9 – "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (NLT)
My friends, if we find ourselves in a situation that we feel anxious about, let us relax and talk to our heavenly Father, who yearns to hear from us. God's wisdom is always available; all we have to is ask and listen. God will always provide support, healing, and guidance; all we have to do is trust and wait. Sometimes the answer to our situation will take a little longer than we anticipated, but the answer will come at the right time.
Isaiah 50:10 – Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. (NLT)
Prayer: Dear God, help us to let go and trust that You are very capable of working things out within each and every one of us. We know that You will never leave us nor forsake us. You will make the dark places into places of light and the rough places to be places of smoothness. Amen.
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Thanks for a good word Rosemary.
Another thought provoking message Rosemary. Thank-you.
Thank you Rosemary, for this excellent devotional.
I’m sure it speaks to the heart of many among us who are in the “beginning stages” of deciding to downsize. It does take some time, patience and whole lot of faith!!
Dear Rosemary,
Thank you for your devotional from today.
Is going to help me a lot.
I am going to print it so I can read it a lot.
Good morning, Mrs. Hagedorn,
I felt this message was just for me when I read it this morning. Thank you for your guidance through God.
I will not go through all the details…just know your prayers and thoughts are much appreciated.
God bless you.
Rosemary, thank you for sharing this with us today. I’m in the process of making a move myself at this time and have 2 places. The new place is still a house and the other place is still my home, because of the letting go. I needed to read this for myself. Thank you. I have you and your family in my prayers everyday.
(Indiana)
Rosy – What a great devotional! I have a friend who is currently in the throws of downsizing her home and moving in a retirement community. She is burdened with all the decisions which have to be made. I have made a copy of your devotional to give to her to read. I would hope it would come to her from the hand of the Lord at this special time in her life. I pray that the Lord will bless us as we seek and assist others in their walk with Him. Let’s go!
Rosy, A friend once said to me, “Let go, and let God, so God can.” Her thought conveyed the idea that God is the perfect gentleman who will only move forward on our behalf when we have let go of trying to control the situation. In other words, when we cease playing god. When we do let go, and then give it over to God trusting Him to provide at the right time, then God will act on our behalf, according to His will and good purpose. He knows what is best for us, we need to trust that. Thank you for bringing this to mind again. I needed the reminder. Blessings.
Good Morning Rosy
Lovely devotional. It brought back many memories of selling our family homes, some years ago.
It is, indeed, a wrench to let go of the place where you have spent so many happy (and sometimes not so happy) times, but inevitably, the time comes when it just makes sense – in many ways.
Good luck with your sale – it sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing. It caused me to identify in so many ways, with what you are experiencing; even to the tent in the basement. Fun days – but they have gone. It is good to have the beautiful memories.
Blessings and good wishes to you.
Hi Rosemary,
You must have know that your devotional would be of great help to couples whose parents have have been separated by death or any other reason. This is a situation which can come upon couples at any time and a submission such as this one can be of infinite help to them. And therefore it is very necessary that couples are always on good enough terms to decide rationally how to handle without causing needless strife and heartache, what is very rarely an easy problem to solve. Not all elderly people like to go into old-age homes. I am 77 and dread any future without my partner of over 50 years this week.
Blessings.
Thank you for your insightful devotion. My mother and step-father have just given up their home and moved into a small apartment that they can handle. My sister and I tried to have them come closer. We both have space for a suite in our homes, but they were not ready for that move yet. They had to downsize considerably and give up nearly everything they had for possessions. It was an exhausting time, physically and mentally. This devotion will be very meaningful to her.
Many years ago, my husband’s mother asked us to find a home with a suite and allow her to move in with us. My husband was born to her late in life so our children were young. It was a wonderful time until Mom passed into the hands of the Lord and we moved away from that home because of my husband’s job. She was a fine Christian woman and I really benefited from having her as a friend and mother-in-law.
I have some issues I cannot resolve in my life and I have been living in darkness, waiting for the light. Letting go has not been easy and I struggle every day trying to handle it on my own, your words are very meaningful to me.
Thank you for sharing.
Amen.
The only way to live. Well done Rose.
To trust God in all things really does mean letting go – and it seems to take a lifetime of practice. What a thoughtful devotional.
Hi Rosy,
I think you must be reading my mind since this devotional is almost a snap shot of my present life.
It also parallels that of my sister. We have both got to sell our places which are filled with many of the memories you touched on.
I won’t go into detail except to say I felt like I was losing everything what with my best friend who used to help me with chores I can no longer do moving away. My sister felt even worse as she lost her husband recently and it has caused us both to have to sell since he’s no longer there for the upkeep of our places.
Yesterday I just cried out in desperation to the Lord as I felt I was nearly at the end of my rope, and He told me to sleep as I had been running on nerves.
I end this missive on a much more positive note. Nothing in my circumstances has changed, but I have been changed by my sleep and resting in Him.
Blessings.
Dear Rosemary, you will not believe it, but the 29th, was also a moving day for us. Having lived there for 36 years, we grieved about the loss of space, a huge backyard for events, and moving to an apartment to downsize due to aging.
Thank you for sharing ‘Let go and let God’. We know that God has exciting things waiting for us. God was talking to us through your devotional piece. God Bless!