Letting Go....

"The past should not be a place where we live, but something from which we learn." -Stormie Omartian

I read this quote the other day from "The Power of a Praying Wife." This quote had a profound effect on me as I'm currently in a season of life where I have truly let go of many of the troubles in my past that I've carried with me for a very long time. High School is not necessarily all happy memories for me. In fact, those were some of my most difficult years in my life. Many would probably be surprised that I feel this way since I appeared to do just fine with friends and I was even a cheerleader, but the appearance differed greatly from my reality. My lack of self confidence at the time, combined with depression and not ever feeling that I FULLY fit in with my group of friends, had left me with hard feeling about that era of my life. From the moment my daughters were born, I began to wonder if their high school years would be as painful as mine. That is something that I have had to let go of and give it to God. But lately, I've been able to let go of many of those not-so-fond memories and refocus my mind on the good times. Believe it or not, this came about through Facebook and our ever redeeming Lord. I originally joined FB well over a year ago at the urging of my young coworkers that I worked with at my former church. When God called me away from that church, I began to realize that about 90% of my FB friends were from that church. That realization left me with the feeling that I was walking away from all my friends, even though that wasn't reality. Thus began my journey of reconnecting with people from my past. I started out "friending" some former classmates that I grew up with from elementary school through high school. Then, before I knew it, that group kept growing and we were sharing so many funny stories from long ago. I began to realize, that there were plenty of happy times, I had just let them be overshadowed by the unhappy times. I also realized that the passing of nearly 20 years, causes people to let go of old grudges and refocus on who we are today. Best of all, the person I am today is a very happy person, confident in myself and filled with God-given purpose for my life. Along with connecting with childhood friends, I also began reuniting with old college and sorority friends. We share stories and old photos and I laugh.....A LOT!!!

My purpose in sharing this with you is so that you can find comfort in that whatever heartache you are dealing with now, will come to pass and God will always be faithful to redeem! He most definitely redeemed me by letting go of the old and welcoming in the new relationships I've established with the same people from long ago.