Letting Go Gives a Better Grip

I’m finding that letting go gives a better grip…. I’m finding everything I’ll ever need, by giving up gaining everything… Right here at Your feet, where I wanna be:   Forever & Ever

In the past few weeks, the weather has FINALLY been warming up here!!! All signs of snow are gone… at least for a few months haha… We are able to enjoy our walks, instead of walking as fast as we can to get it over with or carrying a ton of groceries at the same time, & Molly is enjoying the numerous games of frisbee every day! Our list of things to do before deployment is slowly getting shorter, and in the meantime God is blessing us with the feeling of longer days together. We are also going through some classes that are strengthening our marriage, including Family Resiliency training and a marriage retreat coming up soon that we are really looking forward to 🙂

I feel so incredibly blessed… In our devotion this morning, Austin & I read about how many times we as humans focus on the future, or what God has in store for us in the future. However, God wants us to think about and focus on what He’s doing right here, right now, in us and through us. Often we find ourselves asking for God to show Him to us through experiences, or to show us/lead us to where we are supposed to be going, not realizing that He shows us Himself every day through each other, through other people, through ourselves and He reveals to us everyday where we are going. We just need to focus on what He has already shown us, and what He is showing us and doing today. Wow.

Austin & I have been looking so much to the future… partly because we have to to prepare adequately for deployment, but I must confess that some of that looking ahead is “worry” very cleverly cloaked by “planning.” Many discussions within our house have centered around this – “but we need to….” or “have you done _____ yet?” or even “we HAVE to do this NOW!”

On one hand, these are all very legitimate “concerns” and important things that must be completed within the next month or two… however, I often let them take control of my day, my conversations, my thoughts/worries, etc. How dare they??? Hmmm…. Maybe it’s more like, how could I? Common excuses go something like this: “But I would stop worrying as soon as they get done”

Honestly, even when these things get done… and I know they will…. I will just find something else to worry about. Until I displace my worry with something else. I cannot wish it away, and sometimes I cannot even will it away… But I can replace it with something else through prayer.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).

It’s not a one time thing: say one prayer and all your worries are gone. It’s not about the way you pray: you didn’t say it right, or you didn’t have enough faith in your prayer so you still have worries.

I have to pray these things daily, sometimes many times a day. When I lay out my worries before God, and turn my concerns into prayers, I know that God hears me and knows… and He replaces those worries with His peace that goes beyond all understanding.

Some days, I hold on to my worries…. “No, God. Let me just hang on to them a little more. Maybe I can do something about them on my own.” or “But if I don’t worry about these things, they won’t get done, or it means I don’t care…”

Lies of satan.

I think that stinker gets more people away from God this way than any other way. Little whispers, twisting God’s truth. He’s been doing it since the beginning…

Cast satan away. God already has. Cast ALL your cares, worries, concerns, thoughts, everything upon the Lord. He’s already taken care of them!

Letting go of the unnecessary worries allows for a better grip on God.

SO, as we are preparing for deployment and taking care of all we need to, working our way down “the checklist”, we are growing closer together, closer to God, and continually renewing our strength through Him.

In the meantime, we have enjoyed a lot of “down time” during a couple 4-day weekends. We explored Amberg & Nuremberg 🙂 Delicious food, beautiful sights, Starbucks (of course), and a few unexpected adventures in between.

And of course we can’t forget our baby girl, Molly!

She turns 1          this month!!!

April 27th

Happy 1st             Birthday!!!

OF COURSE!! How could I forget our biggest news update….. WE ARE COMING HOME!!!

We are taking a week of leave in May and visiting our family in the States 🙂 We are SOOOO excited!!! In 4 weeks, we will be waking up in Georgia!!! We have big plans for hanging out with the family, Chickfila, Cafe Intermezzo, BBQ, seeing our BFF’s and a haircut! Hey, after living here you appreciate the little things 🙂