The leaves on my red oak tree in front of my house hasn't started to turn colors yet. It's been a warm fall so far, but hopefully in a few more weeks the leaves will start to turn a beautiful shade of red. And then, it will shed all of it's leaves and be bare through the winter. I recently saw a couple posts on Instagram about how trees shed their leaves in the fall and come back more beautiful every spring. Basically, we all need to shed something or let go of something so that we can grow and come back even stronger, even more beautiful than we were before!
It's the cycle of life. Learning how to let go of things that are holding us back or hurting us, moving on from the past, seeking a new direction or a new dream, and some times it's even a death that propels us forward with new motivation or inspiration. The ups and downs of life that we all face, that we all grapple with in different ways, that knock us down, that bring us to our knees, that rebuild us, that renew us, that we conquer, and that make us the person we are in this moment. Life is a journey. And, it's not always pretty. Most of the time it feels like one prolonged struggle of some kind with flashes of goodness mixed in for good measure. So, how do we get through it all?
For me, through God's grace and mercy given each and every day. I've looked to, leaned on and prayed to God more in the last few years than I ever have before in my life. It's through his ever-present and steady presence in my life that I know I can get through anything and be OK. Truly. Life is hard. Life is unfair. Life can break us. But, God can lift us up. God can sustain us. God can and will provide. Yes. Yes, I believe this is true for me and for you!
So, with growing faith and hope I trust in the Lord with a renewed spirit. Throughout the past several years I've felt like the dirt in my flowerbeds covered by mulch just sitting and waiting for renewal. Waiting for a rebirth of sorts...or maybe it's been the dreaded mid-life crisis that's been plaguing me. Whatever it's been, it's been hard and frustrating, disappointing and sad, and it's also been exactly what I needed. Sadly, I know all the pain that I've gone through is God working in and through me. It's God shaping and molding me into the person that He created me to be and I finally feel like I'm brushing away the mulch, shedding my leaves and coming back into the Light...His everlasting Light.
I'm not quite all the way there yet, but I feel the Light, the Hope, and the promise of abundant blessings. I'm on the verge of whatever the future holds for me. And, I'm grateful for being in this moment...for not letting all the negative feelings defeat me, for learning how to just sit with all those feelings and feel them, for not giving up, for getting up every morning and facing the day, for building a closer relationship with God, and for surviving. I don't know what the future holds, but I know I'm a better person, a stronger person than I was before through God's grace and mercy. All glory and honor go to God!
So, if there's something you need to shed or you're going through one of life's trials right now, just know you can get through it. You can survive. You can do it! And, just know it's part of your journey towards a better you...a better tomorrow...a better life! Trust. Have hope. Pray! Wishing you blessings of self-renewal, growth, and peace!
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