Letting Go

 Hi, my name is Tricia, and I have a problem with letting go. I just feel better when I hold on to things. Anything really. Vintage things, fabric things, furniture things, artsy things, food things, junk things. Oh, and people things too. I like to hold onto those more tightly than all the above. 

Letting go just isn't my thing. If you've ever seen my basement, no further explanation is needed. I'm more of a holder on-er myself. All of this was true, until now, that is!

Life has a way of changing who you thought you'd always be. It often takes you on to the next level, whether you're ready, or in my case, not. 

On Monday, our local DMV approved this baby to get her driver's license. Not just any baby mind you, but our firstborn, brown-eyed, introduced us to Barney the purple dinosaur, baby girl! 

  You can imagine my horror when they said she was ready to drive without her mama in the car! I held up the line asking the officer if she was absolutely sure. It was the same feeling I'd had when she was born, and we were released to take her home. How could they know everything would be fine? "Yes M'am", the female officer in DMV blue said. "Just be sure she looks over her shoulder while backing so she gets the whole view. Next!"


That's it? That's all? That's what I have to reassure me that she'll be fine and it's okay to let go? We left, only because there were others waiting, but Mama's heart was broken. I guess I thought we'd go in, she'd take the road test and fail, and we could console her with ice cream and put all of this on the back burner until much, much later. 



 When I looked back at Payton, I didn't see a tiny, vulnerable baby though. Instead, I was reminded that she's now a beautiful, Godly, confident, sixteen year-old, who'd just accomplished a major milestone. And I needed to let go and celebrate.

She's since driven to and from work by herself and did a great job. My tear ducts have been overstimulated and my prayer life has increased greatly because of it. 

Talk about a step of faith.This is hard stuff, this letting go, but it's much easier knowing the One who's had her in the shelter of His wings all along. After all, she was His, before she was ever ours.

That applies to everything I find myself turning all white-knuckled about and trying to keep a tight grasp on. I can now say that I've taken the first of at least a million steps in my "Letting Go Recovery Intervention", or LGRI for short. 

You never know, I just might turn loose of some of my treasures junk if I'm not careful.

 Baby steps though. Baby steps.

Letting go and letting God,
Tricia

Sharing Hope, Bologna, and Wide Open Spaces

Alright y'all! I'm taking a detour away from cottage talk, and will now begin to pour myself into endless accounts of the goings on around here. The mere thought of having to read it might have already caused sickness and internal uneasiness to ensue, but bear with me, please. 

This is way cheaper than therapy, and frankly, I need to share this stuff. Besides, the baby daddy (we'll call him Brad) is at a car race, the children are occupied, and mama's ready to ramble!

Recently, we had the opportunity to join other families from our church for a mission trip to Manchester, Kentucky. And let me just say, what a beautiful place to have had the chance to serve! 

Then there was the dark, winding tunnel carved right out of the mountain. 

Such a claustrophobic treat for all of us!

Some of our youngest missionaries wore themselves slap out trying to pass the time.

And after six hours of playing "I Spy" nearly everything on the open road, Kathryn and Marissa had to close their peepers for a while.

And missed seeing London - Kentucky, of course!

After much anticipation and snack consumption, we reached our destination! Manchester Baptist Church

This is our whole crew doing some myth bustin' of sorts. The locals said this convenient store served THE BEST peanut butter milkshakes and we had to put our taste buds to the test. The results were soon in. They passed! I could just about set out on foot from NC to KY for one of those tasty milkshakes - stopping for frequent rests, of course.

We did settle down to the business at hand, of sharing HOPE. 
And FAITH. 
And LOVE.

So we suited up...

Hooked up with two of the most passionate people for Jesus we'd ever met...

Made sure every hair was in place...

 
Turned up the bottle...

In this case, it was leftover VBS punch.


And got ready to get our JOY ON!


 From the very least... 

to these...

whose eyes instantly stole our hearts...

and whose stories we hope to NEVER forget...

we
simply
LOVED.


And played a little, rather, a LOT of Upward too!

And we ATE.


And some were brave enough to try the area delicacy, 
pickled bologna and crackers. 

Um, I'm good, thanks.

And just when we thought we were there TO BLESS,
we WERE BLESSED TOO!

Have you ever been HOPE for someone? 
Have you ever served as the hands and feet of Jesus?

What an awesome, humbling, life-changing honor it was indeed.

And in the words of my Emma, "When we goin' back?"