Exactly one year ago, I sat in the Betty Draper rental and wrote for 31 straight days about letting go. We had just boxed up our dishes, books, socks, all our junk and every bit of our hearts and moved from our picture-perfect farmhouse to temporary digs. Our hearts were raw, our heads in a fog. We knew there was a plan taking shape, but it wasn't ours to hold yet. So we waited. We continued the hard work of prying our fingers off our control, our comforts, our identity, our cash, so much of what we had been living for so long. We started to really let go.
365 days later, I sit in my sunny new home, situated next to an abandoned house with busted out windows, on a street where women pull wagons of dirty jeans and towels to the church across town for free laundry on Thursdays. We came and we stayed. But every day it slides into sharper focus - the going isn't over yet.
Sometimes I wish Going was a one-time deal. I'd love to cross it off my list. We went where we were sent, but the ground still shifts beneath us. Every day we have a choice to Go again, again, and again; or to just close the drapes and stay at home, inside the thoughts that warm us up at night and the instincts that keep us sane.
Some days that choice is harder than others.
I desperately want to get better at Going. I want to see it as the beautiful adventure that it is and not as a drain on my time or an interruption of my big, bad plans.
So while the leaves captivate us then tumble away, I'll be right here, thinking out loud, writing with an open heart, ready to see.
I'd love it if you'd Go with me.
If you're writing for 31 days along with The Nester, be sure to link up over on her site and feel free to link your topic below as well. I'd love to see what my peeps are writing about!
(MSM resumes next week.)
I'm going along with you for these 31 Days...can't wait!
ReplyDelete~FringeGirl
Ok, I may be first 2 weeks in a row on your linky, but I promise, I do not stalk you! I just popped on facebook and saw your update, so I clicked over. Please don't be weirded out. ;-)
ReplyDelete~FringeGirl
Oh sounds like a grand idea! I have been having a forever changing heart for myself for some time and realizing that even our most difficult times is Gods way of bringing us closer and closer to him.That took me awhile let me tell you!
ReplyDeleteI would so love to go along with you but not sure if you have already started and exactly how to go about it.So for 31 days you only write on your blog no other posts? I'm confused Lol it doesn't take much~Cheers Kim
Well, you can just read along with me or you can write your own 31 Days series. If you want to know more about the 31 Days thing, click on the Nester link in my post. :)
DeleteThank you! I enjoy reading along with you. :)
DeleteI loved your series last year!! Can't wait to read along this year as well. My series is 31 days if praying the psalms.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's been a year since all of those letting go posts. They were such a blessing. Your words spur me on - looking forward to reading more with this month's focus.
ReplyDeleteReally excited about reading your series this year! Last year, your words gave me comfort during a rough patch. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to this! It is so tempting to believe that when God teaches a lesson we can get comfortable..but i'm realizing that is just not the case!
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing another place to link our blogs for the 31 day series, That was really nice!
Laura
So looking forward to "going" with you! I want to be better at it too (but, wow, it's hard to let go of those plans sometimes...).
ReplyDeleteYou betcha I'll Go. Wouldn't miss it.
ReplyDeleteI wish the Going was a one time thing too. Looking forward to this one!
ReplyDeleteIf I had a little more margin (sigh), I would be a total creeper and go back and read your entire 31 days series from last year.
ReplyDeleteAlso, everything you post is so close to my heart - i adore coming here and reading :-) love you!
I dont understand the link thingy, so I just wanted to say that I am proud of you for your 31 days :-) I am going to quietly join you and post my 31 days of giving here.
ReplyDeleteNo. 1 gave a hug to someone who seems to not get enough of them
No. 2 giving away fish fry tickets (silly, but hey, its giving!)
-hpatterson
Fun! Thanks for sharing that with the rest of us :) Now I want to go give something too!
DeleteYou are so not wrong! I thought when I made my Big Move a couple of months ago that letting go was of a finite nature: Pack, move, unpack...and get on with things! Who knew it be just the beginning? (And even more unsettling...who knew I'd want to repack and run back home so ridiculously often? Ha!) In other words, I am so going with you :)
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm not doing, however, which goes against every fiber of my I-wanna-play-too being, is writing my own series this year. It was fun last year but I'm fighting my want-to for the sake of my sanity. Common sense tells me reading along with you and my other favs will be far less exhausting, ha! Have a good day :)
A whole year and I'm still letting go! And now we're going?! I declare, FPFG. Well, I'll be here, following along, bending, stretching, maybe even splitting right in two. Let's do this.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to follow you through your 31 day series. i discovered you last year when you were doing your letting go series and loved every heart wrenching part of it. looking forward to the next 31 days...
ReplyDeleteI'm feelin ya. I have been reading Acts, about the early believers who felt it was a privilege and a joy to leave everything, to be beaten even, all for the sake of bringing the Good News to the lost. Oh, that I had that attitude!
ReplyDeletei like this, my friend. 31 days of going. makes me want to pursue 31 days of going.
ReplyDeleteOh my ... as much as I'd love to link up with you and write for the next 31 days, I'm not sure I can commit, but kudos to you and all who come along for the ride. Maybe next year for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm IN!
ReplyDeleteNot at all related, but want you to know: We have finished the first season of Dexter! As I watched and cringed through the first episode, I thought "Shannan can watch THIS but cringes at Breaking Bad?"
You are a mystery in the best sense of the word..my friend!
I find Deb, Dexter's sister to be annoying.
xoxo~
TT
Has it been a year? My stars! I feel as though I just found you yesterday, yet have walked agonizing steps along the way "with" you as your words resonated and my Spirit said, "you can go another step". I love that you share your journey with us unedited, smeared with a bit of salsa, lightened with Rubies and Calvins and Silases and given weight with the Truth.
ReplyDeleteokay, i linked up. 30 days (since I started a day late) of grace & love
ReplyDeletei've never been able to come up with something I want to write about for 31 days straight. okay...back the bus up. i've got plenty i could talk about....but the idea of committing to doing it scares me to death. okay. back the bus up again. it doesn't scare me to death...but it scares me enough that i've never done it.
ReplyDeleteyou make it look effortless. i can't wait to follow along on your journey. :)
i love you.
ReplyDeletewas wondering if you were at all burned out from the previous 31 day series. guess not. glad to hear it.
and thank you! :)
I can not express how deeply this post resonates with me...but I'm going to briefly try. You see today I am praying for more willingness to Go. We bought our little farm 2 years ago and we were naive enough to think "This is it! We are finally here! We are never going to leave.". Silly us! The details of Him working with us over the past two years would not fit in the comments section of this blog, so I'll spare you ALL the details. ;)Needless to say our family is feeling moved to Go, yet we have no idea where. About a month ago my little family's "normal" was turned upside down when my husband's job moved him 20 hours away (he is our main provider and I work 2 jobs part-time). Now we aren't sure if we should follow his job, look for something completely new or if we should stay put. We are praying for guidance from Him to direct us where to go. Right now I am home with our son & farm for 17 days and then my husband gets to visit us for 5 days and then it repeats itself. What we do know is that we need to be together as a family but figuring out how and where is a biggie! I am just praying for willingness for whatever He directs us to do. Now we just keep praying and wait for His answer.
ReplyDeleteErrr...so much for being brief! Sorry about that! :)
Your post was beautifully written and it's nice to know that there are other people out there that are currently or have been in a similar situations.
Oh yeah, I GET it. You're giving me dejavu here. Just hold on, Girl! He's coming for you.
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