Baggage Claim

So, the baggage is still waiting for me to pick it back up....as soon as I think that it is finished and I can leave it, the baggage reminds me that it is still there. I know you are there. I'm not stupid. I just don't know what to do with you. I am trying to grow, trying to gain freedom from you, but you just sit there...waiting for me to pick you back up again. Enter Christ....I will take it from you, Wini. What?? You mean, you don't already have it? I mean, I laid it down quite some time ago and you still have not picked it up....I have had to keep moving it with me as I have changed and grown...where were you? Then a smile sweeps over His face and he gently cups my chin in His hands. Wini, you must give it to me..place it in my hands. You have to be the one to do it. You have to choose to place your burdens in my hands...only then can I carry them for you. Then the tears came...You mean all this time I have been carrying this baggage thinking that I had given it up, when I had only laid it down temporarily. I never really placed it in His hands, never really gave it up....Man, I am really good at that. I can sit anything down for awhile, but watch me closely. I will pick it right back up when no one is watching...or at least I thought no one was watching.

Redemption

Today is a very special day to me. It is a day of redemption and celebration. I celebrate someone very close to my heart. I love her so much, if she only knew how much. Today I celebrate the time I had with her and rejoice for the time that may be to come. I can see God working in her life and that overwhelms my heart. I pray for her and that she will stay on the journey that the Lord has for her. Today I also celebrate the Lord's redemption, for He truly can bring beauty from ashes. I see this in her life. She is the beauty from the ashes and her beauty is made perfect through Him. I think about the role that the Lord had me play in her life and I feel so grateful! I am grateful for the time that I got with her and Praise the Lord every time I think of her. The Lord promises us that if we give our ashes to Him that He can bring beauty from them. Her life is a constant reminder of this....Thank you sweet one, May the Lord bring our paths together once more.

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, [a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:1-3

Sin

Doesn't seem interesting that no matter how old the sin, the consequences still apply. I did not grow up following Christ. I have to say that I grew up trying my hardest not follow Christ. I did not see the point. I mean, He was never going to love me anyway....I was too bad...did too many bad things (but that is a whole other post :o) Anyway, I had a ton to deal with when I came to Christ in my College years. Lots of baggage....think month long international flight. Now, Christ accepted me with all that baggage and did not even force me to deal with it all right then, or even the next week. And I still like to carry some of it around to this day, but I was thinking about something this morning. Why I am still dealing with consequences? The sin is old, I know that Christ has forgiven me. He no longer remembers it...why can't I be the same way. Why this bag? this sin? I just can not seem to let go of it. And somehow even when I want to let it go, something will happen and *poof* there it will be again. I know that there is freedom with Christ. I strive and desire to walk in that freedom every day, but why is it different with this sin on this day? Am I not walking in freedom, or is it just the journey that the Lord has me on? Why is this bag still on my shoulder?