Travel Light

As we navigate our way through this thing called life, we encounter lots of people along the way. Our paths cross and for some it is for life and for others it is only for a season. There are those who you know you are a kindred spirit with and you can't imagine your life without them and you don't remember what life was like before they were in it. For others, a season in your life caused you to be connected and as we all know, seasons change. In all relationships whether temporary or permanent, we reach a place where the relationship changes. What do we do when this happens? I find myself asking this often lately and constantly searching for fresh perspective. When seasons change and the relationship changes, it is easy to have the same expectations that we once had from the relationship and that may not be realistic. We are definitely called to love them and to make sure that they know the value and joy they have brought to our life, but there is a struggle there and conflict can come when we don't recognize growth and change in relationships. People are constantly growing and changing and not all at the same speed. This can sometimes cause distance and distance then brings pain. It feels a lot like rejection. Getting God's perspective in these time of change and growth is so needed. I find myself lifting relationships up to Him and asking him how to handle all these things. In this I am learning some things. Our expectations of others can sometimes be more than it should. People are just people trying to do the best they know how with what they are given. A sweet friend said, "You will never ever regret kindness." This is sticking with me. The thing I love about this is that it brings peace to my heart. When we continue down the path of rejection with changes in friendships and relationships, we allow someone else's stuff to become our stuff. Before you know it we are weighted down with cares that we were never meant to carry. When we love people with an open hand allowing them to move about the relationship with grace and freedom to grow, we have peace and they too have peace. Committing all relationships to God is a good thing. Putting Jesus in the middle of it all will protect our hearts in ways that we can't even imagine. Healthy relationships are hard to come by but they are not impossible when God is the center of them. I am not writing this from a place of achievement rather a place of vulnerability because I so desperately want the people in my life to know that they are loved and I desperately want the same. When I cross someone's mind I don't ever want them to feel anxious or pressure. I want them to feel love. I know that this can only happen when Jesus is the center of it all. When we live our lives and we don't tie others down with unhealthy expectations and we are careful not to attach ourselves to people in an unhealthy way having boundaries and respecting boundaries, relationships are beautiful. I leave you with these words, travel light. Let go when you need to let go and love when you get the chance to love and leave the rest to God trusting him to surround you with people to love and be loved by.