“You need to let it go!”

“Easier said than done,” is my standard response.

So, no surprise that “letting go” is very difficult for me.

(Maybe it’s because of my A-type personality (wink.))

When I ponder why this is such a challenge, I can’t really come up with any reasonable explanations other than pure stubbornness on my part!

There are clearly times in my life that I willingly give over control without a second thought. For example, riding in elevators and on airplanes. Both instances, I willingly place myself into an environment that I have absolutely no control over. I’m blindly trusting that the equipment and people are in tip-top working condition, there are no faults or issues and that my expected outcome will be achieved.

What’s ironic- both situations could go horribly wrong and yet I still trust. I still take the ride, without having any solid facts or assurances that it really is safe. I don’t personally know the engineer that designed the plane or elevator, I don’t know the pilot, and I certainly don’t know the maintenance workers that maintain the equipment.

Yet, I blindly trust.

Why can’t I do that so easily in other areas of my life?

Especially when it comes to my family- my greatest treasure; now there's my biggest challenge with "letting go!"

It has taken me YEARS to embrace letting go of my husband. I know that sounds strange but, when you are a police wife you know exactly what I’m talking about. The stress, anxiety, and uncertainty that every day they go to work they may not return. The sleeplessness, the paralyzing fear that leaves you sobbing at night.

After a few years of struggling, I finally came to the conclusion that this was no way to live- that all the fear and worry wouldn’t change anything. It was wasted energy that was only harming myself and my family (when momma isn't happy, no one is happy!)

I realized, a woman who is always trying to be in control, eventually will lose herself in the uncontrolled realities of this life.

So, I decided to embrace the belief that if God called my husband to be a police officer then, I could trust that God would always watch over him. My husband's safety and future wasn't my responsibility and frankly wasn't in my hands in the first place!

Therefore, I replaced worry with prayer--belief-based prayer that God would send his angels to surround my husband and keep him safe. Twenty-something years later, I am still praying this prayer!

Now, I’m working on releasing my child.

She’s twenty-five years old with a family of her own and I’m still reluctant to completely release my grasp on her- to freely let her go-- so that she can make her own mistakes.

I know moms out there can relate.. no matter how old your children are- wanting the best for them will always be our first priority.

How do you turn off your protective nature, throw them completely out of the nest and believe that they will soar and not fall? How do you simply let go?

The answer…

Blind trust… in the One who made them and the One who loves them!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:6-7

Who better to trust with our families’ health, safety, and future than the very creator of the universe?

Who better to trust with every situation you face than the One who holds the world together with His hands?

Thankfully, God didn’t design us to “do everything,” or “control everything” because.....

That’s His job!

When we release control, we unleash God!

So, today I'm turning over the reins to Him and I am "letting go and letting God."

“God grant us the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change; courage to change the things that we can; and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as we would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if we surrender to His Will; so that we may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him, forever and ever in the next. Amen.”

"O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in you."- Psalms 84:12