Kristi Pennington

I confess I’ve eaten way too many bad carbs for way too many weeks. February was full of celebrations with delightful sweets everywhere. We celebrated my birthday, our grandson’s birthday, Super Bowl, and Valentine’s Day – all in a week!

Unexpectedly, my husband came home with lots of baked goodies from a bake sale that his mother attended. One of the treats was orange cranberry scones. I love anything with cranberries! I had just committed to cutting back on sweets, but found it hard to resist. So I came up with a way to make the scones healthier. I took a sharp knife and thinly sliced off the pieces that contained only cranberries. I trashed the rest. It was a good way to eat the best part of the pastry.

This reminded me of a truth in my spiritual life. There are things that need to be laid aside so I can receive the best life God has for me. These are things that bring despair, sadness, separation, gloom, and harm. An example – the incredible sadness I experienced when the large grove of trees behind our house was cut down so that a huge three-story house could be built. My heart ached. So much beauty was destroyed. It hurt badly. I can still go to a gloomy place because of this loss of pure beauty that brought calm and peace to my soul.

I am now choosing to immediately go to a place of thanksgiving instead of sadness or despair.  I thank God for giving a lovely home that brings great joy to us and others that we invite into it. I give thanks for our great neighborhood, its location, and a pool our grandchildren can enjoy.

I’m choosing not to focus on some memories that can bring great sorrow by focusing on the good that I have, not on what was lost. This helps replace bitterness with joy. I’m adopting the Jesus way of running the race well, “…let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and run with endurance the race that is set before us.” This is the best life, and a good life.

What are things in your life that are weighty and that leave you feeling separated from the life God desires? Name them and leave them with God. It really is worth getting rid of them.