Author | Speaker | Encourager

Sherri'sBlog

How Do We Get Rid of Our Baggage?

goat-2375091_640What do we do about the baggage trailing behind us?

My daughter and I were visiting family across the state and went for a run in the beautiful farm country. We were running single file beside a country road and Brie yelled, “Oh my gosh!” I thought she must have spotted a snake slithering away. Nope. It was a goat.

So there we were running along single file, me, Brie and a goat.

It persistently followed us, its little hooves pattering along on the pavement as it kept pace with us.

We turned back and ran to the nearest house and found his owner. A couple mornings later I went on an early morning run by myself and when I reached that part of the country, I heard the patter of his hooves behind me. I thought if I ignored him, he’d give up. And after a few minutes I thought he had.

But I soon learned that he’d stop to catch his breath and then hurry to catch back up. I finally had to tie him to the power pole at the end of my parent’s lane and call his owner. Couldn’t risk him discovering my mom’s garden.

It made me think about what we become accustomed to in our lives. The things that really need to go away. Attitudes. Habits. Persistent goats…

Sometimes it’s easier to let those things hang around instead of doing the work to root them out. It can be a lot easier to blame others for our critical thoughts (“I wouldn’t get irritated if he would just…”)

And the funny thing is…we would be a lot happier and more content with those habits and attitudes rooted out of our lives.

So how do we do that? How do we even identify what needs to go?

One way is to just observe how we feel, how we treat others, what thoughts drive our actions (fear of failure, perfectionism, control, not trusting others to do things well…). When we observe without judging ourselves, there is opportunity to do things differently.

accomplish-1136863_640Judgment of self and others tends to keep us moving along the same course we’ve always traveled.

So be kind to yourself and ask God what he wants to highlight to you today.

Father, help me to love others as You love them. Help me to love and accept myself for who I am. Let me see the areas You want to transform in my life. Let me become a beacon of Light to a lost and hurting world. In Jesus’ name, amen.


Pictures via Pixabay

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