Baggage

I haven’t had a good vacation in a long time. In fact, the only time I have been traveling any distance this year is for my Oncologist or to say goodbye to loved ones, but I have been blessed with short mini day trips so there is that and I feel so fortunate to have those day trips. I just would love for a chance to go and see new places without having to check into a doctor or see some of my favorite spots would be so much fun for me. Not only the destination but the getting there is just as wonderful.

Perhaps it’s my wanting to go on a trip that got me thinking.

Let’s say I have won a trip to the lovely country of Italy; I have never gone and wow I would love to go! So, now that I won this trip I need to pack because a cab will be here soon to pick me up. I pack everything I can think of. When the cab comes, I bring all my baggage with me. The driver looks at me like I am crazy bring bag after bag but since I have never gone to Italy, I decide to pack heavy for those just in case scenario come up.

I get to the airport to check in ALL of my bags. I hand them over one at a time, the person behind the counter tells me I have to pay a large amount if I intend to bring it all with me. I feel upset thinking of course I want all of it but the cost of it is getting in the way of my free trip. I go through my bags one at a time. I take out items that don’t make sense to bring to an Italian getaway, but I want them, I had them for every other trip why not now? Who knows you might need a big balky sweater?  The person is waiting for me to decide if it’s worth bring all my extra baggage.

Now it’s easy to see that no you don’t need balky sweaters for a summer in Italy, but we do that in life, don’t we? I have really been working through how much of my baggage of my past am I willing to pay for so I can take it with me to a new wonderful place of today. Am I willing to leave baggage that is of no use so I can move forward? Yes, I am and what’s so great is I don’t have to go through all of my bags alone. I have someone to help me. I have the one who can see what’s a head and what in my past I need to leave because it has no use for me today but weigh me down. God is always with me to help me go through these bags so I can be free to enjoy my todays. Isaiah 43:18
“Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past. Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus