Surrendering Control

I was scheduled to help in Sunday School this past Sunday with the first through sixth grade girls.  I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, but Lizzy was so excited to have mom with her that I got over my lack of enthusiasm.  Mostly I was sorry to miss the "grown up" meeting because it'd been a month since I last attended due to being gone at Disney World, then Christmas and New Years.  I really just wanted to have a chance to worship and be fed.

Silly me with my low expectations.

The girls had their own little prayer time where they sang a few songs and then said a few prayers.  The guitar playing mom said that she felt like God was asking us to pick one thing--just one--that we felt God calling us to give up or surrender this year.  The first thing that came to our minds.  And right there in the middle of a group of little girls, in a place where I wasn't expecting anything, God spoke to me and told me to surrender control.

Ouch.

To give up control of pretty much everything--my life, my time, my schedule, my routine, my homeschooling, my plans, my goals.  Yup, all of that.  Just toss it aside and let God lead and direct my steps, not me.

When we were at Disney World, we had to keep reminding the kids that there was nothing to be afraid of on any of the rides.  Even if a roller coaster seemed scary, it was all controlled fun.  Even if those roaring dinosaurs seemed like they were about to eat you, it was all just an act.  Nothing would ever hurt them and nothing was real.

Thankfully, we have someone better than Walt Disney and his league of imagineers--we have Jesus who is always at our side.  He takes us on real adventures, not just pretend.  It may be real, it may be scary, it may be dangerous, and things may roar at us, but Jesus is with us, and He promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us.


And so I prayed that God would help me surrender control and told God to lead on.  I am ready to go.

I may be a control freak who lives by her routines and schedules, but by the end of this year I pray I am a reformed control freak.  One who can take three weeks off for winter break and not have her house fall apart because her routine is thrown off.  One who can return to homeschooling after said break and get right back into the swing of things.

I pray I am a woman who has no worries for the future because I rest confidently in the knowledge that God is the one in control and the one who directs my steps.  A woman who trusts that when God calls me, He will equip me with all that I need to get the job done.


So today I wave goodbye to my old friend control.  It was nice knowing you.