Caution: longer than normal post
Ever since out daughter Tami’s heart attack, her life has changed. One of those is the amount of weight she is allowed to carry.
Let me give you a back story. Ever since I can remember, Tami used to pack heavy. She would come home from class in high school and whether she drove or we picked her up, she would load herself up with as much as she could carry so she wouldn’t have to make another trip to the car. Book bag. Back pack. Basketball bag. Shoes. You name it; one trip. And one trip only. I didn’t know a high school kid could have so many arms.
Fast forward to her time as a teacher (23 years now). Same scenario. Why make an extra trip when you have a thousand arms to carry everything? Backpack. Check. Class work. Check. Lunch bag. Check. Clothes to walk in. Check. Head. Hmmmm seems to be attached but not sure. 🙂 (She is a kindergarten teacher after all).
Add to the mix that her apartment is upstairs (26 very narrow and steep steps) and when she came home she loaded her arms.
Anyway, the day she had her attack, we had to get her stuff from the school. I had to carry her back pack. I just became almost instantaneously the world’s strongest man! It felt like she had a ton of bricks in there! Nope. I checked. All school stuff.
Since her attack she has a weight limit of 20 pounds. I’m thinking she is testing that limit. 🙁
Jesus once told someone they needed to travel lighter. “Sell all your stuff and follow me.” Trust me when I say that isn’t easy to do. We are in a purging mode since Tami is moving in with us-at least temporarily-so we have to make room at home and in a storage. We have already made 2 trips to Goodwill and one to a local outreach as we purge our house and my sister-in-law’s storage. Last night we had a meal with some friends and he talked about downsizing, purging and living “small.”
I agree with Bob Goff who wrote:
To follow Jesus, we should learn to love big and pack light. The less we carry of our worries, stuff. personal vendettas, and poisonous relationships, the freer we’ll be to explore the frontiers of love. (#322-p.373)
Let’s purge the unnecessary and carry only the necessities. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Goodness. Meekness. Faithfulness. Self-Control. (Gal. 5:22-23)
“Father, you know my prayer to purge all that does not belong in my heart. Continue that process in me.”
I’m so sorry to hear of your daughter’s heart attack. Wow! I’m glad she is OK. I love “…love big, pack light.” and “only pack the necessities..” YEP!
Thanks Diane. It has been 4 weeks yesterday. She is back to school teaching but having to take it easy and not have any stress. Yeah right. 🙂
We do tend to carry too much baggage, Bill. May we travel light with Jesus!
Glad Tami is getting better!
Agreed Martha. And thank you.