Just Walk Away...Some Thoughts for Labor Day -Revisited Again

Originally posted for Labor Day weekend, 9/1/2014! Still some great thoughts for today, four    seven years later!  I still need to do some of the same things on my little checklist below....how about you?

Hope you and yours have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!!   (9/6/2021 Note:  I am revisiting this on Labor Day evening, but this message is good for anytime!!)  

I absolutely love this jaunty little fox, trotting away after very efficiently darting into the woods, finding a tasty morsel of something to eat, rodent or reptile I do not know, finishing it off rapidly,

and continuing on his way back into the woods for the day.  This little fox has captured my imagination...and possibly a few others who have seen my post of these pictures on Facebook since yesterday. (in 2014)

Got me to thinking about the times that we need to do just like this fox...take care of the necessities of life, whatever they may be...work, food, shelter, and then just keep on going.  Don't get bogged down by things that distract us from our real purpose.

Things like:

• toxic relationships...people that drag us down, lead us astray, keep us from blossoming
• material attachments...more things...bigger, better, more expensive, prettier, or sentimental objects that weigh us down
• too many projects that really have no vital purpose and take up our time, money, and space
• social attachments that steal our time away from our loved ones...cell phones, social media, internet
• "Responsibilities"...duties we take on that perhaps aren't really our responsibilities but somehow we have allowed ourselves to become pressured into making them our own
• clutter...cluttered closets, garages, sheds, kitchen cupboards, shelves, desks, drawers, rooms, attics, basements, porches, cluttered minds...
• guilt trips...things I should have done, things I should not have done, things I want to do and can't, things I don't want to do but do anyway
• toxic memories...memories of sorrow, fear, anxieties about things that I need to forget...and perhaps forgive

I see myself in several of these...what do I need to walk away from today? How about you? Perhaps you see yourself here as well.  It's certainly easier said than done. But the first step is to identify the things that need to be eliminated from our lives.... 

1. The First Step is to PRAY.
2. Then go down the list above...make your own list and prioritize those things that need to go first.   
3. Work on one item at a time. 
4. PRAY again. Ask God for wisdom.
5. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33
6. If you need wisdom to carry out this process in your life, ask God.  "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."  James 1:5-6
7. Don't allow this process to further bind you in guilt and frustration. Take your time. Let God lead you. But DO listen to His prompting when He speaks to your heart. Don't turn away from the help He is sending your way.

I love this passage in the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4-9:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing,  but in everything by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

And the PEACE OF GOD, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,

whatever things are noble, whatever things are just,

whatever things are pure,

whatever things are lovely, 

whatever things are of good report,

if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy,

MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS.

The things which you learned and received and heard 

and saw in me, these do, and the

God of Peace will be with you."

There is really nothing else for me to say.  I've got my own list to ponder...and some things to pray about on this Labor Day. Then I need to be on my way to a life free from the burden of things...

You might also like to read another story about some little foxes in our lives... Click on the blue.