For the past few weeks, my heart’s been all over the place.
Thomas, our youngest child, is getting married on May 19th. He’s 25. I love Brittany, his bride-to-be. He’s ready to get married. They both are.
But I was afraid of how I’d feel at their wedding.
Afraid of all the love bumping around in my heart.
Love and letting go were tightly intertwined.
How could I handle both emotions at the same time?
How do you love and let go?
A few days ago, I picked up my dress for the wedding and stopped by Mother’s house to show it to her. She ran her hands lightly over the pastel chiffon.
Stepping into the dress, I slipped it over my shoulders. The dress magnified what I was feeling.
The flurry of time.
Seasons changing.
“This brings back the memories, doesn’t it?” Mother said. “Your prom dresses. Your wedding dress.”
I wasn’t a teenager. Or a bride. I was a mother-of-the groom. And I had to prepare my heart for the wedding. But how?
Mother zipped my dress. “This reminds me of my mother tying the sash of my nurse uniform,” she said.
“It was just an apron, but we called it a nurse’s uniform. When I was six, I got pneumonia and had to go to the hospital to take shots of penicillin. Goge (my grandmother) worked and couldn’t stay with me. I wasn’t really a patient, but the nurses watched me all day long until my mother returned.”
(Mother and Goge, my grandmother, 1940.)
So sad. Goge had to leave my mother for nurses to watch while she worked.
Mother’s daddy died when she was two.
Love can be a scary thing. Like life. You can’t control it.
“Didn’t you hate spending the day at the hospital?”
“Oh, no. I loved it. It was a tiny hospital. It had been someone’s home, and the doctor was our good friend. I got to sit on a white, metal stool in the lab and talk to the nurses. Actually, it felt like going to a birthday party.”
This was a good memory for Mother. God was with her at the hospital.
More than that.
Years before Goge went to heaven, she discovered the secret of letting go.
She let go through the power of love.
Maybe that’s the only way we can do it.
A tingly feeling came over me–as if my grandmother had a message for me.
That’s when the miracle happens, Julie. Don’t be afraid of your love for Thomas. Use it to help you let go. God will give him everything he needs. And He’ll take care of your mama-heart too.
At last, the Thomas-shaped place in my mama-heart stood up and cheered.
I didn’t have to separate my feelings.
The two worked together as a team, love and letting go.
I’d let go just like Goge did–through the power of love.
When we let go with love, something miraculous happens. God shows up. (click to tweet)
Are you letting go of someone or something right now? If so, I pray this post helps.
P.S. Remember what my word for the year is? 
LOVE.
With so much love,
Julie
