How many times have you picked up a book to read and found yourself stuck on Chapter 1 because it was just that good that any chapter following didn’t matter?  My guess is…NEVER.  If you are a reader like me, I’m almost sure you pick up that book and start reading it and it gets so good that you can’t put the book down.  The story just keeps getting better and better.  The writer has you so intrigued with the story line that you find yourself reading this book any chance you get.  WHY?  Well because you want to see how the story ends.  You are hopeful for a happy ending.  Now how often are you re-reading the last chapter in your life?  How many times have you found yourself thinking, “What if I did this instead? What if I had just changed this?  What if I had not done that?  What if I had only done more?”  Letting go of the past can be one of the most difficult things for us to do.  Holding onto that past hurt, the mistakes, the heartache, keeps us from moving forward in life.   It’s as if you are stuck on Chapter 1 of your book, not realizing that this is just the beginning of your amazing life.  It may not feel so amazing right now.  The story line may seem a bit blah.  The pain is keeping you in this place of just focusing all your energy on what once was.  What happened yesterday can’t be changed.  Not by any what ifs or maybe ifs.  But what can be changed is today.  You can change your focus on what once hurt you, what once was, what could have been and focus on who you are today.  Who you will be tomorrow.  God has given you a spirit of strength, not fear.  Seek God to strengthen you, to give you the courage to move past all that hurt and pain, all those mistakes, all of the things keeping you from moving forward.  I could never have finished writing my book had I kept going back to re-read my last chapter.  God pushed me to keep writing not focusing on the mistakes I made in the last chapter, not focusing on typos or trying to correct grammar.  God just said, WRITE.  So today, close out the chapter you are stuck on and just write.  Write away and watch as your story begins to change and you begin to evolve into a new you.  God wants you to write your story and keep moving forward.  In every novel, there is a rough beginning, a difficult moment, a funny moment, a moment of tears and a moment of laughter.  Life is exactly the same way.  We will have those difficult times that break us down, but trusting in God to see us through it all is our saving grace.  He will give you the courage to stand up tall and overcome that which is holding you back right now.

XOXO…Ileen

Psst…God Loves You

“I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”  Philippians 3:13