Joe and Jessa when you were little we would seasonally go through your toys and clothes to give away the items that you had outgrown. We never gave away everything you had and in reality we were just making room for new treasures. There were times when what we asked you to give away had become special to you! You wanted to hang on to what you held in your hands. The concept that something new would be able to take its place was unimaginable. Today, however, you don't hesitate to donate your items to someone else. You have confidence that something more suitable, fashionable, and more interesting is coming. You have done it enough that you trust the end result will be to your advantage.

Personally, I have been a slow learner in this area. When I was in my twenties God started showing me how I was inclined to say, "Mine, mine, mine." I was embarrassed when circumstances revealed just how immature I was. I was not willing to let go of things that God had given to me. Sports, friends, relationships, jobs, "home", possessions, and comfort were areas of my life that I called "MINE. " I realized that I had incredible strength to hang on to what was "mine", but I was weak when it came being able to open my chubby hands to let them go.

The truth that what I have is NOT mine BUT God's gave me the strength to open my hands. If what I have been given to me is a loan, then squeezing it to death would never make it mine. I need you to pray for me that I can be more like you when I stand before the Lord! Pray that I can allow Him to freely give and take away! Even though I physically have a hard time opening my hands with ALS, pray that the hands of my heart stay open. Everything I have is HIS, NOT MINE!

James 1:17

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father,

who created all the lights in the heavens.

He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.

Poem: Treasures by Martha Snell Nicholson

One by one He took them from me,

All the things I valued most,

Until I was empty-handed;

Every glittering toy was lost.

And I walked earth's highways, grieving.

In my rags and poverty.

Till I heard His voice inviting,

"Lift your empty hands to Me!"

So I held my hands toward heaven,

And He filled them with a store

Of His own transcendent riches,

Till they could contain no more.

And at last I comprehended

with my stupid mind and dull,

That God COULD not pour His riches

Into hands already full!

Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman