I’ve been skipping around in a book that I got from someone long ago. The author shares her heartache of having a husband who cheated and excused and blamed her for his problem with sexual addiction. She stayed with him but she learned the hard truth of how it is up to you to deal with it. At the end of the book she shares the following words that were given to her. It struck me. Maybe it will strike you. God makes beauty from ashes.

Take it to heart…it really means “To Let Go.”

Let Go . . .

• To “let go” is not to cut myself off; it’s the realization I can’t control another.
• To “let go” is not to try and change or blame another; it’s to make the best of myself.
• To “let go” is not to fix, but to be supportive.
• To “let go” is not to care for, but to care about.
• To “let go” is not to judge, but to let another be a human being.
• To “let go” is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.
• To “let go” is not to be protective; it’s to permit another way to face reality.
• To “let go” is not to deny, but to accept.
• To “let go” is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
• To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.
• To “let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody, but to try to become what I dream I can be.
• To “let go” is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.
• To “let go” is to fear less and love more.
• To “let go” is to let God.
• To “let go” is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.

From An Affair of the Mind by Laurie Hall p. 233-234.

Back a couple of decades ago I learned a lot about “letting go.” I was in a hard place. I didn’t know whether to move forward or to forget the whole thing. I kept my stuff to myself, thinking that was the best thing to do. Also, I was hurting in a major way. It was so major I didn’t think I could share without breaking and falling apart (which was probably true). Later, when I had to face it, God helped me. He worked beyond what I could have conceived as possible. There are some things that only God can fix. We try, but our efforts mean little. God will, and can, make beauty from ashes. He works in His way, His time, and His best. I learned to trust Him. I’m so glad I did. Blessings to you, Norma.

Let go and let God.