During my short time here on earth I’ve kicked my toe on lots of bumps in life’s road. I’m sure you have as well. Some of those bumps have been quite substantial and I’ve had to sit for a bit and reevaluate my life.
Broke my heart. Made me cry. Rerouted where we lived. Almost made me give up.
I have a poem stuck to my fridge which has helped me over the years.
Broken Dreams
By: Margaret Fishback Powers.
As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He was my friend.
But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried,
“How can you be so slow?”
“My child,” He said, “What could I do?
You never did let go.”
I’ve learned to let go of:
My family. Most of my relatives live interstate. I’ve learned to let go and just enjoy the times I get to see them. As my children have gotten older I’m learning to trust that God is far more capable than I to look after them. 🙂
My dreams of a HEA, or Happy Ever After in romance speak. I’m a single mum. I’ve had to let go of my husband and trust that God will bring him back to Himself in his timing–not mine.
My little family a few years ago.
I’ve learned to let go of perfection in my writing. I still aim to do the best job I can and will try my hardest to be as clear and error free as possible, but I’m not ever going to be perfect. Here is a pic of my first story when I was editing it… Yup. Far from being perfect. But a lot better than the original. 🙂
I’ve learned to let go of hurts. To not let others words, opinions, negative attitudes take up residence in my heart or mind.
But most of all I’ve learned to trust. Trust God. For me, he is the boss and I try to listen to Him. Try to give him my broken dreams and then leave him to fix them, or fix me, in his own time.
I’m a work in progress, and I’m sure I’ll kick my toe on plenty of more problems in the future. 🙂
What about you? Do you have a poem, or a verse that you read or ponder when you are down? I’d love to hear it if you’d care to share in the comments below. 🙂
Lucy Thompson 
I love the poem, and your beautiful heart which bends to God’s timing. I’ve had to let go of pieces too, and boy is that hard! And I’m still learning to not snatch back what I’ve given over for mending and refashioning. Thanks for sharing. xx
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Hi Dotti! Thank you for stopping by. 🙂 Being faithful can seem like hard work, but fighting against God is the hard part. Resting and trusting in his care on the other hand, isn’t. 🙂 All the best!
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Lovely post, Lucy. Thanks for sharing your heart. Love your faith. Being dependent on Him can be so hard for us.
Funny, “letting go” is a little theme God keeps nudging me with regarding my tendency to stress over my kids situations. And each day I keep handing them, and my anxiety, over to Him. Often I need to do it repeatedly over the course of a day. That’s okay, as He wants me to keep depending on Him.
Thanks again Lucy.
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Hi Ian, thanks for stopping by. Glad to see you are listening to God. 🙂 Praying for you.
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Hi Lucy,
Very wise post for all of us. I may be very wrong here, but didn’t Margaret Fishback Powers write the Footprints poem as well as Broken Dreams? Words are so powerful in helping us move on.
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Yes, Paula. She did. Margaret Fishback Powers has written some beautiful poems. 🙂 There is power in words, as I’m sure you are aware of. 🙂
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One of my favorites is Eternal Ink by Craig F. Pitts (http://www.godswork.org/inpoem2.htm). It makes me stop and think about how much of what I do in a day is truly glorifying God.
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Wow. How profound. Made me stop and think as well. God’s eternal ink… a great image. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
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Love the poem, Lucy. And you’re so right. Only as we let go and admit we’re in way over our heads will God take the reins.
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Hi Robin! Yep. Jesus take the wheel. 🙂
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I completely empathise with you about broken dreams! For me, even though it’s a very common poem, Foot Prints has always touched me – reminding me that God isn’t only with me through every trial, but carrying me. That’s a great comfort!
For a while, I lived my dreams … but that’s the problem, they were MY dreams, and not God’s. Now I’m happy and confident that His dreams for me are even bigger and better than mine ever were. And I’m POSITIVE God has big plans for you too, Lucy!
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Hi Helen, I love the Footprints poem as well. The thought of the Father carrying me is very comforting. 🙂 I totally agree with God’s dreams being bigger than mine. Can’t wait to hear how your editing course goes. I really enjoy hearing about your writing journey. 🙂 All the best.
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Love this. One of my favorites is a poem called Comes the Dawn. Several people have claimed to author it but it is still up in the air as to who originally wrote it. I have pasted it below. A good friend gave it to me at a very low point in my life and I have returned the favor to quite a few others. Enjoy.
Comes The Dawn
After a while, you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that loving doesn’t mean leaning
and company isn’t security.
(Kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises.)
After a while you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes open,
with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain
and the inevitable has a way of crumbling in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns
if you stand too long in one place.
So, you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone else to bring you flowers.
And you learn you really can endure,
that you really do have worth.
You learn that with every good-bye comes the dawn.
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Very poignant, Susan. I love the bit about worth. 🙂 And the truth in: “kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises”. Thank you for sharing.
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What a good poem. Something for us all to remember. I’ve needed – still need that wisdom.
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🙂 I know what you mean. I love that poem. I take something new away from it each time I read it. 🙂 All the best with your writing.
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I turn to the Psalms. Yesterday, I read Psalm 13. I love the entire thing. It’s a reminder that David had moments of despair, but that he continued to place his trust in God. Last night I let go of some things and today God revealed a little bit of what He sees in me. It was a rare moment, not on His part but I think because I don’t always stop and listen.
Thank you for such a beautiful post, Lucy.
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Hi Christina! Thanks for sharing. 🙂 I looked up Psalm 13. I have lots of its verses underlined. I love the last verse: “But I will trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.” Our relationship with God is a lot like our relationship with others–we get a lot more out of them when we listen. 🙂
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