Let Go and Let God

A Peaceful Retreat

Castaway Cay  2010

Numbers 6:26 NIV

"The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

"How are you today, Mrs Durham?" the girls ask as they greet me in the morning. An hour later, one of the football players wraps his arms around me in a bear hug as he heads into my classroom.

At the lunch line, I greet each student,  and I get smiles in return. At the end of the day, my former juniors pass by my room and briefly stop on their way home. "We love you, Mrs. Durham! Have a great evening."

It's so easy for me to lose sight of all this kindness from students around me. I deal with discipline problems nearly every day, so I forget the kind, soft words of love spoken to me by students who like me.

I wonder why this is? I wonder why I remember the negative moments before I remember the good? These girls and the boys, who smile and share their kind warmth with me help me make it through my day, but I get so focused on my work, and my troubles, and my petty problems, that I forget to appreciate the joy and love they share with me.

Is it human nature to focus on the bad in life before the good? Sometimes it takes so much energy to be positive and upbeat, and I fail miserably. 

I sure haven't hit the mark the past couple days at work. I have let circumstances control me instead of controlling the circumstances. I have felt like the victim instead of taking charge of the situation and allowing God to give me wisdom and strength to endure.

It's so much easier as a human to whine like a baby than to take the high road and let God be in control.  If I could only find that perfect peace and let Him guide my steps.

If I could learn to stop raging in anger on the inside when events go wrong and let God calm me and take charge, then my life would be easier. 

Again and again I fight my temper and the anger and the negative outlook when I can't control events in my life. I still have trouble letting go and letting God.

I need to pray and pray for help, and then I'll be able to hear the positive messages of love around me more loudly and focus less on the negative.
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Lord, help me focus on the positive messages in my life, so I can be at peace.