What are you holding on to?

We had to read a lot of books about adoption to prepare for ours. It was a mandatory part of our training. One of the books said that orphans will often have trouble sharing. They have lived for so long owning so little, that what they have is held very tightly.
When I was leafing through my pictures of our recent visit to meet Matthew, this truth popped. The American families had each brought some toy to share with all the kids. There was a round of bubbles. There was a round of bouncy balls. There was a round of sidewalk chalk. There was a round of stickers. Each time we would move to another round, Matthew would grab the new toy, but keep the last toy in his other hand. This was visible in almost every photograph we took of him. He would be playing soccer with me, and clutching onto his bouncy ball. He was writing on the ground with chalk, and clutching his sheet of stickers. He would be bouncing a ball, and clutching the bubbles. He would not put them down. He would not release them. He did not want to let go.

Observing this was a little sad, but it also made me think of my own life. It’s like the Lord gives me a gift, and I am so happy about it, but I can’t seem to release something else in my life that it was meant to replace. It made me wonder how many things do I forfeit in order to hold onto the old? What have I missed out on because of my fear of letting go? How much anxiety does this cause?

How is it for you? What are you holding onto so tightly that you can’t receive the gift that God is holding out to you?

1 Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

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