I had the tremendous Joy to attend Maggie’s theatre performance last night. It meant leaving work early…I continually thank my precious Heavenly Father for the gift of a Boss and coworkers who so understand and support family values.

And the performance was wonderful…and, for Mags, made even more wonderful to have her extended family there…including her Aunt and Uncle, who are also her God-parents. And I was thrilled to be able to visit with my former brother- and sister-in law…whom I haven’t seen in six years.

The oldest sister-in-law was the closest to me in distance and the closest to my heart. She is the one who “happened” to call after I received the phone call warning about a suspicion of a potential “fling” on his part. And she understood, along with me, how easily he made devastating choices…somehow believing he could simply finagle his way out of them. And she, like me, understood that he wouldn’t be able to “finagle” his way out of this choice.

So when I called her to tell her the devastating news…that he had broken our vows and I was keeping my word and going through with the divorce, she is the one who spoke to me on behalf of his family. She said that they all loved me and that no one wanted me to leave the family. But she also added that they all understood him…and what I had gone through…and that no one would blame me.

I have missed her dearly. And seeing her last night was such a Blessing. I know it’s part of the RESToration that God is bringing me through during this time of RESTing in Him… truly a Gift of this moment. And thinking back on how she beamed at me, “I want ALL the BEST for you.”…I was gently reminded:

That’s what real LOVE is…wanting the BEST for another…whatever that looks like….even if it means “letting them go”. I’ve experienced that with my Grandparents passing…missing them dearly, but knowing they are in the BEST place; and with my daughter, as I “let her go” off to college and begin her own life; and with several friends whom I’ve loved as they moved away, and men as they’ve “moved on”. …that’s what love does. It GIVES.

And I often hear well-meaning folks complain about “how can a Loving God allow….?”….it’s not always what He WANTS…but He LOVES enough to let His children “go” because He loved us enough to give us CHOICE. Certainly, we don’t always make the best ones, so there are consequences.

But God didn’t leave it there. He LOVED us enough that He GAVE His Son, in order to save us from those very choices; and offer us the choice of salvation and RIGHTeousness.

To LOVE is to GIVE…and to GIVE is to LET GO. That’s how much God LOVES us…now the choice is up to us to Love HIM enough to GIVE of ourself back to Him. 🙂

““For God so loved the world that he GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV84)

“You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” (Isaiah 26:3, 4, 12 NIV84)