The Big Board

The small attic bedroom shared by two sisters was full of schoolbooks, clothes, ice skates and dreams. It was a simple time with simple expectations. Eventually, each found a love to build a life and got married and started a family. There were bumps in the road as expected, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome…until it that day. The day when one sister’s existence changed from simply living to fighting for her husband’s life.

Six months, a blur of doctor visits, treatments, medicine and pain. Then as suddenly as it began it ended. Hodgkin’s had claimed a beloved father in his early 30’s. Yes, his pain had ended, but my Aunt’s was just beginning. So devastated from the loss of her husband she crawled into her own little world. Getting up in the morning was a battle often lost. In her despair she asked her sister to take her three little ones and raise them as her own.

I was a young girl when this happened, but I distinctly remember the many conversations about my Aunt. Things progressed to a point where My Grandparents sold their home and moved in with her for several years until she was able to heal. As a child I could not understand her inability to function in her sadness. But it caused me to write a “rule on my big board”...Don’t ever let this happen to you!

For many years I refused to give anyone my whole heart. In an effort to protect myself, I had reserved a piece that would allow me to survive if I lost someone I truly loved. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” Strong’s defines abundantly as “beyond measure”. The word might, implies choice. I was choosing to measure my risk in every situation and allowing the enemy to rob me of this promise.

Have you lost a loved one?

Did someone you trust mistreat you?

Did a friend betray you?

Did a child take you for granted?

Were you unjustly ridiculed?

All of these can cause us to play it safe and live under our potential. To not only miss the “abundant” blessings but keep us off the playing field. What’s on your list of rules? These are still simple times with simple expectations. Erase the big board and choose an abundant life!