Moving On

I've gone through a lot of friendships over the years. Some have been closer than others, but I've had several relationships end that I thought would last my whole life. Those have taken me years to get over. These words of wisdom from Crystal McDowell have really spoken to me because I need to know this. 

Two really big things have happened recently in the realm of my friendships. I was convicted by God to let go of my stranglehold on my one close friendship that I had left. See, because I've lost so many close friends, I was holding on to the this one with everything I had and I didn't know what I would do if I ever lost this friend. God woke me up to the fact that she isn't mine. I have no claim to her or to her friendship. He has blessed me with her friendship, but she belongs to Him and if He chooses to take her somewhere else, that's His will and I have no place to try and keep her here with me. And He won't just take my friend away to hurt me. That may seem obvious to you, but I have wondered in the past why He seemed to take away every friend I was close to. It's not like I thought He was doing it to be mean or anything. As I got older and looked back, I can see things that I couldn't see then that have helped "explain" why relationships ended, in spite of what I did to try and keep them going.

The second thing that happened was a dream. See, for a long time after my friends moved on and away from me, thinking about them hurt. A LOT. If I was somewhere or doing something that reminded me of them, I would get really sad. Or if I dreamed about them. Well, the other night, I had a dream and when I woke up, I wasn't sad. I was glad to have had the dream and "talked" with them (it was a very nice dream), but it didn't sadden me. And I realized that I'm finally healing from this one. That realization made me really happy. I want to be able to enjoy what I had but also move on. 

So after that long ramble, I want to encourage you to go read this devotion that the above quote came from. It's really good, especially if you are going through the ending of a friendship or are still trying to recover. I'm also posting a really beautiful song about praising God even when it hurts. This song is very uplifting and comforting for me.