Threads of an Old Life

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"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? "
~Frodo Baggins in The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King

For all the Lord of the Rings junkies out there you'll understand it when I say I'm feeling a but like Frodo at this point. His journey of 13 months changed his life. My journey over the last 13 months has changed mine. Now, as I plan and finalize my return to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in less than two weeks, I feel like I'm trying to pick up the threads from an old life. I'm the same ..... but different, and my old life is the same ..... but different.

Life, like a stream, is ever changing and much has changed both here in the USA and in PNG. I was thinking about this in relation to goodbyes in particular the other day and it struck me. Having to say goodbye is like sustaining a wound: you may be able to bring the two edges back together but it will never be the same. Time and experiences fill the gap from the bottom up -- rejoining the past and present -- but the scar of the tearing of separation, however momentary or needful, always stands between them.

In many ways, this is how I feel as I stand on the brink between now and my return to PNG. The incision of goodbye has sliced both ways and I must now cross the gap and test the strength of the healing in order to be whole and effective. I'm excited for the new hope God is giving me as He whispers words of strength and new vision. However, there's the very real reality of the goodbyes that must be said, the things I must leave behind, the unknowns I face behind and before. I'm holding the threads of my old life in my hands and they have gone slack, cut, in favor of God's best for me. Now, I must reach out in bold faith and trust, and grasp the threads of the new life God has for me with His new mercies every day. The answer to Frodo's question is this: Let go of the old strings and grasp the new as God deftly weaves the perfect masterpiece of your life interwoven with others.

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