A few years ago I had taken our truck to the dealership to get the oil changed. While waiting an employee offered our three year old a HUGE helium filled balloon which she gladly accepted She played with it as we waited and I was hoping we could leave it there, but when it was time to go, she grabbed the balloon and no amount of reasoning could convince her to leave it behind.

I feel like I sweated off eight pounds that day trying to maneuver her and her balloon into the truck. It seemed like every time I tried to close the door it would escape in the last second. I finally had to pull it out of her hand, which brought on a meltdown, from her, not me.

Huge crocodile tears slid down her cheeks as she pleaded for her balloon. She thought I was going to let it go, and trust me, I wanted to. But I knew that releasing it wasn’t the solution. I simply needed to walk to the other side of the car and tie it to the other seatbelt so that it was out of my line of sight but next to her. Once she realized that my plan wasn’t to let her balloon go but rather accommodate it, the meltdown stopped.

Sometimes we are holding onto things that people give us, or that we pick up ourselves. They are our balloons, and they get in the way of what needs to be accomplished; like shutting a car door or driving safely.

There have been moments in my life that I have tried in vain to climb into the drivers seat of my life holding a huge bouquet of balloons, my view was obscured and I metaphorically slammed into a tree, wrecking the vehicle and requiring some serious adjustment and healing in my life..

Our Heavenly Father wants us to trust Him enough to release our balloons to Him. Sometimes He might take them and let them go; other times, He simply needs to re-adjust and re-arrange things. I took our daughters balloon for a few seconds so that I could secure it before driving. She did not know what I was doing at the time, but she soon realized I had her best interest in mind.

Whatever balloons you have in your life, talent, relationships, friendships, hobbies, jobs, dreams, allow the Father to hold them for you. He knows the ones you need, He knows the ones you don’t need and He knows how to position them so that you have the best ride possible.

Xoxo, Gena