Friends

I am blessed that I knew my great-grandparents.  My great-grandmother was a spirited, hard-working, strong woman.  She managed a gigantic pea patch, a slew of guineas, chickens, and a pantry that was nearly the size of my bedroom.  The pantry was massive because it stored canned goods, bags of flour, and necessary supplies in case “hard times” came again.  She also had drawers full of nightgowns, robes, and other gift items that we gave her.  She saved them for tough times too.  Even though she was quite well-off, the depression left its mark on her. 

I have a friend at work who reminds me so much of my great-grandmother.  She is handy and can fix anything herself.  She saves for hard times as well.  She may keep a coat for a year or two before she wears it and sometimes has such an old soul that I wonder if she belongs in this century. 

She walked into the library last week and told me a tall tale that topped them all.  She informed me that she was freezing something that had been bothering her.  I assumed this was a medical issue; therefore, it would be “frozen” by a physician.  Silly me for assuming.  I was wrong. 

What my dear friend meant was that she was taking a picture of her “issue” and freezing it, like literally putting it in a Ziploc, adding water into another Ziploc and putting it in the freezer. 

I was speechless.  Never had I heard of “freezing” a problem.  Evidently this is a way of dealing with life’s difficulties.  It was recommended to me that thawing out the problem was not a smart move either.  Once frozen, keep frozen. 

If taking a picture of something worrisome or writing it on a piece of paper and freezing it can offer closure and peace, I am all for it.  Carrying around negativity will do nothing but worry and weigh us down.  I am convinced that my bout with cancer was related to emotional toxicity I allowed into my life.  Thankfully, God healed me of cancer and more! 

I prayed with a friend once who was fed up with the pain that she carried around for years.  After we prayed, we talked about putting a rock on the guilt and giving it to God once and for all.  She needed a visual.  She left her pain “under” the rock with the help of Jesus and moved forward. 

Once at the closing of a retreat, the speaker asked us to write something specific that we needed to let go and bring it to the altar.  She placed an urn for us to deposit our items in and lit them on fire.  We burned our sufferings as a representation of giving them to God. 

Nothing happens without reason. I believe my conversation about “freezing” worrisome things at work has significance, the first one being to make me laugh uncontrollably!  I still am laughing, but there is a deeper meaning too. 

It is Biblical to get rid of junk.  Most junk is sin or leads to sin.  Jesus Christ came to earth, lived, and died to free us all. 

Isaiah 43:18-19 says “Forget not the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”   

Grab a Ziploc freezer bag, a rock, or get to an altar this week.  God is doing a new thing.  It is time to let go of the old.