My Greatest Accomplishment
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Today someone asked me what my greatest accomplishment was. Without hesitation I answered, “My 3 Littles. Each of them is unique in their own way. Each one of them adds a different element of character to our little family which in turn makes us a pretty special little bunch.”
He smiled and replied, “Without question they would be your greatest accomplishment. However, I mean personally, aside from the children. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment personally?”
I thought for a moment and then replied, “Finishing Firefighter I & II, and obtaining my HazMat Certification all while working Full Time. I had to take the classes at night after work, but I managed to get both certifications. Plus I am a single mom, so it was a pretty big deal for me when I finally completed my practical’s.”
Most of us don’t think about what our greatest accomplishment really, truly is.
Today was the first time I had ever really been asked that question, so as I headed my journey out west today it got me thinking.
I started looking back over the course of my life and started to pull different things from different times that I felt were “GREAT” accomplishments.
None of them really just struck me as GREAT. They were OK…and some were alright.
Most were just normal though, things that I had set goals for and hit.
So I moved on to the next thing and set the bar higher for myself.
I had punched the address from my ticket into my GPS so I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was headed. It wasn’t until I was actually getting set to turn onto the road to pull into my destination that I even realized where I was.
I remembered the last time I was here for a locate. It was 2 seasons ago. I took a deep breath in as I put my truck in park. I exhaled deeply, and said a silent prayer as I exited my truck.
As my second cone hit the ground at the front of my truck I looked upward to the High-Rise Power Lines.
I already knew what needed to be marked here without looking at the prints, but I looked anyway because just standing there put a chill across my skin.
So much had changed since the last time I stood in this very spot.
I marked out the phone line in conflict with the dig location.
I was standing at the bottom of the pole putting the last paint mark on the ground for the static fiber when I stopped dead in my tracks.
I closed my eyes and I could hear the hum from the substation behind me.
I laughed out loud as I opened my eyes and looked up at the static fiber. I shook my head as I remembered the “Not So Funny” Joke someone played on me once when they told me they had hit the very same static fiber I was looking at.
Seemed like ages ago now.
I exhaled deeply and closed my eyes.
“There has to be a purpose for all of this God. You didn’t bring me ALL the way out here just to mark static fiber. You have to help me see the hidden meaning here. Cause’ right now, I am not seeing it.”
Even though the substation was adjacent to US-2 and traffic was racing by, it was silent where I was standing.
That was until I heard a voice say, “Rebecca?”
I looked up at the sky and said, “Yep, I heard you that time. Sounds like you are right behind me!”
Apparently I was pretty lost in my surroundings because when a hand reached out and touched my shoulder and said, “Rebecca?”
I jumped about 20 ft in the air and screamed, “JUDAS!” as I threw my equipment.
I turned to see the contractor I was marking for standing behind me.
“Goodness Todd you scared the daylights out of me!” I said
He bent down to help pick up my equipment as he asked, “Are you okay? I have been calling your name from across the road for at least 5 minutes? You look like you’ve seen a ghost Rebecca?”
I looked at him and said, “Well you did just scare 10 years out of me Todd! That might have something to do with it. Goodness. If I could get my heart to slow down we might just be alright. Holy. You always go around scaring locators in the middle of no where?”
He looked back over his shoulder at me and said, “You always go around shutting the world off next to high-rise power lines & substations?”
I raised my eyebrows at him and said, “I will have you know I was having a VERY important and in depth conversation with God. Thank You very much.”
He smiled, “Well did he tell you anything amazing?”
I smiled back, “Well he was about to until you showed up and scared everything in a 5 mile radius away!”
I loaded all my equipment back into my truck as we went over the scope of the ticket and the work he was doing. I was turning to leave when he stopped me.
“Rebecca, can I ask you something?” he said
“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” I replied
“In all the time that I have known you, you always wore a bracelet with GPS coordinates on it. On one of our jobs together awhile back I wrote them down. I mean I guess I could have just asked you about it, but I didn’t know you well enough then. Anyway, I punched them in and it came up here. I mean the coordinates, they are for this location.” He said
I took sharp breath in, my entire body stiffened straight and I just turned to look at him.
“Rebecca,” he rattled off before I could even stop him, “How long have we known one another?”
“I don’t know, its my 3rd season, so 2 years or so?” I said as I shrugged my shoulders
“Do you know what I know about you? Honestly?” he looked at me and his voice softened, “You are from Brimley, you have 3 children you call Littles, who you can tell are the light of your entire world, and THIS spot. THIS spot right where we are standing is important to you, but I have no idea why. Do you EVER let anyone in? Even just a little?” he asked
I just stood there looking at him and cracked a small smile.
“You notice an awful lot for someone who doesn’t spend a whole lot of time around me Todd. Honestly I think you probably paid closer attention to what was going on with my life than the person that bracelet was meant for.” I responded.
“I don’t mean to pry, I just, well I noticed you don’t wear it anymore. You have one that says Believe now. I guess, I just, well I wondered what happened is all?” he asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
I stood there biting my lip to hold back the tears. I had been SO good about pushing it to the waste side, not thinking about it, not dealing with it, at least until today.
I looked down at the ground and then back up at Todd and let out a barely audible whisper, “I let go.”
“Excuse me?” he asked as he leaned towards me
“I let go.” I said, louder this time
"Oh. I'm sorry." he said
He kept talking as I looked back towards the power lines, and that is when it hit me.
“Todd, You are a GENIUS!” I said
“I am?” he asked looking confused
“Yes!” I smiled, “Yes, you are! Oh my goodness, yes! Thank You! Look everything is marked out, just don’t hit anything important!”
He chuckled, “I PROMISE I won’t hit the static fiber Rebecca!”
I rolled my eyes, “WHATEVER you do, DO NOT CALL ME AND PRETEND YOU HIT IT OK?”
He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Who does such things? That isn’t a funny thing to joke about at all!”
I pointed at him, “Ha! This is why you are my #1 favorite contractor Todd! Literally! Ok, I have to go! I will talk to you soon!”
He stood there shaking his head, smiling and most certainly was trying to figure out what just happened!
I waved as I drove away, and smiled as it slowly came together.
Let me explain.
My greatest accomplishment, I let go.
Just like so many of you reading this, I felt the need to be in control.
Of big things, small things, important things, non-important things, of ALL the things, but the reality is I needed to just let go.
You see I needed to trust God and his plan, and sometimes that is SO much easier to say than it is to do.
So many things fell in place with my life when I just trusted that God would work them out if I just LET GO and let him do the work.
I met one of the greatest people to ever grace my life in the middle of no where when I least expected it.
So it was only fitting that God brought me back to that very place to teach me the value in the very lesson I was seeking answers for.
I let go. Even when every fiber of my being was telling me not to, I let go. I trusted that GOD’s plan was SO much better and bigger than my own, and I LET GO.
You see I asked him for a sign, and he gave it to me. I mean I had to have the HARD questions be asked, and I in turn had to answer them. I answered my OWN question when I asked him to give me sign to see the bigger purpose in the lesson he was trying to show me.
We are so programmed to want to be in control ALL the time.
From the time we wake up, we have deadlines, the moments we can shower, how many minutes to eat breakfast, make lunches, get dressed, get the kids off to school or daycare, deadlines or appointments at work, ect.
Sometimes we get LOST in those moments and forget to count them as blessings because they become so routine in our lives.
SOMETIMES we need to STOP – LET GO – and just KNOW that OUR greatest accomplishment is to LET GO and LET GOD.
So I can honestly look at my “Greatest Accomplishment” as what it truly is. The reality that as long as I am living and breathing, I will need to continue to just LET GO and LET GOD handle it.
I know it is easier said than done, sometimes when we are going through the roughest of moments, or the hardest of times, it may seem like he isn’t there.
I promise that he is indeed right where he needs to be.
I also realize that MOST people say HANG IN THERE, JUST HOLD ON EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE…..
I am telling you to do the opposite, LET GO – Lay all of your burdens at the foot of the cross and let God take control.
All the hurt, all the anger, all the judgement, the pain, the heartache, the loss, all of it, LET IT GO - We were never meant to carry such burdens with us through our journey’s in this life. It is about knowing and understanding that NOT everything is going to go as planned!!
That sometimes even when we have a HUGE list of things to accomplish such as laundry, dishes, filing bills, painting the deck, or finishing a blog; God has other plans for us to SLOW DOWN, to NAP, to embrace the moment, to ENJOY what moments we do have because one day they just won't BE there when you turn around!
It is about knowing that NOT every family photo is going to turn out perfect, BUT the moments that do get captured are going to be PERFECT! That embracing that fact will one day give us photos to look back on and laugh about the MOMENTS we did TRY to make them perfect, and LOOK what happened!
Or about knowing that WHEN you REALLY open your heart to PRAY for SOMEONE, ANYONE to come to the aide of the person that helped create your daughter, you KNOW that you are TRUSTING that GOD WILL send the MOST PERFECT soul imaginable to be her "Bonus Mom." A beautiful lady who I adore more than ANYTHING for ALL she has done over the years for Mickayla & I! It was ALL part of GOD'S PLAN.
Including trusting in him enough to know that the day would come when Mickayla's Father and I could sit SIDE BY SIDE at our Baby Girl's High School Graduation and LET IT ALL GO.
A feat that not so long ago we weren't so sure we would be able to handle on our own, and that is because WE COULD NOT! We needed to LET GO and LET GOD take control.
I can't even begin to tell you how much my heart overflowed as we sat there elbowing one another to make sure the other was watching and wasn't missing a single moment. We knew we made it when we looked at one another and said, "Thanks!"
No folks, it isn't always easy, and I am the first one who will admit that it hasn't been. Some days STILL hit me so hard they knock the wind out of me. Certain songs, smells, and memories still catch me off guard. Chances are they probably always will, but no matter what I truly believe that it is all part of God's plan.
So I can't and won't promise that it is ALWAYS going to be a bowl of cherries.....
However, there is BEAUTY in all of it. Mostly because that is where your healing can finally BEGIN.
Once you LET GO - It no longer is your burden to carry and that is when your healing from it all can really, truly begin.
So I encourage you more now than ever to give letting go a chance.
It truly has been my "Greatest Accomplishment."
Proverbs 4:25-27 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The bracelet shown in this blog was Hand Made and Purchased from the link listed below:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/mybeadedbutterfly