Saying Goodbye To The Futon

When Dan and I first met, he did not have a bed to sleep on. Long story short he had plans to get one once he was settled but that took some extra time doing and an extra move. Eventually he purchased a queen-sized futon. It is weird sometimes the things one can become sentimentally attached to in life. That futon was our first couch after we were married. When we moved across country, we rolled the mattress up in the back seat and slept on it until the rest of it made the journey. It was my oldest daughter’s first bed after she had outgrown the crib and she did not like her bed. It spent some time in my youngest daughter’s nursery. I can easily think of half a dozen memories. That futon had been good to us.

We knew it was time to let it go. We have gotten a bit more furniture over the years, and we just did not have the space for it. Therefore, despite the small paint smudges on the armrests from Dan when he was in art school, we sold it on Craiglist. It went to someone who had really wanted a futon. It was right. I know it sounds so silly how emotionally attached I was to this piece of furniture. I kind of felt I had been through a war the last 12 years and the futon had been through all of it with us in the midst of it.

Recently I read a prophetic word that someone had received and I believe it was accurate. It was talking about transition and how it was the old way that was going to try to buck the new. It was speaking of how it was important to do what God is telling you and not to fight against what He is doing. It is funny as I read that I had to laugh at myself. Dan and I have gone through some things in the last few years on a personal level that is so much in this same learning to embrace the new. It is kind of like my love of the futon. I had to let it go in order to make room for the new thing that is supposed to go in its place.

Letting go of what is old and comfortable is never easy. It can stretch you and make you cry. However, I have been thinking a lot about this. I think the root of holding onto the old is fear. The new thing coming is probably better, especially if God is telling you it is. So you have to trust him that you can let go of the old and it will be okay.

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


Are you going to choose to hold onto the old just because it is comfortable? Or are you going to choose to grab hold of the new and trust God. Are you going to trust God beyond what is comfortable and easy?

A dear friend of mine reminded me that I will always have the memories with the futon, but I cannot hold onto it for memories because the memories on in my mind. As God leads you, let go of the old mindsets, mental patterns, stuff in your life that will hold you back from moving forward in Him. Let go of those things that will keep you down, and grab tightly to what He is doing. You cannot put new wine in old wineskins! (Luke 5:37) God has awesome plans for your life, so get excited.