Drop the SH*T

I love taking walks. My dog, Coco, loves when I walk her. Its become a great partnership and a favorite pastime of mine. Something about getting out into nature and breathing in the fresh air brings rejuvenation to my soul.

This past spring when I wanted to lose a few pounds before summer, I started tracking what I ate and counting my steps. I created 2 walking routes. The "long" walk, my kids lovingly called it or the "short" walk. The long walk is about 2 miles that travels down the center of our sub, out to a main road which widens to a beautiful bike bath along the river, cuts back through a neighboring sub and then returns to our street. 

One day, I wanted to change the view and decided to veer of course and detour from the main road by going over a bridge instead that connects 2 pathways along the river. From the very top of the bridge, you could look down at the beautiful water, see boats going by and the neighboring air force base. I loved giving myself the option of a new perspective on my walk, thus the long walk took on a new name "Ryan's" because it walked by a friends house or the "Bridge." Brilliant, I know.

The short walk is just that. A quick 15 minute walk around the block. If its going to be a busy morning, if I didn't get my steps in for the day or just needed to decompress, that was the route.

Short walk, long walk, Ryan or Bridge, Coco does not care. She just loves to walk! We have quickly learned to never say the "W" word in front of her as it is an instant tease, and she beelines for the door. Most mornings, she expectantly waits at the front entrance wagging her tail, puppy dog eyes begging to go. We've developed a good habit and become great walking buddies. All that to say, my walks have been a great time also with God. I pray and talk with Him along the way.

One day last week, Coco and I set out for the short walk in the morning. I didn't get too far before I realized I had forgotten a baggie for doggy cleanup. Great! I know she's going to go. I think she stores up as much pee and poop as she possibly can because she finds great joy in sniffing every tree, every pole, every lawn searching for that perfect spot. I'll never understand the joy a dog takes in this process. Sometimes I get annoyed with how much she wants to stop and sniff. Let's go already. 

So, I began to look around for plan B. Coco is a Yorkie and weighs in at maybe 5lbs wet. She is tiny and so is her poop. Thank God! Just then I spotted a very large leaf on the sidewalk. Perfect, that will do. I'm on the short walk. I'll just pick it up with that and dispose when we get home. I won't have to hold on to it for too long.

The time came, and I was ready. Here goes the leaf picking up freshly laid...ok you get. I don't think I need to go any further. Small or not, it still stinks.  Leaf or not....its still SH*T. Its now in my hand and the idea that I need to carry it around like a prize until I get home is disgusting. We proceed on our walk. Leaf in left hand, coffee in right. Not exactly the best combination. When out comes a neighbor with her dog. She comments on my pants. Lularoe she asks? Yes we talk about how comfortable they are yet, kind of pricey. She says about $25. I say yes....all the while leaf and sh*t in hand. 

I'm starting to feel silly now holding my leaf and so I casually mention I forgot a bag and carrying a leaf with dog poop in my hand. She laughs and says you don't need to carry that around. Gives me her bag and goes back into her house to grab another one for herself.

Instantly, I kid you not, I got the download "Drop the Shit" and of course I put the leaf in the bag and was happy to do so but it was a much deeper meaning. The download was for my life.

DROP THE SHIT!

Now I wrestled with saying it that way. But let's be honest you can say poop, you can say crap, but SHIT takes on a much deeper meaning. It comes with so much more emotion when you say it that way, and its exactly how I needed to hear it that day.

DROP THE SHIT!

I try not to talk this way on a regular basis. Very rarely it spills out when I get mad. So I understand this is an offensive word. But if you'll allow me to explain further perhaps you will see why I've communicated it this way.

DROP THE SHIT!

We were not created to carry around shit in our lives. In fact, our own bodies get rid of waste on a  daily basis because it is no longer needed. The nutrients our body have been taken in from the food we've eaten and what's left is considered waste and then gets removed from the body. Just like our physical body knows to get rid of the waste, our soul needs to take on this revelation as well! When I heard these words, DROP THE SHIT. It was like an awakening. 

When I heard these words, DROP THE SHIT. 

It was like an awakening. 

Speaking for myself, I have allowed myself to carry things that stink in life! Hurts, mistakes, failures, disappointments and wrong thinking. I couldn't seem to stop dwelling on some of these negative events in my life. This is generally out of character for me. It is not my nature to feel sorry for myself. I am a get up and keep going kind of girl. I am not normally easily knocked over or stay down for too long. But if I'm honest, I have been willing carrying negative emotions around like that dog shit in my hand for awhile!

I needed permission to DROP THE SHIT! What good is it doing? I'm all about learning from mistakes, growing, forgiving, but after all that, after you have done everything and those negative events come back to remind you, what was I doing? Dwelling on the shit! Carrying it around like it was still a part of me instead of seeing it for the waste that it is.  

Thoughts of what was fair, unfair, Lord don't you see? I had brought it to him over and over again on my walks. On this particular day, I was lovingly reminded to drop the shit. Get rid of it. Stop dwelling on it. Let it go as Elsa would say!

Shit had no place in our life. Mentally, physically, it is waste. It does us no good holding on to it and if we are not careful to learn to dispose of it, it will stink up our lives. Trust me, I have boys who when they are stinky, I tell them go to the bathroom. Stop stinking up my house!

Stop stinking up my house!

Friend, Stop stinking up your house! Stop stinking up your life! Stop stinking up your soul! You were made to be free. Free from the burdens that try to bind us. Free from the pains of yesterday. Free of what you have done or what others have done to you. 

And there's nothing worse then being constipated. We get all cramped up. Our body is wrestling to get rid of the waste and then you feel relief. The same is for your life. We were made to thrive. God wants the best for us. Sometimes we can't understand the seasons, the hurts, the disappointments, the pain, the delays, but at some point, we are going to have to let go and live free to be the best potential of ourselves. We have to trust God in the journey. That He is not done with us. That He is still working. That He is faithful to complete the work He began in us.

We have to trust God in the journey

Phil 3:13

Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead

Is 43: 18-19a
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past
See I am doing a new thing!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope"

Lamentations 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.

Psalm 27:13

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord.

Friend, whatever weighs on your heart, whatever has burdened you down for too long, its time to take some inventory of your life, deal with what needs to be dealt with and then remove the waste and allow God do a new thing. He loves you. He cares for you. Its time to let go of the waste.

I am giving myself permission to drop the shit. Give yourself permission to do the same!