Written by Miranda Holman

My mixer died today.

For some, that would be no big deal. You would throw it away, and run out and buy a new one, and never think about it again.

But for me, it wasn’t that easy.

You see, that very mixer belonged to my mama for many years. When she passed away eleven years ago my daddy handed it to me.

Now you might be saying, “Well, why did you use it then?”

There was just something nostalgic about that mixer. Maybe it was the memories of my mama standing in her kitchen mixing up a cake for dessert, or getting the mashed potatoes ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Maybe it was the comfort I felt holding that same mixer in my hands that my mama had held so many times before me. Maybe it was just the connection I still felt to her as I wrapped my hands around the handle, remembering the times we shared in the kitchen as she would teach me how to cook a certain recipe and knowing I would never experience those times again.

For some it’s just a mixer, for me it was my hope.

The sense of hope that would wash over me knowing that my time with her was not over but the new chapter had just not began yet. Putting all my Faith and Trust into the reassurance that this life was not my end. That my God has a whole new life waiting on me, that includes my mama, when my new chapter of life begins.

As I sat and cried over my mama’s mixer, another thought came to me. Too many times in life, we put all of our cares into our old ways, old thoughts, old things. We stay wrapped up into how things used to be or could have been. In those times we miss the new things that God has placed in front of us.

For some, you are like me, it’s the comfort of the old that makes you feel safe and secure. Its the memories of how life was and you can only see the good parts that keeps you staying in the past. See, I can live in the past memories of my mama and her mixer, but what I can’t see is her daily struggles that came along with life. Her legs that ached after standing in the kitchen cooking three meals a day. The stress of making sure we had food for her to cook another meal. The pain of keeping her Faith in God during times of troubles.

But I can remember the the good memories. Or maybe thats all I want to remember. If I remember the bad times as well, that that would mean that I have to stop living in the past. The place of comfort, connection and home.

That would mean that I have to endure change, and we all know change is a scary thing. Change involves us taking risks into the unknown. Stepping into darkness and not knowing what is coming next. Or as Peter wrote, trusting Jesus enough to step out of the boat onto the water.

But I will even take it one step further. I don’t believe the old is working for any of us. The old keeps us in the familiar, but it doesn’t allow us to grow. Sure it’s safe and comforting, but it’s not progress.

When our garden’s have not grown for a couple years, we come up with a new game plan. Better fertilizer, different brands of plantsand seeds, better pesticides. More water. Less Water and so on.

But one thing is for sure, we change our way of thinking, our vision, our plan, to get our seeds to grow.

That is how our life has to be. When we continue doing the way of the old, we don’t grow. Maybe we are scared of the new, maybe we dont want to put the time and energy into trying new things. But if we can’t get out the past, away from the old, we will never be able to get to where God is leading us in our life.

I challenge each of you to evalute your life. Are you stuck in the comfort of the past? Or are you stepping out of the boat in hope of a better future. Look around you. Find your passion. Don’t live in someone else’s memories. When the old isn’t working…….Make new memories, your own memories. Plant seeds and wait for the harvest.

Miranda, has been married to her sweet husby for 15 years and a homeschool mama to her kiddos Keegan and Lindy. She loves her four-legged, fur babies and they make her life complete. She is passionate about blogging, reading, crafting, cooking, designing, and learning to be a Homesteader!