The Red Blanket
Jones family travelled for our annual trip to my in-laws. It was a good time to be had by all in attendance, as usual. However, there were a couple moments that stand out to me more than others.
The first one occurred on the plane ride there. My daughter was a little cold and we had actually put her luggage through as checked since it was small and light enough to go in another bag. I should note that the blanket that stays in this particular piece of luggage (our carry on) is a delta blanket from a previous trip and this time, we found ourselves on Delta again. So I politely ask the Flight Attendant for a blanket. This request was honoured and in fact, she brought two blankets for us.
My daughter looks at the blankets in the plastic and says. “I don’t want it”
Me: “Aren’t you cold?”
Daelyn: No.
Me: But look at you, you ARE cold
Daelyn: I don’t want it. Its not MY blanket.
Me: But this is just like your blanket. And its new.
Daelyn: I don’t want it. pouty face
Eventually she accepted it but she clearly was not happy. I literally LOL’d after and fought to not laugh while I was speaking with her. I honestly couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t accept a brand new, red blanket. That looked exactly like her old, red blanket except it didn’t have fuzz and wasn’t washed out. That had me stumped. Tickled and amazed at the quirkiness of a 3 year old.
Then the moment passed and I watched it again in replay. And thought. Hmph. It wasn’t like she had some connection to the blanket. It stayed in that suitcase. Although, she may have thought it was the one that circulates for her nap time. Yes. We have 2…well now we have 4. Eek.
Okay. Back to my musings.
Before I get all high and mighty about the tantrums of a 3-soon-to-be-4-year-old. I had to ask myself --How many times, have I had the opportunity to get new and I opted not to. Or only VERY reluctantly accepted. Like, what am I holding onto from a previous season that has been (or needs to be) replaced because it serves little value now with the new things I have access to in the current season/position.
I’m not suggesting that everything is approached with “in with the new, out with the old” because sometimes, we still need the older version but even in those scenarios…the question ought to be … how long do we need to keep the older version. At some point, we need to let go. That point may look different depending on the transition.
If we get really simple. You get a new phone. Can’t be an iPhone because apple id would mean that everything is fully loaded once you log in. But you get some lesser brand of equipment (I kid….. not) and now you hold onto the old version, referencing it for phone numbers and chat/text history until all that information is transferred onto the new phone. Once its all there and you are comfortably using your new phone, what purpose is still walking around with the old phone? Its just a shell without a sim card. #purposeless
So as I look around… literally from things as simple as clothing to as deep as relationships. What has been removed or replaced that you are still holding dearly to? Are you like the 3-4 year old who unreasonably is clutching to something that is no longer available just for the sake of “its mine”? Are you holding onto something for the sake of memories?
A word of caution comes with this...
Don't cling so tightly to what is from your old season that your hands are full to receive the resources, gifts and blessings for the new.
Finally, --only because this came up in another not-so-random conversation. Be careful that you aren't holding onto something or someone because you have given it/them room or a space in your mind and heart that they should not have. You know...created a lil god out of it. I'll leave that right there...that's another post for another time.
Selah.
Grace, peace and love,
r Gia
