I ran away…

Iᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴀ Tᴜᴇsᴅᴀʏ ᴀғᴛᴇʀɴᴏᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪʀᴇᴅɴᴇss ᴡᴀs ʜᴇᴀᴘᴇᴅ ʜɪɢʜ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴍᴇ. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐈 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. I’ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴇᴍʙᴀʀʀᴀssᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʀᴇᴍᴏᴛᴇʟʏ ᴀsʜᴀᴍᴇᴅ anymore.

Lɪғᴇ ɪs ᴛᴏᴏ sʜᴏʀᴛ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴀʏ ᴀᴛ ᴡᴀʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟɪғᴇ-ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ. There were three people that gave me a hard time about the hard choices we were making to help our son through his special needs journey. I realized quickly that part of my exhaustion was pleasing those individuals and, whether they meant to or not, I was allowing them to deplete me. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐈 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤. A college buddy met me there a few days later for her own respite.

As I went to God in prayer, these same three people kept coming to mind. I was reminded of Joshua in the Bible.

Wʜᴇɴ Gᴏᴅ ɢᴀᴠᴇ ʜɪᴍ ᴀ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ʟᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ, ʜᴇ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ, ʜᴇ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ʙᴀʟᴋ, ʜᴇ ᴀʀᴏsᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏʙᴇʏᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ sᴇɴsᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀs.

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. So, I said goodbye to those three. I was tactful and sincere with them; sadly, they each gave an angered response, which spoke volumes about the truth of our relationship. I haven’t seen them since. It was surprising how removing those negative relationships was life breathing in my daily life, something I didn’t even realize would happen.

What are the oxygen consumers of your life??