Texas Heart Journal | Page 003

Some seasons aren't about starting over.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly we call something a new beginning.

New place.
New plan.
New relationship.
New season.

Starting over.

But I'm not sure that's always what we're doing.

Because starting over sounds like everything that came before gets erased somehow. Like we're supposed to put down the old life, wipe the slate clean and become somebody brand new.

And maybe sometimes that's exactly what we need.

But other times?

I think we're just packing differently.

We take what mattered.

The lessons.
The people who loved us well.
The memories that still make us smile.
The faith that got us through things we weren't sure we'd survive.
The parts of ourselves we fought hard to find again.

And we leave some things behind.

Not because they never mattered.

But because they don't belong where we're going.

I've learned there are things you can appreciate for what they were without carrying them forever.

People, too.

Plans, too.

Even versions of yourself.

Maybe that's one of the hardest parts of growing...realizing that something doesn't have to have been a mistake just because you've outgrown it.

Sometimes it served its purpose.

Sometimes you served yours.

And then life quietly starts making room for what's next.

I don't know exactly what every next chapter of my life is going to look like.

I'm learning to be okay with that.

Because I've also lived long enough to know that some of the best things in my story weren't things I could have planned anyway.

So I'm packing what mattered.

I'm letting go of what didn't.

And I'm leaving a little room in the suitcase for whatever God decides to write next.

Because maybe this season isn't asking me to start over at all.

Maybe it's simply asking me to keep going...

with less to carry.

With heart,
Elena

Texas Heart Journal | Page 003
Texas Heart Collection