Sponsor Love {Guest Post | Our Tiny Big Life}

Oh me, oh my! This lady below is incredibly inspirational! I may or may not have shed a tear reading about how one simple thing brought so much understanding to her life. Enjoy sweet friends.

{And once you're done reading this special post, go visit me over at Daily Polkadots}

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First off, thank you so much, Liz, for entrusting me to share today. What a privilege. I think this little spot is so precious and full of inspiration and encouragement. So, I’m thrilled to visit!
For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Kathryn, and I love Jesus. I also write and share and attempt to be a photog over at Our tiny BIG Life. I’m wife to one Tall Guy and mother to two incredibly wonderful girls {Banana and Moose}. You can read more about our fam and odds and ends here.

When Liz asked me to guest post, my first thought was, “Oh, sweet. Love to guest post. Oh, but what to share?”
Then, I read a recent post on her blog about Beth Moore’s Breaking Free, which I HIGHLY recommend, and I knew exactly where to go.
Just last week, a small but very significant package arrived in our mailbox. When Tall Guy brought it in {he always checks the mailbox after he pulls into the driveway at the end of the day}, I nearly ripped it out of his hands, I was so excited.
Inside, a sterling silver bead chain with a tiny pearl accent and a simple square pendant that reads, “let go . . .”

Simple. Yes.
But for this Type A try-to-control-everything gal, it’s also profound. I NEED these words around my neck; to see them every time I glance in the mirror; to put on first thing every morning before I leave for the day.
For most of my life, I’ve worked — hard — to keep up with my own expectations and those set by others, even expectations I thought God had of me. To say it was exhausting doesn’t begin to cut it. I was the hamster in the wheel. Running, striving, but never getting anywhere.
Oftentimes, my outside life looked okay, even impressive. But, inside I was crumpling under the weight of it all.
I was everybody’s good girl. And it was killing me.
Inevitably, I began to see the choice come down to two options: continue living white-knuckled and eventually collapse or release into the reality that God really has control. That He is at work, and His work is good.
He doesn’t require my half-hearted performance, He longs for my whole-hearted obedience.
I’ve discovered there aren’t many verses more true than this:

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” – Isaiah 55:8

I spent decades chasing MY thoughts, MY dreams, MY wants. And I wound up hurting, confused and afraid. All the things I tried to use to build up a wall of protection turned out to be the very things that tore me apart and led me further away from His care.
So much effort to play the part, all in vain.
By grace, God brought me to the end of myself, led me to a moment were I finally chose to “let go” and fall into the Everlasting Arms. To get off the wheel, trust and be carried. And I haven’t been the same since. My longing in this post is that you know His relentless love and tender mercy toward you and experience the freedom that only comes from following His plan for your life.
If there is one thing I know and believe, it is this: Surrender is joy.
Let go.