In life there comes a time when you have to put the baggage down and move on.

I was tired.  So tired of carrying around baggage filled with the "old me".  It felt like when you go to the grocery store and glace at the carts and think to yourself - "I only have a few things on my list I will just use a basket."  Seriously!  Then we struggle to make it to the check out with a basket overflowing and groceries tucked in wherever we can find room and walk as fast as we can to the conveyor belt that will save our groceries before gravity wins.

I once carried the baggage of my past around - crushing myself under the strain of the weight.  I was on a journey - on a new path - I was a new creation.  My past was gone - only it didn't feel gone.  It was there staring at me when I woke up in the morning.  I dragged it around all day and it became a part of my work - relationships - future.  It filled my thoughts as I fell asleep each night.

I longed for the "new creation."  What did it look like?  How is it possible?

I have always found that asking myself questions is the only way that I can work toward finding the answers - and then I need to stop and listen.

You know what I heard?  

"Stop carrying it around."  Simple and yet so profound.

It was my own selfishness that was holding on to what was no longer a part of who I am.  

It was time to put the baggage down and move on.  I had a pretty firm grip, this was not going to be easy - but it was necessary.

I can remember the thoughts of weakness, a loss of power, a loss of identity.  But as I began to walk away, the ability to take a deep beautiful breathe of freedom filled me with such peace.  Oh, how I longed for peace.  Another deep long breath - the weigh began to slowly lift.  What a beautiful journey.

There is so much to learn from the woman who encountered Jesus at the well. What a day she experienced when she went to draw water and found Jesus instead.

As she approaches Jesus sitting by the well - he asks her for a drink of water. She does one of the most outrageous things mentioned in the Bible. She asks Him why? She boldly wants to know, "Why are you talking to me?” Good for her!

Why don’t we ask more questions? There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions; the disciples were full of questions. Asking questions is how we can grow deeper in the understanding of our faith.

The Samaritan woman had made many interesting life choices. Now she finds herself being asked for something from yet another man. No wonder she is full of questions. We don’t know the particulars concerning the 5 husbands, deaths, divorces, we honestly do not know and it is not our place to judge. She is obviously confused with who she is. Like so many of us today, she is so desperate for love, a relationship, for acceptance that she welcomed anyone who would have her. Jesus knows and understands her need.

Jesus does not tell the woman to repent or change her ways, she already knows that she needs to make changes. He gives her truth and hope. AMEN!

Jesus tells her that He is the Messiah - she leaves her water bottle and runs to the village and tells all the people that had made her an outcast, about her experience at the well. The villagers then travel to the well to see Jesus and for two days he shares his message of truth and hope with anyone who would listen and believe.

Jesus accepted this woman who was an outcast in her community and the village whose race was despised by the Jews. They all found something that we all long for: acceptance.