For all my life I have had this big fat juicy mole under my left armpit. When I was younger the fact that it was there bothered me once in a blue moon, but as I got older I learned to appreciate and actually really like my mole, after all it was another one of the things that made me, ME! Two of my friends even named my mole "Russell the armpit muscle”. Sadly yesterday "Russell the armpit muscles” life came to an end.
My Mole for the years it had been sitting there never really caused any issues, up until recently that is. Right before my senior year it got really infected and extra swollen, and every now and again the area around my mole would start to act up. However for 98% of the time my mole just sat quietly under my arm causing no trouble. Russell despite the few times he caused me some unnecessary drama was simply just… Apart of me!
Yesterday, after months maybe even years of being strongly advised to see a dermatologist just to make sure Russell was not more danger than he led on to be I made it to a doctor’s appointment that I have literally missed three times in the past. As soon as my Doctor stepped into the room, and even before I could fully explain the reason for my visit he informed me that he would be removing my mole before I left his office.
Although it was NOT my intention to get my mole removed yesterday, I realize as I reflect on the experience that once again God was teaching me a lesson in a situation where I least expected it.
Lately I have been really thinking about some of the things in my life that I have become little to conformable with; things that are probably not the best for me but still have managed to in many ways become “Apart” of me. If we are all real with ourselves just for a moment I am sure we would realize that we have things that at some point in time have become “Apart" of us, things that like Russell are probably more harmful than they appear to be. If we continue to be real with ourselves, we would also realize that sometimes we recognize but choose to ignore for whatever reason the things in our lives that we know have the potential to do more harm than good. We all at times become so comfortable with certain things in our lives that we very often find ourselves ignoring, not dealing with, or downplaying the severity of of the things that are “Apart” us, the things we know deep down inside should not be “Apart” of us.
Today I urge to all revaluate the things in your life that have become "Apart" of you. The things that you know truly do not represent or are keeping you from being what God has designed you to be. These things can come in so many forms, a mole, a friendship, a romantic relationship, a place, a job, or maybe even school. Life is about change, and sometimes change requires that we get rid of, or seriously make some changes to the things that we have become comfortable with. After all loosing or changing "apart" of you is not always a bad thing.
The great thing about life and the wonderful thing about God is that the things in life that weight us down, or keep us from living our lives the way God intended us to do not have to be “Apart” of us. And like my doctor did yesterday God can just snip them away, or help us make needed change.
As you reflect on some of the unnecessary and/or harmful things that have become “Apart” of you, I will be doing the same!
