BURN THE SHIPS

Whether any particular historical figure, Cortes or otherwise, actually said these words is debatable, but in my ponderings the last few weeks I've come to the conclusion that the merit of the phrase isn't dependent on historical accuracy.  It's a heart issue, not a historical one.

I hadn't really given the phrase much thought until I had heard this For King & Country song play on the radio a few times.  With everything 2019 has held for us as a family...this song resonated.  And today, when I was listening to it again (thank you Pandora and Alexa), I was reminded of one of my heroes who did in fact burn her ships...though she never said those words.

Long ago, in a faraway and foreign land, there was a woman with two sons.  Those sons married women from that land, and they lived happily together for 10 years.  Then, everything fell apart. The woman's sons both died, and she and her daughters were left alone.  The woman decided to return to her own land, and told her daughters to return to their families.  One daughter obeyed, but the other daughter refused.  

She said to the woman: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

This daughter stood at the edge between what was known and unknown, familiar and unfamiliar, friendly and foreign.  She chose an unknown God, an unfamiliar culture, and a foreign land.  And she lit the match, walked away, and didn't look back.

Her story makes my ships look tiny in comparison, but the further in to 2019 I go the more I see how God has been leading me to light the matches in my own life.  I've always loved the safe and familiar.  Change is inevitable, but not something to be reveled in by any means!  But when God calls, you pick up your mat and obey.  You make the phone calls, you arrange the calendar, you move your family to a smaller house, you take the trip, you list and sell the house you've owned for over 12 years, you comfort you children when they cry, you schedule the parties and work your business, you hold hands with your husband and pray...and you trust that He has a plan for whatever is next.  Because the comfortable, safe ship is gone.

It's a new day.  

And I'm not looking back.

Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And don't you look back

Don't let it arrest you
This fear is fear of falling again
And if you need a refuge
I will be right here until the end
Oh, it's time to

Burn the ships, cut the ties
Send a flare into the night
Say a prayer, turn the tide
Dry your tears and wave goodbye

Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away

And don't you look back.

-For King & Country, 2018