Picture a little girl with a small record player and a few records, all her own.  That was me.  Tucked away in my bedroom, I could play these whenever I wanted.  My favorite was the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.  Can you hear the scratches on that old record played over and over.  I would march around my little room, waving my arms to conduct “my” band.  There was just one problem.  At a certain point, the same certain point, the needle got stuck in a groove.  The soldiers stopped marching.  The same crackling sound, repeated over and over, until the needle was lifted from its trap and placed on ahead.  Following instructions from my mother, I performed this task very gently – well as gently as a five-year-old was likely to do.  

Do you remember playing those old records?  Do you remember the needle stuck in a groove?  We weren’t surprised, we just had to fix it and move on.

I’m thinking, is there anything in my life right now that is stuck on repeat?  Am I stuck in an unpleasant groove?  Are you?   Perhaps it’s old grudges, old stress or old habits.  Does the needle get stuck there and let my mind repeat over and over again by day and by night?   Is it time to pick up the needle and move on.  Ouch, how do I do that?  Can we ask God for the courage to let go of that troublesome groove and move on?  Just let it go?   Not so easy is it.  Some of our “grooves” are dug more deeply than others.  But our God is bigger than our grooves.  He can pick us up.  He will pick us up.  Just ask Him.

Judy