It’s been a long time since I’ve really written. From the heart.

Heart writing requires time – time to reflect, time to write down what whispers in your soul.

I don’t know where to start – whether to write about standing in the Charleston slave market or on the battlefield at Manassas. Both are hallowed ground with stories to be told. Lives and lessons never to forget.

Or whether to write about the second time in a month a baby’s life has ended before it began.

Or whether to write about the woman set free from bondage and burdens and filled with the Holy Spirit before my eyes.

They’re all moments when you see a glimpse of God in both joy and sorrow.

When God’s grace gives peace in the midst of heartache.

As a student of history, people, and God, I’m learning how big God is and how little we make Him.

I’m learning throughout His story (history), life’s been complicated. I’m learning how much we limit God because we only see the moment instead of a lifetime.

As I stood in battlefields and slave quarters, I saw the fullness of humanity and God in a moment. Sorrow and honor. Death and deliverance.

A depth of His spirit that’s lost in sophisticated religion of the 21st century.

As I looked in the woman’s eyes, I saw faces of her ancestors who stood on that auction block. When I massaged her neck while my friend prayed, shackles fell and peace came.

A peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:6-7). Her face was new. She was free, she said.

She was free.

Through Jesus’ death, He bore our bondage to selfishness and things that won’t satisfy. He rose from the dead so we can have freedom in death and life.

Do you feel freedom in your life?

I’m challenged to think bigger, to trust bigger, and to expect bigger than the status quo and Sunday morning hymns. I want to know more about the fullness of God who sets captives free and changes His story not for our comfort, but His glory.

Though I write a lot about parenting, busyness, and how to handle it all, I really want to say it’s not about freezer meals or deadlines or another school year.

It’s about love and grace, life and death, and freedom.

Freedom in heaven and on earth.

We can bind ourselves in chains though we’re free, and we can be free in Him though we’re physically bound.

Where there’s freedom, there’s hope, peace, and rest.

My question is, are you free? Are you free in your circumstances because you know the peace of Christ’s freedom or are you bound by your expectations of Him?

I’ve been both bound and free, and I’d rather choose freedom.

Where do you need to choose Christ’s freedom in your life? Have you received His gift of freedom over death by believing in His life, death, and resurrection as the Son of God? If you’d like to know more about that, email me. I’d love to tell you more about that relationship.

Do you need freedom in  your circumstances by believing God is bigger than the pain? Do you need to step out of the status quo and into the fullness of His presence? Where is God calling you to step out in faith that’s less about circumstances and more about Him?

Where do you need to be free?

How can we pray for you? I don’t say that because it’s trite, I really pray for you/with you when you share with me. How can I help you walk with Christ to freedom?

Would  you share with us? We’d love to hear from you.

“One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see.” John 9:25

Lord, Jesus, make me free.