Month: September 2010

Protect your FREEDOM!

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A friend’s remark challenged me and I want to ask you ladies the question I’ve been pondering on for a week now: How protective are you of your freedom or the gifts God has given you along your journey to freedom? Maybe you have built a close love relationship with God over the past year by waiting in His presence and studying His Word… Are you protecting this treasure? Maybe, like me, you have begged God for wisdom to incorporate daily exercise into your life, and you’ve finally found a way to get to the gym or found a friend who holds you accountable… Are you taking good care of this gift? What about your eating? Did you finally get to a place where you’ve gone without the foods that make you binge for a few months, and you no longer dream about food or plan a binge in the back of your head? How are you protecting this freedom? What about your dreams? Have you made some strides towards the things that God has placed in your heart? Maybe you’ve felt for the first time in years how the cloak of depression lifted and  joy slowly crept back into your life as you started reaching for your dreams… Are you guarding those dreams? I’m asking this question, because I’ve become aware of an arrogant carelessness in my own life the minute I “feel” that I have a handle on something (which is usually a miracle or “gift” from God to begin with). I’ve also heard back from many women who made huge strides forward in breaking out of bondage and falling in love with Jesus, just to fall right back to where they’ve started. I don’t mean to be negative at all, but I do want to warn you… YOU HAVE TO …

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What do you want?

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Please humor me and give this question a little thought… What is it that you really want? I felt the Holy Spirit whispering this question in my ear recently. This question came at a time of great restlessness, anxiety and sadness in my own heart. If I had to be truthful, what I really wanted was for life to be “perfect”. My kind of perfect would include more money so that we can work less and have more fun with our kids… so we can go on vacation…so that we can stop stressing…so we can have more meaningful relationships with friends and family… I was blurting all of this out while laying in my room, with the window open, looking at the big pine tree in our back yard swaying in the wind. I could almost hear God’s tender voice in that wind, asking again “What do you truly want…” It made me cry, because I remembered… I remembered when the only thing I wanted was to get married and be loved… I remembered when all I wanted was to be a great worship leader… I remembered when all I wanted was to please other people… I remembered when all I wanted was to be super Mom… I remembered when all I wanted was to be thin and beautiful… I also remembered of all the times I became so obsessed with the desires of my heart that I’ve sinned in order to get what I wanted… I remember the emptiness and the sorrow of being separated from God… God is the one who gives us desires to do certain things. The desire to write a song, open a restaurant, get married, raise children, be a career person, create a beautiful garden, run a marathon, it all comes from God. If we can give …

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