Living in Freedom

Jun

2019

It’s Okay to Trust Your Heart

Are you surprised, too, that summer’s arrived? Summertime can sometimes make us feel like kids freed from school–ready to stay up late, play outside, eat ice cream, watch movies, and ask each other a hundred times a day, “What do you want now?”

It’s an interesting question – “What do you want?” To answer honestly, you have to be in touch with the true you, deep inside, and what she truly desires. Answering “What do you want?” means trusting your heart.

And that can prove tricky, especially if we’ve been taught good Christians have “desperately wicked” hearts (Jer. 17:9), instead of beautiful, wise hearts made new through salvation in Christ. (Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 5:17)

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May

2019

We Can Stop Apologizing Now

As I flip through the pages of Real Simple (May 2019), I make it as far as pg 10, “The Editor’s Note,” where Leslie confesses she is a recovering chronic apologizer. Which is why she loves this issue’s essay feature: “Women on what they no longer apologize for.”

Color me intrigued! I flip to page 126 and read all seven articles, right in a row. Sweet confessions of women no longer apologizing for things like loving cats or hitting the snooze button or being vulnerable.

I’ve been a chronic apologizer for much of my life too. Many of us are.

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Jul

2018

How to Hide Till You No Longer Recognize Yourself

Have you ever noticed that religion often teaches us to hide?

You can hide your sorrows behind “God is good.” You can hide your anxieties behind “Casting all your cares.” You can hide your burnout behind “godly Christians spend and are spent for Jesus.”

But when you hide, eventually a deep ache grows inside. You may squash your longings and shield your true feelings until you’re not quite sure who you are anymore.

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Mar

2018

How to Live in Light of the Resurrection

It was a gorgeous day – the kind of day that begs to be enjoyed. The sun shone brilliantly and all of the trees in the front yard beckoned in the breeze. This was the kind of perfect Saturday people pray for, and I’d been hoping for this day for a long time.

Oh, I had big plans–plans I’d been making for days. Plans to conquer and create. Plans to let the clock run unheeded. Plans to be outdoors from dawn to dusk. My eager anticipation had reached the epic heights only an 8-year-old mind can envision.

But sadly, on this oh-so-perfect day, instead of climbing trees and conquering imaginary foes, I was curled up on my favorite blanket in the hallway by the bathroom. Continue reading →

Apr

2017

The 3 Things I Never Expected to {re}Learn This Year

I sat in my mentor’s office struggling to find the right words. We talked of this and that till he surprised me with a question:

“How long have you felt burned out?”

Ummmm, burned out? But, I just wrote a book about my huge burn-out story and how grace and Jesus changes all that. I can’t be burned out again. How can I possibly offer grace and hope if I keep returning to a weary place?

Not a single one of those words made it past my lips, though. Instead I teared up and said, “Since right after my book came out last fall.”

I hadn’t realized how tired I was until that precise moment. Continue reading →

May

2016

Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

There once lived a very happy king and queen. All across the land, the queen was known for her beauty. The king loved his wife dearly, not just for her lovely face and flowing hair but for the regal beauty that flowed from within.

After a number of years, the queen began to ponder the thief of time. She worried that when her looks faded, the king would no longer love her. Questions of “how long?” and “what then?” swirled in her thoughts until one day she could stand them no longer. Continue reading →