The Stars and the Stripes

Freedom. It means something different to different people.

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Opps, this post was supposed to be in the 'drafts' pile but it ended up getting published the other night. I started a blog post about freedom.

Freedom........

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

This post started off talking about freedom but for those of you faithful readers, I have the urge to note an exercise I completed a couple of years ago. Stay with me. It is a continuous exercise actually, one that I try and look at regularly. I can give credit to a mentor of mine for its origin. It is called "What Kind of Woman do I Want to be" and in it I listed several key aspects of life that I thought were important. Perhaps it will encourage you to think about what gives your life meaning, what you hope for, what you want out of life. Of course, you will change. I did it in 2014. I am sure I have changed as a person since then but it is helpful to see that I still want to focus on these today.

Even as it's God who reveals more and more with each day how I can live out particular callings or desires, my hope is to live with intention. I guess if I have the list in front of me instead of buried in my 3200 emails, I am more likely to give it some thought and intention (now it's buried in a blog post, but it's progress). Where would you need to put some reminders in order to visibly see your hopes and goals?

Okay, here goes:

I want to be

1. A woman who knows God and walks closely with him in my life
2. A woman who understands her worth and value in Christ and lives accordingly
3. A woman who loves others well
4. A woman who pursues and lives with freedom
5. A woman who lives with balance in all areas of my life
6. A woman who lives with self-awareness 
7. A woman who is healthy
8. A woman who lives with purpose 
9. A woman who helps others experience freedom
10. A woman who is honest and authentic
11. A woman who invests in the younger generation 
12.  woman who uses gifts of counseling, writing and speaking
13.  woman who is free to integrate my faith into my professional setting
14. A woman who is financially stable and responsible
15. A woman who invests in her family, neighbors, community

You'll see freedom listed a couple times throughout. This is a very dear and very real topic for me. Waaay back when, I began a journey of walking back toward freedom from major health and eating issues. It was God who did it - all that I am is grace. My hope is to continue to pursue and live with freedom and to leave room in my life to help others, especially the younger generation. My prayer is for many who feel bound in some kind of chains to also experience freedom and to know that change is possible. God's goodness abounds and He is our living hope.

I love the imagery in Job 36:16:
"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction."

May freedom be our anthem. May we remember God is the one who brings it and He has the power to do it.