by miss music~ Oh, I am SO excited about this! God created me with an inordinately high daily word quota, so I think this blog stuff is the best invention EVER!!! By the way, my man of few words hubby sends his thanks to you for providing this relief for him… umm, I mean outlet for me. Thanks to my super talented cousin “photochick” for inviting me to write every now and again.
I’ve followed your site on and off since its inception, and may I say what a great idea and what a great group of girls! I’m pretty sure I have met or am kin to all of you. :-) Thanks for letting me be a part of what you are doing to encourage each other to celebrate who God has made us all to be and to keep putting one foot in front of the other until we finally finish this crazy earthly experience.
They say (whoever they are) that there’s a first time for everything, so here goes…
Everyone knows that there are seasons in life, some easier than others. Lately I have been in a season of getting down to some hard work with the Father; the kind that excites you and exhausts you all at the same time. Though I know this earth is not my home, I am passionate about grabbing hold of as much freedom as I can while I’m traversing the rocky terrain this side of heaven. I’m also crazy passionate about seeing other people do the same thing, so I want to share a bit about what’s been going on in me lately in case it helps anyone else get hungry for something more with Christ.
Admittedly, there are few days when I feel like I really have my feet underneath me so to speak. But I know Christ is pleased with my efforts to grow nearer to Him even when it’s not the most graceful dance. And he is gracious to honor and reward my obedience, no matter how meager. My journey lately has been more like a fight… an all out battle really, to get a hold on these things coursing through every fiber of who I am… my emotions. Man, those little suckers jerk me around more than any carnival ride ever could… totally intangible, yet so real and surprisingly powerful.
I am realizing that I am much more of an emotional addict than a Jesus addict. I have depended on emotion to dictate my perceived successes and failures, my moods, my interactions with my family and friends and sometimes, sadly, my pursuit of Christ. How silly to place more importance on the creation than the creator, but I have been guilty of it. Yes, God created my emotions… but he never intended for me to be ruled by them.
Now you all may have already conquered this Mount Everest of lessons, but I am still in the throes of navigating this one! Remember when you were a kid and you had a favorite stuffed animal, and you drug it around behind you wherever you went. For much of my life I’ve been the stuffed animal and my emotions have been the fickle child dragging me from one sticky puddle to the next. I’ve been in bad shape here girls!
Well, I've finally had it. Over the past few weeks God has allowed me to completely tire myself out and He has waited patiently for me to get a clue and call out to Him for help. He has also been kind enough to speak to me in my own language. I love it when He does that!!! For those that don't know me, I am a major music lover. If life were set to a soundtrack, I would be pleased as punch! One of my favorite artists, Ronnie Freeman, has a relatively new album out called God Speaking. I finally made a stop at the Christian bookstore last weekend to pick it up. As a good southern belle friend of mine here in Birmingham would say, “My glory stars!” This album is a Godsend. Quite literally I think! Indulge me while I share some lyrics…
“It’s a long and winding road on the way to freedom. It’s a rough and rocky hill to climb, sometimes. It’s harder than they say and tougher than they think it is, to get to the other side… So Jesus, thank you for patience thank you for grace. Thank you for interceding and pleading for my case. Thank you you’re committed to doing what it takes, to get us to the other side… your love makes me want to fight for the other side.”
Love this one too… “That’s why He came, wore the crown, took the pain – all to pay the price for our freedom. So we could have life, real life, real hope for the future… not just now but forever. So get desperate… get hungry… get tired of… get angry, and breakaway... breakaway. Say goodbye to yesterday… swing the hammer… crush the chains… and breakaway.”
Is anyone else jumping up and down on the inside yet, or am I the only one?!? I feel like my insides are jumping wildly and with waving arms yelling, “Me! Me! I want to swing the hammer! I want to crush the chains that hold me back!” We all know deep down on the inside that we were created to be free! Some days the fight feels like an aerobics class. (If you ever need a good giggle, come check me out in any kind of organized exercise torture session. Think spastic chicken. Truly inspiring!) Other times my Spirit knows my place in the fight is sitting quietly at His side, being still and knowing the He is God.
I’m still a novice at governing these emotions God has so abundantly blessed me with :-), but by gum I’m hammering with all I’ve got… and one day I will look back and see that I was able to breakaway... mostly from myself... and rely on His Spirit to lead my every move. By God’s grace, and through Him alone I will continue to embrace new heights and depths of freedom as long as I live.
So girls, what are your chains? What do you often think about as, “well that’s just the way I am”? Where have you lost hope? God wants freedom for you even in those things. Though the circumstance may never look different, Christ can change and strengthen you on the inside… strengthen you to swing that hammer until one day you are free… free from worry and fear and confusion… just plain free.
Christ has already paid the price for our freedom and as long as we keep fighting, we cannot lose. Just as William Wallace in Braveheart, my heart is screaming FREEDOM!!! And I for one have decided I will not stop until I have it. Funny how letting go of yourself and grabbing onto God can feel an awful lot like a fight and a free-fall all at the same time. I’ll leave you with a little more from Ronnie Freeman, just because he says exactly what I want to…
“… with sword and shield in hand, by word and faith – I fight… I’ll fight ‘til the last day of my life. And I won’t stay down if I fall down, no, no, no. I’ll fight, I’ll fight… get up and fight.”
Recommended listening: God Speaking by Ronnie Freeman
Recommended reading: I Second that Emotion by Patsy Clairmont
by photochick (aka, admin chick)~ It's been so long since we've had a guest blogger, I figured everyone might very well have forgotten that we used to even have such a thing. The idea was to get help from trusted, like-minded friends in providing with you with a little more inspirational content than what color our kid's diaper was that day, or whether or not we're happy about the goings on at this year's American Idol. 
However, what I know her best for is matching french braids (if I had a scanner we would both be embarassed), clogging for hours in our tutus, singing in the pool, and the one human solely responsible for my LOVE of all things Judy Blume. Think Superfudge, Doublefudge, Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing. She was a couple of years older, so when I was in kindergarten she would sit for hours and read those side splitting tales to me. I don't even remember the stories anymore, but I do remember the laughing, and laughing, and laughing.