turned 25.
bridesmaid-ed in the wedding of best friends MA and Chance.
walked for Dove's Nest.
lived life with my life group.
went to Daytona Beach.
went to New York and loved seeing a college roommate get married.
camp rocked!
read for fun on the shores of sullivan's island.
love does.
spontaneously saw mumford and sons in tennessee.
set free tattoo adventures in johnson city.
set my sights on Rwanda.
played games and sang and danced and went on adventures and learned grace and was loved oh so well.
My feet have hit the ground and I'm in reflective mode. The fruit of the race - oh I can see it! - that people have marched and danced alongside me and the Lord has been oh so faithful to me.
What a freedom it has yielded. what an inexplicably peaceful, powerful, profound, holy set apart, joyful joyful beauty of grace.
A friend asked me the other day how the Mumford and Sons show was. And I honestly responded (and I meant it) that I had the time of my life. And she said, 'oh but when do you not have the time of your life?'
it stopped me. and it struck me.
because I remember a life when that wasn't the case! I remember a time when there were burdens and I didn't feel free and I didn't enjoy or adore and things felt heavy. I've lived that life and am running my way out of it.
oh because it is true that I am having the time of my life. I'm happier than I've been, I'm more joyful, I'm less afraid to fail, I'm less fearful, I'm more free. and it's about time!
I've lived a life of holding tight. Holding tight to plans and gifts and dreams and hopes. I've skated away from bold prayer. I've missed out because I think and overthink and think again. I've lined things up and I've said not now and I've fit into molds and I've crafted and planned. I've analyzed because I am an analyzer and I have not been hopeful because I am practical. It always made sense.
But sense. There's not much earthly sense when it comes to living a Gospel life sold out. It's messy and passionate and against the world and against your mind and against the lies. It's embracing and wholeheartedly living who you were created in the image of God to be. It's a new economy, a new sense, a new currency, a new joy, a new clarity, a new way. A new fight. A new freedom.
It feels a lot like having something lifted. A literal weight. I wish you could see the lens that I saw, the lens that I see, and the difference of the two. The grace of the two.
WE'VE GOT THIS LIFE TO LIVE.
WE GET TO LIVE THIS LIFE.
and I'm so excited about what to do with mine! about what He's got planned with mine.
and it's far from perfect. hahaha AND THAT'S OKAY. That's the grace filled beauty of it. That's the journey, the sanctified process, the running and turning to Jesus part. The power of the Spirit, the mighty warrior in me that rises up in the name of the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Approach the throne boldly. Run this race with confidence. Receive mercy, find grace. Live by grace. Experience joy. Be set free. Be genuine. Show compassion. Engage in the mission. Live hopeful. Reject fear. Love others. Love them well. Live by grace. Move towards Christ. Walk in freedom.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Stand firm and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery! Galatians 5:1
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