Be Free || An Anthem for 2018

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."

Hebrews 12:1

For years, I've been packing up Christmas on January 1.  When it all goes up just after Thanksgiving, I can't imagine ever wanting to take it down.  The soft twinkly lights, the magical touches in every room, and the cozy vibe it all creates makes my heart dance.  But then Christmas comes and goes and suddenly it's a new year and I can't wait to pack it all up and store it away until another Christmas season.  It's become a ritual to me.  I take time and care wrapping each new ornament in tissue paper, clean up storage shelves, and linger over each new picture and memory of this season.  And then when it's all packed away, I dust and vacuum and rearrange the open, airy space that is left behind.  The new space opens up all sorts of potential, right at my fingertips, and I feel myself breathing lighter at the sight of it.  I always love the start of a new season, a new beginning, and a new opportunity to reflect, clear the clutter, and start fresh.  But this year's clean-up seemed to carry even more meaning because of where God has been leading me for 2018.  It has to do with freedom, in my home and in my heart.

  

2017 was a good year.  God opened up a lot of doors, but mostly He unlocked a deep desire to open up His word and let it guide and change me from the inside out.  Every decision, every conversation, every seemingly small interaction was now viewed through a new set of eyes, making life more purposeful, powerful, and sometimes complicated.  At the same time, my eyes were opened to the other, often more in-your-face narratives of this world that often replace God's word in informing and directing our lives.  The narratives constantly communicated through our media frenzied, fast-paced, striving and producing world started ringing like a siren, causing me to notice the dirt in my life that made me feel anything but free. 

And then I woke up on my 33rd birthday.  I felt weightless and awake, blessed to be a daughter of God.  And I felt free in that alone.  I read Hebrews 12 and literally felt the knots untangling, the chains breaking as I chased after the only thing that matters in this life - a relationship with Him.  Just as my home feels after packing away that Christmas stuff, the space in my soul felt free to just be who God made me to be.  When I start to believe and live this truth, it relieves the pressure to perform, live up to some expectation, or control my life, and opens up my eyes to His plan, a plan so much greater than mine.  This truth not only makes me feel free, but brave and bold, called by the Holy Spirit to be a disciple for others.  

For God does not give us a spirit of timidity or fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7) 

Since then, God has been pressing the word freedom on my heart, compelling me to understand what it means to live free in Him.  And as much as this freedom has to do with my insides, so much of it trickles into the stuff of this world, too - how I care for myself, our family, our time, and this home.  It has been such a life-giving process to sift through a year of notes and scripture that has stirred up my heart, and to see how God connects the dots.  Using Hebrews 12:1 as my blueprint, here is my anthem for 2018:

• Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

For freedom, Christ set us free.  Stand firm then and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1)

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don't use this opportunity for the flesh...For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh (Galatians 5: 13, 16)

  
Perhaps no other story of the Bible impacted me more this year than the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16.  The rich man lived a life full of luxury in this world, but failed to see Lazarus outside his gate.  In verse 26, Abraham tells the rich man that "a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot."  This chasm is our world, and the more we become a player in it, the greater the space between us and God becomes.  In other words, the more I chase the things of this world, the less I chase after the things of God's eternal world.  I spent lots of time identifying the things of this world that create this chasm for me and ways I can lay those things to rest in the new year.  

In a sermon from our church earlier this fall, our pastor described these things as door openers or door closers.  He said, "Fill your life with things that open doors to a new, transformed way of living.  And close the doors of things that don't."  A big goal of mine for this new year is to invest in opening the doors that lead to a free life, and closing the doors that hinder that freedom.  From my relationships to my email inbox, my home organization and finances to the way I take care of my body, I want to take inventory of my life, be ruthless to eliminate the things that are unnecessary, and pare down to what truly matters.  I have never been a person who can handle a lot of details, and the more there is, the more anxious I become.  From my house to my heart, it's about freeing up space to run.   

           

 

• Let us run with perseverance, the race marked for us... 

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light - for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth." (Ephesians 5: 8-9)

"For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:21) 

"Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown" (Matthew 13: 8)  

When I lean into God more, I understand Him, His plan, and feel free to loosen the grip I have on my life.  But as Matt Chandler reminded me earlier this year, this leaning in to obedience doesn't happen by accident.  Because we have been freely given, I want to be compelled to move forward, planted in the rich soil that will produce the fruit God has already equipped me with.  I want to seek God's word, mature in faith, and help build up others to do the same. 

  
Goals and Intentions for 2018:  

1. Finish reading the Bible.  We started this year with 2 Samuel and Acts and are on pace to finish by August.  This will take perseverance in itself, but the big picture promise is worth it. 

2. Invite more prayer into my days.  This is a discipline that is hard for me, but I have found that when I am more intentional about prayer, the more I let go and let God do His thing.  I'm looking forward to reading Mark Batterson's, Draw the Circle, and am using a monthly prayer journal by Val Woerner.

3. Free up my social media/technology life.  I want to take big steps in this area, hopefully creating more time and space to be creative and focus on these other important areas.  I have several ideas that will help with this:

-Take long breaks from Facebook/Instagram throughout the year

-Unplug for periods each day, especially from after school to bedtime

-Clean up my email inbox and unsubscribe from all the junk

-Scale back the blog - write when I feel called to, but don't feel pressure to get to it all

-Make it tangible - create products the kids can enjoy now, like chatbooks and these from Pinhole Press.  
-Organize picture and video files and make this less overwhelming

-Pare down who I follow and what I read online - stick to close friends and others who leave me feeling inspired and filled up.

4. Self-Care.  I can't be who God wants me to be unless I'm taking care of this body He created for me.  I want to integrate daily habits that make me feel alive and well so I can do the work He calls for me.  

-Go for more walks and runs.  Nothing makes me feel more free than time outside and a little fresh air, and there's a reason Hebrews 12 uses the metaphor of a race. :)

-Emphasize healthy and whole eating throughout the year

-Take time to be creative, and maybe learn a new craft or hobby

-Rest well, especially on the weekends

5. Focus on Family.  After healing a man in Mark 5, the first thing Jesus tells him to do is "go home to your own people and tell them how much God has done for you."  These people under my roof are the most important ministry in my life, and it's vital we invest in each other well.  Some ideas include:

-Prioritize Thursday date nights with Beau. 

-Build quiet time into our days.

-Foster more discussion around who God is and who He has made us to be.  Beau just started the He Reads Truth Bible app himself and I look forward to growing our spiritual muscle together 

-Protect our calendar and prioritize time for our family to read, adventure, and snuggle :)

-Create more opportunities to invest in other members of our family, serving them and loving them well.

6. Creating order and freedom in our space

-Make it through this house in a year...declutter closets, create intentional spaces for things, and put the finishing touches on the basement.

-Continue budgeting our finances, being good stewards of God's money 

-Plan healthy meals and get groceries on Fridays, freeing up the weekend to rest and adventure.

-Invite people here in ways that make them feel seen and celebrated 

-Invest in our communities and the door-opening people God has placed in our lives.  

So here is to a year of living free...free to trust just who He has called me to be...free to be brave, to speak more truth, and to dance in the grace we've been given...free to eliminate distractions, remove the unnecessary, and pare down to what truly matters...free to trust and go where I'm led...free to say yes to things that bring me joy and peace and closer to the heart of God, and no to things that don't...free to live this next year, this one life, in a way that honors Him.  It's a year full of hope and promise.  I can hardly wait to see how He moves.