Freedom

     I confess. I am a Christmas junky. Christmas nerd. Christmas nut. A true Griswold when it comes to decorating.  I used to try to hold off decorating the tree til after Thanksgiving but I gave up on waiting. While the rest of the house is dressed in Harvest decor, the Christmas tree is glowing beautifully across the room from me right now.
     But this year it’s different. After years of confusion and pain, I recently realized how thankful I truly am this year. While I could make a long list of things I’m thankful for, I think I have to say that freedom is, today, the biggest thing.  But, if you’ve read my last three blogs, it may not be in the way you imagine.
     You see it’s not that I’m happy to be free from someone. It’s that I’m happy to be free to live. To truly live.  I guess it seems kinda crazy, but even putting up the Christmas tree, I felt freedom. No pressure. No question if I was decorating it too early.  And I even left off a lot of decorations this year. When I say a lot, I mean like I put on less than half as many as usual.
     It’s like the baggage is gone. The weight is lifted. I don’t have to carry it anymore. And leaving off those decorations revealed that to me. I got to choose to make the tree look just like I wanted it. Somehow it gives me such an amazing feeling of freedom, it’s almost overwhelming. I look at it and it makes me smile. And I can finally breathe!
     Is it really the Christmas tree though?  Not at all. It’s this new life. While the devil is still attacking and trying to steal my joy, it’s not going to work anymore. God has reminded me over and over of the freedom He has planned for me. The peace. The joy.  The healing. The family. The friendship.  And I’m starting to really let people in my heart again. It has been so long..........
     And the Lord reminds me constantly in His Word to trust Him. He’s got this!

  “Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:11-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬  Just one passage that seems to be ever before me, encouraging me.
     

     Freedom. Today it’s what I’m most thankful for. Freedom in Christ. Freedom to be the me God created me to be.....because I hadn’t been that me for a very long time.  And this new thing, is a good thing.