Free Indeed

The 4'th is special to me. Not only is it the day before my birthday (24 in just an hour!) but it is also one day a year you are encouraged to wear super bright colors and you won't stand out. But this year I have really enjoyed the celebration of freedom. It is an excellent reminder to me personally to pray for those who don't have the same privilege to live in a country with so much freedom. But most of all, I celebrate freedom from sin. 

This is a day I am seizing this year to just rejoice that I am no longer a slave to sin, I am set free by God's amazing power. 

Ephesians 2 is such a rich passage but verses 4-5 are my favorites: God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (NLT)

Romans 6:20-23: When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 8:34-36: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

Romans 8:2: And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

We were dead, and He gave us life. We were slaves, and He set us free. Any day is a perfect day to celebrate the freedom we find in Christ. We are free, my friends, and that is incredible. 

One Massive Update

Well, that was massively longer than one month, sorry about there. 

I chose the word Rest as my word of the year after a conversation with my sister. We started asking seriously why it felt so important to get so many things done. We both agreed that there was no reason we needed to make massive goals for the year and try to achieve great things. We both needed a year where we didn't try to do so much. And you know what? It's been lovely. 

I've been doing a lot of babysitting, and hanging with family. My dad helped me install a tiny desk in our greenhouse, so now I have a bit of an outside office where I can write, do Bible time, and paint. That has been fantastic!

One of my only big goals for the year has been to spend more time outside. So I've been spending a lot of time out on my hammock, or on my new Slack Line. Y'all, that thing is the best thing ever. I learned to ride my bike without holding the handles (very big accomplishment, I know. XD) 

It's been a really good year so far, and it's hard to sum all of it up. I got to go to a young adults retreat, we had the whole family together for Easter, and my friend Hannah let me come to a For King and Country concert with her. Rose and Stewart got married a month ago(!!!), I got to see the new Mario movie in theaters, my sister paid for me to pet a Kangaroo (Beyond epic), we traveled to SC and back for a friend's wedding, saw Anastasia the Broadway play, had a lot of awesome Bible Study nights, danced at a dear friend's wedding, got to see my first Marvel movie in theaters, and with my dad so that was epic. I also got to meet my friend Faith in person for the first time. <3

It hasn't all been good, but it has been good. Losing my dog at the end of the year was a blow at the end of a very long, hard year. But I can tell I'm finally adjusting. Life is falling into a new routine. I'm switching to a different schedule for the summer as I try to find more work for my days, but I am choosing experiences over accomplishments, and just really enjoying what God has brought into my life. 

So am I back? Yeah, kind of. Today marks five years since I opened this blog and ten-odd years in the blogging world. Honestly, I don't love it like I used to, so I'm not going to put a lot of my effort into this, but I still might pop in every once in a while with updates. So thank you, even if you don't stick around, for being here. For caring. I'm glad to be here, and I hope to be back soon. 

Please tell me how you've been doing below, let's catch up!