Andrea O. Freeman

Monday seems to be the day of the week I am blogging lately. I can't believe how fast the week goes, but it is no wonder with our schedule. Bad air quality for a few days has left me feeling icky-allergies and just sluggish. I wanted to roll over and just stay asleep for a couple more hours this morning. Worship yesterday was sweet, a reminder of God's identity. Society has decided that any god is okay because as long as you are a good person, show kindness, focus on improving yourself and do good things then ultimately every path leads to a rewarding eternity. Some call it "the Light", an inner peace, finding your true self, or any number of idols like Buddha. Whatever the religion, it seems the world thinks you can pick and choose what you like about a religion, mix it together to make your own belief system. The truth is that there is only one, and that is God. He has not changed from one generation to the next: He is the same yesterday, today and forever...

It's Monday yet again. I was out sick several days last week and so now I return to the unending catch up work. Uggh. Mondays can be tough as it is, but it seems harder given my circumstances. I am still getting over this crud and not in the best of moods, people are being demanding and impatient as usual in my line of work, so stress levels are high today. I can't wait for 4:30 to come. Fall is arriving whether we are ready for it or not. School, new schedules, new events, busy, busy, busy....I am too tired for this. I wish summer lasted longer than it has. My daughter, Rylee, started middle school last week--yikes! She is adjusting pretty well, but I know there will be more hurdles to come. Bailey is in second grade and so far, so good. He started football--oh yeah! That's my boy. He is loving it, although he's finding even the fun of football includes some hard work. AJ, my sweet youngest is rolling right along and I am missing being at home with him. ...

For you know when your faith is tested, endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:3 I read this in my quiet time today and thought about something in my devotion for the longest time. Rather than wait impatiently, gnawing at our fingers and wondering if God is really going to come through...we should be expectant. Are we? Am I? Honestly, 90% of the time I worry too much. It is something I have struggled with for years, to the point at times I have lost sleep, lost my appetite, lost touch with reality and slipped into a state of mental fog. There have been moments in our marriage Ryan has even told me about these "episodes" I have had that truly scared him. I have learned in recent years it could be a form of depression I am dealing with. The anxieties of this life should not be a surprise, yet every time something doesn't go the way we hoped and expected, we freak out. Most of us would say we can account for this reaction because it is simply our human nature. B...