Andrea O. Freeman

O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing! Psalm 103:1-3 (MSG) The end of 2012 is near, and I am thankful to have some extra time today to reflect on it. I am thankful for how far we have come, I am still learning to understand the turns our lives took, and I know through it all God is good and has provided much. My greatest joy in life is my family, what God has given me. My greatest dream has been to find a man of God whom I can share my life with, to be blessed with the amazing and extremely challenging role of motherhood, and to know with greater certainty that no matter what direction my life should take--I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I have many reasons to praise my God every single day, but the greatest is to know I have a Savior, that Jesus loves me, that I am saved and God will not forget me and will always take care of me. Life is always going to hand us...

My heart is heavy today, not just because of the school shooting in Connecticut, but because I am very much aware of how our nation, our world needs a Savior. How do we make sense of this, any of this and a number of other tragedies that has occurred and unfolded in our communities? And then, how do we help our children deal with this? I have seen some of the coverage today and I am rocked to my core by how very short life can be. What is most difficult to swallow--God knew this was going to happen today and He did not intervene to stop it. How do we make sense of it? You and I may not want to swallow this in the raw state of emotion and grief, but here it is. He makes all things work together for my good! Check it: Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He know...

Christmas is just a few short weeks away, and while I am looking forward to it and enjoying the season and all the festivities leading up to it, I am also mindful today in particular of those who are struggling, hurting, in a very dark time. It probably feels as if there is no solution, and it may even seem as if there's no way to climb out of the hole you are in. As Ryan and I are coming to the end of 2012 and looking back at what we have experienced, I find myself asking more questions than finding answers. In fact, there are questions I have no answer for at all. I am quite frankly dumbfounded, at a loss for words to describe, to understand. I think I am finding on this journey of faith, as I continue to talk with God about it, and explore what the Word has to say about it, study a number of resources, find any source for answers---some of them may not come until I stand before Him. I don't like that. I don't like that I can't figure it out, that I can't g...

I found myself digging deeply in my spirit this morning during my devotional. Something caught my attention, grabbed me and made me stop and think about the condition of my heart. Faith is hard, trusting God is hard, and all too often I find myself feeling a draw to plant my feet equally in both courts—God’s and mine. At what point in our lives and after experiencing a hand full of difficult times, do we suddenly find ourselves so skeptical of God, of everyone, of everything we have known for so long? Is this a step in our growth as Christ-followers? Is this precisely the point God wants us? So in the midst of my devotional this morning the words suddenly became tangible, I could picture the description and myself fully in it. It starts out by defining believing as a decision, that faith does not come from hearing the Word of God alone, but it involves the active decision. As we begin our relationship with Christ, we begin this journey toward a stronger, greater faith in Him. ...