Andrea O. Freeman

Sometimes the pace we set for ourselves and the path we carve through the day’s to-do list, well, it doesn’t always go quite as planned. I’m learning as I get older, this is often times a gift. It is God’s way of humbling us to start with Him as our focus, everything else is secondary. It can be particularly jarring for some of us when our pride is a bit dented by what threw us off from a particular goal. A vision. A dream. A hope. What is our response when suddenly we find ourselves thrown off balance by something? Or someone? The only One who fully knows our heart’s intent is God. There is not a human being in your life that can see and know and grasp fully your heart’s intent. Our best aim is to pray for God’s presence to go before us and prevail in the hearts that are on the receiving end of our intent. It is inevitable when misunderstanding and assumption take root, and suddenly we are questioning how it got to this point. What a powerful and comforting thing to ha...

What’s your burden? What is it that weighs you down today? What do you hope to gain by clinging to it? At what point will you stop and consider this: What Jesus did for you on the Cross is bigger and greater than anything that’s been done to you! (Christine Caine,"Adamant for the Lost",Lisa Bevere podcast) I can look back over my life, see the damage done and the time lost by allowing what I had endured and what someone said or did to me determine my perspective. We have a choice , we always have a choice . I can also look back over my life, and see the moments I chose to lean into my Father God rather than sink into the burden. There is power in the name of Jesus! There is grace abounding for us, new mercy every day, and His unconditional love and faithfulness…..but we must choose it. He will not force himself upon us. Have you ever found yourself caught in this scenario? God speaks a word into you for someone who is hurting, you pray over it and see...

We are T minus 8 days and counting until the start of another school year. I know some who have already begun in other states, so this month I suppose is one grand start to a new season for us all. I am trying to prepare my brain for the shift in our schedules that is about to launch. With one entering his senior year of high school, another entering her junior/senior year in college, a husband in college, an 8th grader and a 2nd grader, plus balancing our work schedules, church schedule, and navigating the care of Ryan’s folks, and making time for our family and time just for the two of us---our mindset these past couple months has been “Breathe, Pray, Trust....” The necessity for release and full on trust in God is more evident to me right now that at any other time in my life. When God spoke into me awhile back about my focus this year being “Release”, I had no idea what I was in for. But He knew. None of this is a surprise to Him. I can recall a time early in our marriag...