Andrea O. Freeman

 2020 is nearly done, so hard to believe.  This year has been an experience that I cannot sum up with just one word.  As I am writing this blog entry, my brain is a bit scattered, foggy, and although I slept good the last couple of nights-I'm more tired than I think I have ever been in my life.  A few years back, my Dad started to notice some oddities in my Mom.  Little things were forgotten, things that most of us would brush off as simply getting a bit older.  This just comes with it right?  I had noticed significant mood swings, delays in conversations with Mom a couple years after we moved back to Springfield in 2012 to be closer to family, to help with Ryan's folks as they both were facing health challenges and also for better job opportunities for both of us.  As we approached my parents' 50th anniversary in 2019, that summer in particular we experienced some finality in terms of Mom's condition and had to learn to embrace a diagnosis: ...

When is the last time you took responsibility for your sin?  My devotional studies in recent weeks have spanned across themes of grace, forgiveness, rest, and this week it has focused in on acknowledging our sin. Not specifically something I did, or you did, but our sinful nature in and of itself. We think when a baby is born, so innocent, so undeserving of anything other than abundant blessings in this life... Yes, that is the hope and the prayer for every life that God brings into this world. But, every single human being is blessed and cursed upon entry into this world with free will and humanity in its fullness. God breathed, but enabled to act freely as the journey of life rolls out. We pray, we plan, we worry, we do everything we can possibly think of to ensure that precious life grows to become a thriving contributor to this life. There is no better gift as a parent, than to hear from someone how kind, how respectful, how confident in Christ my children are. This is e...

God’s promise of entering His rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. Hebrews 4:1 I just wrapped up a very timely devotional study today for the week, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer. Each day’s focus has been about what is not compatible with Hurry. Peace and Rest were particularly difficult for me to really soak up. 2020 is proving to be a year of great intensity for me. I am nearing completion of week #6 of my new job and my Mom’s Dementia has grown increasingly worse. It’s hard to explain just how heavy it feels mentally and physically, how absolutely draining it is when I get to the end of the day. I feel completely inadequate, and I find myself apologizing to Ryan and the kids often. I am finding out I have limitations, that there is only so much one person can do with the responsibilities they have been given in this life. It’s not the first time I have had to stare into the mirror at myse...

'Jesus, Jesus, You make the darkness tremble, Jesus, Jesus, You silence fear' I was reading in my devotional study this morning about the power of these 2 words regarding what Christ did for us: Upon Him The intention of that phrase, of what Christ came to do for every single one of us. He took it all upon Himself for us, every sin, everything for us. He took the ridicule, He took the judgement, He took the punishment, He took it all upon Himself so that we would not ever have to endure any of it that we so deserve. How do we fully comprehend the enormity of this love? How do we fully express our gratitude? I started a new online Bible study by Max Lucado last night about Jesus, and I can tell already it is just what I needed. It's a beautiful and powerful reminder of Who He is to me, to this world, to us His wondrous creation. Even in the depths of this experience my Mom is going through, I have no greater comfort than to go straight to the Source of all ho...

Here comes mid-February 2020, how can that be? It feels like time is practically running me over, as the New Year whizzes by day after day. Ryan and I just celebrated 25 years of marriage in December, and we are in the last couple years of our 40’s ….. Wow! I remember when my folks were this age, and thought that was a long way off for me. As we completed 2019 and enter 2020, we are in a new season of transition. We completed a wonderful season of ministry with Story Church, so thankful to have been part of this loving church family and help launch a new church plant in the Springfield/Rogersville area. As Ryan is grinding away at his IT Degree at MSU, and we look down the New Year ahead of us, we have more questions than answers, but we know this for certain: God is preparing the way for our next steps in this extraordinary life He has given us. In the last couple years, we have adjusted to a new level of busy in our family with a husband and 2 kids in college, helping with b...