Andrea O. Freeman

I wasn’t going to blog again this year but I had an itch today and couldn’t resist. I have been thinking today about this season, the reason we celebrate, or more specifically the reason we have such inspired focus. I find myself at very ordinary moments the last few weeks drawn into the experience of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some of that pull comes naturally from being a Mom myself, but the gut wrenching reality hits me when I stop in the middle of a song I’ve heard and also sung several times, “Breath of Heaven” by Amy Grant, and try to absorb what she must have felt. How did she go day to day carrying this gift, this Child that came about through such extraordinary circumstances? Did she have to slow her thoughts down, did she get overwhelmed just thinking about the depth of her role as the mother of the Son of God, the Savior of mankind? I wonder how many nights she found herself overwhelmed with joy and praise to our Father God, and then suddenly in a sobbing puddle of tea...

It never fails. After Halloween, the schedule and the pace gets bit busier, more frantic-at work, at school, at church, at home there is just not enough time in the day to do everything that is on the list of things to accomplish. This year I have more on my plate than in past years, and it is amazing how saying yes to just one or two more things has resulted in more spreading myself thin than I’d originally intended. This past weekend was no exception. I helped with the Project Graduation garage sale setup and event Friday and Saturday. Saturday the usual errands and a few more for the holiday season kept us going until well into the evening. Sunday was an amazing day of worship with our church family, then a fun lunch/movie event for our children’s department, and the snow falling was just the fresh burst I needed to get a little bit of decorating done at home. We all got cozy and enjoyed a board game, then some dinner and a favorite TV program to end the weekend. Oh and I ma...

Rounding out the dental cleanings for the Freeman family this year is me, and so thankful to hear our dentist say this morning, “Excellent checkup!” I am thankful for no surprises there. We’ve had enough surprises this year, thank you very much. Life is like that though, completely unpredictable. You can plan your whole life for your education, your career, your marriage and family, thinking when you meet and accomplish each goal you’ve got it made. So when something doesn’t go the way you expected, how do you handle the train suddenly being de-railed? How do you handle it when your train is de-railed for awhile, perhaps years? You are left with no choice but to pack up what you can carry for the journey, and walk on. I feel like in some ways Ryan and I are still doing just that, walking on. Our train hasn’t quite gotten back on the tracks but we are rebuilding it and preparing it for the day we can see the restoration complete and the train start rolling once again. I am fin...

Is anyone else as stunned as I am that September has come and gone? How can that be? October is here and inevitably you know that means the holidays are going to come barreling toward us at a very fast pace. School began, our schedule is just a bit trickier this year as if having one vehicle wasn’t challenging enough. Just to give you an idea of what the typical week is like for me, well, here is it in a nutshell: 5:30am My alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button typically an average of 3 times. Somewhere between 6:00-6:10 am I drag myself out of bed and stumble to the restroom. 6:45am the older two kiddos are heading out the door to catch the bus for the middle/high school. Coffee is on by now, and I’m well into my morning prep routine for the work day. 7:00ish am—Ryan gets Chloe up and dressed, and she rolls over back to sleep in our bed, and next is getting AJ out of bed and ready for the day. Hopefully by 7:05am he is up and eating some breakfast. Hopefully. 7:20...

To the valley, for my soul, Thy great descent has made me whole. Your word my heart has welcomed home, Now peace like water ever flows. How do I seek You, Lord? Where do I find that peace and rest in You? What more do I need to do in my daily walk with You to know You more, love You more, serve You more? I’ve been on this journey toward a more fluid Christ walk for some time now, at times so restless to find a place of content that will signal my heart, my mind, my soul, “Ah, yes, there it is. I have arrived!” I see this contentedness in others whose faith I have admired for so long, those who appear to have a deeper and more intimate connection with the Father than I do yet. Please don’t misinterpret what I’m getting at here, as I know it probably makes me sound as if somehow I am comparing myself as a Christian with other Christians who seem to have it far better than I at this point in my life. Not quite, and in fact, it is an admiration from afar I’d call it. I see the...

I read a great article today, confirmed some things in me. Most of you know by now but if you don’t, Ryan and I have an intense and very full schedule trying to balance full time work for us both, 2 part time jobs for him on top of that, 4 children in 4 different schools, balancing our time individually with God, each other, our family, extended family, and our church family and friends. There is community among us as family, friends, believers in Christ and there is necessity, responsibility and fellowship to be honored between us all to find ourselves at the end of our lives on this earth hopefully in a place of content and peace knowing we lived and served well. If you aren’t weary after reading that, well, I am. When I take a long look at my 42 years of life so far, what I have done, what I am doing now and what I have yet to accomplish ahead, I am tired in both good and bad ways. It is particularly tricky to balance a part time bi-vocational ministry position when we have so ...

Psalm 139 is on my heart today, just mulling it over in my heart and soul, pondering, “What does God have to speak into my life through this meditative scripture?” Break it down, here’s a sum up of what this chapter speaks: He knows me… He is with me… He made me… He will deliver me… Verse 23 of the Voice translation of the Bible says this and it is my prayer this week: Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am. Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain. I can just imagine sitting with David while he scratched out the words, pleading, crying out to God, because isn’t this what we long for the entirety of our journey with Christ? To be known fully by Him and to know Him more? As I walked yesterday across campus on my lunch break, I prayed unceasingly, “Lord, move in this place, move in my heart to be more of you in this world!” I’m heartbroken this week for many reasons, and it’s hard to miss when the stories are blasted in th...