Experiencing Freedom

In John 10:10 Jesus explains that the enemy wants to steal, destroy and kill. The next thing Jesus says is one of the most powerful statements in scripture (In my opinion at least) He says that he has come so we can not only live, but live abundantly! While Satan seeks to kill, Jesus breathes life into us!

I came to Hartford 10 months ago. I was called to love and serve the community of Hartford, specifically the Northend. I had this vision that I would form all these great relationships with the children and find a great church in the city and work for something other than a day care.  When all of these things were not really working out I became fearful. I lacked the trust in God that I had at the start of my journey here. I began to doubt God's call on my life. I longed to return back home where things would be much easier (or I imagined they would be) In these moments I think the enemy was using these thoughts and doubts to steal and destroy. I honestly felt defeated for several months.

Since the last time I wrote in December so much has happened! The community of people at my church that I talked about has since fallen apart. I guess that may be too dramatic. What I should say is a lot of changes happened in peoples lives causing certain weekly events to end. Now, the only time I really see my friends from church is Sundays or random occasions. I also moved out of The Vine into an apartment several minutes away. God provided new community! It was a hard decision but a good one. I moved in with two other girls who share a very similar passion for Hartford. It is going so good. I was feeling very sad at the lack of girl friends I had in my life. In San Diego, I had some really close girl friends which made me feel at home. And although San Diego was always home to me, once my parents left it was hard to know what home was.  But now that I am in this new place I feel more at home than I have in so long! My heart for the city has grown so much. After driving through at dusk the other night I could not help but be in tears! I felt like God showed me how He sees Hartford! After seeing a younglife students baby for the first time my heart melted with more love than I thought I had.  I

I am so encouraged by the work God has been doing in me in the past month or so. I'm not sure what shifted but I am learning what it is to be free in Christ. I thought I knew what it looked like before but I was so wrong. I am convinced that one of the reasons God called me to Hartford was to learn what freedom is. He called me to live 3000 miles away from home to enter into a deeper relationship with Him! What? Couldn't He have just let me stay? NO! There were too many distractions. I was too comfortable there. There were too many people that I was seeking to please. There were unhealthy relationships. So what did God do? He knew my desires and heart for Hartford and He sent me here to live. To live life abundantly.

In my life recently I have been learning more about what it means to have Jesus define my life! T Last week at church the pastor stopped what he was preaching about because he felt like God was telling him that there were people there who felt defined by their families, jobs, fears, really everything but Jesus.   God told him to tell us that we are not defined by those things. Talk about freedom! Not to mention God again and again uses his perfect timing for the touching on the things I am working through. It was also encouraging to see someone stop and listen to God and share in the middle of his sermon. He probably worked hard to prepare it but God had a different message to deliver.

I have also been learning about purity. Jesus says " Blessed are the pure at heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8) It's easy to apply purity to romantic relationships but there is so much more to it! What does it look like in every aspect of my life to have a pure heart. I really believe that our hearts and minds are more connected than we sometimes let them be. We have the mind of Christ.( 1 Cor 2:16) When we let that be something we  embrace rather than memorize I feel like our hearts are being not only healed but purified! I desire a pure heart. I desire to see God. As I take on the mind of Christ and as I let God make my heart pure, I see Him more!

I am the happiest I have been since I got to CT and I praise God for that. Freedom brings joy!