Flying Freely

In honor of Independence Day, we’re going to be reading a freedom-focused excerpt from Mari’s story:

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Mari knew they wanted her to be like that swallow, the bird that wasn’t chained to fear but free to live boldly and confidently and believe that she was loved and lovable. Even her bright and bold flower-of-a-name pointed her to that conclusion. And the mantra Cresida taught her was helping… unchain… her, as it was teaching her how to look at things less fearfully and more logically—she was smart, brave, creative, resourceful, kind, loving, and loved. There were evidence and occasions to support each of those words—but it was still hard to remember those things when she got stressed, emotional, or thrust out of her comfort zone. Which conveniently happened every day here (ever heard of growing pains? Yeah, that’s the perfect way to describe Mari’s tug-of-war between freedom and fear).  

While Mari knew that she wasn’t as panicky as she’d once been, she was well aware that she still had a long way to go. It just seemed like every tiny step forward… somehow looped her around so she was actually miles backwards. Nevertheless, she wanted to—be free, be brave, be the creative person that she knew she was, that every beat of her imaginative heart propelled her to be.

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Annddd that’s it for this week. Although this passage is shorter than some I’ve shared, I think most of us can relate to the tug-of-war Mari’s experiencing between faith and fear; freedom and fear.

The Bible says that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery,” and I think we can all use a little more practice in this (Gal 5:1). But with Christ's help, we can imitate the swallow in my story…

Choosing to soar freely because we trust in the Savior Who’s given us our freedom. Even if it feels like we’re going one-step-froward-two-steps-back… we’re still making progress.

Slowly and steadily, our Lord is teaching us how to fly.