Out From the Shadows
October 12, 2021

     Eric and I did two things today that have set my mental wheels to turning.  The first was speaking at a Crisis Intervention Training for law enforcement and first responders.  The second was to watch a movie about a teenage girl dying of cancer.  Her final video–taped message was to her mother.  It was that people need to stop spending so much time dying and start really living life to the full.

     Funny thing is, I had just this morning read my Sunday School lesson on that very concept – and then journaled on it.  I have tended to live my recent adult life out of a sense of guilt, trying to “make up” for all the losses I put my family through in my younger days.  But in today’s lesson, and in the events of the evening, I have felt called to begin living out of a sense of blessedness and joy rather than guilt.

     Life with Eric has freed me to enjoy developing my skills and talents and to spend them on inspiring and encouraging others.  Jesus said He came to give us the experience of abundant life.  It has become my absolute reality to do just that. What an amazing difference it makes to live out of a sense of joy than out of a sense of guilt!  It liberates us – and it helps set others free as well.