Blog
Title: One Of Those Days...
Date: 05/27/08
Author:
Thought I'd blog, since I haven't in a long time, and since I'm bored out of my mind.... well, at least til I decided to blog.... I dropped my mini-van (it's my wife's...) off at the fixin place to get my brakes worked on, get my air filter replaced and an oil change. Would you believe that all of that is costing me.... well, more than I want to spend. So, I walked a 1/4 of a mile to an Atlanta Bread Co. where they have free wi-fi. My cell phone just ran out of battery (because I'm notorious for not charging it at night - my charger is goofy anyway....) and I'm waiting on my wife to bring me debit card which I forgot in my hurrying out the door to get the van in before everyone and their brother showed up. My wife's 40 minutes late. Seems to be one of those days. But, I'm breathing, I fortunately have the money to pay the mechanic and my wife and children love me.... Guess I can't complain... What are you thankful for today?
Title: Two Birds With One Stone...
Date: 05/09/08
Author:
I'm in a men's group every Thursday night where "talking about your feelings" is the whole reason why we're there. In a culture where that is not the norm, especially for men, I'm finding it almost impossible to go through life anymore bottling all of my feelings up, never letting them have air to breathe and live and just be..... It's okay to feel - angry, sad, shame, fear, gladness, etc. God made us to feel but somewhere down the road of growing up, we were told not to. Okay.... that's not even what my blog is supposed to be about.....
During my "group", one of the guys was in the middle of sharing when I got hit, for the millionth time, with the truth of how dangerous comparisons can be... You know, when you think you aren't good enough, or at least not as good as the next guy or girl... You're not as pretty or handsome as.... You don't keep your house up as good as.... You don't parent as good as.... You're not as talented as.... It's all a hellish distraction from loving who God has made you to be. That's right... it's okay to love yourself. I seem to remember one VERY wise rabbi saying "love your neighbor as yourself." If you don't love YOU, how can you love anyone else? If we're constantly comparing ourselves to others, how can we ever be satisfied with who we are?
I leave you with a quote from what one of the greatest kings on earth once said - "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
Title: Nowhere...
Date: 05/07/08
Author: Ronnie
My soapbox right now (and maybe for good) is faithfulness. It's funny because I just read my wife's most recent blog and I was inspired to go ahead and echo what she said. I've been saying this for a few months now, but I believe all God is calling us to do is to be faithful. Take a look at your plate and see what He's put on it. For some, it's standing on a stage. For most though, it's going to an office job or tending to a dirty house or running children to dance and baseball practice. Our worst enemy can be our visions of granduer - the whole "grass is greener" idea. If we're living life constantly wishing for what may or may not come, we can miss out on the opportunity to fulfill the purposes of today. Even if you get an opportunity that you had only hoped you might get some day, just be faithful. Take a look at the lady praying for people all day long in her basement..... God is calling her to be faithful. Just faithful. God will open the doors he wants to open and then will ask you once again to trust Him and be faithful. Brennan Manning calls it being "nowhere". Broken down, it's NOW HERE. Live in the present.
Title: I Don't Like Boo-Boo's...
Date: 04/04/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
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I was walking out of our local YMCA last week with my three youngin’s (that’s what you call ’em in Alabama) and my youngest, Esther, was carring a small bag of cheezits in one arm and her juice in the other. Of course everytime my three-year old walks (more like skips) down any concrete steps, there’s the strong chance she will kiss the pavement with either her forehead, knees or elbows. Sure enough, with two armfuls, it happened. You know that hard cry that kids cry where they don’t breath for several seconds? Yeah, that’s what she did. After finally taking a breath, she looked down at her already scabbed knee and said, "Daddy, my knee is red!!!" We all headed back inside and as I walked toward the bathroom carrying my little princess, her crying intensified. She’s smart enough to know that that meant more pain. As I sat her on the edge of the sink getting ready to wash the wound, it dawned on me that this is yet another picture of us and the heavenly Father. In order for healing to take place, I had to wash the boo-boo.... and washing the boo-boo hurts! At the point in which I ran warm water over her knee and the pain began, she had to have been thinking something like, "I’m already dying here! Why do you want to make me hurt MORE?!!" She has little to no idea that I was taking excellent care of her and that the scrape would heal after I washed it. The real pain would soon be over. |
Title: The Secret
Date: 04/04/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
One of the most profound life-lessons I am learning is heaven’s best-kept secret - contentment. I sometimes skim over the fact that the bible calls it a secret: like a secret code or password, or the "secret’s in the sauce", or even "her secret for looking young". A secret is something not everyone knows. It’s special and unique. It is often the door to something valuable. It seems we live in a world where the past and the future (more often times the future) is significantly more important than the present. Embracing the present has EVERYTHING to do with "the secret". It’s declaring that today has purpose. Jesus calls us to recognize that today is all we have – He promised that He would take care of tomorrow. For me, fretting about tomorrow robs me of the possibility of seeing beauty in this very moment. Consider asking God to share with you the secret of contentment today.
Title: Mystery...
Date: 03/27/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
The older I get, the less of a handle I have on figuring God out. Instead, the mystery of who He is grows greater and greater. For instance, I’m finding that the ways He chooses to speak cannot be defined or contained. I get lots of emails on how God spoke through the loss of a loved one. The aftermath of those tragedies are often filled with people coming to Jesus. We don’t have to know the "whys" of our hurts to know that God is always committed to redeeming them. I’m learning not to shun all pain in my life. God may be right in the middle of it, trying to tell me that He loves me and that He is and will be enough.
Title: Montana Getaway...
Date: 03/21/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
I recently went to Montana with the Mrs. for a little late - anniversary get away. It wasn’t extremely cold while we were there but we did get to see more than a little snow fall on the tail end of our trip. On our last night there, we decided to go out for a nice dinner at a little place called "The Kitchen". It’s a white linen tablecloth sort of place where the portions are a little smaller but the food is top notch. When we went into the restaurant around 6:30 pm, the streets were clear except for the snow pushed and hardened on the sides from a snow plow a week or so before. We took our time eating (not something I’m very accustomed to) and ended up being there for close to an hour and a half. As we almost reached the door to leave, my wife paused and gasped as she looked out the glass door to see an unbelievable night-time winterwonderland.
Title: I'm Sorry...
Date: 03/20/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
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I absolutely love my family. I have a faithful wife of eleven years and three drop-dead gorgeous children. (I’m a dad. You didn’t expect me to say anything less did you?) These days, with all the character defects that God is revealing in my life, I can easily find myself tempted to live in guilt and shame. I often fear how my kids will turn out in light of my mistakes as a father. Consequently, as powerful as confession is with the heavenly Father and with others, I am getting to see that it is equally powerful with my children. My wife and are learning the beauty of recognizing our wrongs and apologizing for them – to each other AND our children. If we’re succeeding as parents in any way, it’s learning to say, "I’m sorry". They get to see that mommy and daddy are not perfect and have to depend on the Holy Spirit daily for wisdom and direction. We’re teaching them that it’s okay to be wrong and it’s necessary to make amends for it. My prayer is that they will benefit just as much from our failures as they do our successes. |
Title: Who You Are...
Date: 02/21/08
Author: Ronnie Freeman
Who You Are
Do you know those people in your life that remind you of things you often forget? The people who work closest with me are experts, but mostly my wife. I forget SO much – like where I put my wallet last or deadlines that have to be met or meetings I FORGOT to put on my calendar (they might as well have never been scheduled if I forgot to put them on my calendar). So, today, I thought I'd be one of those people and remind you of WHO YOU ARE. For those who are in Christ, you are a new creation. You are forgiven, made complete. You are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. You are not alone for the Spirit of the living God resides inside of you. You have been adopted and are now seated with Christ in heavenly places – you are of a royal priesthood. You have great purpose. You are not a wanderer in this dark and broken world and today – today is a wonderful opportunity to be loved by your perfect, heavenly Father who adores you.
Title: Words...
Date: 02/15/08
Author: By Ronnie Freeman
I am convinced that God is always at work in our lives. Specifically, the pruning process is something we all probably agree is necessary - until it's our turn to be pruned. All that to say, God is pruning me right now in the area of how I relate to and communicate with others. "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1) I remember my mom repeating this verse over and over to me growing up. At this place in my life, I think I'm beginning to understand that these words have much to do with love and service to others. I find that harsh words come when I feel the need to defend my "rightness" or take on the self-appointed responsibility of helping someone else see the error of their ways. When we relieve ourselves of those burdens, communicating is much more effective. Learning to respond with gentleness takes time. It'll be messy. We'll make mistakes, but in the end, there'll be fewer regrets to sort through.
Title: TOY STORE...
Date: 12/15/07
Author: Ronnie Freeman
Toy Store
I think I'm getting old. Whatever happened to kids asking for Tonka trucks and dolls for Christmas? I thought I'd be creative this year and get my two oldest kids some gifts cards (my oldest likes to act as if she's 20 and treats them like they're credit cards...) So, I went looking for the toy store in the mall for my son and guess what? There isn't one. I stopped to ask someone where it was and they said, "There's a game stop...?" Whatever happened to K B Toys? Disney, Build-a-bear and Game Stop told it to hit the road. If you're looking to buy toys in the mall this Christmas, you're out of luck. Better get back in the car and drive to Toys-R-Us down the street.
Title: "Ring The Bells"
Date: 12/07/07
Author:
Yes, I have a Christmas song...
The church I am on staff with put together a Christmas cd to raise money for our church plant in the Sudan. I co-wrote this song with friends Cindy Morgan and Tony Wood. Cindy and I recorded the song as a duet for this special project. To purchase the whole cd (featuring Christy Nockels, Denise Jones from Point of Grace, Erin Odonnell and others), go to fbctn.org. Every dollar that comes in will be sent to our precious friends in the Sudan.
Merry Christmas!
Title: Snow
Date: 12/07/07
Author: Ronnie
I was in Green Bay, WI this past weekend doing a couple of concerts. I always love going to Green Bay around winter - the colder weather is always therapy for me. My favorite day is white skies, dry and the temp around 40. It was all that and more this past weekend. I was out walking early in the morning with my cup of coffee all bundled up and tiny snowflakes began to fall. November 17th and it's snowing. I thanked God for thinking of me. It was a little bit of heaven for this Alabama boy.
Title: Laugh
Date: 12/07/07
Author: Ronnie
You know what makes life a little easier sometimes? Good, old-fashioned, hard-belly laughing. I had some meetings this past week in Texas where I had to put on my best face and meet with very important people whom I had never met before. Now, while anyone who really knows me might with certainty say I am a funny, bubbly people-person, I'm not ALL chuckles and bubbles. I actually, like most, have a fear of rejection. I was told by those who work with me that I needed to just be myself ( I love that.) Just before we started these series of meetings, I found myself telling funny road stories with my traveling companions (four of us in all) and laughing so hard until we were all crying and holding our bellies while hitting the car seats trying to catch our breath. And it's like the fear just disappeared. I always underestimate the therapy that laughter gives. It is one of life's little gifts that is often robbed from us by business and FEAR.
Take time to laugh today. Go rent "Dumb and Dumber" with a friend OR trip a kid running down the isle of an airplane like I just did after finishing this blog (seriously I did but it was an accident). Don't trip children.
Title: Homeless...
Date: 09/27/07
Author: Ronnie
I never thought I'd ever experience the feeling of being homeless, but I think I have in some small way. Thankfully it's not in the true sense of living in a cardboard box, owning nothing but the clothes on my back and having to beg for money. This "homelessness" came after selling our home, moving out last week and not being able to move into our next place til the end of the month. Although we are renting a house from a friend, all of OUR stuff is in storage. We're sleeping on someone else's beds, scrambling eggs out of someone else's tephlon pan, and worst of all, sitting on someone else's potty (that's the word I use now.) We're displaced. And as trite as this sounds, there has been this empty feeling of being homeless. Grab a tissue and join me...We passed our old street the other day and my three year old perked up and said, "Mommy, I want to go home." I guess that's it in a nutshell for me - I want to go home.
(to be continued...)
Title: I don't "hate" many things
Date: 09/27/07
Author: Ronnie
Title: What Completes a Summer Vacation?
Date: 08/27/07
Author: Ronnie
Title: Life's Little Highlights
Date: 08/27/07
Author: Ronnie