OLD THINGS NEW

FROM BROKEN, TO BEAUTIFUL

Navigation
  • Home
  • Painted Furniture & Misc.
  • Tutorials
  • Contact

Freedom Friday – On Becoming Who God Created You to Be

November 21, 2014 by Patti 11 Comments

“Let me give you a hug,” said the 82-year-old Maery, as she bustled out from behind the sales counter.  Then, wrapping me in a hug bigger than expected from such a tiny lady, she proclaimed for all to hear, ” I LOVE you!” 

More later . . .

Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A new devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts.

Today is my birthday and I’m bursting at the seams with excitement!  No, I’m not really excited to be 59, hanging on the precipice of 60!!!  I’ve not really minded the change from one decade to another before, but this one seems more intimidating.  Maybe that’s because there have been so many changes in my life this year and I’m feeling a little less secure.  I’m still standing on The Rock though so I’ll wait to see how I feel next year!

What I AM excited about is a birthday present I received this year.  It was an early present that I’ve been just dying (slight exaggeration) to share with you.

Buffet 039Would you like to play the same “What is it?” game we played in the last Freedom Friday?  Let’s not!

Blue Heron 001 Because I want to get right to this gift from my amazing husband who knew, in spite of the price, that this was a treasure that couldn’t be passed up.

He knows well the deep meaning Blue Herons hold for me.

Blue Heron 003Let’s go back to a day, not so many years ago, when I was struggling with depression and despair.  Though I was active in a good church and doing all of the things that good Christians do, I felt as if I wasn’t enough.  I didn’t measure up to all of the “beautiful” Christians around me.
Blue Heron 006It wasn’t their fault that I felt this way.  It was something inside me that was broken . . . a deep sense of shame and feelings of unworthiness.  I had spent a lot of time attempting to build my life into something impressive so I would be deemed worthy of love.  I tried really hard to be “Perfect Patti” and I looked pretty good to others . . . on the outside . . . while on the inside I still believed words of condemnation I’d received early in life and had accepted into the depths of my being.  These words defined me.  Sinner, failure, not enough, reject . . . the list goes on.

Blue Heron 022These words became part of how I defined myself and I wore them as labels.  No one else could see the labels but I knew they were there and sometimes others sensed it too and treated me accordingly.

So back to that day, not so many years ago, when I was at the beginning of my healing journey, surrounded by people who saw the pain within me and began showing me the way to freedom and healing.   I was taking a Bible study by Beth Moore. I don’t remember exactly which one but in her video message she talked about recognizing the way God smiles at us in little ways throughout our days.  I wanted to experience that!  I wanted to know God in a deeper, more intimate way and hear Him speak to me.  I wanted to recognize the smiles He sent my way. So that is what I prayed, sitting on my couch, in the living room of our lake house.  After praying I stood up and went to the window.  Looking out at the lake and down at our dock below I saw a Great Blue Heron standing there.  We saw them occasionally in that house and it was always a treat, but never moreso than this particular day.

Blue Heron 016

The Great Blue Heron stood on the dock while in the water near the shore a flock of ducks swam circles around each other, quacking excitedly, diving beneath the water and popping up again with seeming glee.  Not to anthropomorphize little duckies but that is what it seemed like to me.  They brought to mind all of the “beautiful” Christian women I knew, energetic, friendly and full of joy.

Blue Heron 012I saw that all of the cute little ducks paddling around were content to be just who they were created to be.

God spoke to my heart that day and He gave me more than just a smile . . .

Blue Heron 027. . . as He showed me something about the Great Blue Heron also.

Blue Heron 019I saw that he was a bit awkward compared to the others and from past experience I knew that he was terribly shy, sometimes flying away as soon as one came to stand near the window.  He was very awkward when he walked, with his funny knocked-knees (something I share in common with him by the way).  Though pretty in color (a nice dresser) he didn’t exhibit a lot of grace standing all alone on my dock.  Then, that Great Blue Heron began to move, taking one slow step after another down the length of the dock.  And in an instant, his wings came up, his feet pushed off and he was in the air, soaring with great grace and beauty.  When he stopped walking and used his wings to rise up and soar . . . he became a magnificent sight to behold!

Blue Heron 018

Yes, God smiled at me through the antics of the duckies and the magnificence of the Great Blue Heron that day.  It was as if He spoke to my heart personally and said, “You are a Great Blue Heron.  You may feel awkward but you were meant to soar!”

Do you think it odd that I would say that God spoke to me that day?  It wasn’t an audible voice and it wasn’t in the usual way He gets my attention, through Scripture or another person speaking to me, or even that still, small voice.  This was a different type of experience and one I’ve only had a few times in my life.  It was an experience never to be forgotten that began a big shift in my life.

Blue Heron 023

It wasn’t much longer after that, that we began teaching Freedom Session, to share with others the healing we’d received ourselves.  Then, a couple of years into Freedom Session, another amazing thing happened on a regular old day while I was mopping the floor.  I was suddenly filled with great joy as the thought came into my head,

“I’m not the same person I once was but I’ve become the person God created me to be!”

It was a sudden recognition of how dramatically I’d changed on the inside and the difference it made on the outside.

Through my healing journey and through our own teaching of Freedom Session, old labels were removed and new ones put in place, my cloak of shame was replaced with a robe of righteousness, my fear was replaced with confidence that God would work through me . . . even when I was weak . . .  especially when I was weak.  I realized in that moment the extent of the transformation that had taken place within me.

 Becoming a Christ follower doesn’t mean that everything suddenly becomes perfect.  Some of us have more wounds than others but we all have them and we all need to learn to offer them up to the one who died to take them from us.  He bore in His body all of our sin, our hurts, wounds, abuses, and heartbreaks.  This post today isn’t meant to give you all the answers for how to do that (I wish you could all find a Freedom Session near you, or teach one yourselves!) but it is meant to offer you hope in knowing that with God change is possible.  God has delivered me, he is delivering me and he will deliver me.  It is a process, this working out of our salvation, this being transformed from glory to glory.

Blue Heron 028

I wonder, does it seem prideful of me, to claim to be like a Great Blue Heron as opposed to a cute little duck?  I don’t mean to give the impression that God was saying I was better than others, just different.  And we are all different.  We are all uniquely endowed with individual gifts and talents.  YOU are special! Are you acting like it?  Are you using the gifts God has blessed you with or are you hiding behind old labels or words that others spoke into your life?  Words that have inhibited you from doing what you should be doing?  If you feel a little tugging at your heart here, that’s God!  Life is so much better when you can stop walking awkward and lift your wings.  Let Him take you soaring.  Let Him take you into the places where you’ve been afraid to journey and allow Him to be your strength . . . because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Blue Heron 014

So back to little Maery, who owned the store of “pretties”, where we found The Great Blue Heron.  She is a woman interested in others and she questioned me about my excitement over the Heron.  So I shared, and as I did it became obvious to me that in hearing my story she was moved with some emotion of her own.  She then shared a bit of her story, a story of loss and the pain of being a refugee from her home country.  Her story had the happy ending of God’s provision, restoration and a life well lived.  Isn’t God amazing?  He used my story that day to bless Maery and He used Maery to bless me by lavishing her (and His) love back on me.  This makes me think we should all be sharing our stories a bit more.

Blue Heron 034

PRAYER:  Dear Lord, We know that you formed us in our mother’s wombs.  You’ve numbered every hair on our heads. You know our beginning and our end.  You created each of us and you have a path for each of us to follow.  Lord, show us your path and then be our strength to walk it out.  Show us how to lean into Your strength and draw from You what we need to push off, to lift up and to soar to new heights.  Not to be great ourselves but to make Your name great with a testimony of Your transforming power.  Please Lord, show everyone who reads this, and feels like they don’t measure up, that there is so much more for them.  Show each one the way to become the person that you created them to be.  Amen.

Blessings,

My Signature

I have been know to link to the following Inspirational Parties:

 SUNDAY

Beauty in His Grip Button

MONDAY

Project Inspire{d}

TUESDAY

Holly Barrett

 

WEDNESDAY

Joy Dare Blog

 


Photobucket

THURSDAY

Thriving-Thursdays1

FRIDAY

 SATURDAY

countingmyblessingsAmanda’s Books and MoreSandra Heska King - Still SaturdayFaith Along the WayRenewed Daily - Recommendation Saturday

Tweet

Filed Under: Freedom, Freedom Friday, Freedom Session, Meditation, Prayer Tagged With: Freedom, Freedom Friday, Freedom Session, Meditation, Prayer

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 5
  • Next Page »
OldThingsNew

Welcome! I am Perfectly Imperfect Patti and I’d like to invite you to come in and take a seat in this creative space of mine.

I love the process of hunting for orphaned and cast off furniture (particularly my Chosen Chairs) and then taking the time to transform each piece into something new and beautiful. This process allows me to reflect upon my own story of transformation and blesses me over and over with each piece I redesign.

Disclosure: Old Things New is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program, which is designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com . . . or, in other words, Shopping through my links helps Old Things New keep the lights on!

Search this site

Click below to:

Follow on Bloglovin

Click on icon below to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & Instagram

facebook twitter pinterest instagram

My HGTV Tiny House Hunter Experience

My HGTV Tiny House Hunter Experience

Instagram

oldthingsnew

It may be dreary outside, but it’s cheery inside It may be dreary outside, but it’s cheery inside when I get to be doing that thing I love. Chairs!
💜Valentines Day is the day of love!💜 That’ 💜Valentines Day is the day of love!💜 That’s why I chose this day to share the 🎉Grand Opening 🎉of my custom chair design shop on Etsy. Whether you’re in the market for a new chair or not, I would love for y’all to go to my shop and check it out. You might even learn some things about me that you didn’t know before by clicking on the About page. 😉

I’m very excited to do my creative thing and be able  share it with others. This is the first step in a new journey and I greatly appreciate any likes or shares so that I can get my Chosen Chairs shop name out into the marketplace🥰

Chosen Chairs, where every chair has a story.

www.chosenchairs.Etsy.com
Chairs! For many are called, but few are chosen. # Chairs! For many are called, but few are chosen. #biblewisdom #chosenchairs #reupholsteredfurniture #interiordesign #chairs #customchairs #chairdesigner #creativefurniture #uniquechairsdesign #artfulchairs #smallbusinessowner #etsysellersofinstagram #etsyshop
Instagram post 17981859046813542 Instagram post 17981859046813542
Instagram post 18163992019283795 Instagram post 18163992019283795
The morning routine changes everything. #biblestud The morning routine changes everything. #biblestudy #danielstudy #e2mcoffee #charlestoncoffeeexchange #siezetheday❤️
Etsy Shop opening soon for Custom Designed Chairs Etsy Shop opening soon for Custom Designed Chairs by Patti.
We’ll done Buffalo! ❤️💙 We’ll done Buffalo! ❤️💙
Christmas is put away but a little light remains i Christmas is put away but a little light remains in my library dining room. #twinklelights #diningroom #libraryroom #frenchcountry #coastalstyle #diningroomlibrary #lakelifestyle #piercingthedarkness
Delicious New Year’s Day frittata from Leslie Wa Delicious New Year’s Day frittata from Leslie Watkins at Feet under my Table blog. ❤️
We’re eagerly watching London’s New Year’s D We’re eagerly watching London’s New Year’s Day parade on PBS to see two of Bill’s granddaughters participate with their Fleming Island High School marching band in playing a tribute to the queen.
I’m thrilled with this beautiful necklace I rece I’m thrilled with this beautiful necklace I received from @beaglund for Christmas and want to give a shout out to her friend Ashley @livealohadesigns. All of her designs are gorgeous. #supportsmallbusinesses #madewithaloha #ohana
Still going strong after four rounds in the only p Still going strong after four rounds in the only program that has ever worked for me. Sure, I went off plan a few times over the holidays but E2M shows you how to get right back on track toward meeting your goals. It’s not about getting skinny but about being strong, and I feel better than I have in years. Sign ups are open for a limited time for the next 8-week round so check out the link for more info. #e2mpersonaltraining #e2mfitness #e2m #67strong

https://e2mfitness.com/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ
Instagram post 17951728424378926 Instagram post 17951728424378926
When do you take your Christmas tree down? 1. The When do you take your Christmas tree down? 
1. The day after Christmas
2. New Year’s Day
3. The 12th day of Christmas - Dec 6
4. After we’ve had some snow
5. Until Spring 
#ohchristmastree #ilovechristmastrees #christmaslights #thetwelvedaysofchristmas #lakelifestyle
For those wondering if this program really works, For those wondering if this program really works, I’m still going strong with @e2mfitness after four rounds, and now that they’ve released a new cookbook (available on Amazon) I am more excited than ever about my fitness journey. This is the first in a series of cookbooks, and this one features delicious beef and poultry recipes. It also includes dozens of recipes for dressings and spice blends to use in cooking, along with a weekly meal planner, water tracker, weekly exercise log, etc. 
What is E2M? It is a virtual, eight week, rapid body transformation program for adults, which consists of workouts, meal, plans, cooking classes, mental fitness, and personal coaching. Workouts are designed for all fitness levels and can be done at home or in a gym. Our fit family is made up of people from across the world, from various backgrounds and ages, and we all have one common goal: to encourage each other to reach our personal best lifestyle fitness goals. After the first eight weeks, the program is available for free to maintain progress. This isn’t about getting skinny. It’s about building a healthier lifestyle, living longer, and getting the most out of the one body you’ve been blessed with. The next round opens on Thursday, and I truly hope you’ll check it out!
#e2mpersonaltraining #e2mfitness #e2m #eager2cook #67strong #healthyrecipesforhealthyliving
Shumaker Christmas 2022. #christmas2022 #shumakers Shumaker Christmas 2022. #christmas2022 #shumakerstrong #familychristmas #prancerthereindeer #polarplunge
Shumaker Polar Plunge 2022. Participating family m Shumaker Polar Plunge 2022. Participating family members @joelshumaker @olivia.l.05 @sydneydthompson @philshu04 @pj_shumaker @billiamdollarman #shumakerstrong #polarplunge2022 #familychristmas #sothisischristmas
Santa Claus is comin’ to town! #christmas2022 #s Santa Claus is comin’ to town! #christmas2022 #santaclaus ##christmasdecor #goldendoodle
“In 1965, Charles Schulz, a devout Christian and “In 1965, Charles Schulz, a devout Christian and creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was asked to create a Christmas special for CBS featuring the Peanuts Characters. He agreed with one requirement, that they allow him to include the story of the birth of Jesus. Although the stations executives were hesitant and tried to convince him otherwise, Schulz was insistent. As a result, for the past 50 plus years, millions of people have watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and heard the story of Jesus and “what Christmas is all about.”

It wasn’t until a few years back that I realized a “hidden message” in the film. Linus, a child who seems to have some insecurities as he carries a security blanket with him at all times. In fact, Linus NEVER drops his blanket, except once....

While sharing the message of “what Christmas is all about,” Linus drops his blanket at the exact moment he says the words, “fear not!”

In this seemingly innocent moment, Linus delivers a powerful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. We are to “fear not”, for Jesus is born. We needn’t rely on material things for security, we have God with us, “Immanuel”, (Matthew 1:23) Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior - the true meaning of Christmas.

Awhile back, someone informed me, indignantly so, that Linus picks up his blanket at the end of the speech so my interpretation must be wrong. Well, he was right, Linus does pick up his blanket at the end of his speech. However, he “drops” it again later... 

Amid big, bright, colorful, shiny artificial trees, Charlie Brown chose the least of these, a little, wooden tree with just a few branches. Shortly thereafter, Linus uses his blanket to wrap about the base of the tree and says, “Maybe it just needs a little love”. In that moment, the tree “awakens”, stands tall and firm. A reminder that no matter who we are, how many mistakes we’ve made, a “little love” can make all the difference.

Let’s strive to “fear not” (Luke 2:10) and “love one another” (John 13:34), not just at Christmastime, but the whole year through.”

(Copied & Pasted)
Load More Follow on Instagram

See what I’ve been pinning lately!

Color Washing Technique

Color Washing Technique

Chalk Painted Kitchen Cabinet Tutorial

Chalk Painted Kitchen Cabinet Tutorial

Fab Over 50 (or 60, or 70 . . .)

Fab Over 50 (or 60, or 70 . . .)

Love Fashion? Follow my Fab Over 50 Board on Pinterest!

Archives

  • December 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (31)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (3)
  • October 2017 (3)
  • September 2017 (4)
  • August 2017 (9)
  • July 2017 (7)
  • June 2017 (8)
  • May 2017 (9)
  • April 2017 (7)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • February 2017 (5)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (3)
  • August 2016 (7)
  • July 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (4)
  • May 2016 (5)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (6)
  • January 2016 (9)
  • December 2015 (12)
  • November 2015 (11)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (3)
  • August 2015 (3)
  • July 2015 (8)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (8)
  • March 2015 (10)
  • February 2015 (8)
  • January 2015 (7)
  • December 2014 (9)
  • November 2014 (7)
  • October 2014 (7)
  • September 2014 (3)
  • August 2014 (2)
  • July 2014 (5)
  • June 2014 (5)
  • May 2014 (4)
  • April 2014 (12)
  • March 2014 (7)
  • February 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (7)
  • November 2013 (4)
  • October 2013 (6)
  • September 2013 (6)
  • August 2013 (6)
  • July 2013 (7)
  • June 2013 (11)
  • May 2013 (8)
  • April 2013 (7)
  • March 2013 (9)
  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (6)
  • December 2012 (5)
  • November 2012 (2)
  • October 2012 (2)
  • September 2012 (2)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (6)
  • June 2012 (3)

Tags

Addiction Antiques and Collectibles Blogging Books Chalk Paint Chalk Painted Furniture Christianity Christmas Coastal Style Crafts DIY Drop cloth projects Entertaining Faith Fall Decor Flowers Food Freedom Freedom Friday Freedom Session French Country Friendship Furniture Painting Gardening God's grace Home Decor Home Decorating Hospitality Inspiration Junking Lakeside living Marriage My Home My Story old junk transformations Prayer Recipes Recovery Redemption Shopping southern living Spring Summer thrifting Tutorial

Fistbump Media, LLC

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · Designed by Blogger Boutique for Old Things New Blog

 

Loading Comments...