Freedom

By Toni A. Star

"...it is good
for me to draw
near to God; I
have put my trust
in the Lord God,
that I may declare
all Your works."
Psalm 73:28

aving returned over a year ago from a difficult, challenging and confining experience in Pennsylvania, where my husband I experienced stress and strain from a difficult work and home environment, I reflected several days ago on my new-found feelings of freedom and joy in our new environment in Ohio.

Instead of living in a noisy, unhealthy and uncaring apartment in Pennsylvania where we felt inhibited in getting to know others, unable to have a flower garden, lived far away from health and other services, we are now being blest from God by living in a lovely condo, are close to health and other services, able to maintain and enjoy a beautiful flower garden, have returned to our writing and instructing work and getting to know some very nice neighbors.

Just being able to walk outside and care for my garden, feeling freer to plan the day, doing some online writing and attending to my usual spring and fall cleaning projects, are simple freedoms that have become so special, so ordinary and so wonderfully comfortable, that I know in my heart, that I will never take them for granted, again.

Feeling the joy and peace of such freedoms, is not only precious and at times, joyous, but reminds me in a gentle way to be patient and kind with freedom, for there’s a legacy of commitment that comes with any kind of freedom.

Of course, I also know that freedoms, all of them, come with a price and that price was paid by Christ and continues to be paid, by those who have courage, bravery and patience. Each of us has a right to stand up for freedom and peace and sometimes those moments come when we least expect or want them but with Christ at the forefront of our lives, we needn’t fear, for He constantly gives us the words and actions to stand tall. And, as a beautiful hymn describes to all who sing it, “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war…”