Born to be Free

Hello, dear readers. I have come to announce the birth of my new blog - which will be taking the place of this one. My old posts will stay here, but admin issues coupled with new beginnings have led me to this decision. You can find my new writings here: https://eternalaspirations.wixsite.com/freetobe Take care, friends! Love, Amanda

Currently I am in the throws of preparing for a season of camp ministry close to St. Joseph, Missouri.  This will be my fifth (and final) summer doing so. It would be a lie to say there aren't many mixed emotions involved in the process of preparing. I am choosing to make this my last time there not because there are some "divisions", "quarrels" or "scandals" about the place. It served me well, and I have given my all serving the people there. I am leaving because the direction He intends me to pursue with my life now lies elsewhere. But please, do not let your eyes glaze over at my reasonings. I am writing you today because I want to assure you that although life changes - and we may feel both vastly in awe of what is ahead and astounded at how we shall rise up to meet these new callings: What is necessary is not that we should have every issue resolved or each doubt silenced. If we are to step out of the wardrobe and into a world as wild and wondrous...

Those who know me well, know that I choose a new word at the birth of each year. A word to guide, empower, and challenge me. Twelve months ago, I had been convinced by the Spirit through prayer and study that HOPE - for whatever reason - was to be the word that belonged to me in 2021. Now, you don't argue with God when He shows you your need, but that doesn't mean you don't end up trying to at least once. At the beginning of this past year, the best definition I could raise for the word HOPE seemed to live along the lines of chaotic optimism. It was to me a word that was only spoken by those who closed their eyes to the real possibility of pain, failure and rejection. But the lesson I received was far weightier than this supposedly trite principle. The Gospel instructs us to live in HOPE. Paul tells us in Romans 5 that it "does not put us to shame" (v5). Matthew writes that in the name of Christ "the Gentiles will HOPE" (12:21). In Ephesians 1, we read t...

If you've been online at all over the past month, you will have noticed there's a crisis occurring in the Middle East. As soon as American soldiers headed for home, Taliban forces moved in and took over the country of Afghanistan. I know a lot of people who are upset.   There are those who are angry that troops were removed from the Middle East; others become defensive over the idea of having to share their "home country" with refugees; some are simultaneously grieved and inspired by the stories coming from within the country's border; and there are those who wish they could live in their own native land in peace, free from the tyrannical authority which threatened destruction and drove them out. I am not inclined to sarcasm.  It is not a natural function for me.  So please trust me when I say - there are many who are labeling this current point in history as "the end of the world", and I do love them. But I feel like we're missing the whole point. H...

I've never found myself so taken by the night skies as I have been this summer.  The openness and dazzling lights have ministered to my soul in ways I'm not sure I possess the words to explain. I cannot help but look up. There are patterns of living in which we can fall into.  Things which may not be inherently evil, but have tamed our souls in ways which we must not allow. This past Sunday, I was privileged to attend a Sunday morning service at a church local to the area I am currently serving in.  The pastor's sermon was regarding how we as Christians may look back to the past and long for "the old days" when we felt more comfortable, secure or in control - instead of holding fast to the God of the past, present and future. "God isn't the one playing hard to get here," he said. Have we allowed ourselves to slip into patterns of thinking which inhibit our abilities to trust our everyday to the One who holds every single particle of the universe toge...

Today's post is a bit different from what you may normally see around here - but I'd appreciate your bearing with me, as it is a topic I have been longing to share about with you all. The purpose of Juvenile Justice Ministry (JJM) is to form relationships with young people in many different types of youth-serving institutions (detention centers, probation, correctional facilities, group homes, residential treatment centers and emergency shelters).   It is through these relationships that the Gospel is being shared with teens that are otherwise largely shut off from the world, and life skills training is offered which aids these young people in being able to reenter society successfully.  This is happening all across the nation!  Sounds like a great thing, right?  So are you wondering why you've never heard about it? Well, the harsh truth is that although there are almost 1,300 juvenile detention facilities of some sort in the U.S. - only about 30% of them have a...

Once about seven years ago, I stumbled across a slim paperback entitled something along the lines of  Can I Know the Will of God? ... It's a topic you either hear about every Sunday or not at all when you "grow up in church".   Those who don't talk about it are perhaps a bit intimidated at the idea of making any claims as to what the will of God is..... Those who talk about it all the time tend to speak of it as a rather abstract principle - something only the Creator knows about, which somehow we must stumble along in pursuit of with little knowledge of just what it is we're looking for. I'm sure you can look back on your life (or what you've lived of it, so far) and take note of things or opportunities which arose that were doubtless brought about only by the work of God.  A new job popping up out of nowhere, a physical healing, the chance to finally pursue the dream that had been on your heart for years... A couple years ago, I found myself with such an...

What is to be the goal of each and every Christian life? To be conformed to the image of Christ and bring the Hope of the Gospel to all nations. When our Savior walked among us, He taught us the greatest commandment - you should love the LORD your God with all that is within you - and you should love your neighbor in the same way you treasure your own life. When the Messiah came to earth, the people of Israel expected a King who would overthrow the government and justify the hatred in their hearts towards those who ruled over them. But what sort of a King did they get? One who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, not a warhorse (John 12).  Who paid taxes to a pagan government (Matthew 17).  Who tended to those who were sick and in need, while challenging religious leaders to embrace compassion over legalism (Matthew 23). He put the lives of others before His own. He submitted His life, His work and His desire for His own interests to take precedence to His Father's will (Ph...

A steadily increasing amount of people I meet believe imagination and fairy tales to be just a "cute phase" of one's early childhood.  Things to pack up in unlabeled boxes and store on a closet shelf. Many who would identify as evangelicals define these beloved stories and far away places our minds wander with them as a distraction, an escape.  As unnecessary junk accumulating space in our heads where other things - facts, formalities and the "real world" should instead reside. But the world and the people therein are not simply what we perceive by way of our senses.  Many would like us to believe matter is all that truly exists - that there is no great magic - no direction, value or significance to our lives, or any life.  We're just a bunch of particles after all.  Or are we? Are our lives defined by the sort of order science provides for us?  Have we taken earthly tools and chosen to use them to interpret both the temporal and eternal? The world and the ...

Hey there!  For those of you who are new to this space, I thought I should introduce myself. My name is Amanda, and I've been writing here at Born to Be Free for over three years now! I studied Intercultural Ministry with Global Frontier Missions for two years, and now I continue my studies in various other subjects in addition. I serve at a camp in Missouri during the summer, read alot - from theology to juvenile fantasy to nonfiction on Cold War Spies, enjoy listening to many differing genres of music (but there's always a Billy Joel song for every mood), and I'm always super excited to talk about Bible Quizzing and Juvenile Justice Ministry. So yeah, that's a bit of who I am. :) I'd love to hear a bit about you!

Oftentimes I find the LORD speaks to me by bringing up certain symbols and/or phrases wherever I go.  In my conversations with people, the books I read, podcasts and songs I listen to, etc. One of the symbols He keeps bringing up is a suitcase - a rather obscure item to be sure. I've spent the past three weeks unpacking (no pun intended!) this word - what it could possibly mean. I just arrived back from spending time with a woman I consider my mentor in California.  Currently I have about two weeks left before I move home from a season of ministry spent in Missouri.  My suitcases have been packed and unpacked quite frequently as of late. I think we tend to believe that God will grant us crystal-clear direction in regards to what paths we should choose - and often He does. But lately I've discovered that sometimes He doesn't. Some days the Spirit will make things so abundantly clear that you have no doubt in your mind about which choice to make.  Then again...sometime...

The other day, my mom and I were discussing the past nine months of our lives. Long before the world was overcome by the current pandemic, there was already much heaviness in our hearts. By that point, we'd faced our grandparents' home burning down, losing loved ones and new chronic illness. By the time COVID-19 came around, we'd already been living with a fair share of uncertainty, anxiety and overwhelming loss. But I know we aren't the only ones. The past few months have affected every human being living in the world differently - but they haven't been the first "wilderness seasons" we've all had to walk through. We don't get to choose how or when pain will come to us.  We were never consulted on these issues. The difficulties presented by worldwide disease have for many become just another thing to pack in the suitcase of things we don't have the ability to process yet.  We carry them with us everywhere we go. When Jesus walked on this broke...

Six feet apart. No groups of more than ten, for safety's sake. Humankind retreats into the four corners they feel are more a house than a home. We, the beings with souls, are doing everything we can to protect and heal our bodies.....but our hearts? They're broke wide open, bleeding. We'd like to think we're capable of carrying on in a context of isolation, that we are self-dependent, that the world can fall apart around us and we'll be okay. But the lesson we'll be learning, the holy test we've just been handed has been taken from chapters we haven't bothered reading into as a society. Connection, and the great void we call loneliness. This isn't the first time human beings have known so great a separation. Way back in the beginning, we are told in Genesis 3 of how the first human beings were escorted out of the Garden - ushered out of direct contact with the God they had walked with each day. That's when they started to die...

God has a way of repeating some messages.  Maybe it's because we weren't listening the first time, or maybe He's wanting to prove a point. In Genesis 41, we read about Pharaoh's dream of the famine that would soon overtake Egypt.  A reoccurring dream.  "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God..." the text says.  Similarly, Jesus repeated lessons to his disciples - and phrases such as "Truly, truly I say to you..." to catch their attention. The other day, someone mentioned to me the importance of recognizing our humanity.  It is far too easy for me (and perhaps I am not the only one who's this way, but maybe I am) to try to shut out my emotions in the face of crisis or difficulty. There are some of us who believe, perhaps unconsciously, that allowing ourselves to be concerned, to mourn, to feel any sadness or uncertainty at all - is a lack of faith.  Something that shouldn't be.  A side effect of the...

Within my small, olive-green ESV Bible I keep a series of note cards.  I have a number of sloppily jotted thoughts, and lots of quotes from my pastor written on them. Some catch my eye more than others at times.  This past Sunday my mind lingered on a few written points for a while longer. "What if following Jesus means giving up on your greatest dreams?" That's not a comforting thought.  Not something you wish to lie awake at night dwelling on. What are our greatest dreams?  Maybe if you're like me, you've got a few of them.  They are in essence, hopes.  Vague notions of a plan we wish to someday implement.  The reasons we work crazy hours and save every penny. But what if He asks us to give those things up?  Everything? What if for the student it means giving over their desires to work overseas and instead never moving out of their state?  What if for the middle-aged woman it means no longer having a chance to have her own fami...

Today we find ourselves in the midst of the third week of Advent.  The waiting. The brisk winter winds silence all other outer noice and force us to contemplate what is inside. We have received an invitation from Immanuel to linger in the moments, to wonder at what was and is and will be. We wait for Him, but He is here already. Does this seem strange?  Perhaps at first glance.  We know Who our Savior is.  We have known the power of His resurrection intimately.  This is what the prophets only dreamt of. So what are we waiting for?  We wait for the reconcilation of all things. We look for relationships to be restored. We look for injustice to be eradicated. We look for the lepers to be healed and the Pharisees to be put in place. We look for the day when the devil knows his kingdom is no more. We look for our Messiah. But the thing is......He's already here.  Yes, He is coming in that Day and will set the seal on t...

It used to be that I never felt I was truly home.  The Scriptures speaking of our souls belonging to another Kingdom resonated deeply, and they still do. But it took a journey to Canada two years ago and living on an island the size of a city block to etch the truth into my soul - that "the Most High is [my] dwelling place". Since then, I've found home to be in a thousand places. It turns out, the place where you belong is wherever He tells you to go. This is how we live as sojourners - we go where He sends, no matter how frightened we may be of the outcome.  Scared senseless, we step out.  What if God's call on your life is the path that terrifies you the most!?  Home is wherever His purposes collide with our passions. This is something that will look different for everyone.  We have each been given unique roles to play in the Kingdom's story. So what will we do?  Will we choose to trust in God's call on our lives, believing that He will uphol...

I am by nature one who tries to fix things.  Everything from recipe typos to broken chairs to broken hearts.  It is difficult for me to see a situation in need of change and look the other way.  That's not how I was made. Unfortunately, this also means that I try to do a lot of stuff on my own, be my own hero and everybody else's in some way.  I want to help people. Recently I was faced with a situation that has bothered me for quite a while since.  It is difficult for me to watch people I care quite a bit about make decisions and/or walk unknowingly into situations that will hurt them and others.  These are the kinds of thoughts that keep me awake early into the morning some days. Sadly, sometimes there isn't anything you can do.  As much as you want to help, as much as you want to prevent anything terrible from happening to people - your position is powerless when it comes to trying to warn them. I have a choice.  You have a choice. W...

Are you ready?  We're asked this a lot - heading out the door, making important phone calls, getting around for a formal event. Maybe we're asking ourselves the same question, only more frequently. Am I ready...? Ready for the beginning of the semester, to start a new job, embrace the distanced family member, start a study group, or raise a child?  Ready to relocate to chase God's dreams for your life, ready to start your business, or find a way to survive in less than great circumstances? We each face our own questions, and some may seem too daunting to try and think through. What if it doesn't work out?  What if I've mistaken God's call on my life, or can't find what I need to do this...? I'm sure sometimes your mind swims like mine can. Someone asked me at the start of this year what my long-term plan is.  Two, three, five years out.  To be honest, I had no words.  My first thought was "I can't believe people do that." I...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the topic of rest. Physical rest just isn't something I normally get much of right now, and that's okay - for multiple reasons. Being pushed beyond what you believe to be capable of flings the door wide open for the Spirit of God to take over. Because Peace is a Person.  Not a circumstance.  Rest is found in the same Person.  Not in how much or how little sleep I get. I had no idea how the Holy Spirit can take over even physical needs until this summer. My soul often finds itself restless.  Anxious.  Running way too fast on way too little. I think often of how Jesus Himself "withdrew to a desolate place". He knew what satisfied His soul and He sought it - God Himself. His presence.  His peace. Rest for the restless. Paul speaks of the peace which can rule in our hearts as "surpassing understanding". Even as we uproot and wander across the vast expanse of the world and of our souls - we find our...