Consider it Pure Joy: PORTSMOUTH ENGLAND

Portsmouth England. What can I say?? We just returned from a 9 day trip to England, our first overseas excursion. It's hard to put into words what I experienced except to say it was incredible. Chris and I went to England in conjunction with a group that was going from our old church in Radford, VA. We went the week before the rest of the group so that Chris could speak in the local schools and encourage students to come to their youth event on Saturday night. That was our purpose, and we did that......but there was so much more.....so much more for both of us individually and as a couple.

So again, I'm left with the question.......How do I put into words what happened in my heart while I was there? Well, this is the best way I can express it - I'm writing this as a note from God to me:

"FREEDOM

FREEDOM

It frees MY heart to see you free

Free from the normal life, free from the mundane, free from America, free from society, free from social rules, free from religion,

FREE

You're free from the clutter of this world,

It clutters your mind

It dulls your senses

It weighs you down

It buries the person I created.

And I'm tired of it. I want you to be free to be the woman I created.

I'm tearing the curtain,

I'm breaking the walls,

I'm taking the weight.

It's ME who's doing it.

It's not emotion, it's not surroundings, it's ME.

I am real. I am real in your life and I am real in their life.

It's ME that you see.

It's ME that you want.

It's ME that you search for.

It's ME

I am the Author

I am the Creator

I am God

I am God and no one else

AND I LOVE YOU.

I want you to be free in your heart, free in your mind, free in your soul, free in your spirit.

Why?

Because I want to see the smile that I created. I created you unique and I want to see the full expression of the uniqueness that comes from pure freedom.

Be free to embrace the woman that you are. I have so much to give you, I have so much more for you than you could ask or imagine.

BE FREE MY SWEET DAUGHTER

BE FREE"

And so I would say that I now feel free. More free as I come home from England than I ever have. This may be written from God to me, but I'm convinced that He feels the same about every one of us. I am humbled by the love that I feel from God right now. I am humbled, yet I also feel strengthened....strengthened in so many ways. I thank you Jesus for meeting me in Portsmouth, refreshing my soul, and changing who I am. Thank you for loving me enough to know the details of my life, my mind, and my heart. Thank you.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Many more stories from Portsmouth to come......