Freedom is not Free


While visiting the National Mall in Washington DC as a teenager, one of the war memorials stood out to me. Written along a wall were the words, "Freedom is not Free." These words have stayed with me all these years, and as I have matured and reflected on them over and over again, and as my life has taken shape around them, they have become a part of my journey.
My dad gave me the middle name, Freedom, 30 years ago, when I was born on the exact minute the Iranian hostages stepped off the plane. I wonder if he knew then how that word would mark my story. As we have learned many, many times throughout our nation's history, I too have learned that the road to freedom is not free.
As a child of God, my freedom was first bought with the most costly price, God himself. It cost him everything to give me life, and the freedom to be in relationship with Him. Freedom to fully live, guilt free,-no longer condemned by my sin and rebellion and passivity. But the knowledge of freedom and the experience of it are two different things, and it has taken me a long time to begin to understand that although I am free, the road to living that freedom out has some cost.
It has cost me the death of what I want, and the letting go of expectations and dreams, and desires. It has cost me friends, and it has cost me pain. The road to living in freedom has been rocky, and hard, and marked by many moments of wanting to give up. Yet the hope and promise of what a life of freedom actually looks like, has kept me going. And along the way I have experienced great healing, depth, and joy! And so, I will continue to journey on to discover what living in freedom really means.
And so, to give voice to my discovery, and to appease my desire to start writing again, this blog is for me! And to those who desire to journey with me, well...this blog is for you too!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    Well put Laura. I love how you explain Freedom and cost going hand in hand on multiple levels. Good revelation and reminder.

    ReplyDelete

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