Emily P. Freeman Quotes

Maybe a reason why a particular decision you are carrying today feels difficult is because there are things beneath the surface that remain unnamed within you, things you either haven't acknowledged or would rather ignore. Sometimes indecision is the result of a busy schedule or a hesitant personality. Other times it's because something within us remains unnamed, and we simply don't have enough information or self-knowledge to move forward.

When I was in sixth grade, I wanted to be tough and untouchable, but really I was squishy and sensitive.

Sometimes it looks like you're going nowhere or that you're headed in the wrong direction. I'm learning that the decision itself is rarely the point. The point is becoming more fully ourselves in the presence of God, connecting with Him and with each other, and living our lives as though we believe He is good and beautiful. The point is being honest about where you are and what you need and then looking around in your own community for people to walk with you and with whom you can walk. I spent years wishing people would support me only to later realize I was waiting around for something to come to me when I was perfectly capable of going out and getting it. I'm convinced God is less interested in where we end up then He is in who we are becoming. Whether we're employed or unemployed, encouraged or discouraged, filled with vision or fumbling in the fog. More than anything, our Father just wants to be with us. The most common way He shows His "withness" to us is in the actual, physical presence of other people.

Our Western minds are trained to go down the path of explaining. We think if we can understand it, then we can control it...We are conditioned to believe the only reason we should do things is if we know why, where we are headed, and for what purpose. No wonder we have trouble making decisions. If we don't have clear answers or sure things, then taking a big step feels like a risk at best and a wasteful mistake at worst.

Believe in myself and I sink into the waves of worry, procrastination, daily tasks, and diagnoses. There is no dry ground in sight. But sink hard into God and he will buoy the soul on top of the water. Stepping out of the boat and walking toward Jesus, I realized how looking deep into the eyes of God is art all by itself.

What if you began to see your art as something other than your idea? What if it was less lofty and more necessary to your daily rhythm? What if your art is part of a bigger picture, part of a daily grace God has in mind for someone else?

There is power in naming the unnamed things. This is an important part of our decision-making practice and key to taking our next right step in love. Remember today is a plot point. See it honestly for what it is, but don't confuse the moment for the whole story.

Are you allowing your own expectations to hinder you from freely expressing yourself? Is your idea of the right way keeping you from your best way? Are you too distracted to show up? Are you living like a programmer instead of a poet?

You have a longing to be understood, but still feel the need to protect yourself.

Desire often lives next door to grief inside the soul. Access the grief, and you wake up the longing as well.

Because I care so much about what you think, my hiding has everything to do with you. I desperately want to manage your opinion of me. Nearly anything I do is to convince you I am good.

I didn't want to be such a good girl anymore. I wanted people to fear messing with me ... I wanted to be intimidating. At least that's how I acted. The truth is, what I really wanted more than anything was to be liked. As much as I talked bad about those girls, I would have given anything for them to like me.

Making a living is nothing if you're not also making a life.

Let's dig deep, not to create meaning where there isn't any, but to see Christ, our companion, where he actually is, not where we wish he was.

If what you are called to feels less than extraordinary, there is a tendency to think, 'Well, the Lord has big plans for me later.' And you wait patiently until he decides to reveal that master plan. But what if his plan for you is right where you are? Are you missing it because you are looking for something 'more' extraordinary?

Either way, the result is you depending on yourself to do life right. Either way, God isn't even in the room.

Just because things change doesn't mean you chose wrong in the first place. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it forever.

I can't prevent storms from coming, but I can decide not to invent my own.

You may not be the first to say it, write it, create it, or believe it - but you saying it may be the first time someone finally hears. Yes, someone else can say it better, but that doesn't mean you can't say it too. Throw out your inhibitions and spin around in this crazy world of recycled ideas. There is nothing new to say. Say it anyway.

There is no activity that is somehow more Christian than another. God looks at the heart, and that is the good part that Mary knew. he simply asks us to come as we are and to be willing, open to receive whatever he might have for us this day. That is what it means to live a graceful life.

The process of determing what you want more is actually a gift to your self. It means you've taken time to give your inner voice a place at the table.

Art is too important a term to be used just for painters. And sculptors. And playwrights. And actors. And architects of a certain type. No, I think we need to broaden it to graphic designers and salespeople and bosses. To lay preachers, to gifted politicians and occasionally, to the guy who sweeps the floor. Art is a human act, something that's done with the right sort of intent. Art is when we do work that matters, in a creative way, in a way that touches them and changes them for the better.[1] Seth Godin, Graceful

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to do work well and in a healthy way without using my work as a way to define myself. Jesus says his load is easy and his burden is light, but he doesn't say there isn't a load or a burden. He recognizes there is something to carry but he invites us into the easy way of carrying it.

I had a crush, but I'm not sure I actually had a crush on Sam Hunt. He was the face attached to it, but I don't really know much about him at all. I thought he played basketball, but I think it may have actually been volleyball. No matter. I took what I knew, and I filled in the details to my liking. It was fun. And also ridiculous. When you have a crush on a half-real, half-imaginary boy, you will always be disappointed.

To avoid the fall often means living a less-than life.

In the midst of grief, there is no such thing as strong women of God. There is only brokenness, desperate need, and little girls in Daddy's lap. We are not called to be strong women. Oh, how that sentence makes me bristle. I want to be strong, independent, and capable. This broken, desperate need for Christ offends my mask.

Just because it doesn't make sense 'to me' doesn't mean it doesn't make sense 'at all'.

Some girls look to fill the emptiness with their rebellious ways and get into trouble. Other girls try hard to fill the emptiness with good things and get praise. But both girls are reaching for something we'll never find outside of God.

Even if we aren't having sex with out boyfriends, it's still easy to find our identify in them in an unhealthy way.

Our gifts are not from God to us, but from God through us to the world. - Janice Elsheimer, The Creative Call

God sees you. Not because of what you have done or not done but because you are loved.

When bad girls perform to get their needs met, they get in trouble. When good girls perform to get the same thing, we get praise. That is why the hiding is so easy for us. We work hard, we do right, and we try not to ruffle feathers. And even if we do all that by the strength of our own selves, we tell ourselves it's okay. It seems to work, therefore it's acceptable.

What connections and experiences have I missed because I'm either remembering a former embarrassment or fearing a new one?

It's no wonder we are so messed up when it comes to walking with God. In nearly every aspect of our existence, good performance equals good reward. Except not with him. A good thing turns bad when we perform to earn God's acceptance rather than simply receive it like a gift.

And so the meaning of our lives is not dependent upon what we make of it but of what he is making of us.

But I didn't understand the middle-of-a-Tuesday Jesus. I only knew him as a when-I-get-to-heaven Jesus. He was my ticket and not much else.

Without looking up to God, sinking leads to drowning. But when my eyes are locked on his, sinking tells a different story.
Drop the hands and let the knees be weak. Loosen the grip and let the arms open wide. Bow the head and let the eyes close tight. We cannot do this life. We cannot parent these children. We cannot lead this company. We cannot change this world. We cannot make this art.
Not alone. Not on our own. Not without sinking first.
In the act of sinking into God, of looking up at him from the depths of our own inadequacy, we begin to know who he is. In turn, we know who we are as well.

Don't try to handle your anxiety. Bring your anxiety into the presence of Christ. Don't try to fix your loneliness. Bring your loneliness into the presence of Christ. Don't try to hide your addiction. Bring your addiction into the presence of Christ. Don't try to change your attitude. Bring your attitude into the presence of Christ. Don't despise your humanity. Bring your humanity into the presence of Christ.

But understand that the reason it is so difficult to extend forgiveness to those who have failed us is because we are unable to receive forgiveness for our own failures.

This is also a book abut God, about what it means
and what it doesn't mean
to believe.

It isn't about what we are supposed to 'do'; it is about what we choose to 'believe'.

Picture a girl with her arms full of small packages, too many to hold all at once. When they topple and fall all around her, she stoops down and scoops them all back up, literally re-collecting all the gifts that are already hers. To set your mind is to recollect truth that already belongs to you.

The story of redemtion and healing is that Jesus came to exchange my not-good-enough with his better-than-I-could-ever-imagine. He came to trade my life for His, my weak for His strong, my ashes for His beauty. He longs for each of us to recieve the gift of Himself.

He (God) never promises that our families will be safe. Not in the way we think. He does promise his presence, though.

Bear, believe, hope, endure. May it be so in us. May it be so in me.

There is something about hearing a man say he wants to spend the rest of his life with you that has a way of stunning a girl's heart no matter how much she expects it.

If I am trying to please God, it is difficult to trust God. But when I trust God, pleasing him is automatic.

What if I began to believe that the critique isn't just an unwelcome part of the art-making process but might actually make the art better?

You may continue to show up at a job not beacuse you necessarily wanted to be there but because your deepest desireis to provide for your family and that is truly what you want.

God is already carrying your load. Why do you insist on carrying it too?

Sometimes that's what prayer is
simply inviting God to join us where we actually are, not because He isn't already here but because inviting Him reminds us it's true.

The number one reason we don't believe things that are true is because they don't always feel true.

The deepest need of my soul isn't a personal organizer or an empty inbox. The deepest need of my soul is Christ.

We often say things like, "Jesus died so I didn't have to, " but it's actually much worse. The truth is, Jesus died and so did I. But the worse morphs into better when we remember that Jesus didn't stay dead. And neither do we. Let the dying moments remind us where to find the living.

Knowing what you have makes all the difference.

To be able to look ahead while also celebrating now is a delicate kind of art, to imagine what could be without discounting what is.

They just need to sit on a bench with someone else so they know they're not alone. I know this because it's what I need too.

Attention, success, and comparison hold my soul hostage and refuse to negotiate until they get what they want. Spoiler alert: They want everything. And they are never satisfied. They will never let you go.

Life is so much further from my control than even I know.

It's hard to write about this mask because the spiritual disciplines are good things. The problem is not the fact that we do them; it is our good-girl interpretation of what doing these things means. For many years, I lived as a believer in God but I did not live *from* God. I was a child of the God of grace but I was looking for life in the law.

We may call it "people pleasing," but it is entirely self-serving because it is really all about keeping myself comfortable. Boiled down, it could be more accurately called "me pleasing.

Jesus came to save me from myself. He came to save me from self-effort. He didn't just die for my sin to give me forgiveness; he rose again to give me life.

Pursuing desire is only toxic when we demand our desires be satisfied on our terms and in our timing. As recipients of the new heart of the Spirit, our deepest desire, when honestly realized, will always lead us to God.

Your childhood dream delights God. I don't say that because every secret dream will come true. But having a dream is evidence of a person who is fully alive. Having a dream is a reflection of the image of God.

God does not ask us to carry burdens. He does not ask us to save the world. He does not ask us to come up with a plan. He simply asks us to 'come'.

I don't believe there is one great thing I was made to do in this world. I believe there is one great God I was made to glorify. And there will be many ways, even a million little ways, I will declare his glory with my life.

Maybe you're wondering what it actually means to live a graceful life. We've got many chapters ahead to figure out what that might look like for you ...

Jesus does not turn away from the world, but turns to face it. Jesus came down. He turns toward. He makes his face to shine upon. He shows compassion. He sits with. His with-ness is so important that every time we say his name, we declare it - Immanuel, God with us.

In my own life I've found it to be true that when I hold on to the wrong things, the wrong things hold on to me.

Discontentment shows up when we focus on what we can't have rather than what we do have.

These hiding places may have been helping you cope, but they are not who you are.
These good girl voices challenge your identity.

I can't imagine anything more dangerous to the enemy of our hearts than people who know who they are.

We have an enemy who would do anything to keep us distracted from Jesus.

You are designed to reflect the glory of God, and when you release the fullness of who you most deeply are, we will see God because we're finally seeing you.

Could it be possible that the thing you most long for, the thing you notice and think about and wish you could do, is the thing you were actually made and are being equipped to do?

To accept the lively, the messy, and the unexpected things in our days, knowing that God sees them and has an eternal perspective, is to say with confidence I receive your timing.

Like you, I'm figuring out how to walk with Christ into my day, into Target, into church, into the kitchen, and most importantly, into the lives of other people. Christ doesn't stop being relevant just because I'm standing at my sink, cleaning out my closet, meeting over coffee, driving to the bank.

You think to yourself that if anyone knew who you really were, what you've really done, they would never accept you.

We all believe somewhere deep inside that we should be better, be doing more, be someone other than who we currently are ... we feel as if we aren't good enough.

You miss the living because you are waiting for perfect, and so you let goodness and blessings pass you right on by.

But Tuesday teaches me that part of living well in ordinary time is letting this day be good. Letting this day be a gift. Letting this day be filled with plenty. And if it all goes wrong and my work turns to dust? This is my kind reminder that outcomes are beyond the scope of my job description.

Rather than admitting you don't know what to do next, you fake it in public and feel lost when you're alone.

The voice of the Dreamer often pushes us to escape. When we listen to her voice, our dreams are held captive. We dream things shaped by heaven but twisted by the world, things of escape and vacation and eternal lounging.