True Freedom

"I used to think freedom meant doing whatever you want. It means knowing who you are, what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and then simply doing it," writes Natalie Goldberg in the book Writing Down the Bones.

Do you agree?

Of course, the REAL question is . . . how do we know what we're supposed to be doing?

Last week, I was going through my bookshelf, looking for a new journal (I'd filled up my old one), when I found one dating back to 1998.

In the beginning of the notebook, I had notes from the Mount Hermon writing conference. It was amazing how the notes I took then still ring true to me today.

One set of workshop notes came from my dear friend and mentor, Robin Jones Gunn. I'd signed up to take her class hoping for some ideas on how to write better fiction. Robin helped do that by first pointing us to our own hearts.

Two questions she encouraged us to ask were:

What purpose has God given me? What is His desire?

The next thing Robin had us do, in class, was to write our personal story, starting from our birth to present day--hitting the high and low points.

After that was done, she asked us to highlight certain areas with different colored markers. These points were:

Key people.

Key events.

Key lessons.

Lies.

This was a life-transforming activity, and these themes could clearly be seen:

Unwed pregnancy (both me and my mom)
Love of books and reading
Abortion
Intimacy and Heartache
Longings for love
Single parenting
Falling in love (for real)
God's liberation and transformation in my life

So what about you? Where major events have touched your life? Where can you see God at work? As David Crowder sings, "Wherever you've been, He's been there."

I would highly recommend you try this activity. Once you see where God has been working, you may see a "trend" developing . . . and perhaps know where God wants to continue "the good work He began in you."

Tricia Goyer
www.triciagoyer.com