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Click here to view this photo book larger

This is a photo from Bri and Scott's wedding a couple of years ago. Let me tell you it was a ton of fun. I wanted to share this photo because it just symbolizes so much for me.

-Lovely friendship
-Fun yellow dresses
-Cowboy boots
-Dancing to George Straight

If there is one thing in life I love it is dancing. There is just something about spinning around and letting your hair down that makes your steps a little lighter as you walk off the floor. I'm convinced that if everyone had some good, clean fun on the dance floor every so often, no one would need antidepressants.

I'm off to write one more paper. Have a good afternoon friends.

Freedom.
–noun
1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.

The power to determine action. Just think, we have the power to determine action. What does that even mean?
John 8:36 says,

if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed

Free indeed! But what is the freedom that comes from Christ? Is it life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Is it a lack of discipline? Is it never paying a cent for anything? What kind of freedom does Christ bring?
Once again, Oswald has me thinking. He writes...

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

Maybe the "I can'ts" aren't from God. I think God may put some I won'ts in our minds. I won't do this, or I won't do that. But faith, faith is believing in the impossible.
Once again, I am not going to pretend to sort this all out. I'll let you wrestle with the idea a freedom as man has done for the last few thousand years. I'll leave you with some photos of what freedom looks like to me.

Free to learn.

Free to laugh.

Free to dance.

Free to fall in love.

As a small child, I always wondered what Ken was thinking. What should I make his voice sound when he was talking to Barbie while riding in their pink Corvette? Well, now I know.

There is something therapeutic about a morning cup of coffee. I commuted in a little early this morning so that I would have time to stop at my favorite coffee spot. Life has been a little hectic and there just hasn't been much time for the coffee shop. But when I stopped in this morning and the guy that's always working there took my order, it just started my morning off right. If you are a watcher of Gilmore Girls, you know about Luke's Diner. If you don't share my love for Stars Hollow, you can wait for the next blog, because you just won't appreciate this one.

I watched the last and final episode today when I arrived home from work. Let's just say that it wasn't complete without a serving of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blue Bell Ice Cream. It was glorious. I loved the whole episode, but here is my favorite scene...



Smell the coffee
Feel the warmth of the mug
Enjoy the familiarity of the morning

This clip communicates just why I love morning coffee so much. As simple as it is, I feel like life runs a little deeper with a cup of brewed goodness in my hands.

So, take time to stop into your favorite coffee shop. It just might 'perc' up your day.

p.s. Thank you Katherine for my very own percolator. :-)