Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Joy in freedom

June 22, 2016 by Kristin 1 Comment

I’m excited to introduce you to another blogging friend of mine. It’s people like Tiffany Parry who make me love the internet. Her words encourage well and point to truth. Her post today is more of that, just as we’re settling into summer, officially this week! 

Tiffany and I dream of sharing stories around a real-life table, but until then I’m grateful to call her my friend across the miles. Please welcome her to my blog for #ThreeWordWednesday. 

I’m a rule-follower, the quintessential say-what-I-do, do-what-I-say girl. I thrive on order, tidy boundaries, and well-laid plans.

In the practicalities of day to day life, my Type-A personality and patterns suit me just fine. The problem with all my orderly rules is that we live in an unorderly world. “Things” don’t always go my way – our way.

Organization is one thing, but under the influence of pressure, the craving for order turns into a pension for control. And of this I am absolutely certain: we don’t own control.

God doesn’t want us to grip life with both hands, but instead surrender it into His.

“In His hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.”
Job 12:10 ESV

Christ gave His life and breath to purchase exclusive rights to ours. In exchange for our faith, our smallest seeds of belief, Jesus offers us rich freedom and fullness of joy. It hardly seems a fair exchange, does it? But it’s what makes our freedom such a sweet gift.

Freedom and joy go hand in hand. {Tweet that.}

Joy is a byproduct of a heart at peace with God’s plan. Even if our circumstances aren’t precisely peaceful, we can know the joy that Christ affords us through a life lived with open hands willing to receive His plans over our own.

Can I tell you a secret? This isn’t easy for me.

Can I tell you another secret? God’s plans for us are always good.

Maybe both are entirely obvious to you. But, after living nearly half my life as a Christian, I’m still learning not to allow my control freakiness to wrestle away my freedom and steal my joy. My heart longs to know peace and my hands crave that open position, but I often watch my joy plummet as I fall prey to my flesh. If you can relate, I have good news:

Our level of joy isn’t an indication of God’s goodness – He is always good. {Tweet that.}

If that isn’t enough (PS. He is always enough), I have more good news: Summer is the ideal season to perfect your joy and reclaim your freedom.

Days are longer, weather is warmer, and sweet tea abounds. There are sandy beaches and grassy fields longing for your footsteps, books waiting to be cracked open, and beautiful sunsets hand painted by a God who delights in you experiencing the abundance of life.

Here are a few ways to choose joy in freedom this summer … and every day after:

1. Give up ought-to.

Control can wrangle freedom with our self-imposed “ought-to” and “must-do” rules. Instead let’s live intentionally. Rather than make choices based on people-pleasing, perfection, approval, or random bouts of guilt, choose what pleases God. Pursue what is honorable in His sight and that which evokes fullness of joy and freedom in your heart.

2. Answer wisely.

This is tied closely to #1, but takes it one step further. We have permission to say “no.” Just because we are able to do something, doesn’t mean we should or have to. Over commitment is a form of control that robs us of free time and energy. Without those precious resources, our joy will quickly dwindle.

3. Insert grace.

If you’re anything like me, you’re bound to wrestle for control once more. Grace means your freedom does not run dry and second chances will come at the break of day. Open those hands and receive grace, then freely give it to those around you. Joy is catching, didn’t you know?

4. Savor.

This is the fruit of #1 thru #3. You’ve created the foundation for freedom, now enjoy it. This broad space is truly a gift. Have fun, bust through those tidy boundaries, set you margins on wide and savor the goodness of God. His wonder is all around you – watch for it and let freedom ring.

Friends, here’s to a joyful summer filled with the sweetness of freedom!

_____________________

Tiffany is a wife and mom who dwells in the sunshine (and smog) of Southern California. She’s a lover of words who purposes to use hers to speak God’s truth with grace and authenticity. More than that, she longs to provide a safe place for others to do the same. You are invited to join her word-by-word journey through the mountains and valleys of faith at her blog, Simply for One, or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

_____________________

152 Insights to My Soul

An InLinkz Link-up

I’ve been opening my blog doors to some friends this month :: Susan Shipe shared about summertime fun and Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. You can also download The Summer Not-To-Do List I made for you, if you haven’t already. 

Subscribe to get new posts and/or a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog in your inbox. When you subscribe, I’ll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable.

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Filed Under: guest post, JOY, Three Word Wednesday

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  1. A Special Rest says:
    June 12, 2017 at 11:15 am

    […] fun. Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. Tiffany Parry shared about the joy that comes with freedom. Alecia Simersky talked about rejoicing in the day God has made, even with the day involves hard […]

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness 🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness has walked beside me / The winter storms made way for spring / In every season, from where I'm standing / I see the evidence of Your goodness / All over my life … 🎶 @joshbaldwin in “Evidence”

I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

I long for a little more white space on the calendar, but I also wouldn’t change a thing because the kids are only 16, 13, and 7 once. This summer will only be this summer once. And I’ve already learned time flies with big kids. 

So here we are finding out footing, singing praises with church friends on our porch, grilling delicious chicken, and squeezing in the wide-open spaces when we can. This is evidence of the good stuff. 

#84daysofsummer #poolpeople #momlife #momconfessions #faithlife #livingfaithfully #favoritethings #choosingJOY #countryliving #reallife #PorchStories
The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat ha The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat has become a favorite tradition to kick off summer! The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed one another. 

#familyreunion #lakelife #kentuckylake #kylake #getoutside #familytime #memorialday #memorialdayweekend #favoritethings #84daysofsummer #summerisbest #choosingJOY
Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

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But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #donotrecommend #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth
I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

#weekending #TeamTaylor #poolpeople #countryliving #favoritethings #choosingJOY #maydays
And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

#soccermom #weekending #springtime #momlife #girlmom #boymom
On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #latergram #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth #poolpeople #mothersday
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And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

#momlife #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #summerisbest #teenagedriver #choosingJOY
I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but t I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but this one by Soraya M. Lane focused on three nurses, their friendships, and how the war changed their lives. It’s a hard story, but it’s full of love and hope despite the destruction around them. 

And it’s the second historical fiction audiobook I’ve listened to in a row! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #Audible #KindleUnlimited #historicalfiction
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