Meet Becky
Thinking about freedom, my mind goes back to about 12 years ago when I felt anything but free. As an observer you wouldn’t have known it – I was working, involved in church, going out and about socially… but inside I felt trapped in a life that was going nowhere. Although I had much to be grateful for, the fact that I was single, hadn’t had any children and was fast approaching 40 made me feel like I’d missed my ‘real life’, the one where I would have a purpose and feel fulfilled. I increasingly felt physically and emotionally ill.
Over the course of a few months, I made some very conscious decisions and began a journey to freedom. The changes I made were subtle but life changing. One decision was to make sure I worshipped God every day and to deepened my relationship with Jesus. I decided to be openly grateful for the things I did have. I went on a course at church called Growing Leaders that helped me focus on what it means to be a Christian and a Christian leader. I had some counselling to help sort out what I believed to be true rather than allow feelings of hopelessness that things would ever change to overwhelm me. I made some further decisions about things that were holding me back. This was incredibly difficult but I could somehow sense deep inside that this was my only hope for freedom.
I was barely through this process when my life took a surprising turn – I was introduced to the man I would marry! I felt God’s plan suddenly open up before me and as I kept going, and trusting, things changed dramatically for the better. I can honestly say that it was worth the heartache and effort to get to a place where I am free to be me, and have that sense of purpose and fulfilment that I had been searching for. The bottom line is I can’t find freedom pursuing my own ideas or trying to do things my way. True freedom is only found in a surrendered heart and a relationship with Jesus Christ. He has the keys to freedom and offers them to us. Amazing!