Be Free

My baby girl had her wisdom teeth out today ... just another step closer to being all grown up. She did great, of course. Forty-five minutes flat and now she's ensconced on the sofa with her puffy comforter, a multitude of pillows, the TV remote, and some excellent drugs.

Right before we left the oral surgeon's office another girl showed up to have six, count 'em, SIX wisdom teeth cut out. I don't know how that happens, but that's what her parents told me. It just goes to show there's always someone worse off than you are.

Everyone has their own "stuff," and I'm not talking about extra teeth. Stuff = problems (put mildly), issues, junk, garbage, baggage we lug around with us, day in and day out… It bears remembering that no one is immune, so we should try to be, as I recently heard someone suggest, "kinder than necessary." In fact, someone else I can't remember either (it may have been Rick Warren) said, "Everyone is either heading into a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or smack-dab in the middle of one," (my paraphrase).

Wouldn't it be great if we could just schedule an operation to have all of our "stuff" taken out? When we woke up it would be gone, leaving us so much lighter! And when we left the doctor's office (or the hospital if we had some really heavy "stuff" to lose) there'd be no taking it home with us; it would be gone forever.

Well, here's the good news: "...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." ~ John 8:36 (NIV)

I know that I am free. I just need to start living like I believe it.

Be free!