Back in the day, I would fish with my Granddad on the Swan Creek in Tennessee. Swan Creek is a spring-fed waterway, so it is cold as ice and clear as crystal. I remember how beautiful the rushing water was under our flat-bottom boat, as we would float for miles in search of any type of fish that would fall prey to our bait. Not only were there great memories of me catching more fish than my brother and Granddad, I can also recall how you could look at the bottom and see every single rock, fish, crawdad, and sunken treasure.

The depth was deceptive, though! Actually, it was deceptive only to me and my brother. My Granddad was older, wiser, and he had enough of me catching more fish, so he told me to jump out of the boat and pull us to shore. Little did I know that the water, which looked to be knee deep, was actually over my head. That made for a chilling lesson, but a good laugh! A lesson that I hope to teach my son one day.

My fishing days, albeit short lived, paint a lovely picture of what I want to do with this blog over the next few weeks. The focus is on four C’s: content, clarity, connection, and challenge. I want the content to be deep enough that we are swimming and not wading, and clear enough that we can still see straight to the bottom. In addition, it needs to connect with our lives in such a way that it seems as cold spring water waking us up to the truth. Finally, I want it to have enough of a challenge that we have to paddle and kick to stay afloat for the sake of growing stronger, but not so challenging that we find ourselves gasping for air and never able to recover.

I promise you that I am not oblivious to the fact that the topic of insecurities can be bone chilling; however, we will not conquer something if we are not willing to hit it head on. Sometimes you have to quit putting your toe in the water, and feeling the topic out. In this area of life, we need to jump in and learn to swim. Acknowledging our identity and assessing our insecurities could actually be like taking a swim in the clean and clear water of the Swan Creek. After you grow acclimated to the temperatures and the depth, you have a blast splashing around in it. It is liberating. It is freedom!

And, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free…” But freedom will require an alignment.

It’s time to align your mind!