Eva Timothy had an instagram post this week that asked the question - "What does freedom mean in your life and your family?" This has provoked some deep soul searching for me. I have loved the question and I have loved figuring out what does freedom mean to me.
August 1993 - I was a young gymnast traveling to Moscow, Russia to train. I was terrified! I was going to leave my family for 2 weeks and stay in a Russian gymnastics's home. I didn't know her, nor her family. I knew the coaches I was traveling with, but they weren't my daily coaches. There were 3 other gymnasts, but once again, non from my team. I was 12 years old and on an adventure of a lifetime, or so I was told. Haha! In Moscow there were huge army tanks and soldiers holding guns. I'd seen this in movies, but never in real life. I remember feeling scared and wondering if we were in danger while we traveled around. The people we traveled with let us know we were safe, just don't stare and try not to focus on the soldiers. But how could I not, this wasn't normal for me. For the Russians who were showing us around, this was normal and how life was, but I was from the United States. We didn't have army tanks strolling through the streets or soldiers walking with their guns. This was a whole new way of life and a life I never wanted to know. As the week continued I learned that Nadia, the gymnast I was staying with, had been picked by her government to be a gymnast. She hadn't chosen the sport of gymnastics for herself. She was an amazing gymnast, but hearing that she didn't get to choose, it's just what she was told to do, I couldn't imagine how she found the desire to push herself in the sport of gymnastics. Then at the end of the week, I wanted to share a Book of Mormon with her and she said she couldn't take it. She would get in trouble if she had one.
June 2002 - I was 21 years old and off to Brazil for to serve a mission. I learned that the youth my age, couldn't go to college. It's wasn't as freely offered as it was to me in the United Sates. Here I was a Senior in college with only one semester left and I had never even thought what I would do if I couldn't go to school. Yet for these Brazilians, that was the normal. They would do their basic schooling and then get the best job they could and that was life. What type of life was this? How could you not have the opportunity to try for a higher education?
April 2017 - Zac and I took Hunter to New York City. We took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. As I looked at it and heard the stories of the immigrants, I realized how much freedom I had taken for-granted. This land, the United States of American was a land of opportunity! It was a land for religious freedom. A land to become more then what they already were! It was a land to raise a family without fear!
June 2021 - Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Olympic Trials for gymnastics. Do we realize that not all countries have that opportunity?! I watched these gymnasts fight for their goal of going to the Olympics. They were picked because of their performances over the past few meets. They worked hard and earned their spot based off of their own efforts. That is freedom!
These are just a few of the experiences I have had in my life that have helped me realize how important my freedom of agency in daily life is. I love all countries and the culture of everywhere I go, but I only want to live in a land where I have the ability to choose my day to day lifestyle and living. I want to be able to choose how successful I am in life due to how much work I put in. I want my kids to learn and have the ability to gain a higher education to help them not only in their workplace, but in their ability to choose all choices in life. I want to live where I can choose what religion I worship without being in fear that I will get in trouble for what I am reading or studying.
I didn't get to watch my fireworks last night and that was hard for me. I always get emotional during the firework shows as I have all my sense awakened and imagine what it was like for those men fighting during the Revolution. They stood for courage! They believed God needed this country to be more and they gave their lives fighting for us to have our agency in life to become who God wanted us to be.
Do we realize how blessed we truly are, especially here in the United States, to have all the freedoms that we have. We have a voice, we have ability, we have opportunity. We choose for ourselves our status in life - no one else does. That is a freedom so many people wish for and we have!
Today I sat in Fast and Testimony meeting and heard a testimony reminding me that the greatest freedom of all is through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of His atonement we can be free from sin and return to God. This is what this life is all about! And the coolest part of this freedom, everyone can have it. It doesn't matter where you live or who your government is. All is welcome to participate in Christ's freedom! And through Christ we can become our true self.
I hope as you ponder on your freedom, no matter where you live, you will be able to live to your fullest potential because of the freedom you've been blessed with in life. Use your free agency for good! Become who God needs you to be!
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