It’s so easy to let others tell us who and how to be. It’s easy to settle for the tamed life and the neat boxes we stuff ourselves into. It’s easy to tell ourselves that women of God aren’t supposed to be wild and free. After all, society tells us that wild isn’t a good thing and that we’re free enough already. Am I right?
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.
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I love my life and the calling God has placed on it. However, I’ve always felt like I can’t be the slightest bit wild or free. This isn’t because of my relationship with God, my husband, or my life in general, but because of expectations others have of me.
Let’s face it, people generally prefer their pastors’ wives to be prim and proper to wild and free. You may not be a pastor’s wife, but you likely feel pressured by the expectations of others. It can it all be a little much.
Wild and Free Review
Here’s the problem with all of that: it’s left me feeling like I’m too much, but not enough at the same time. Too much and never enough. That phrase from the cover of Wild and Free from Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan has stirred my heart in the greatest way.
The words from the cover of Wild and Free helped me identify exactly how I’ve felt for the longest time, but the the pages of Wild and Free have helped me understand that I’m not too much and I’m always enough through Jesus.
Best of all, through Wild and Free, Jess and Hayley have reminded me that I’m not being who God created me to be when I box myself in and conform to man-made expectations. They’ve reminded me that none of us were created to be tamed or to live in captivity.
Do you need these reminders as desperately as I have? It’s time to join in the anthem of Wild and Free.
Getting Back to Wild and Free
What I’m learning through Wild and Free is that the wild and free life was the intention all along. Jess writes of Eve as the original wild woman. While I’ve read Genesis more times than I can count, I’ve never spent time seeing Eve for who she was. I’ve always focused on what she lost because of the fall.
She was in perfect communion with our Heavenly Father, just like we will be someday in eternity. I like to think about her during that short period of paradise because she is our prototype. Eve is our girl. She was the original forerunner of ‘wild and free,’ the mother of the daughters of God.” – Jess Connolly
Jess also points out that Eve’s downfall came when she questioned her identity. I don’t know about you, but that’s such a convicting thought for me. I’ve spent too much time mulling over the expectations others have for me and trying to fit a man-made mold. I’ve spent too much time stuffing the parts of me that might be too much into a cage and never letting all of me roam free. Can you relate?
What God has shown me through Wild and Free is that I’ll never grow if I live my life refusing to be all of who God has called me to be. All of these longings I have to walk with God in the most unhindered, uncomplicated way will always be longings if I listen to what others have for me rather than what He has called me to. All of the dreams I have for kingdom work will never happen if I stay in the cage and toe the line that’s expected of me. After all,
Anything kept in captivity will only grow as much as its cage will allow.” – Hayley Morgan
I’ll only grow us much as my cage will allow. Does that not grab you in the most powerful way? It’s time to get back to wild and free.
What I’m learning through Wild and Free is that I can’t take the trappings and expectations with me. I can’t carry all of the weight of the expectations and labels with me into the wild. The good news is that I really don’t have to carry much of anything with me to go back to the wild. My Father already has everything I need waiting for me there.
And, ultimately, what God has shown me in my time of reading Wild and Free is that once I’ve said yes to freedom and abandoned my cage, I can’t go back. I can’t carry the cage with me or look behind me if I ever want to be truly wild and free. Wild and free living involves keeping my eyes on my Father and not dwelling on the past or my limitations. In Him I have no limits and my past doesn’t hold me down.
For me, getting back to Wild and Free is more about being bold about who I already am and not apologizing for it. It’s about letting go of the hustle and celebrating small beginnings. It’s about letting go of the constant pressure to do more and be more because through Jesus I’m already enough. It’s affirmation of what I’ve feeling strongly in this season of my life.
Bottom Line: If you’ve been longing for permission to let go of the hustle, to stop trying to hold it all together, or to not be who and what others expect you to be, it’s time to walk into the wild and free life that God called you to. Through Wild and Free Jess and Hayley will help you find your way to the life God intended for you all along. This is a book you can’t afford to miss. Your invitation back to the wild awaits you.