It’s almost 2017.

Maybe you are thinking about the next year, praying and brainstorming and dreaming about some aspect of your life.

I’m there with you. Every year, about this time, I put aside time to pray and brainstorm over the next year in ministry.

This year felt complicated. There were a thousand things I could do. All good things. All things that would help reach more women, and spread the message that through Christ we can live free.

Yet, none of those things resonated. Sure, they were BIG, but were they the right thing to do? Not so much.

About that time I received a message from a close friend. She said: “Suzie, what God is asking you to do might look small in the eyes of the world, but it will be big.”

It all fell into place.

It might sound cryptic to you, but I knew.

I put my fingers on the keyboard and started typing. Where I was formerly pecking away as I brainstormed, the ideas poured out.

You see I’ve had this dream for over 10 years now of showing women how to live free, and I’ve watched women do just that. Every day I receive emails from women who say, “My heart mended,” or “God helped me forgive,” or “My faith is changing, and it’s hard but beautiful.”

Yet I felt we were ready for the next step.

So Live free is changing.

There will be a new look for the blog in January, and that’s cool.

There will be a new 21-Day Adventure the 2nd week of January, and that’s going to be fun.

Yet that’s not where the changes are coming. For the past two years I’ve been transitioning from encouraging women to live free to gathering those same women to stand shoulder to shoulder. You see, we’ve experienced healing. We’ve encountered Jesus. We were lost, and now we are found. I have strongly felt that it’s time for us to take that gift and start scooping up other women. To take what God has done and use it to reach other women across the world.

So, the first change that seems small but feels big and wonderful is that this ministry focus is shifting.

Live free is changing to “Living free . . . together.”

I see an army of women — imperfect, whole, healing, quirky or quiet, but faith-filled — making a difference. We’ll continue to grow together. We’ll continue to believe and pray together. We’ll start reaching out and holding hands with other women across the world who feel they have no voice. Who are in desperate need of hope and healing. Who are abused, oppressed, put down. That woman might look like the neighbor next door, sitting across the aisle at church, or living in a slum in a third-world country.

We’ll partner with a handful of amazing organizations who are helping women find freedom, and encourage them in prayer, in awareness, with giving, and perhaps a trip as we come alongside these women tangibly.

We’ll start to discover ways to impact the world, whether that is the world around us or across the world.

We’ll discover how you are helping women live free and share those stories.

We’ll continue to talk about healing. We’ll continue to discuss how to live free in our families, in our faith, and in our feelings. But we’ll also be like the woman in John 4:29, who raced to tell everyone she saw:

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

She couldn’t help but tell people what Jesus had done. It was her first act of ministry.

Right now there are #livefree women behind the scenes of this ministry praying. Others are stepping into position to help this new phase unfold.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”U7SMK” via=”yes” ]When God heals our heart, let us share that good news with someone who desperately needs to hear it. #livefreeThursday @suzanneeller[/ctt]

I’m so excited about 2017. I promise I’ll share more later. I’ll let you know ways you can get involved. For right now, I share a little bit on the “What is Live Free” page.

Now, for other news.

If God is speaking a new adventure into your heart, maybe our next study will be an encouragement to you.

On January 9, we’ll begin a study called 21 Days to Believing Big When You Feel Small. If you’ve felt your faith flickering, or just want to go deeper, you are invited to join this study. We’ll have some fun downloadables and action steps to share with you as we go, but all you really need to join us is to be subscribed to this blog, your Bible and a journal.

For today, if you feel God speaking a new adventure in your heart, share that.

We’ll pray over it with you.

I can’t wait to hear about it!

Suzie

The new study (21 Days to Believing Big When You Feel Small) is based on Chapter Six of Come With Me. If you want to grab a copy of that, you’ll find encouragement and teaching that takes the topic even deeper.

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