Foreword

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Freedom.

What a powerful word.

I was thinking today about a white flag. Every picture and analogy of a white flag has the appearance and smell of defeat; one where your heart is broken that the sacrifice you know they paid, and the pursuit you feel like they must have been called to and believed in, all evaporates in the raising of the white flag. We quit. We give up. You win.

Or do we?

One of the values I love most in the pursuit of Jesus is that a white flag doesn’t signify defeat—just surrender.

What I love about the kingdom of God is that it is truly upside down. All the normal is abnormal. All the natural is supernatural. The ordinary is extraordinary.

More is less and less is more. Eternal is significant; here and now is fleeting.

Freedom is a powerful word. It turns out that in our raising the white flag over our life, what we actually experience instead of defeat is victory. This is the kingdom of God. This is holy mystery. This is following Jesus. In surrender, we take part in His eternal, lasting victory.

In this book, Jamie tells a “normal” life story of struggle: the belief in lies spoken over her and through her about her own life, which resulted in an existence far less than what she deserved or was promised. Where Jamie’s story becomes supernatural is when she places her life in God’s hands; when she awakens to the fact that her life is actually not her own. That’s when multiplication/transcendence occurs. That’s when the kingdom theory of upside-down takes over. Her life becomes extraordinary and more profound and further-reaching than she could have ever expected, all because she raised her own white flag. You and I have the same opportunity in our lives.

Jamie’s story moves from a story, a telling . . . to testifying. I hear it said a lot that everyone has a story. I often hear people repeat that every wound and scar in your life becomes a part of your story, and that as humans, we spend too much time covering our scars instead of using them as an opportunity to tell our story. I love all of this, and I agree. Nothing in our life is wasted. Nothing. However, these stories can often lack authentic power to me. Somehow in the telling, we miss the testifying. We can focus on the scars, instead of on the Savior whose scars healed and freed us.

See, it’s not enough that we’ve made it through our trials. It’s not enough that we just lived to tell a story, although for many of us that is miraculous. It’s only enough when we tell of the power and redemption of God through our story. Our lives become radiant when we can’t help but declare what the Lord has done. Jamie isn’t just normal; she’s abnormal, because God is in her story. And her ability to preach freedom through her story is compelling!

See, you and I and Jamie all have something deeply in common. We all long to be free.

For me, it’s only in recent days that some of that freedom has truly come. As I continue to pursue Jesus, He continues to reveal Himself more and more to me. The more I see of Him, the more I can see me clearly. I am not a mix of seeming mistakes; I am actually designed this way. I am not here to play a role; I’m here as a loved child. I am not just a pastor’s wife; I’m actually chosen as Jesus’ bride too. I actually encourage and dare you to lean into Jesus and the truth of His Word.

When you read Jamie’s testimony of how this occurred to her, I promise you will begin to believe it can be a possibility for you too. You, too, can discover the truth, and that truth can set you free. Maybe it’s time for you to truly surrender, and Jamie will help you lift your own weighty white flag.

I can’t wait to see what you experience in the pages ahead.

I love Jamie, and you will too. Freedom is contagious, and you’re about to catch the best infection.

Shelley Giglio