Five Minute Friday – The Things We Need to Keep On Doing

I’m a bit late. I haven’t been writing lately. I have been quiet. I have been listening. My words have felt lost in a fog – and I’ve been running about experimenting with all sorts of other fun things – but the words never really cease. They never truly quiet. When I saw the prompt last night – after silently lurking in the Twitter Party – it made me think about the things that need to happen even in the midst of quiet; even when our words are fallow; even when life is hard. So many things came pouring out, so you’ll have to forgive me for the length. I think there’s going to be some words here. I’ll let you know when I hit my five minutes, and if you’d like to go on, I hope you will.

And because I always say this … the Five Minute Friday community opens wide and invites you in to share. Come and visit and read. You will be blessed.

This Week: Keep 

Go 

2015 began much quieter for me than normal. Not that I’m not already pretty quiet as it is, but there’s usually a bit more activity with hanging new calendars, preparing goals, organizing and categorizing, and again, more activity to launch the next three hundred sixty-five days.

But then right after New Year, I came down with a wicked case of strep throat. Mercy. I don’t think I’ve had this as an adult, and had clearly forgotten what it feels like. Let me tell you – it’s like swallowing glass 24/7 until your meds kick in. And after that, other medical issues as I took an involuntary break from the meds that make my body function as close to normal as possible. It was a bit of a snowball and the beginning of the year evaporated; the calendar flipped; February appeared in all its red and pink glory; and I felt lost, ill-prepared, and unready.

And yet.

Things continued to move forward. Without my consent. Without my preparation. Without my readiness. I even continued to move forward. I got up and went to work. I ate, slept, mothered, put on pretty red lipstick, worked on computers with all the viruses and malware, and collapsed on the weekend. Why? Because you don’t get to stop. We don’t have a pause button. Time carries on and so must we.

But my discontent and disorientation made me think about the moving on and the things that need to continue on – especially in the crazy times. I thought about the things that we need to keep on doing.

We need to keep on giving thanks … 
A few years ago, I discovered Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts and took of the practice of counting thanks and trying to live in to the philosophy of eucharisteo – that the miracle is preceded by thanks. I am not as diligent with this as I should be – as many of my friends are – but I do try to make note (and write them in my little notebook when I remember) and to create that visible history of thanks to look back on. God moves in the big and the little things, and remembering to give thanks in all things is a beautiful practice that keeps our eyes and hearts focused on the one from who all blessings flow. If you haven’t read Ann’s book or explored the idea of counting thanks I would really encourage you to give it a go. I’d also invite you to check out my friend Sarah Jo’s blog – she does a wonderful job of capturing the counting.

We need to keep in community … 
I’ll tell you right now that this is hard one for me in practice. I embrace the theory whole-heartedly, but my gut reaction when things get rough is to withdraw into myself. I go it alone. I stick my chin out; grit my teeth; and forge ahead. Which can be fine – and as an introvert – the quiet of alone can be very refreshing for me. But introvert or not, we are communal creatures – created to live and thrive in relationships. And the truth is, there are some things that can’t – and shouldn’t – be borne alone. I am blessed with an abundance of friends – online and in real life – who pray and cheer and encourage me. But they do that best when I am communicating and sharing and being vulnerable enough to ask for help. I imagine you have these resources too – people who love you and want the very best for you and your life. Don’t be afraid to reach out – it’s always better if we do this together.

And that friends, is my five minutes. But I have a few more things on my mind, and you are more than welcome – invited even – to continue on reading with me. 

We need to keep in the Word … 
I am preaching to myself here because I am never here enough. But when I am – and when you are – together we will hear his voice and bear witness to the life and miracles that he has done and the life and miracles that he will do. I don’t want to clutter this one with my words. Just his.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15: 4-8 

We need to keep forging ahead … 
Are you wrestling with health issues? Are you in the middle of a painful separation? Is motherhood making you feel like a failure? Do your finances feel like a fragile glass? Maybe the whole of your life feels like it’s on the brink of collapse. Hold on friend. I’ve been there. I’m still there, in fact. There are areas of my life that feel completely out of my control – where no matter how hard I work or strive, nothing improves. Nothing gets better. Nothing changes. There are times I feel like everything is a fight. And I am so very tired of fighting. But we can’t stop. We don’t stop. That part about no pause button? It’s hard, isn’t it? But our hope is found in nothing less than his blood and righteousness that spills out in grace and mercy covering a multitude of struggles. In these times of struggle, we need to wrest our eyes from the grime and the dirt and the struggle of the everyday – these fights we’re fighting – and look to Jesus. Just look to him. I know it may feel like you’re seven star falls away from heaven, but trust that he knows you. He sees you. He loves you. Keep on moving.

More than anything, I pray that when you read these words that have been given to me, that you hear grace. I don’t want you to hear judgment. Or misunderstanding. Or be left feeling with a sense of lack or inadequacy. I write from my own place of struggle and my desperate need to remember who I belong to and who’s I am – and who calls me enough – in spite of my messy fall downs.

Life can be exhausting and hard. But even in the midst of the hard, if we take the time, we can find the glory in the ordinary. The light through the window on a child’s hair as they rest. The way your husband’s hand rests on the small of your back – just a reminder that he’s there. The unexpected card, text, or email from a friend – just to cheer you. The surprise rainbow through the rain over the crowded freeway as you drive home. Life is hard. But it is the dirt under our nails and the tears on our faces that remind us that we are living. And that while we are living here on this plane, we have so much more to look forward to in the life to come.

Know that as you read this that you are not alone. My quiet prayer in these words is that you will have a very real sense of the presence of God – and that you will know and understand how very much he loves you. And that he is with you no matter where you are. Sunlight or shadow. Smile or tears. Rolling with laughter or sitting tightly holding yourself together. Keep on believing that he is here. And he will never leave you alone.

Stop



How to Join
Want to know about how Five Minute Friday got started, and how to participate? All the details are here. No editing or second guessing. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

When Listening is the Answer to the Question

This is only my second year – the second time I’ve officially stepped up and committed to one word to define the 365 days of 2014.

Looking back, I can say I both completely embraced my word and yet completely let go of my word. It was return – and return I did – to many of the things I wrote that I wanted to embrace and dwell in. There are things I wished I dived in to more, but lingering on the missed opportunities won’t bring them back, and I am in desperate need of grace ….

As this year tipped over towards its sprawling close – alight in the hustle and bustle of celebration, and festival, the quiet question shimmered in the back of my mind: would I do it again? Would a word find its way into my heart? Would I feel led towards of word of meditation? Would I return?

It came down to three words. First scribbled into the margins of my planner. Questions more than anything. Wondering if these one of these words was the one. I prayed and asked and read – seeking a confirmation that I was headed in the right direction. Each petition followed by silence and a hanging feeling of an ellipsis – still incomplete.

The words migrated to three post-it notes on the edge of my calendar – hovering over me on bright pink squares – unresolved.

Then Saturday night while sitting somewhat distracted in the church sanctuary – the echo of worship songs still in my ears – I heard the word, and the description of the feelings I had around the word – repeatedly in both the children’s talk and the evening’s sermon.

I heard it in the story of Elijah – fleeing for his life into the wilderness of Beersheba; standing in the mouth of a cave and bearing witness to the terrible, awesome power of God; yet finding him in the aftermath – in a whisper. I heard it as Pastor Paul spoke of the benefits of restorative rest – not just taking a break, but being intentional about setting aside true Sabbath time for rejuvenation and reconnecting with the Lord. I heard it as I remembered Sarah Bessey’s prayer from the IF Gathering and Faith & Culture: my first writer’s conference; where she prayed over us from a passage in Matthew – calling us to Christ and in to the unforced rhythms of grace.

I heard my word and felt it breathe in to me.

Listen.

This is a good word for me. This is a hard word for me. I have been described as a good listener, but I’m not sure I listen as well as I used to; as well as I could. I am clouded and cluttered by pre-disposition and pre-meditation. I struggle through my own ideas of culture and expectation. There is more to hear. From my God. From my daughter. From my husband. From my family. From my body. From my neighborhood. From my community. From my world. Things I need to extend myself to without judgment and without immediate answer.

So as this next year dawns, I will be leaning in to hear. I will be waiting with patient expectation. I will be seeking the unbroken rhythms of restorative rest. I will be listening.



As one of my readers, you are one of the ones I want to listen to. One of the ones I want to hear from. Do you participate in the One Word project? If so, I would love to hear what word has called you this year.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

Five Minute Friday - Prepare

On Fridays a bunch of brave writers gather here to all spend five collective minutes writing on a single prompt. It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week. This blessed, beautiful place where we open our hearts and let words and tears and the inner workings of our lives bleed and flow and dance across the virtual pages. Yes, this community opens wide and invites you in to share. Come and visit and read. You will be blessed.

You’ll forgive me if I steer gently around the holidays for this post. It’s drawing me – so much to say – so much goodness. I’ve been writing about this a little already – I fact, my second Advent post spoke to exactly this. Maybe that’s why I’m pulling myself in another direction. Besides, it was art class today.

This week: Prepare

Go

They are so small: these tiny hands that grasp gently at the elegant length of deep oxford blue drawing pencils. I sped so little time in the world of children – despite having my own. Her life as an only lends itself towards more grown up conversations and themes – though I fight hard for every inch of childhood.

I sometimes forget the precious lives that inhabit the world two feet below my shoulders. But these children have utterly enchanted me. I have the privilege of sharing art with them once a week and I dearly wish it were more.

Our public schools have been losing curriculum they consider superfluous or unnecessary. Or simply not cost effective. These learning pillars that fall? They’re art; music; library – sometimes even physical education. Despite learned knowledge that these pillars shore up and round out an education as much as math, science, and writing.

So in I go every Tuesday morning. Heart pounding and completely terrified that they’ll look up; see beneath my carefully prepared lessons; and discover that while I might have a passion for arts and a flair for the creative, I am not actually a trained artist. My diligently packed 31 Gifts bag overflows with pens, pencils, color in many mediums, sandpaper, scissors and clips, paintbrushes, and books.  But is that enough?

After much thought and still with some trembling, I must say yes. Solidly. Completely. Confidently. While I might not have credentials behind my passion, I have a dedication to the craft and a deep desire to prepare their young hearts and minds to understand that they too are artists.

Soon enough, they will come crashing headlong into the naysayers and critics – those who will tell them they are not good enough; that their lines are wobbly; that their colors don’t work, and that cats simply cannot appear in every piece of art they create. They will face a lifetime of detractors and barricades – they may even find those barriers surfacing out of pools of worry and anxiety in their own hearts.

It is my deepest hope and prayer that in those moment, they will have a memory – something from way back – when someone leaned into them, believing, and said, “great job – I love what you’ve done with light and shadow there.” I hope they’ll remember a compliment of color, standing around images of the galaxy and learning about grayscale, putting pen to paper and making their first zentangle.

I hope my hour a week gives them the launching pad they need to leap deep into the pools of creativity to discover and navigate confidently through those waters on a lifelong journey.

Stop



How to Join
Want to know about how Five Minute Friday got started, and how to participate? All the details are here. No editing or second guessing. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

Five Minute Friday (and on a Tuesday!) - Dear

So here’s a new one for me.
Five minutes (well, we’ll see).
Not Friday.

My schedule often puts me behind the eight ball when it comes to the Five Minute Friday writing exercise. I’m still at work when the pre-festivities Twitter party begins and am more likely than not in the car on the way home or running errands when the prompt hits. But I like to join in when I can – this is still my favourite spontaneous writing exercise.

It’s not just the writing or the tweeting that grabs me. It’s the community.  There is so much depth and breadth here – more than I ever imagined. And so, I return to the prompt, four days after it’s been given, to share some thoughts.

On Fridays a bunch of brave writers gather here to all spend five collective minutes writing on a single prompt. It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week. This blessed, beautiful place where we open our hearts and let words and tears and the inner workings of our lives bleed and flow and dance across the virtual pages. Yes, this community opens wide and invites you in to share. Come and visit and read. You will be blessed.

This week: Dear

Go

I am a keeper of all of the things. I’m not going to use the “h” word – that’s a bigger reach than I’m willing to take. I am a collector. I am a treasurer (sometimes with all this treasure, I am also a treasure hunter). I am a gatherer and preserver of all things necessary and unnecessary because someday, they might be.

In among the collectibles and things preserved, there was a magazine. Kept for months. Read a thousand times. But for all the times that I’d read this particular issue, I hadn’t seen the article. In a national publication with 23 million subscribers, written by a best-selling novelist.

She wrote: “I don’t believe an online relationship is a relationship – not a real one.”

Not talking about dating or internet brides.
Just friendship.
This writer did not believe online relationships are real.

While I agree whole-heartedly with Ms. Best-Selling author that real-life, real-time, in person relationships are utterly essential and life giving, I cannot agree that online friendships have no merit.

Three years ago, I might have told a different story. The extent of my online friendships revolved around dragons and elves, vast lands to develop, and conquering heroes. Yes. I’m a gamer. Please notice this remains in the present tense.

It was fun rallying around goals (bring down the Frost Giant – garner great reward!) and connecting on some level with the players. I got a recipe for midnight margaritas from a bartender in Virginia; got to be pretty decent friends with a nurse from Australia; and my husband and I still exchange birthday greetings with a grandfather of three from Wales.

But three years ago, I discovered the (in)courage community and this tribe of Five Minute Friday writers. That discovery was a game changer.

I’m not sure if I really believed that online friendships could hold the weight of those grown over cups of coffee and tea; shared times with families; and service together for a higher goal.

I’m not sure I could have been more wrong.

With the upsides of social media, I have grown and cultivated authentic, vibrant friendships with women writers across the country (and into other countries). We have laughed, talked, prayed, and served with one another over the weeks and months that begin to mark years. Thanks to handy apps like Voxer (or frankly, the phone), I know their voices and have called on them to share both joys and tears. Many of us participate in the growing project hash tagged fmfpartysnail mail – writing letters each week to post to new friends across the miles: encouraging, praying, and sharing.

These friends are in the inhale and exhale of my daily life. There is a mutual lifting up, a shared cheering as we cross various finish lines in our lives. There is the long-distance hug that feels nearly tangible when shadows fall. There is generosity of spirit. There is truth.

Is it even better if we get the opportunity to meet up at a conference or arrange a real life meet up where hours feel like seconds? Absolutely. There are several friends in my online community that I am counting on meeting someday soon. No matter what. But in the meantime, can we still relish friendship without our heads inclining toward each other over a table or without walking down a quiet path side-by-side? Absolutely.

My online friends are some of my most dear and treasured ones. I’ve been blessed to have them enter my life, and whether I meet them on this side of heaven or after; they will remain ever present in my heart and mind, and will always be counted among the ones I cherish.

Stop



How to Join
Want to know about how Five Minute Friday got started, and how to participate? All the details are here. No editing or second guessing. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

The Light of Preparation

We set our eyes on hope.
We take off the mantle of what came before.
We direct our attention to the future.

Whether immediate or sometime in the unknown future, hope kindles our heart for what’s next.

If our heart is Christ’s home, we are always in a state of anticipation for him. What we will learn next. What he will reveal. Where we will be led. When is he coming again?

That anticipation leads to preparation.

During Advent, our hope is centered in anticipation on God’s gift of love to his people. The rock and redeemer born of spirit-and-flesh-made-one is the hope of the nations – the restoration of world fallen into darkness; the light on the edge of the dawn of joy.

Our preparation takes on many forms: lighting candles, gather our families for special devotions, perhaps finding those outside our own immediate circle who need encouragement, hope, and the gift of our time or resources.

But overall, let this time of preparation happen in our hearts.

Let us prepare for joy – making room and bowing low in humble thanks. As heaven opens in song to remember the receiving of her king, let us join in with our own song, and repeat the sounding joy. Let us look with hope to the future when sorrow and the infestation of the imperfect will be no more because of God’s blessings that will flow without end. Let us anticipate the future heaven and future earth where God’s peace and truth reigns and the nations celebrate the wonders of his glorious love. Let us repeat the sounding joy.

I pray that the light of preparation will be kindled and renewed in your hearts as we move forward into this season of discovering the greatest gift.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

The Light of Hope

The darkness falls quickly these days – we have changed the long, luxurious days of summer for the even longer, chilly nights of winter. While I love the holidays this time of the year and the cozy factor that comes from all the warm sweaters and my favorite scarves, I find myself missing the long sunsets and bright mornings of summer.

Which is why the holiday seasons we revel in these winter months – Advent, Hanukkah, and Christmas – bring such delight. These festivals of light. These celebrations of anticipation and thankfulness.

For Advent this year, I’m going back to re-read The Greatest Gift, by Ann Voskamp (along with several fellow writers and, perhaps, the whole of the (in)courage community!) and our family will be reading, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (also authored by Ann) and discovering the Jesse Tree in our Advent family devotion time.

Tonight at the table, we lit the first Advent candle – the candle of hope.

I read from one of my favorite chapters in Isaiah – 40 – and shared these words of hope with my sweet family gathered near:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 

What else could bring hope more, than the utterance of assurance from the God of the universe? What he has spoken will come to pass. What he spoken is true, and right, and will be honored.  His word stands forever and it the foundation of our lives.

I also love the hope declared at the end of this chapter:

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Are your tired and weary? Has this year been more than you feel you can bear? Does it feel as if the light of this season cannot possibly reach into the depths of your suffering and struggle?

He hears and he knows. The Father of compassion, the God of all comfort sees your heart and reaches out now and always to draw you near. To give you strength. To give you endurance. To give you hope.

I pray that the light of hope will be kindled and renewed in your hearts as we move forward into this season of discovering the greatest gift.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!

Five Minute Friday - Still

No matter how scattered or organized; how empty or brimming with creativity; how filled with joy or laid low by anger and frustration; how wrapped in community or wandering in self-imposed loneliness, I always find rest in the writing and grace in the embrace of Grace and welcome of friends.

On Fridays a bunch of brave writers gather here to all spend five collective minutes writing on a single prompt. It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week. This blessed, beautiful place where we open our hearts and let words and tears and the inner workings of our lives bleed and flow and dance across the virtual pages. Yes, this community opens wide and invites you in to share. Come and visit and read. You will be blessed.

This week: Still

Go

I can be calm. I can be quiet. No one who knows me would tell you that I am a boundless ball of energy.

I am not a Tigger personality.

I may be an introvert,
But I am not still.

If intensity can vibrate softly, tenuously poised on tension’s edge; if ferocity can roar soundlessly; if wildness can be contained beneath the muted, glass-faced front of self-control – all the while flinging about beneath it; that would be me.

There are words and ideas I yearn for: release,
rest,
relaxation,
respite.
I don’t know how.
I am not still.

The news ticker of my mind runs laps while for now, my physical body struggles to walk complete a circuit of the local market. I am continually trying to argue and fight against this fact and turn it into a myth.  I am not still.

My spirit longs to pause before the throne of grace – longs to know what it is to truly leave things there in trust. Not leave it, then come dashing back ; somehow sure that my own watch care can discern the answer that would find far better resolution and assurance in the hands that fashioned Saturn’s rings. I am not still.

After how many lessons and a journey well-marked with my own tangents and segues between point A and point next that were redeemed by grace beyond measure – how many times do I still wonder, and question, and demand, and fret, and worry?

I am not still.

And yet (bless those saving words)

He remains.
He is still here.
He has never left.
Moving through kairos time – always and everywhere altogether –
All the while, fully still and complete.
He remains.

Under His hand,
I can be still.

Stop

How to Join
Want to know about how Five Minute Friday got started, and how to participate? All the details are here. No editing or second guessing. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

I'd love to connect with you some more - stop on by the Three Bees Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter @3BeesBlueBonnet. Let's continue the conversation!