What is Joy?

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Joy.

"Joy.... I think it is when you know with every fiber of your being that things are in their proper order, the way things ought to be." It was a different definition than I expected my husband to give, but sometimes coming at something from a different angle helps. Everything is in it's proper order, it's proper place. 

That means, God is in control and I accept and submit to that. I don't fight and struggle against the things I don't like, because I can choose to trust Him even when there are difficult hard things.

That means that I choose to live my life in harmony with the sphere He has given me. I am a wife, and that means I have certain obligations to my husband. I am a mother, and that means that I have certain responsibilities toward my daughter(s). I can choose resentment, or I can choose acceptance. Only one of those options is the path to joy. 

This explains why it is possible to choose joy in the midst of sorrow--why joy and sadness can exist at once. Sadness may be the opposite of happiness, but it is not the opposite of joy. I can be sad, I can grieve the loss of my son, Christian William. I should  be sad, I should grieve. The loss of a child is something that ought to bring sorrow. But there is joy in that sorrow as well. I know my son is happy, with Jesus. I know never meeting him on this earth was part of God's sovereign plan. I know the separation is temporary, a few years, and then our family will be together again. While my mother's heart still grieves, I can find peace in trust and submission. 

So while there is sorrow, there can also be joy, because--as much as is possible in a world of sin and the curse--things are in their proper order. God is in control. He is a good God, a kind Savior, a gracious Lord. He is worthy of trust. As long as I choose to believe and submit, as long as I choose trust, there is joy. 

Crowd of Dreams

My Sister in Law, Grace, challenged me in our accountability call to start writing again. "If you don't want to write your own blog post, at least join in on Five Minute Friday. You can do that."  At her prodding I agreed, although hestantly. Five Minute Friday has come and gone at least once since then, but here is my addition, late though it may be.

Here are the rules:
 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you and leave an encouraging comment.

 Life has changed tremendously--gone places I could never have foreseen just three months ago. We have a backyard now, and a dog, a sweet not-so-little playhouse on stilts and nearly an acre of land to call our own. And then there is the baby--a sweet little girl due to make her way into this world in May, sometime around Mother's day (wouldn't that be a great day to celebrate her birth!).


I've had so many thoughts crowding through my mind lately. Dreams that used to be out of reach are solidly within the realm of possibility. Projects I've looked forward to are now achievable. My mind goes a mile a minute jumping from one thing to another. A garden? Some animals? More quilting? A mini orchard? Permaculture? Having company over just because it is more convienant now? Maybe even a tea party or two?

It all feels urgent as the countdown to baby begins in earnest. About 10 weeks left before my life takes a permanent change, before I have a newborn to take up most of my attention. If I want to start something new, it is either now or not for awhile. I felt the pressure of dreams waiting to be released into reality, dreams I'd waited so patiently for now begging to for freedom.

I wrote them all down--these thoughts crowding through my head. I took each one captive with a pencil and bound it with lead to paper. It all seemed so reasonable as each dream spoke to me--I can do all of this! Was my thought as I researched and studied. And yet, there are a dozen things on that list. More than one a week to do before the baby comes, and the smallest thing on the list involves potty training a toddler (and house training a puppy? I should put that down also...). Ha!

So, the crowd of dreams and thoughts are held at bay, chained to their paper. I step back and realize that even making just two or three of them a reality in the next couple months will be a major accomplishment. I am free to say "no" to the others for now. Or, perhaps, not "no" but simply, "be patient for just a little while longer."

As I think on these dreams, this crowd of self-drive and enthusiasm that I've just said "no" to, it occurs to me:

Perhaps the most freeing word in the English language is "No."


(definitely more than five minutes. There were diapers. And meals to put away. And two toddlers--of the human and canine variety--that needed naps. But! I did it. And that's the most important thing.)

Focused

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Focus.

Good. She's smiling. I grab my camera quick, and wiggle my tongue at her. She laughs--I snap the picture. I look at the viewer screen and adjust the settings. Grin at her and she grins back at me. I snap the picture again. 

I'm focused on her. All focused on her. I've never been so happy in my life, and I've never known how to love this much--that little girl that is the personification of love. I'm focused on her.

She plays happily on her own and doesn't complain--but when mommy is all-there? When mommy is looking at her, and grinning at her, and not doing anything but loving her only? That's when the party begins. We two have parties every day it seems. She's focused on me. 

Our first party today--most days now--was after she got up for the day. I pulled out my Bible and turned to the Psalms. I read one to her--today Psalm 100--and she giggled in delight. She loves it when mommy talks to her. Maybe she doesn't understand the words yet, but who's to say when a soul starts to understand? Before the mind does, I'm sure. So I read. I want her to understand this. Mommy has learned the only way to keep life in focus is to keep focused on the One who gave us life. So every morning? We focus on Him. 

I giggle at her and she laughs out loud. I laugh again at her funny little baby laugh as I a snap another picture. This time it's in perfect focus.

Graceful

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Graceful.



The word Graceful makes me think of a ballerina, twirling and leaping across the stage. It makes me think of a woman with her dance partner, gliding across the dance floor. It makes me think of beauty. Grace, physically speaking, is taking power and bringing it beautifully under control just like those dancers have brought their strength under control.

But graceful is more than just the appearance of beauty on the outside--it is being full of grace on the inside. It is having the power to choose to give grace--forgiveness and mercy--to those around us instead of giving what has been justly earned. It is choosing love over hate, choosing mercy over justice, choosing beauty over ugliness.

Choosing to be full of grace is much more difficult than choosing to be full of what we WANT do say (or do). But is is a battle worth fighting. Choosing love, mercy, and grace may be the harder choice, but it is always the best choice.

Real Marriage

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Real.

Life has felt very "real" lately. I've been moving and running and doing, and this baby is just around the corner. I'm an organizer, and with my due date a month away it's time to be organized.  But being real is more than lists and strategies.  It's people. The people are what make the strategies matter. Baby is only one side of my interests.

Last weekend my hubby and I went to a marriage conference where we both faced some areas in our marriage that needed work. I'd stopped being real in marriage, I'd gotten lazy and we were drifting into being partners instead of real spouses. Marriage can be so much more than that, and the conference was such a good wake up call. I've noticed that things have changed since then, we are both being more real. 

I wrote in a letter yesterday, "Biblically my highest earthly relationship is with my husband. If I'm too busy for him, I need to cut back. If I'm too tired for him, getting more sleep is non-optional. If I'm taking him for granted, I need to fix my attitude."

God didn't make me to be my husband's partner, somebody who just works beside him to get the jobs done. He made me to be a helpmeet, a home-maker, and being a home-maker is so much more than just being a partner. It's being a playmate, a lover, an encourager, a looker-on-the-bright-side, someone to laugh with. It's not just getting the housework done, or checking the relationship off a to-do list. When I let the fun side of being a wife (the laughter, the cheerful joy, the irrepressible good humor) slip, I become just a housekeeper, not a home-maker.
And "home-maker" is the REAL I choose for our marriage. 

Together with Baby

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Together.





In just a few more weeks my baby will be with us in person. I will get to meet the little one I've been carrying and feeling for months now. It really is hard to believe how soon that time is. From right now I have three and a half weeks until I'm considered "full term." (37 weeks) While I expect this little one to go long rather than short, the idea that we could conceivably meet in just a very (very!) few weeks is breathtaking.

The last few months we've been together in such a special way. I feel kicks, and turns and lumps and bumps like I never expected. I remember the first time Baby was big enough to feel his (or her) rump. All of a sudden a huge lump poked out of my tummy. It looked strange and felt strange, and when I showed Daddy how his baby was laying he had the most surprised expression on his face!!

Other times when baby is wiggly I just watch my tummy and giggle. Last night a friend sitting across the couch from me asked if the baby was moving--because she could SEE baby moving!

Yes, the last few months of being together in this "oneness" sort of way has been wonderful and entertaining all at the same time. But I'm looking forward to another form of togetherness in just a month or two. The kind of togetherness in which I can see the face of my little one, know their name, and find out whether I've got a boy or a girl. Just a few more weeks.

Farewell

Joining Lisa-Jo and others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Goodbye.





Good byes are hard, and I feel like I've been doing more than my fair share of t hem lately. If there is such a thing as fair share. There isn't, really. I just don't like saying goodbye. Any goodbye at all feels like "more than my fair share."

I'd like to make this a memorable, thought provoking post, but it isn't shaping up to be that way. Oh, well. It's five minute Friday, so that's okay, right? :)

I like my life the way it is, and I don't like saying goodbye to things or people. Especially people. I like stuff, but most of it I could take or leave. When it comes to people, that's different. I don't mind adding in new friends, in fact I love meeting new people. But when God starts moving people out of my life, that's something I'm not okay with. I don't like chapters to close.

I guess this is the point where I have to remember that no matter what happens on this earth, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we don't truly have to say good bye to any of our brothers or sisters in Christ. The worst case synario is "see you later, for all eternity." Which isn't really that bad.

While it might be frustrating, or heart rending, or irritating or any number of things in the here and now, thinking in light of eternity (which we are always supposed to do) goodbyes aren't really all that scary or terrible. And we have Jesus and his gift, and God and his acceptance of that gift to thank for that.

Giving

Joining Lisa-Jo and fabulous others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Gift.





Time. It's a gift in many different ways. The fact that we have time at all is a gift that God gives us. Each moment that He keeps the air circulating through our lungs and our hearts beating is a gift. A gift easily taken for granted, but precious and amazing.

Time is a gift we can give to other people--the time that God gives us can then be given away. It is both the cheapest and most expensive gift on the planet. It is free to give, but extremely valuable. How we spend the gift of our time shows us where our priorities are--just as surely as how we spend our money.

When I think of time I see it differently than many people. My love language is quality time, and my husband learned long ago that if he wants to really show me he loves me a lot, the best way is to set everything aside and focus on me. We don't have to be talking (though often I do), but we do have to have undistracted "us" time. Time is the way I give and receive love most naturally.

Gifts are precious, and the gifts we give to loved ones are especially important. How are you doing in your gift giving? How do you show your love?

It takes Courage

Joining Lisa-Jo and fabulous others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along. The topic today is Brave.




Sometimes it takes courage to get out of bed in the morning. It might not be the life-and-death courage, but living for the Lord takes courage. Last week I wrote about "leaving it all on the field." That isn't an easy thing to do. It takes a brave woman.

Forgiveness has been on my mind lately, that passage about the "brother offended" and how to move toward reconciliation. Reconciliation takes courage. But, for the Christian, it's non-optional. Living the Christian life takes courage.

Labor is coming very soon for me. Every day I feel baby kicking and flipping in strange circles--similar to the butterflies I used to feel before speaking in public--but now those butterflies are on steroids. This time there really IS someone in there. And in three months I'm going to be laboring to bring that tiny person into the world. Facing labor will take courage.

After that comes motherhood--the daily in and out of training my baby up in the way he is old, so when he is old he will not depart from it. Every move I make, every word I speak, every nuance of my character is going to be watched by tiny, tiny little eyes. And emulated. There are no "days off" when it comes to motherhood. And that takes courage.

Living daily for Christ, whether is physical feats (like labor or anything else) or daily grinds (like motherhood) or the challenges of doing what's right, even when it's hard (forgiveness) takes a daily dying to self. And that takes courage.



 **confession time--I paused the timer midway, with the theory that if I stopped the five minutes in the middle then restarted it so I still finished right when the buzzer rang, it still counted as finishing "within" 5 minutes. That's probably similar to keeping cookies on top of the fridge so the calories fall off, or eating two candy bars so they cancel each other out, but oh well. The justifications we use, right? :P

On the field

Linking up again with The Gypsy Mama and her 5 minute Fridays for a bit of fun!!

Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays. We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their comments.

The Prompt today is:

Empty

Empty--it's what I feel at the end of a week when I was poured out. It isn't a bad feeling, it can be a feeling of accomplishment. The phrase "leaving it all on the field" comes to mind. At the end of a week like that, I know I did everything I needed to do, was poured out like water, was where I needed to be. I left it all on the field.

We're coming up on Resurrection Sunday, the day my Lord left it all on the field. He bore my sin on the cross, endured unspeakable torture, died a terrible death, and was buried in a tomb. On Resurrection Sunday the tomb was empty. My Lord had finished his work, and left it all on the field.

I want to live like my Savior. I don't want those empty days to be rare things. I don't mean that every day I will be literally physically dying. Jesus set an example of a daily kind of death, the days that he was exhausted, but the people were still coming and he taught them, loved them, spent time with them anyway. That is the life I want to live--constantly pouring myself out for others.

I want my life to be so like Jesus that when people see me, they see him. When the end of my life comes I want to be empty. Not because there is nothing good left, but because I've spent every ounce of grace that God has given me. Because I left it all on the field.

Bitter sweet life

Linking up again with The Gypsy Mama with her 5 minute Fridays for a bit of fun!!

Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays. We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on: Ache

Mama and daddy's hands, Christians memorial, and Baby #2

I look at this picture, and it is bitter sweet. The picture with my two babies. One kicking, alive (though I couldn't feel it at the time) and the other with Jesus, the bracelet with me as a memory of his short life. It was an accident that the stones facing out in that picture are garnet, January, my baby's birth month. It's a beautiful picture, with more meaning than meets the eye. But it isn't an easy picture.

Is that the way life is, though? The sweet and the bitter mixed together in a single cup. It's a good drink, but a hard drink. The way that when Jesus died on the cross for my sins, taking my own punishment on himself, it was both sweet and bitter. Sweet, because his great love for me, to choose to do such a thing for a complete, ugly sinner. Bitter, because the death, the torture, was hard and ugly. And he, God, hung there.

It must be life is that way, with those moments so mixed together. The joy and the heartbreak captured in a single moment, a single breath, a single picture, so that it is hard to see where one begins and the other ends. I'm sure I'll feel that way when I see my little one; the joy of moments with my baby and the eagerness to see what comes next, but the bitter sweet knowledge that the only thing I'll have left of the moments as they pass is a beautiful memory and pictures.

Grit and Husbands

Joining The Gypsy Mama again for Five Minute Friday. The rules are:


1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.



START

Grit. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of grit is my husband. He's all man--all rough and tumble, ready for anything, sweaty, wonderful man. He makes his own bullets for his own guns, because he can. And because it's fun. Put him outdoors for a week with just a compass and knife and he'd do just fine. He's gritty like that. Man.

But he knows he's gritty, that he is able to handle himself in any situation. And he doesn't have to prove that to anyone. He can leave that at the door--like his mud stained boots, and still be the kind of man that brings flowers to his lady. It's balanced, and good.

While I love the fact that he can be romantic; I also love the grit, the sweat, the man. It's all part of the same package, and it's a package that suits me just right. Grit and all.

STOP

Delight yourself in the Lord

Joining Lisa Jo over at The Gypsy Mama again for Five Minute Friday. 

Here are the rules:
 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you and leave an encouraging comment.

START:

When I think of delight the first words that come into my mind are,

Time Capsule

Joining Lisa-Jo for Five Minute Friday again, and this week is her birthday!! Head over to www.thegypsymama.com to wish Lisa a happy birthday, or read what other folks are writing. This week the prompt is "Older."

I remember, years ago, my younger self made a "time capsule" box for my older self. A time capsule filled with different things that were special to me. My Grand Champion horse pedigrees; a bead bracelet in bright neon colors, the first one hand-made on my beading loom; and a letter written to myself 10 years later. A decade doesn't seem like all that much to me now, but a decade is a lifetime to a little girl who is 10. 

I'm pretty good with following rules, so like a good girl I waited to open that time capsule until the proper time (so maybe I peeked once...). When I did open it I was surrounded by memories of my childhood. I remember how, as a 10 year old, I very naturally assumed that when I was 20 I'd be just about perfect. It makes me smile now, but at the time I figured that the eradication of temptation, bad habits, and a multitude of other annoyances would SURELY be accomplished after TEN YEARS. From my 20-something perspective I've still got a ways to go. 

As much work as God has left, I know that God is the one doing it--he who has begun a good work in me will bring it to completion. He is walking with me, and every day that I spend with him brings me closer to him. I may not ever obtain in this life the perfection my 10 year old self so blithely assumed, but I know that I am daily being molded into Christ. I also know that one day the work will be complete, when I am with Christ. And that's about as good as it gets. 

New: Five Minute Friday

Joining The Gypsy Mama again for Five Minute Friday. As a recap of the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Get a little crazy with encouragement for the five minuter who linked up before you.

START

New—for me it's what life is right now. New.

There is the new home in less than a month. A new place to live—I've lived in one town for over 20 years of my life. And now I'm moving to a new town. It's close to the old one, true. If I get lost, at least I can (in theory) find my way to the old roads to find the new place again. But it's different. It's new.

There is the new stage of life, marriage. In less than a month we'll celebrate our first anniversary. We'll eat that cake that's been waiting in our freezr since the wedding 11 months ago (will it still be good? How will it taste? What flavor of cake did we have, anyway? And have we really been married such a short time that it's possible that a cake kept in the freezer could still be edible?). Marriage doesn't seem new anymore—after the first 6 weeks we felt like we'd been married all our lives. But for as long as it feels, it hasn't yet been a full turn around the sun.

New can be a scary thing—you never quite know if "new" is going to be new-good or new-not-so-good. New means change, and change is just like that. It's an adventure, but all the best adventures have moments when everything seems to go awry. Thank goodness that with God, noting new is a surprise! If he holds our future, a God of love, of compassion, of tender-loving-kindness, we don't need to be afraid of changes. And, in a way, I suppose that makes all new, "good new."

END

Want to take five minutes with me and share what you found? Want to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back to Gypsy Mama and invite others to join in

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

The prompt today is:

Beauty…

Beauty in the waking up after a "driest-7-months-on-record"  drought to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

Beauty is realizing that you have a friend who is "closer than a brother."

Beauty is the surprised joy of forgiveness, unexpected or looked for.

Beauty is housework, accomplished.

Beauty is an hour spent in the early morning with my Lord.

Beauty is family loving each other, despite each other.

Beauty is the little acts of God, his love letter to us.

Beauty is acceptance--without the expectation to "measure up."

Beauty is the kiss my husband gives when he walks in the door after a long work day.

Beauty is a letter, both sent and received.

Beauty is a sacrifice made for love.

Beauty is a gift purchased--the "perfect" gift--and the anticipation of giving.

Beauty is Love--pure and simple

Still:

It is Five Minute Friday again, and this week the prompt seems to be uniquely perfect. A recap on the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word on the prompt, “Still.”
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3.Get a little crazy with encouragement in the comments of the five minuter who linked up before you.

The prompt today is: Still...

START 6:43AM

Still. It's the word I long for, the word I strive for. To be still in God, resting in him, trusting him, no matter what comes. Stillness. It's what Daniel was when he went to his rooftop to pray three times, knowing it would be death for him if his enemies found out. He chose to be still before God.

Still is not what I have been. I've been rushing, hurried, running headlong into this thing we call life. Not taking in the moments, treasuring them for what they are--gifts from God. I haven't given them to God,   I haven't thought of God.

I crave stillness, and next month is set aside for it. Next month I resolve not to rush through life, forgetting to thank God or even think about Him. Next month, August, will be a month to be still. A month to retreat. A month to fast from busyness. A month to be still before the God of the Bible, before my Jesus, before my Lord.

Let me be a Mary, sitting at the feet of her Lord soaking in every drop of the truth and value in what he teaches, and not a Martha, hurrying to prepare for Company (even important company!) and stressed about being behind. Let me chose purposefully to lay aside the weight of the world that so easily besets and run the race that is set before me--neither looking to the right or the left as I strive wholeheartedly for the crown that is set before me.

FINISH 6:49

Full

It's 5 Minute Friday again! The day we join Lisa Jo over at TheGypsyMama.com and spend 5 minutes writing for the pure love of writing. Here is a recap of the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my right side bar}.3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

 The prompt today is, "Full..."


As a child I sometimes went to church potlucks where there was an unusual selection of tasty looking food. I triedto get a little of everything, though my plate always ran out of space too fast. Sometimes one of the older ladies would notice my plate when I was through and twll me, "Your eyes were too big for your stomach, weren't they?"

Life is like that. As I'm going through life I see lots of things I want. Some of them are better than others, just like those potluck dishes. But often my appetite for new and different is a lot bigger that what I actually can handle, more than is good for me. I want this, and that, and something else also. My eyes are too big for my life.

David said in Psalms, "Give me that which is needful to me, not to much lest I forget you, nor too little lest I curse you." David's eyes weren't "too big" for his plate. He wanted only as much as God gave him, not too much, nor too little.

The Apostle Paul also had a good grasp on "fullness" in life. He claimed that he learned "in whatsoever circumstances to therewith be content." He had discovered the secret in following the Biblical exhortation to "in everything give thanks."

We should take example from these two men of the faith, and learn to recognize when our life is full. It's full when we have everything, no more, no less, that God wants for us. It's "full" when we have learned to take all of life as a whole and say with Paul, "I have learned in whatever circumstances to be content, and in everything to give thanks.

Backwards...

It's Five Minute Friday again!! I'm joining Lisa Jo this week over at Gypsy Mama to write for 5 minutes on the prompt of her choice. This is the pure, unedited, love of the word here, it won't (ever!) be perfect-but that's WHY it is perfect.

Here are the rules:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Get a little crazy with encouragement for the five minuter who linked up before you.


The prompt today is: 


Backwards...

GO:


Backwards. My days are backwards when I get up in the morning and head to the computer instead of my Bible. My days are backwards when I get more excited about a good sale at my favorite deal spot, than I get over the latest insight that the Lord has given me. 


My conversations are backwards when I get more wrapped up in what I'm DOing and what I want to be DOing than what God is teaching me and what I am becoming. 


My priorities are backwards when I focus more on having a clean house and orderly surroundings than I do on what my husband needs or what my God desires. 


It is so easy to let our days slip through our fingers in a backwards, unlived mess--all the while thinking that we are handling what is most important. I cleaned the house! I had a good conversation! I found the most aMAZing deal! But those things don't matter in eternity. What really matters is if we live our days front-wards. God first. Family second. Love, hope, joy. 


Are YOU living your days backwards or frontwards? 

When seasons change

It's 5 minute Friday again!!! I'm joining LisaJo over at The Gypsy Mama for another linkup. Here is a recap on the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go buck wild with encouragement for the five minuter who linked up before you.

The prompt this week is, "When seasons change...."

Start: 8:56

When seasons change I greet them with joy. I love every season that comes, as just another perspective of my God's creativity. In winter there are cute sweaters, fun holidays and evenings spent with a book around a toasty fire. There are also two of my favorite drinks--Apple Cider and Eggnog. Spring means the world comes back to life again, a change in wardrobe (always fun!) and my birthday. Summer means children free from school and fun in the pool. Fall means a relief from the summer heat, and the beautiful oranges and reds of the leaves on the trees--it also marks the anniversary of my wedding.

I love the changes in seasons so much, but I need to remember that other changes in seasons are good too--the changes in life seasons. It can be easy to be afraid of change--I like life the way it is now, and what if the next change changes TOO much? What if I don't like what the new normal will be?

But God is in control of more than the awesome changes in the earth's seasons. He's in control of the seasons of my life. When I look at the seasons of the earth I see only beauty, and God can work that same beauty into the seasons of our lives if we let Him.

Time!!! (9:01)