September 10, 2015

When Change Looks The Same... a Five Minute Friday post

Oh my how I have missed my tribe! Life got a little crazy, and hard, and crazy hard and it was near impossible to sit in this chair and tap out words... but it was so great to be back at the #fmfparty over on Twitter tonight! I have missed those friends and the community there!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: SAME


{GO}

Oh My! It's funny how I can write about Change and how I am learning to embrace it, but what I really mean is that I am learning to not be too caught off guard by it and I am embracing it when it's something I can clearly see is Gods' doing.


But what about those unwanted changes? What about the ones that you are more than convinced are from the opposite of God and you are not at all interested in going along with the possibilities it may bring? 

What about the changes that look the same? They are oh so familiar and they revisit those old scars, threatening to pick them apart, to cut deeper and wider this time around?

Yeah.  What about those?

I don't remember signing up to read Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong but I got an early copy and am diving in to it, trusting that God knows what He is doing. 

I tried to distract myself by reading Every Little Thing by Deidra Riggs last weekend and oh my goodness, she just couldn't help it but to get all up in my grill. Or... you know... whatever.  She was challenging me in all the best ways but it didn't feel like a good time. 

As in - it felt like the worst possible time.  

As in - can I not just wallow over here and nurse these wounds? Can I not, at least for a few days, NOT be the one to hold out grace and turn the other cheek, be the better person, and let love win?

This unexpected, unwelcome Change... it's unexpected, but it's anything but new.  Oh - we have walked this way before... step by step, and it breaks my heart that it doesn't turn a corner and fall into a happy ending. But it just doesn't. Instead it leaves us broken on the kitchen floor and yet here we are again... breaking, weak-kneed, and holding on to grace for ourselves. We need it for us... but, if I am honest, I don't want it for them. (Not yet anyway. Not here and now... maybe later!)

We want the Same that dates back to before, --the one that was in the good ol' days before everyone was all busted up and broken... not the one that dates back to the lies and the blindside hit... the losing of breath and hope and trust.

We don't want that Same. 

We want a different result... a different ending. 
We want the moral of the story to be clear and swift, but we want mercy to (mostly) triumph over judgment... and well --honestly, we just want what we want.

But in the end, this time around, we know who we are and we know even better who He is and we trust. This time around, we trust. We are not broken, even though we are breaking... He is faithful and He will heal. We trust... and that is what makes this Same, different this time!


That's just it. We won't give in to fear or be manipulated in to doubt. We lean in and we trust anyway - even when the outlook is bleak and hope is hiding. 

We know He is here... and He is working... and we want to trust, to hope, to believe... 


And ultimately we want what HE wants more than what we want. 

Or at least we want to want that...

{STOP}

We really do not want to go around this Same Mountain again! Each time around, we are stronger... but we forget that and it sure doesn't feel like truth. It feels a bit like dying... like being breathless and bleeding out... like dreams fading and paths turning the wrong way again and the enemy whispers lies that we refuse to entertain.

Yeah. This time around the mountain, we know the way out. The way out is not around... No. 
The way out is always down. Laying it all down at His feet, trading these heavy burdens for His yoke that is easy, trusting and worshiping anyway... 

We bow down and He lifts us up, and we look full in His wonderful face...






Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click here to read what others have to say about "SAME"

The FMF lowdown: I can't say it enough, really - I love my tribe! The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights and then  we write our hearts out and hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday and Friday (and sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage and uplift... where we share prayer requests and praise reports... where we talk food and friends and we find support and kindred hearts and we are reminded that life is good and God is good and we are not alone... and then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts and our fingers do the talking tapping and we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

18 comments :

  1. I love how you and I both were thinking about change when prompted about "same" small world?! This stood out to me "We won't give in to fear or be manipulated in to doubt. We lean in and we trust anyway - even when the outlook is bleak and hope is hiding." So very true!! We get lost in this place that seems bleak and where all hope is hiding but we have to trust anyway! It reminds me of the song "this little light of mine" because we can hide that light but it still shines bright!! No matter how dark the shadow between us and God, he is still right there!! Praise the Lord!!

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    1. Amen, my friend! Sometimes we just have to purpose in our hearts to trust and believe and worship and pray anyway... even though it may feel like it won't make a difference... we know it does --we know HE does! xoxo

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  2. Oh my word, how I missed your voice!

    Bracing, cool refreshing...all the good things, back again.

    And you are so right. Our trust in Him is what makes the same different, this time around.

    http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2015/09/your-dying-spouse-55-still-same-and-not.html

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    1. Andrew, you are too kind and I am praying for you, brother! Amen and amen!

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  3. I am so glad that I stopped here this morning. It is so true, change can be challenging as we so often want things to remain the same. May we trust Him, the One who always remains the same. Blessings!

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    1. So thankful that He is our plumbline and that One thing that always always always remains the same! Blessings right back to you, my friend!

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  4. "But in the end, this time around, we know who we are and we know even better who He is and we trust. This time around, we trust. We are not broken, even though we are breaking... He is faithful and He will heal. We trust... and that is what makes this Same, different this time!" This and amen.

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  5. Oh friend! Love you!! I wish I could make things all better. But you are right...it is about laying it down at his face. THIS: "It feels a bit like dying... like being breathless and bleeding out... like dreams fading and paths turning the wrong way again and the enemy whispers lies that we refuse to entertain."

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    1. I think the key here is that is just FEELS like this... but this is not reality! We have a God who is in charge - even when it doesn't look like it on the outside! We choose to trust in Him! (Love you too!) xoxo

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  6. Beautiful friend! When change is the same-that is something for me to ponder for sure. It's going to happen whether we want it to or not and God does pull us along even when we are not quite ready. Thank you for challenging me with your words.

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  7. Someone said (I think it was Beth Moore) that God only allows us to be sifted when something needs sifting. I think of that when I come back to the same mountains and the same roads. I think of that when I have to repeat the lessons. Obviously I don't know all the details here, but I hope that gives you comfort somehow, to know that God brings out another level of goodness and grace every time we walk the well-worn paths.

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    1. Yes... yes, He does! I don't know if it is harder to watch someone else go round and round a mountain, or to go around our own mountains, but we trust that either way, God is at work and He will in fact bring goodness and grace! Thanks so much, friend!

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  8. Bless you, my beautiful friend. How I've missed you and how sorry I am for this pain revisited...and yet different. I sense your faith strengthening and roots going down deep. I love you.

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    1. Sure... when I am not pouting about it and acting like a five year old! ;) I miss you too! I am sad that I never made a Portland trip this summer... there is always Fall, right? ;) Love you bunches, friend!

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  9. Anonymous3:47 AM

    Sweet friend, I'm so sorry for the difficulties you've been facing. But love your perspective that you won't go back to the same old same old...instead you will choose to respond to the same differently. Love it!

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I always love to hear your thoughts! Remember to: Speak Life - Be Love - Shine On!
~Karrilee~

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