The Welcome Return of Five Minute Fridays: CONNECT

It feels like it has been forever... For whatever reason, #Write31Days seemed to take a LOT out of me this year, and I needed more time to bounce back... and then there was the heaviness and hard of the last two months of 2016... and also the holidays... so I vowed to step back and regroup and reconnect to my joy and my hope and my purpose --in my real life first, and then here in this space as well!

So - it HAS been like forever... or at least a couple of months, since I have felt the rhythm of writing here in this space.  But I am feeling a bit back to my true self --and (Insert all the praise and jazz hands here!) I'm feeling a bit RESTED, as well! So it turns out the little breaky was needed, but it's so great to be back with the tribe!

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

{GO}

Of course, with this word!  

Connect... or more specifically, RE-connect.

This is what I have been doing... what I needed that I hadn't really been paying attention to for a couple of months!

I see the word prompt and immediately I think of this quote by Eugene Peterson:

“We stop, whether by choice or through circumstance, so that we can be alert and attentive and receptive to what God is doing in and for us, in and for others, on the way. We wait for our souls to catch up with our bodies.” -Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

I mean, right?  
So good!

Connect... it's what we all crave! 

We need it --with each other, and with our God!  

We are hard-wired for connection... for community.  

We are made in His image ...and His image? --Well, He is Three in One!

He IS community and connection and He desires that we are, too! He longs to see us growing and thriving as we let ourselves be real... be honest... be seen!  (It's worth the risk, my friend!)

We have all had seasons... times in our lives when we felt that DISconnect. When we felt all alone and on our own --no matter what kind of empty or crowded room we found ourselves in. We can tend to let those seasons dictate the thickness and height of the walls we surround ourselves with.

I believe the Lord is wanting to tear down those walls and to strengthen our connections this year! 

Something about deeper and wider... 

Something about nothing can separate us from His love... 

Something about how we are grafted in to a FAMILY and how He is our good, good Father!

Are you craving connection? Are you longing for stronger ties that bind bond... that last... that hold true in all of life's struggles?

I think part of why the last few months of 2016 were so hard --at least for me, is that I was trying to be that connection. I was trying to connect with (and sometimes FOR) others while, all the while, I was longing to be connected to my own soul... to my only Savior.

Connection is vital to our soul health... but we first must make certain that our connection is strong with Him. That His voice is the one that speaks the deepest... rings the truest... whispers the loudest... 

And that He continually has direct connection and open access to our hearts. Not just a part of them... not just the tidied-up rooms - but ALL of the rooms!

Sometimes the only way to make sure that the doors to the rooms in our hearts are unlocked and opened to Him is to stop... to slow... to make space and allow our bodies to catch up to our souls.  

It's only then that we taste and see how good He is, and how much He has truly been working in and through us, down deep - while we were unaware!

{STOP}

I am a broken record and stuck on repeat, preaching to myself this message over and over! The message of Sabbath... and self-care... and slowing to sit with our Savior! It's when we pay attention to these things and put them in to practice that true, meaningful, lasting Connections are made!

And when true, meaningful, lasting Connections are made, it is easy to remember to:

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: "CONNECT"

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

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

#FreshMarketFriday...

Kelly Chripczuk  for #SmallWonders 

Barbie Swihart for #Glimpsesofhisbeauty

God has been teaching me about Rest and the Sabbath for a few years now... but you know how it is! You learn something new... you come to know it... but then sometimes you forget! (You too, right? Please say that it's not just me!) Well, in 2015 I wrote a 31 Days series on Resting in God and last fall I turned it into a daily devotional eBook, available on Amazon!  

Check out 31 Days of Resting in God ...it's easier/harder than you think! and read just a few minutes a day and learn (or remember) how to tap into the Rest we so desperately need!

You can purchase it by clicking here or grabbing it from the side bar to the right if Rest is something you know you need, but just keep putting off!