Five Minute Friday - "BRAVE "

Even with pain (sickness), fatigue (recovering from (in)RL still), and Chaos in the house (The fam is playing with the new SmartTV we bought for #inrl!) - I could not stay away from #FMFParty tonight! I decided it is good for my health! These girls; these amazing women; this cray-cray, glitter-flinging, nutella-eating, gathering of insanely talented writers are good for my soul, my heart, my spirit!

So - first - The fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays are hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  It is open to anyone, so to learn more about it - and to jump in yourself (the more the merrier!) or just to find a linky to see what everyone is writing about today - click HERE!  The idea is to simply write... for Five Minutes flat... no editing, no deep thinking - or at least REthinking, no spell check - just write! Let it flow! We all write using a prompt that Lisa posts at one minute past midnight Friday morning (EST.)  I'm loving the community of amazing bloggers and the creativity that flows from these magical Five Minutes!

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - BRAVE ...

{GO}

Brave...

I posted this video here earlier this week, (thank you Jennifer Dukes Lee!)...

...and ever since, it has been rolling around my heart... it's melodies stirring up some nerve... it's rhythms reminding me that this is truly who I am... and this who I want her to be, too!  This is the goal!

The first time someone told me I was Brave in my writing, I laughed... and then I wondered why she would think that?  My thoughts were more like, "Funny... rarely - if ever - in the whole of my life have I felt Brave..." But my goal in sharing here is to share Real and Be open... if you can learn from what I have done right- and from what I have done wrong - well then, we're all better off for it, right?

I can be bold here - but in real life, I can be quiet... a surprising introvert at times. I can shy away from a challenge if I can't quite crunch the numbers and figure out the odds.  I can talk myself out of risk faster than I can talk myself into Nutella (and there ya go, for the #FMFParty crowd!) and yet...

...even when I don't FEEL Brave, the things that I DO are Brave... and this I know - beyond any shadow of doubts!

For I am a Mom... and not just a Mom, but a Mama...
one with open arms even when my heart is bleeding out...

I am called to DO Brave things even if I don't FEEL Brave at all!

In this season, over and over again, I let her go, literally and figuratively... and I scoop her back up, literally and figuratively. The mere thought of her closet being at another address or her ever being lonely for me when I cannot immediately fix this obvious tragedy - well - my chin quivers and I know (well - I know NOW!) that I should just not read anything by Ann Voskamp that day - but I can't let her see this!

No - for her sake - I have to balance letting her in, letting her SEE... and protecting her heart, stirring up hope and excitement, rather than sadness or regret.

For her... and for me... I have to Be Strong and Do Brave - even when I don't feel it!

So I practice letting go - so we don't tear apart!
and there is really just nothing more Brave than THAT, now is there?

{STOP}

Hmm - I suppose you can tell that I got my girlie back home after a week away from me!  It was a nice little trial run at the whole independence/emtpy-nester thing... we all liked it for the first few days but then we were so over it! (Gulp!)

Speak Life, Be Love, Shine On!

~Karrilee~

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 "Brave": (edited to correct this link - and add a photo of my girlie!)