That Thing I Do Now - Vol 50

Hey there!  Here we are again... the weekend at our feet and so many options to grab our attention and dive right in! I pray you have a refreshing, relaxing (yes - you can have both!) weekend ahead! I pray that if you are needing a bit of inspiration, or find yourself with a little down time, that these links below will feed your soul, so you can - you know - feed the rest of you with all sorts of Summer goodness!

The Semi-Bloggy Break continues, but I am here... just a little less often... and I love to hook you up! So without further ado (because I totally talk like that in real life!) - here we go!

Lost in a Crowd... but Seen all the same.

So I skipped out on the #fmfparty tonight.  It's not that I am taking a break (...wait - what?) or that I didn't want to hang out with you - my people... it's just that there was this Project Light Gallery opening and paired photography and poetry and well - how could I not go?

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: LOST

{GO}

I decided to try something new tonight... something that God has been stirring in me and calling me to but I have been -- hesitant. Reluctant, maybe. (No maybe.)

So I skipped out on you, my people... where I have Community and support and encouragement, and I go down the road with a friend and we enter in to a realm of Artists and Poets... all local... all strangers.  And I am battling intimidation and comparison (even though I haven't heard or read them yet...)  I feel lost in a crowd, invisible and unsure. 

This far and no further... A Guest Post

I have written about it countless times, I know: My love and 'need' for the oceans' shore.  The vastness of the sea... or even just a large body of water that visually reminds me that I am oh so small, as He continually whispers to me over the salty breeze that I am still someone oh so significant!

I breathe easier.  My shoulders relax. 

I remember.

I remember that He is truly in charge. He is the One who tells the waves how far to come, and the wind and the sea obey Him...

No Words Are Needed... a Link up

I have this amazing friend... super sweet and just so full of encouragement and inspiration!  She sent me an invite to link up with her over on her blog, Scribbling Fresh Words... and I wasn't going to do it because - well... you know, I'm on a break! But then I realized the title and the purpose and while I am savoring words a bit closer to my sleeve right now, I always love to share His Beauty and Grace...

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 49

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I snapped the above photo last weekend when I was at my sister's house.  I took a day trip that turned into an overnighter and it was so nice to spend some time with my Sissy - also a Mama to an Only Girlie and a brand new Gramma too! So - she feels my pain and has lived through it with, well, a grandbaby to show for it now! A visual reminder that life goes on and we will get through this and transition into whatever God has next!

Also - I went to a Love of Junk Vintage Antique show... out on a farm... it was GORGEOUS!

I gave myself permission to not keep my Bossy schedule for Blogging which of course means that not only am I lacking posts to choose from from right here, but I haven't spent my excessive normal amount of time across the Interwebs... still - I am here to help, so this is my offering of Awesome reads this week! Here we go...

Release - Five Minute Friday

So the mini (?) Blog Breaky continues... but here I am! Prepping for the weekend, fighting a little headache, and still finding myself over on Twitter because, #gah... I love this Community! #fmfparty is AMAZING, ya'll! (Seriously... you should join us!)

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: RELEASE

{GO}

Release! Really?  Is that supposed to be funny because honestly, this little breaky is (so far) leaving me exhausted from all the releasing and yet, I have found none. Release, that is.  

I feel cloudy and a little stormy underneath... all this pressure on my heart and on my head and behind my eyes as I battle another headache and I am tired... but I am determined to release.

From the Archives... Cherished

It's my birthday.  

So, of course this little Bloggy Break is still on, but I wanted to take a moment and reflect... repost, if you will, a post (Pt 1&2) that stemmed from a Five Minute Friday that stirred up the story of my birth.  And, of course, because it is better to give than to receive, I am also including a link at the end with an invitation to join me in letting our sisters in Africa know that they, too, are so very Cherished!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 48

Hey Ya'll!  How are you? I pray your weekend is off to a great start!

So... I have to say right up front here, I read an entire book in a day this week, which sort of stirred up a thirst for fiction again and I just so happened to have another book that I started right after finishing The Fault In Our Stars.  I read that one in a day because, well - the movie! I wanted to see it but I can't bring myself to watch a movie without first reading the book! Now... hours after reading it, I am wondering why I am not sitting in a movie theater Right. This. Moment. watching it!  So, needless to say, as summer gloriously unfolds and finds me, for the first time in nineteen years, with an empty house All. Day. Long. ...well, I am feeling like I will indulge in more and more days like today! Still - you know how I love to hook you up, so below you will find a Random Gathering of Awesome... posts I have found across the Interwebs this week! (You know... when I managed to get my nose out of an actual old school real live BOOK!?)

If You Have a Message, Be a Messenger - Five Minute Friday

It's time... I know I just posted about backing off and taking a break, but of course I meant it as in - just in case I want to, or whenever I feel like it, or you're (this blog) not the boss of me! So, of course - it's Thursday night and where else would I be? It serves me right that the word prompt is live and I have NO THOUGHTS... so, this should be interesting...

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: MESSENGER

{GO}

It comes to me first off... as soon as the Prompt is revealed. I immediately think of these bees... how they were so focused and so in their element.  

When you just have to take some time...

Taking a little Bloggy break --it seems to be a trend as of late. Maybe it's just that we need to remember that we need to remember to breathe --that some days are too crammed full, even with good things, that we quite literally forget to inhale deep and feel, well, any of the things... or perhaps all of this access to all of our lives is more weighty and wearisome than we think... or maybe we're all just tired and all the Bossy Lists just need to be banished every once in awhile?

Maybe we simply forget that in all of our offering out grace, we must also offer it inward, to ourselves.  We must give ourselves permission to not always DO... but sometimes, whether it be for an hour or a day... a week or a month... sometimes we just need to be reminded to just BE.

My Non-Bossy Monday... aka I'll Write Tomorrow!

So, normally Monday mornings are all about sitting back in this chair and tapping out words to fill this space... words that will hopefully touch your heart while speaking His.

However, today... well, today I penciled in a Non-Bossy Schedule so my day pretty much consisted of this:

As in... Literally!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 47

Happy Weekend, everyone! I trust your June is starting off well and pray you are able to breathe in deep and catch the fragrance of Spring turning to Summertime with all it's late night sunsets, starry nights, and less Bossy day planners!

Here is our weekly Gathering of Awesome found across the Interwebs... you know how I love to hook you up! I must say - one would think I would have more time, as we became Empty Nesters last week - but I found myself not sitting here, but aimlessly roaming the house not knowing what to do with myself... so there is that.  This simply means that the list is shorter, but I am pretty sure I will find solace here in this chair next week, while looking for a new routine! Until then... this is what I found:

Happy Reading!

Hands... Five Minute Friday

Well that was a different Thursday night! I missed my #fmfparty crew, but I got a last minute call to sub for my old Bunco group and was promised I would for SURE win a prize... so, you know... how could I not? Besides, I had been pretty much in this empty quiet house all week long and this Mama needed a night out with some girlfriends!

Oh but - 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 10pm Thursday night (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 - The Word Prompt is: HANDS

{GO}

It's been his hands all along...

It was his hands that first held me... that first cupped my face and caressed my shoulders... it was his hands that first loved me.

It's his hands that still... every day... gently guide me and strongly urge me on... it's his hands that help me up, pull me close, and push me on.  

His hands have held on tight... and at times, let go loosely.  His hands are rarely, rarely ever clenched... always wide open, palms up... ready to praise... ready to pray... ready to practice what he preaches every day.

It's been his hands that soothe me... that comfort me... it was his hands that reached up and over those walls being built between us... between her, and brick by brick, he tore them down. 

It's been him... all along.  

I have lived over half of my lifetime, madly in love with this man, My Honey, who lives out loud and is full of grace.  It is his mission every day to love me... to love us... and to make us laugh and always, it's his hands that protect, and provide and the more I lean in to him and let our hearts and fingers connect... it's his hands that look scarred and pierced. 

Oh I know... he and Jesus are not the same! He is not perfect but for the whole of my grown up life it's been his hands that hold me physically, when all the while, it is Gods' hands that have shaped this heart and wrapped around my soul.

...and I lean in closer in this new season of Empty Nests and too much time on my hands, and I see so clearly - that even 20 years later... I am falling in love with both of my H/husbands still --and all over again!

{STOP}

My first thoughts at the prompt was, of course, my girlie... but really - My Honey and I have been doing a lot (more) of hand holding this week... while going for a walk, or sitting outside, or relaxing in the house.  

Fingers intertwined, breathing in sync... simply reconnecting... finding a new rhythm to the way our hearts beat together, just us. 

(thump, thump.) 

Photo by Kim Deloach @Allume 2013

Just us. 




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 "HANDS"  

Words to Build a Life On

Here we are at the beginning of June and for many, this means end of school and hello summer, graduations and parties and less bossy schedules... 

...and here I am, helping my Only Girlie pack up her room and transfer her closet to a new address... and it makes a Mama catch her breath and promise not to cry... it makes her (me) want to be strong and more than anything - want to know that she has done at least SOME of the things 'right'... whatever that is, really.

I've written about it around these parts often - of how our nearly grown girlie is almost All Growed Up and how when she was younger, we wanted her life to be perfect and safe. Then we realized that is not ever an option and it turns out, what we really want is for her life to be His... same thing, only not! 

What I learned in May... a random Gathering of Awesome

Here we are, June 3rd... JUNE THIRD, ya'll?

At the risk of sounding so - I don't know, - OLD, where has the time gone? Honestly... I blinked and May happened!

It is now the beginning of a new month, and for us around this house - a whole new season, but we'll get to that later! For now - let's just say - it's time for my favorite link up, where I share a random Gathering of Awesome... attempting to once again remember What I Learned in May... 

Here we go...

Bless the Lord... A look at Psalm 103

I have a hard time picking favorites! It really doesn't matter what we are talking about.  It is rare if I can answer any kind of "What's your favorite..." question at all.  Normally, I give you a Top Five (or Ten... you get the idea!)

But when I was asked to pick a Psalm between 100 and anything else... Ps 103 wins. 

Hands Down. 

Every. Single. Time.