NOTICE - A Five Minute Friday Post

I made it back to the twitter party for Five Minute Friday and oh my goodness how I love this Community! From recipe to prayer requests, we cover it all (in 140 characters or less - with hashtags galore!) and we'd LOVE to have you join us! Thursday nights on Twitter, simply type in #fmfparty and jump right in!

OK... ready to write? Let's go! Tonight's prompt is: NOTICE

{GO}

I've mentioned it a few times... this annual get away that My Honey and I take with two other couples... four of our very best friends.  It's a tradition now and one we all look forward to every year.

One of the joys of friendships that run deep and true is that we have found the rhythm of silence and rest.  We trust in the quiet... we have learned that even then, God is at work.

There is always laughter, and lots of talking - don't get me wrong! We are all teachers, pastors, prophets, intercessors... we all have things that God has been speaking to us and shifting in us and bringing up to surface as deep calls unto deep.  Oh no - there is no LACK in the talking.

But we also have learned the value of waiting... not rushing... of truly preferring each other... I don't want to miss what He has been saying to you because I know it is amazing and it will impart something and I want the parts of Him that you have and have to give in abundance... it flows and goes this way throughout the room... throughout the weekend.

I suppose to say it simply we all love this get away, this mini-retreat because we know that we are all for each other and we trust in the pause.  

We value it and know how much we need it... We have learned to not push through a conversation or a meal but to linger slow and let Him move.

We have learned to take notice... to inhale and exhale and really open our eyes and our ears and our hands so that our hearts remain open and can be filled.

This moment right here... this was one of my absolute favorites:

We walk this little trail down by the river every year... meandering through the woods and around the bends, over bridges and circling back... we trade walking partners without thinking or trying, but over the course of our walk - we'll have caught up one on one with every person.

We all stop and drink it in... this Glory dripping from trees and how the skies beckon praise and the river flows like the Spirit, filling and refreshing as it moves beside us, and He moves within us.  We all slow to a stop and purposely close our eyes and inhale deep... slow... and then just let it go.

We turned the corner and got caught in a leaf storm... just enough breeze to force the branches to release as well and we are showered in letting go... in glory falling down.

And we count the days until we can do it all again!

    {STOP}

OK - that took a little longer than 5 minutes, mostly because - hello? Playing with pictures! 

We are so blessed with these friends who have loved us and prayed us through... who have lifted us up and let us pour into them as well... these friends who have lived life with us over the years and are at any given time brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers to us... and they allow us to be the same!

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 "NOTICE"


Oh ...the fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays have been hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  This week we start gathering over at Kate Motaung's.  FMF 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!

What about you?  Are you blessed with some long term friendships where you can slow and take notice of how the Spirit is speaking - to them, and through them to you? I pray you are... I pray you are a friend like that to others, too!

It is such a gift!