May We Never Stop Learning to Lean In - A Five Minute Friday post

I am going to stop saying things like, "I can't believe I had to miss the party again!" because - well, I had to miss the party again! Still - I popped in for a few and I am looking forward to the routine of a Thursday night party again soon... but next week is not looking so good either, FYI! (Well - it's looking GREAT... but it's not looking like I will be plugged in or online anywhere!) But I digress...

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

I see the word prompt and I can't imagine how many ways this can go.  So we'll just ride this stream of words flowing and see where they take us...

{GO}

May we never stop learning to lean in.

This is the first thought that comes to me and with all of my breath and heart - even the shaky, hidden parts, I am learning to shout, "Here I am, Lord!" and "Yes and Amen!"

Because here is the deal: Learning is hard.

It takes work and time and lots of effort to learn something new and see fruit come from it. It also takes grace and a willingness to admit that we don't know some things (read: anything, at least sometimes!) It takes being vulnerable and honest and trying new things...

It takes being brave enough to risk failing...

Yes. That. 

We can take this thought and apply it to just about any area of our lives: parenting, marriage, new jobs, writing, art, any hobby, --the list goes on and on, because everything we know - or think we know - well, we have learned, right?

But the older I get, the freer I get and I realize that it's in the admitting what I don't know when I learn the most.

It's when I lay down the mask and the facade of knowing how to do something and faking my way through it, and simply ask for help! (I know... gasp at the horror, right? Or is that just me?)

In our world, we often think that we must master a thing to be good at it.  We think that we should already know how to do things and we offer little grace for ourselves in the learning seasons.

We don't have trouble giving grace to wobbly toddler legs, learning to walk... or frustrated kindergarten fingers trying to learn to spell and write... or even confused, lost and lonely Middle schoolers (High schoolers, or our College-bound) who are learning to brave bigger hallways. 

No - there is grace for that... for them! 

But for many of us, we somehow believed the lie that by the time we are a grown up - well, we should already know all. the. things.

So when faced with the myriad of things we do. not. know. --we fake it. Or refuse to learn it. We turn down the opportunities or say no thanks to trying new things.

We live small, safe (or so we think.) and we pretend we are experts in the fields we can now wander through without getting too lost. 

But here's the other deal: We were created to grow, to wander, to thrive... to bear fruit and live life abundantly.  To expand and explore and find wonder, but that takes learning new things!

We have never arrived. There is always more to learn.*

{STOP}

I am finding in this stage and season that there is so much freedom and adventure when I admit that I do not know a thing and that I am willing and wanting to learn.

When I remember to give myself grace, to not let Comparison sneak in and have his way with me. He slithers in, whispering lies and begging me to quit before I even really start a thing... for if I refuse to learn, well then he wins and I lose.  

I am learning to Lean In to the things I do not know and in the leaning in, there is a joy in learning new things... new ways of being and doing, of creating and living a fuller, more abundant life. Because the God who created you and formed and fashioned your brain, also formed and fashioned the gifts He placed within you and sometimes it takes leaning in to learn a thing to see it fully blossom within you and bear fruit outside of you!

May you lean in and live an abundant and fruitful life!

* - This is where my time was up, but I wanted to complete my thought! 

Grace, please!

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 "LEARN"

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!