Alive - A Five Minute Friday Post

So last week I mentioned that I was extremely overbooked. I also mentioned how I realized that I needed to not do this to myself again... this over-scheduling and doing too much. So this week I have stepped away from the blog a bit... and all other forms of Social Media... and I have read books and watched Netflix and painted and napped and oh my goodness! It has taken me until Thursday night to start to feel like myself again! Some seasons are just like that right? You just have to push through and keep up and get 'er done... but I know for me --I can't live my life like that! It's not how I am wired. I am wired for slow... for quiet... for poetry and jazz music and summertime on the patio in a breezy sundress and sipping on something yummy... and while we are not quite yet THERE --I have found freedom this week in not letting anything or anyone Boss me around! This can't be my life either - not every day, but it was my life this week - and my soul is oh so thankful for it!

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

{GO}

Alive... because, of course! 

It's Easter season and as much as we know that the hard, lonely, brutality of Friday had to happen... we like to look beyond the Cross and for the joy set before Him/us... we remember that, truly, we are Alive!

Today is Good Friday and so often we get stuck on the heaviness and brokenness of what this day represents... it was violent, horrible, evil... It was the devils' shining moment: when darkness overtook the sun and light refused to filter on through... When he thought, "Finally... I won!"



And we should... we should get stuck there.  

We should let it land heavy on our hearts and we should sit with Jesus in the emptiness of a broken-hearted betrayal and the feeling of being all alone, abandoned, and undone.

But remember, what He calls Good and what we call good are not always the same.

So in the midst of His emptiness - when His arms longed for someone to come and wrap themselves around Him and help carry the load... when doubt tried to creep in and whisper lies of hopelessness and 'they're not worth it'... our Savior looked at the hollow in His own arms and instead of closing Himself off and hugging His knees in tight to block the pain away and keep the world out, He lunged for that Cross and willingly spread wide His arms. He let the nails pierce His hands and His feet but it wasn't nails that kept Him up on those wooden beams.  

Oh no... it's wasn't nails... 
It was LOVE!

Love poured out and Blood ran down and a sacrifice --a ransom-- had to be paid and Jesus willingly, whole/broken-heartedly laid Himself down, and poured Himself out for us! 

He became the ransom and paid the price so that our Good, Good Father would once again welcome us home.

No - what He calls good and what we call good are rarely ever the same.  

He Laid Down and Stretched Out for us on a Friday... 
so that we could Rise Up and Reign Victorious on a Sunday...

What the enemy thought
was his finest hour
quickly turned to defeat
when all of Death finally died
and Resurrection Life rose up
in Love and in Power!

Love poured out so that we could be
Ransomed & Reunited with the Father... 
So that we could live...
but not only that, be Alive... 
with Him for all eternity!

Good Friday is dark, and the battle rages on,
But Sunday is coming
where Light shines and fear is gone!
For, as Crowder sings, 
"A Cross meant to kill is my victory!"

 {STOP} 

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: "ALIVE"

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!

Also... for this weekend, there is this --an audio version of a post written a few years ago on Good Friday!

There is no Glue...