On Resting, Growing, and Being Tethered - A Five Minute Friday post.

My Thursday was booked... but some of that 'bossy' included fun things like a Watercolor Class with a friend, and --of course, Five Minute Friday on Twitter (#fmfparty)! A little of the unfun bossy? Work... and car problems... yeah - UNfun and uber Bossy and potentially costly, too!

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

{GO}

I'm learning - and relearning Rhythm.

The repeating of sound and tempo... a rush of energy, followed by an slow unfurling of rest.

But just this morning, I found myself breathing deep and saying yet again, "I repent, Lord... --for in my slowing and relaxing, I've forgotten to Rest WITH You."  

I've been mindful of being present and resting in Him... but some times I forget that to truly do that, I must also rest WITH Him!

Instead, I've felt the racing rhythm

of my heart slamming against walls I have built,

rather than resting in the tenderness of His embrace.

But thank God, 

These are the Days of Patio Sitting...

Amen?

As Emily Freeman says,

"These are the Days..."

--...of Going to bed full, and yet emptied out.

--The Days of less filled-in day planners
and more wide-open squares on wall calendars.
--of longer grass, blooms stretching open,
of doves cooing, and the morning breeze beckoning... 
creating a rhythm of awakening
that sings out to my senses and to the Spirit.

These are the Days
Of living less Planned Out,
but more Poured Out.
Of living with less Chaos, and more Calm.
of less Busy, and more Being...

All while learning to live in the present,
to be led by the Lord in each day,
knowing what I let in to the Gates of my Heart,
and what I let out of the Gates of my mouth,
--It can ALL be Kingdom...
if I let it be.
So Choose Wisely!

This is a Growing Season...

Full of Change and Newness...

Full of shifting, digging, of being stirred underneath

Of Growth that is happening... even if yet still unseen!

And Adulting is hard...

I said that this afternoon to our girlie

as I followed her to drop her car off at the shop.
This morning it was fine... 10 minutes later, not so much.

Why and what? Who can know?

The Birthday money gotten earlier this week will not be enough and life just keeps coming at her and I asked if she wanted me to come in with her to the repair shop office or just to wait in my car...

"What? You think I'm 21 or something and I don't want my Mom?"

And so I went with her... stood beside her... watched her be brave and kind, and slowly hand over her keys... 

I recognized that worried look creeping in to the corners of her eyes, as she started to do the math and think through what having no car means to her days --even (hopefully) for just a few.

Yeah. I remember 21. *

...And learning to Adult. And cars breaking down, jobs not coming through, and dreams still not in focus, --hopes yet unsure...

Adulting is hard... and so is Growth.

But you, my girlie...?

You are Tethered and

there is nothing to fear!

 {STOP} 

I read THIS POST this evening by the lovely Emily Freeman. 

Gah - seriously... she is so kindred... so gentle and honest and true.  I said it on Twitter how it seems she knows my heart, steals my thoughts, and then goes and makes them all so pretty! She wrote this post on The Sacred Work of Sitting and in it referenced again the truth of being tethered...

"The rhythm of sitting on swings does good work, a reminder that we are tethered even as we sway."  (Simply Tuesday, Ch14)

I read her words tonight and they matched my own heart... and they matched what I see churning and swaying in my girlie... and really, in so many all around me! 

God is up to something...
 --some THINGS, actually!

Growth is doing good work in us...
--even when we can't yet see the fruit!

And it's so good for us to remember that, 
truly, we are tethered to Him...
even as we sway!

* This was the end of my Five Minutes... Grace, please! I just had to finish my thought!

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: "GROW"

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!