Don't Lose Heart... a Five Minute Friday post

I made it, y'all! I made it on time and stayed for most of the party and it was so nice to be back! Some of the players (aka writers) have changed... I don't think we have talked about Nutella for awhile, and there has been less hashtagging it up (but I plan on bringing that back) and we haven't had a Ninja (Crystal Stine) stop by for awhile... but the heart of this tribe still beats strong and if you lean in and listen close, you will hear it... You can do this! You are a writer! You are not alone! (And who doesn't need that reminder every once in awhile --read: every Thursday night?)

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

{GO}

My first thought is, "Don't lose heart..." but this week, y'all? Am I right? 

I wrote about #Orlando a bit here and I have been being intentional this week in not losing heart... in not growing weary... in practicing Self-Care and Rest and giving myself room to process, to heal, to breathe.

If you follow me on social media at all (or even stop by this little corner of the interwebs here!) you will see that I am in love and have all the swoony, romantic feels for my Hydrangeas! They take my breath away with their beauty!

But here's the thing: This is the best year so far... and they have never offered up such colorful blossoms! One year they would be purple. The next, pink. If I was lucky there would be a hint of blue. I read all about how to change the soil to change the colors however I never actually did that. 

But this year - I can't get over them! I can't pass by without marveling at how creative and beautiful God is!  

"The harvest you reap reveals the seed you planted... don't allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you've planted is coming!" Galatians 6:7-9 The Passion

I mean... come on!

I just keep thinking about how we reap what we sow. This is a universal truth... it's not limited to Christians only.  

I walk by my garden and I think back to when we planted our Hydrangea.  Originally, it was blue. One of those store-bought plants that was already blooming. Just a tiny little thing but we planted it in our new little garden and hoped it would take root.

It has taken years for it to thrive like this.  Some seasons it really didn't yield much at all. 

But after all this time... as we loved it and watered it and let it grow... now - we are reaping a colorful harvest and it is crazy how it is helping me not lose heart in other areas of my life.

Bigger areas... more important things... 

Prayers I have prayed for years... things I have longed for and dreamt of and if I am honest, I grow weary of the wait.

You too, right? I mean... we all have things we have secretly or not so secretly requested of God and while I believe He hears us and answers and I believe His answers are Yes and Amen... oh my goodness, all this waiting can undo us, right?

We live in a Right Now society... a microwave culture where we want it and we want it now! 

And waiting... well, that is not so much our strong suit!

I love how that above portion of Scripture in Galatians goes on to say:

"...Take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others, especially to our brothers and sisters in the family of faith!" Galatians 6:10 The Passion

Take every opportunity to be a blessing...

Yes. That.

That is how we wait in the Kingdom.

It is not passive... it is not wasteful.  We continue to sow good seed as we wait... and we reap harvests all around us from seeds we had forgotten all about!

I never once forgot planting my hydrangea but I had forgotten that it was originally blue.  I never imagined I could get all these colors from one plant... but we kept weeding and planting other seeds all around it and our little Garden is full now... Full of Color. Full of Grace and Beauty and Hope. Full of dreams coming true... 

Keep Sowing... Don't lose heart!

{STOP}

So this post reminded me of a portion from one of the days of "Small Moments" with Emily P. Freeman.  (A great 7 day audio series to help bring rest and focus in just a few small moments each day!)

Here is the quote that I thought of as I finished writing my five minutes above!

"We're holding an idea in the form of a seed and we're daring to believe it will grow. So we're digging in the cool dirt, dropping our dreams for the future in the darkness, covering them up and waiting... Intuition says our ideas are to be out in the light, displayed, produced, and worked on. But in order for the dream of idea to burst with the light of life, first it has to be buried in the darkness of time. We're pouring the clear water of hope on the mound above the hidden seed and we're hoping she'll begin to breathe, to break, to push down so that she might come up."  ~ Emily P. Freeman, Small Moments

So good, right?  No matter what your idea or dream... no matter what it is you are hoping for... let me encourage you to not lose heart! Don't grow weary... for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you've planted is coming! Praise God!

And everyone said, "Amen!"

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: "LOSE"

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!

I'm also linking up for #FreshMarketFriday... how adorable is that?