When God is Silent and All You Can Do is Wait...

I am all about
Quiet and Calm... 
About Slow and Sabbath.

It took me years to give in to it,
to embrace it.
But this is actually
how I am wired.
As in, God made me this way
on purpose, for a purpose.
I used to fight against it... 
I used to try to keep up. 
And then I just gave up
and didn't try at all for a season.

But here's the deal: 
 I still have to do stuff! 

Being wired Calm... 
being a slow, internal processor
is not all sleeping in
and being alone
(aka: introvert dreams)... 
It's not about being
passive or ineffective. 
It's about being
extremely intentional
and very effective, 
within healthy boundaries.


It took me years to figure out
what those boundaries look like.

I Surrender Some... A Five Minute Friday post.

What is this? 2013? Tonight makes FOUR weeks... in a row, people!!! 

The Tribe that gathers online on Twitter on Thursday nights that make up the Five Minute Friday community is the best gathering of Flashmob writers around!  We wait for the one word prompt and we throw caution and hesitation and editing to the wind, and we let our fingers fly and our feelings feel and we just wait and see what flows out in five minutes (or so! Because, grace!) and we hit Publish without second guessing or backspacing!

Tonight one of our own seems to be nearing the end of life on this side of Heaven... and so in Andrews' honor, as we pray for God's Presence to be thick around him, our one word prompt is: SURRENDER! 

{GO}

Surrender.

I see the word and I think, yeah. That.
And a heavy sigh quickly follows.

Why is it that when we think of Surrender, it's all shadowy and defeated? Immediately we feel the loss --of something, even if we don't know what!

We see the giving up or giving in parts, but we don't often rush to fully embrace the ceasing and yielding parts. 

There can be such Peace in those parts! 
Why do we kick against actually doing the Surrendering
when it can so often lead to relief and rest?

I think of the modified hymn, I Surrender Some...

Waking Us Up to Dream Again... The Dream Of You by Jo Saxton - a book review post.

I was so honored to be on this Book Launch Team for Jo Saxton's new book, The Dream of You.  Because - well, first off: Jo Saxton! Y'all maybe fell in love with her like I did while watching her speak at the IF:Gathering the last couple of years.  And also: Identity... man! If you spend any amount of time around this little corner of the interwebs, then you know! Identity... I can't stop talking about it...

Actually, it's Identity + God-sized Dreams + Intimacy with Christ + Prayer and what that equals is my jam! 


I promise you, I am not listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack right now. (It's on Pause... literally!)


I didn't want it to influence EVERY post I write this month... but I will say this: 

The Greatest Showman is all about waking us up to Dream again... to take risks --and yet to not lose sight of priorities... and this book? Yeah... this book is also all about waking us up to dream again... it's about our willingness to follow Him and take risks and be who He created us to be (--yes, I am TOTALLY hearing "This is Me" in my mind right now. It's fine.) while not losing sight of what is really important!

In other words...

You Are Never Alone... A Five Minute Friday post.

Three weeks in a row... and sadly that is some sort of record lately! My goal in January was to get back to writing twice a week... but this week was stealing all my words --at least the ones I would want to bleed out and hit publish for public consumption! Praise God we know not EVERYTHING is meant for the Internet, right?

Still - it felt great to be back in this chair, with this Tribe, ready to let our fingers fly as we follow His lead with the One Word prompt! Tonight, that word for Five Minute Friday is: INTENTIONAL! 

Let's do this!

{GO}

Intentional...
  Oh yes... let's be that! 

Let's be intentional
in how we spend our
hours... days... lives. 
Let's be present and invest
in those around us.
Let's keep our eyes
and heart open... 

I think Intentional 
is such a great goal...
I mean to be it... to do it...
but sometimes I forget!

Sometimes it feels like there's
not enough time, right? 

Say you feel it, too.

Simplicity Life Hack... a Five Minute Friday post.

I'm not sure what kind of crazy 2018 is starting out with, but I managed to make it to the party two weeks in a row... even if only for a little bit! PLUS... I went to see The Greatest Showman again today, so it's shaping up to be a pretty stellar Thursday! 

Enough small talk... (We're not big into that around here, just in case you hadn't noticed!) Today, the One Word Prompt for Five Minute Friday is SIMPLIFY!

{GO}

I see the word and I recognize it. 

I've seen it over and over and over
across all the social medias
in the past few weeks! 
Maybe it goes along with the whole
clean slate, fresh start feel!

It sounds familiar because
it makes me think back to simpler times...
an uncluttered mind...
an unhurried pace...
an undivided heart.

It makes me think of times in my life
when life felt right and good
and - you know- doable!
A time when it seemed
as if I was nailing it.
(--at least more often than
I feel like I am now!)


To Simplify... 
  who doesn't want to do that? 

I mean, really?

Our lives can feel like they are
spinning out of control and as if we have
crammed way too much into our days. 
We run around breathless and tired
and we think, "Man, if I could just
get a handle on my life..."

So I stop and think back. 
I do a little silent reflecting
and I discovered a life hack
for you, sweet reader!

Do you want to know the sure-fire way
to simplify your life?

As the New Year Unfolds... The Importance of In AND With!

I love a full calendar and a bossy list of things to do --but not because I love to be busy... (read:I do not.) I love filling in and filling up a new week on my day planner because much of what I pencil in and write down these days are meetings with friends.

I am scheduling Gatherings where I'm being intentional... Some of them are just casual meetings or one on one time set aside in order to build up and pour out. Sometimes it is simply to catch up over coffee and chat, and sometimes it's to set aside time to pray together and press in and release His Kingdom... on earth, as it is in Heaven!

I hadn't been able to keep or make many of those kinds of meetings throughout most December. It seemed my Honey and I just kept passing some sort of bug back and forth in our little house throughout the entire month (or longer, to be honest!) and I was growing rather 7-ish in my impatience.  

You know, childish... stomping my foot a little in how my prayers were not being answered right now, today!

Right?  

Please say I'm not alone in this. I think we all can fall into this stance without really being aware of it!

So a couple of days ago, I was reflecting over the past few weeks and I decided to simply ask Jesus what His thoughts were on it all. (Brilliant, I know!)

Let me back up a little...
This is what had happened:

MOTIVATE - The First Five Minute Friday post of the New Year!

Oh my Goodness... Joy! What Joy to be able to hang out on Twitter last night for the Five Minute Friday party! I have missed this Tribe and it was so good to be back and reconnect!

Here's to a brand New Year... and getting back to a lovely routine that includes spending a bit more time in this little corner of the interwebs, pouring out my heart! I have missed connecting and interacting with y'all!

So here we are: The first Friday of the year... and you know that means that we are gathering a flashmob of writers to type free and fast... all centered around one simple word. 

That One Word Prompt today is MOTIVATE --because, of course, right? (This is a Five Minute Friday post, which simply means I set a timer and free write for five minutes flat, add a few photos, and hit Publish!)

{GO}

Ah yes... MOTIVATE... 
Motivation... Drive...

It all goes right along nicely with the New Year.

I'm not one for Resolutions as much as I am one for Goals - both short term and long term, but I will be honest here... (of course!) :

Last year was rough. 
It's no secret. 

Some of the ways are out in the open and some of them are held close to our hearts.  We were wounded and broken through much of 2017.  Many of our plans were... well, you know how that goes! (Prov 19:21)

We laid down a lot of what we wanted... or what we thought we wanted... and we gave room --made room-- for grace!

Of course --there were high points and blessings, too! 
It turns out if we will keep our eyes wide open, there is always a mixture of both high and low... of both mountain tops and valleys...

So here we are, at the break of a new dawn and this is when we huddle in close and we awake to dreaming, yet again!

This is a new day... a new year... and we feel Joy already coming for us, even when our weary hearts and healing bodies are slow to line up with the Truth!  

We feel Hope arising and let me tell you... 

Happy New Year!!! Our Annual Prophetic Post for the New Year - 2018 edition

HAPPY NEW YEAR, friends!

I can't speak for you, but for me? 
2017, man... good riddance!

Today starts the very very beginning of a brand new year! Blank Calendars, Day Planners, and Hope-filled Goals stare us down, waiting to be written and planned and lived out loud!

No matter how 2017 unfolded for you all, here we stand in the freshness of 2018 with a clean slate, a new chapter, a brand new year just waiting for us to step into it and begin again...

New Years Day, for me, always starts out the same way...