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?


I've figured it out
  (...it's just that sometimes I forget!)

As I looked back over recent years,
I realize that when my life felt
the most calm and confident... 
when it felt the most simple and smooth
was when I was fully aware and acting out of
knowing who I am.

I was confident and I was sure of who I was
and what my strengths and gifts are.
I didn't shrink back or shy away.
I wasn't prideful or brazen,
but I was comfortable in my own skin
and in looking back,
I'm not sure where that woman has gone,
but somehow I lost her along the way,
and I realize that I miss her!

I know... it sounds so cheesy.  
But it's true... 

When we operate out of our true identities. 
We care less about fitting in or standing out.  
We worry less about being too much or not enough.

When we can fully embrace who we are... 
...WHO --not what...
then our lives become simplified
and what really matters becomes
our focus and priority.

We find our true selves standing up taller
and speaking out louder, but with more grace.

So the question is how do I (we) find her again?
How do I simplify my life
and carve away the unnecessary
and cut off the busy
to (re)discover the
calm confidence
of remembering
who I am? * 

Part of it surely is the In AND With 
that I wrote about earlier!

Part of it is self-care that includes
healthy exercise and eating
and exacting boundaries.
It involves Grace for you --and for me.
And simply slowing down
throughout my days
and asking Him what is next.

It requires relinquishing control
of my Day Planner and inviting Him in
to simplify my days!

{STOP}

To live a life of simplicity
is to major on the majors
and to minor on the minors, right?

It's to get His heart... and His priorities,
It's to follow His lead and believe His thoughts... 
--His thoughts about you...
His reasons for creating you
and gifting you the way He did...
It's to hear His songs of love sung over you,
and to dare to believe them!

Once the identity
He placed within you
rises to the top,
all of life falls in to place
and your lists, while full,
won't seem too bossy,
and your calendar, still busy,
won't be so exhausting!

Life Hacks are amazing... 
because so often we think it seems too good to be true
and then we try it and find it really does work after all! 

It's just that sometimes we forget!

* = When my Five Minutes were up! Grace, please! 
Clearly I had to finish my thoughts!

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: "SIMPLIFY"

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 with the lovely writer communities linked below:

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Barbie Swihart for #Glimpsesofhisbeauty

Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, THE LORD SPOKE TO ME AND THROUGH ME REGARDING SABBATH REST AND I TURNED MY 31 DAYS SERIES INTO AN EBOOK ON AMAZON.  IF YOU ARE FINDING YOURSELF IN NEED OF REST (WHICH --WHO ISN'T, REALLY?) CHECK OUT THIS SHORT, DAILY DEVOTIONAL  31 DAYS OF RESTING IN GOD ...IT'S EASIER/HARDER THAN YOU THINK!  

YOU CAN PURCHASE IT BY CLICKING HERE OR GRABBING IT FROM THE SIDE BAR TO THE RIGHT IF REST IS SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU NEED, BUT JUST KEEP PUTTING OFF!