***
I had every intention of joining the Tribe last night... but after all the fog and frustration of the mad rush of trying to understand and implement all things (well - at least some things!) GDPR, I needed a break. I needed to hit 'Pause' from all the screens and all the (over)thinking! You'll see what I did there in just a second...
Our One Word this week is PAUSE! This is Five Minute Friday!
{GO}
You guys!?
I don't know about you all, but I somehow managed to ignore all the GDPR talk or convince myself that it really didn't affect me.
I mean - honestly, I still think it mostly doesn't... but the threat of fines and the reality that, in truth, I DO want my readers to rest assured that their privacy is a thing to me and I will not sell or distribute or abuse their information... those two facts caused me to feel overwhelmed and oh so behind this week.
Also - the fact that I am one of the least techy bloggers out there, and I don't pay any attention to building platform or growing an audience. I just write what He tells me and trust He will put it in front of whoever may need to read it!
All of that to say this:
We are in ALL KINDS of transition right now...
It seems the Lord has us in this bubble of Peace while we wait in the In-Between of what was and what is to come!
So I see the prompt of "Pause" and I have to laugh.
But God has been teaching me over the last several years how to sit in the Silence and wait... how to settle into the In-Between and allow His Pause to usher in His Presence.
It's just that He knows He holds time in His hands and He is the One who orders our days --if we will but let Him!
Today marks the end of a 25-year era for my Honey. In the past few months, we have gone from two or three incomes to zero. One we voluntarily released, one sort of faded out, and one ends today. BUT GOD!
I've written about it a lot lately -- How Peace is a gift!
Peace is really just the fruit of Trust!
He has covered us, --drenched us, really!-- in Peace and He assures us that He has plans for us that are good and that He is our Provider and oh my goodness, I'm so thankful that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He can be trusted!
We give Him access to our hearts,
and He gives us access to all He is
-- even as we Pause in the In-Between!
Our One Word this week is PAUSE! This is Five Minute Friday!
{GO}
You guys!?
I don't know about you all, but I somehow managed to ignore all the GDPR talk or convince myself that it really didn't affect me.
I mean - honestly, I still think it mostly doesn't... but the threat of fines and the reality that, in truth, I DO want my readers to rest assured that their privacy is a thing to me and I will not sell or distribute or abuse their information... those two facts caused me to feel overwhelmed and oh so behind this week.
Also - the fact that I am one of the least techy bloggers out there, and I don't pay any attention to building platform or growing an audience. I just write what He tells me and trust He will put it in front of whoever may need to read it!
All of that to say this:
We are in ALL KINDS of transition right now...
It seems the Lord has us in this bubble of Peace while we wait in the In-Between of what was and what is to come!
So I see the prompt of "Pause" and I have to laugh.
You nailed it yet again, Kate!
Pause is exactly what I need --even when I want to fight against it!
In my head and in my heart, I so often want to skip on to the next thing, whatever that may be!
We are so bent toward keeping a panicky pace in our culture. So in a hurry to get where(ever) we are going... and yet our God is going WITH us and He has never once been known to Rush.
No, He is much more apt to slow it down, to taste and see, to Sabbath and soak in a bit of Silence... to enjoy the journey as much or more than the end destination!
Does this mean He is lazy... or releases us to be lazy... to be passive and apathetic? Of course not!
I remember a time not too long ago that I was struggling with feelings of unproductiveness in my days. It seemed as if God had grounded me and would not let me have anything tangible to show for my days. It was frustrating and it opened the door for the enemy to attack my worth and my giftings.
There have been a handful of seasons where I have felt shelved... grounded... side-lined or forgotten. (Maybe you, too?)
Over and Over, in a season of rest or a season of Pause, God assures me that some of my most productive days have left nothing for this world to cheer... but they have moved Heaven and earth and they count --Oh how they count!-- in the Kingdom!
{STOP}
I have this song on repeat here:
Open Over Us (on Blackout) by Steffany Gretzinger
The chorus sings out:
"We give You access to our hearts And You give us access to all You are..."And the ending:
"If we open up our eyes We’ll find You’ve been here the whole time."
Today marks the end of a 25-year era for my Honey. In the past few months, we have gone from two or three incomes to zero. One we voluntarily released, one sort of faded out, and one ends today. BUT GOD!
I've written about it a lot lately -- How Peace is a gift!
Peace is really just the fruit of Trust!
He has covered us, --drenched us, really!-- in Peace and He assures us that He has plans for us that are good and that He is our Provider and oh my goodness, I'm so thankful that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He can be trusted!
We give Him access to our hearts,
and He gives us access to all He is
-- even as we Pause in the In-Between!
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!
Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today. Five Minute Fridays give 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 "PAUSE"
Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today. Five Minute Fridays give 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 "PAUSE"
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:
Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday
Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp
"...our God is going WITH us and He has never once been known to Rush." Amen. We sometimes think nothing is happening or it's too slow, etc., but God's timing is always perfect. He always gives us peace. Thanks for the reminder, Karrilee. Blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteBlessings right back to you, my friend! His timing IS always perfect (even if it rarely feels that way!) ;)
DeleteGod is such a faithful God! Never disappoints. And that GDPR I hope what I have up works. I don't write for anyone but God but I do love my readers and friends so much. Taking time to pause is important. I'm in the 35 spot this week. .
ReplyDeleteI know, right? The whole GDPR stuff is over my head, honestly. I temporarily added a Privacy Policy to the bottom home page and I updated my subscriber list and I'm praying that is enough? We shall see! If I need to, I will delete my whole list and start over but I'm hoping that won't be necessary! Working on updating the tabs up top to include a few more things!
DeleteI have been learning about God's timing and the pauses of life...His timing is definitely perfect, but man...it's hard to be in a pause! (visiting from #FMF)
ReplyDeleteIt IS hard to be in a pause... and I don't know about you, Seana, but for me? If I'm in it too long, then it can also be hard to let go of it and be willing to move forward again! Praying for divine, direct timing in both the resting and the running! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteKarrilee. I so appreciated this post as I am not even sure I fully understood all the legal wording the GDPR was looking for. Not even sure it all pertained to me. And no, you are not the least techy person out there - I may have you beat :) Praying we have done it correctly and the Lord keeps us covered and protected.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is this, the slower days, the seemingly unproductive days (?), God is still at work in us and therefore, they truly are not unproductive at all but needed. Necessary for our growth. And for that I am most grateful. A pause in our days is a gift. May God be with you and your husband and keep you in His peace in the days ahead. Blessings!
Thanks so much, Joanne! A pause in our days IS a gift... truly, My Honey and I --we are wired slow so we don't always notice it right away --it's when we want to move on and He holds us close and whispers to wait that we recognize the need for Pausing! (Sometimes it is for US, and sometimes it is simply to let everything ELSE align, before releasing the forward movement yet again!) Thank you also for the sweet prayers and blessings!
DeleteI was on a blog break and then all the GDPR stuff happened. I'm in complete shut down mode, considering if it's all worth it you know? I can't seem to get a handle on it. Ugh! Going off to pause now!
ReplyDeletePause - but don't give up, my friend! I am in no way on top of it, but from what I gathered, adding a Privacy Policy to your blog that is easy to find, and updating your subscribers list so any EU subscribers need to OPT IN (or re-sign up!) are the main two things! Adding explanations of cookies or third party sites, etc --that goes over my head -but thankfully most sites like Wordpress or Blogger or MailChimp etc are working really hard on their end to make it easy to comply! BREATHE... Pause... and just do one thing at a time! (I'm adding a new tab/button for the Privacy Policy and I followed the instructions through MailChimp. I think those two things will be enough!)
DeleteOh yes to this: "Over and Over, in a season of rest or a season of Pause, God assures me that some of my most productive days have left nothing for this world to cheer... but they have moved Heaven and earth and they count --Oh how they count!-- in the Kingdom!" It seems that every time I think I am ready to move out of this season of pause, He assures me of that same thing, that He is moving Heaven & earth during this time. Thank you for this beautiful reminder tonight!
ReplyDeleteOh, you and me both, Bettie! So glad to be in such great company!
DeleteIt makes me sad that you can relate... and I am praying... and I always adore a Voxer message - whether it's a rant or not!
ReplyDelete