The Way Maker... A Five Minute Friday post.

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Listen... it's summertime and we are in the midst of a whole lot of hard and holy... so we won't pretend that I even knew what day Thursday was last week - or the week before that... But tonight, He called me to sit in this chair and to lean back into His chest and let His arms of Love wrap around us... holding us close... trusting Him even when we can not see! He calls me to stir up my faith... and to encourage you, sweet reader, to do the same!

Our One Word Prompt is ANNIVERSARY. This is Five Minute Friday! 
Let's go...

{GO}

I made it! I actually made it on over to 'the Twitter' tonight to play with the tribe of amazing writers that make up the Five Minute Friday community! It felt so good to catch up and pretend for a few that life is back to normal... whatever that is! I don't even know anymore... 

But it's good.  It really is --even while it is Hard and Holy, too!  We know we are in the In-Between on nearly all counts... so what was normal is not available anymore... but we have Peace about that. 

And yet... I see the prompt and I'm not so sure I want to play along. 

My first thought when I see "Anniversary" is the anniversary we just reached a few weeks ago --the year marker of losing our brother-in-law.  To see how God has worked and has healed and has comforted our sweet sister and her boys is amazing!  Hard... and Holy.

And then my mind goes forward to the days following our little gathering at his graveside.  The days filled with doctors appointments and ER visits and what we thought was one thing turns out is most likely something else... something worse... but God!

Our prayer is for healing... for a miracle... because we are wired that way and we can't help ourselves from praying crazy faith prayers... 

Last year as we went through loss and grief and too many feelings, Reckless Love was everywhere we went... God made me sing words I knew to be true, even when I didn't feel like they were true!

Here we are this year... with this round of loss and grief and too many feelings --related to family battling sickness, as well as job hunting, unknowns up ahead, not having a place... too many things... too many feelings... and this year, this is the song God is putting in front of us at every turn:

"Way Maker, Miracle-Worker, Promise Keeper,

Light in the Darkness, My God...

That is Who You are!"

"You are here, Touching every heart. 

I worship you... I worship you.

You are here, Healing every heart.

I worship you... I worship you..."

While we await an official diagnosis, we have gone from ER trips to hospice at home to a facility... and hopefully back home soon.   

Here's the thing... 
  Here's the broken record I just can't stop repeating: 

Every time I am tempted to
stress out, fear, or worry...
Jesus whispers softly,
"Peace is a Person... 
and, baby girl, I'm right. here."

And Oh, how He is!

{STOP}

We can feel Him close... and we sing it out loud with boldness, and we whisper it soft beneath our breath:

"Even when I don't see it,
You're working!
Even when I don't feel it,
You're working!
You never stop! 
You never stop working..."

It has become our anthem... and we believe it to be true!

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Has the Lord ever brought a song to you for a season that becomes your anthem? What song is/was it? How did it help you? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

The Five Minute Friday community is the best gathering of Flash mob 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 "ANNIVERSARY"

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!

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer communities linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Holley Gerth for #LetsHaveCoffee

KRISTIN HILL TAYLOR FOR #PORCHSTORIES

IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF REST, MAYBE THIS SUMMER IS THE PERFECT TIME TO WALK THROUGH 31 DAYS OF RESTING IN HIM. IT'S A SHORT DAILY DEVOTIONAL THAT BOTH EXPANDS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF REST, AS WELL AS YOUR ABILITY TO TAP INTO IT!

31 Days of Resting in Him: ...It's easier/harder than you think!

P.S. I promise I won't keep talking about it, but my Girlie and I started a thing! If you check out the Podcast Tab up top, you will find our new podcast, "Changing Our Minds" and we'd love to have you subscribe via iTunes and come along the journey of real life with us!

(The above Amazon link as an Affiliate link. It costs you the same amount, but helps to cover the expenses of  the blog and podcasting!)