The Difference of One Little Word - a Five Minute Friday post.

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Happy Thanksgiving, sweet readers!

It's been quiet around here, I know.  Between taking a little break after All the Days in a row of writing posts in October, and battling some eye issues yet again that limit my screen time, I have gotten a bit quiet.  However, it's Thanksgiving and you KNOW this is my favorite holiday and I've missed Y'all. 

So... here we go... a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer and free write for five minutes flat on the one word prompt: ONE

{GO!}

All I can think of when I see the word is how easy it is for us to lose focus and to forget... to exchange one little word that skews our perspective and affects our attitude!

We can let the Heavy and the Hard press against us and knock us off center --but never off-course.  

We can accidentally listen to lies that feel more like truth than to the Truth that feels so far away and impossible... 
But God... remember?

But God...

So as Thanksgiving approaches and right after it, all the crazy chaos that has somehow become Christmas, I remind myself to count blessings, one by one. 

To slow time, as Ann said, and to count gifts listing them off as I close my eyes and open my heart to all the ways He is Present and Thick all around me!

He is Present and Thick
all around you too, sweet friend!
I promise it is true
--whether it feels true or not!

I have been digging into the Examen and this practice that invites us to slow down, to reflect back over the day, to count the gifts and ask for direction regarding lessons learned or help needed... I'm loving the practice and how it keeps me focused on Him and on what is already here, surrounding me... 

No matter what we are battling against or leaning in to... no matter how good or hard or uncertain our season is, it is filled with goodness because He just can't help Himself! He loves us that much!

I was watching a tv show a couple of weeks ago and there was a line spoken that caught my breath and caused my spirit to stand up tall... I'm sure I'd heard the sentiment before, but the scene involved two characters. One was frustrated and near anger at her circumstance, and the other simply, calmly said, "You've got it all wrong. This isn't happening TO you... it's happening FOR you!"

YOU GUYS!?!?!??!

I still can't get over it! How changing that one little word can change EVERYTHING!

What a gift in how it can immediately remind you and change your perspective!

I mean... we say all the time that God is working things out for our good, right? It's in the Bible... and He's not just working things out --but FOR OUR GOOD... 

I mean, how do we keep forgetting this?

The changing of 'to' to 'for' has the potential of changing,  well... everything.  

We seem to grasp hold of this truth of things happening FOR us when whatever that is happening feels good... but when it is hard and it feels --well, NOT so great... it shifts and we think it is happening TO us.

I'm not negating that we have a real enemy who plays dirty and doesn't fight fair... I'm not even saying sometimes we get the consequences to our own choices when we choose without wisdom... 

But even with all of that... 

What if we stop and remind ourselves that He works inside and outside of time... that He has never lost a battle and that He fights for us and has already secured our Victory?  

What if we stand on His promises and remind ourselves that He is like Rick Astley --only SO MUCH BETTER-- in that He's "never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down... Never gonna run around and desert you! He's never gonna make you cry... never gonna say goodbye... never gonna tell a lie and hurt you?" (You're welcome!)

I don't know* what you may be facing, but I know this:
What if --just for a moment-- we change that one little word and ask for a bigger perspective of what He is doing... and we remember that He holds everything in His Nail Scarred Hands... including the plans He has for us... including our hearts that we gave Him long ago... and we remember that maybe --just maybe, this (whatever your 'this' may be!) is not happening TO us... but it is happening FOR us?

{STOP!}

As we take a few moments over the next few days and reflect back over our year and count gifts, listing blessings one by one... let us also look at the season we are in right now and the one that we are heading into next and let us pray to not forget that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights and that so often what we call 'good' and what He calls good, doesn't always line up... but we can trust Him and rest assured that if it's not good yet, He's not done working it out!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am counting each and every one of you among my gifts this year! I love the little community that gathers here in the comments and over on the facebook page as well!

I'd love to hear how this thought sits with you... how does it shift your mindset or raise your hope level? 

I know for me... all of the sudden, it helped me to remember to let hope arise and to stir up my most holy faith... what an honor and a gift it is to watch and see how He is able to turn things around and how, hindsight almost always gives me the ability to see how everything really does happen FOR me in the long run, more than it ever just happens TO me!

* This is when my 5 Minute Timer went off! Grace, please!

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 "ONE"

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 about 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 community linked below:

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Lori Schumaker for #MomentsofHope

Holley Gerth for #LetsHaveCoffee

Lastly: WE HAVE ANOTHER NEW EPISODE UP FOR THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST. We welcome a special co-host... my honey! WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US AS WE TALK ABOUT having an attitude of gratitude! so tune in and listen while you are baking or commuting or shopping over this weekend! we're hoping the attitude of gratitude is contagious!