Things Are Gonna Get Better... a Five Minute Friday post.

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Hello There, Sweet Readers!

Here we are... mid-January already and I am on the other side of both eye surgeries. One was an instant miraculous success, the other is slower in healing and clearing up - but we are believing that both eyes will give clear vision and many of the 'issues' I battled the last few years will be no more!  This explains the quiet hush around here as it is taking time for my eyes to heal and adjust and work together! But Y'all know how I love the FMF Community... so, here we go:

This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer
and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: BETTER

{GO!}


When I see the One Word Prompt, "Better"
--of course, immediately I think of my sight...
my vision --both physical and spiritual!  
I think of how it feels like we've been WAITING
and waiting and waiting for Better to arrive!

I am on the other side of eye surgeries and as I mentioned above, the first surgery was quite miraculous.  It was easier than they anticipated and the sight was closer to 20/20 within hours of being post-surgery than it ever had been before. The second surgery (done on 1/10) was a lot harder, longer, more complicated than they anticipated, and when I removed the bandage, the vision was extremely blurry and the concern was that the surgery either didn't work or the lens had shifted. (Note - this was MY fear concern... not that we had any warning that this could be true.) My Honey likes to say that as easy as the first surgery was, the second surgery was a Battle!

I laugh whenever he says this because he says it like maybe I was not aware. Oh, I was aware. I was awake and aware the whole time.

Listen, if 2018 had a theme song... this would be it:

"Ooh, Child... things are gonna get easier!

Ooh, Child... things will get brighter!"

So here we are, nearly halfway into January
and a Brand New Year and you know what? 
I'm ready for a new song... 
I'm ready for things to actually get easier
--well, maybe not easier because this is real life, right? 
But Better, for sure!
I'm so ready for Better!

"Someday, We'll get it together and we'll get it all done

Someday When your head is much lighter.

Someday, We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun

Someday When the world is much brighter."

You too, right? 

I mean... it seems almost universal

that last year was full of Heavy and Hard...

full of Waiting and Wondering When...

It seems nearly everyone we've talked to recently

share in the Good Riddance feeling of last year!

So here we are... and already we can see the Hope of Better

all around the edges of the hard places.

While I don't know what the 'new' theme song for 2019 is yet

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is because

we are going to have to come up with it on our own!

It won't be an old familiar tune, 

brought back to life.

Not this time.

  Not this year.

No... it will be brand new...

New Verses... New Chorus...

A New Bridge...

And it will be Better!

It WILL!

(How can it not, right?)

Just as my vision is taking time to

heal and come into focus,

so are the plans for what

He has in store for us!

I heard Kris Vallotton sharing the other day

on the verse in Ps 119, that talks about how

His Word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path... 

and he was saying he thinks this is referring to

two different seasons that we walk through with the Lord.

When He is showing us our purpose and destiny, 

His Word is a Light to our Path and we see ahead

and get stirred up with Hope and Anticipation!

But when His Word is a Lamp to our feet,

it's because we can't see ahead of us

but it's a season of trusting and knowing that

He is right there beside us!

It's a season of learning to trust

and to keep walking anyway... 

even in the dark and the unknown...

because we know that we know that He is in it with us

and that He IS leading and guiding us,

even when it is just one step at a time!

I don't know about you, but for me?

Last year His Word was a Lamp unto my feet...

and whenever I would start to trip up or slow down,

I would hear Him whisper-sing this song over me:

"Ooh, Child... things are gonna get easier!

Ooh, Child... things will get brighter..."
And I learned to trust Him and take Him at His Word!

{STOP!}

So here's to the changing of the Seasons and to the Brand New Song that we are all writing this year!

Here's to a season of Light Unto My Path... 
a season filled with Hope and Anticipation
(and clearer vision - in the natural and the spiritual realms!)

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 "BETTER"

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

Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee

Kristin Hill Taylor for #PorchStories

Meg Weyerbacher for #TeaandWord

With the Holidays and then my surgeries, even THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST has been a little quiet...  We will be recording the first new episode of the new year this afternoon! Chances are good we'll talk about fresh starts and do-overs and new goals and maybe even that One Word we're focusing on in 2019! We'd love to have you join us at the Table as we catch up over a cup of something yummy and share life together! As always, you can SUBSCRIBE here to have the Podcast sent to your preferred listening device so you won't miss a thing! Also, follow us on Facebook to join in on the conversations!