It Is Well... A Five Minute Friday post.

***

Hey there, Sweet Readers! My, have I missed you! Something about when it rains, it pours... and yet, we're still here! This community is consistently where I run in good times and in hard times, and even though I haven't sat in this chair or tapped out words in a while I've been longing to carve out time and space to sit with you once again! 

So let's dig in... 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: WELL

{GO!}

I see the Word Prompt and my mind (and heart and soul) goes to:

"It Is Well..."

And it is... even (or especially!) when it doesn't look or feel like it! 

It IS well...  we know this to be true but even still, we find we need the reminder over and over and over again!

Because --as with many things... many truths...-- we tend to forget what we already know!

It's easy to allow this world... the enemy who roams around seeking whom he may devour... --it's easy to accidentally listen to the lies and let them slither right on in to our hearts and heads and before we know it, we are letting our emotions (or the manipulation of our emotions due to above-mentioned enemies' lies!) boss us around and dictate what we believe!

Yeah... 

Let's stop doing that!  

It does no good and bears fruit we do not want!

This is why we need each other, right?

When we isolate and

just sit in the quiet dark

of our thoughts and feelings,

it's easy to get even just a little

off balance and off course

and off-center without even realizing it!

It's easy to give in to the lie that it's not fair...

or it's too hard... or we can't do it...

or we won't make it out alive this time around.  

The enemy whisper-shouts

lies that feel like truth

and he is so crafty even though

he is not at all creative, right?

He's good at his job...

And man --if we are not allowing ourselves

to be surrounded by the Body and the Bride, 

well --we are vulnerable in all the worst ways!

Instead, I think we need to be

vulnerable in the best ways... 

we need to allow others in deep to our dark quiet

as well as into our bright, shiny, happy!  

We need to ask for help... risk rejection... or judgment...

we need to remember that being needy is not a sin.

We need to invest in each other

and the relationships all around us...

We are grafted into a Kingdom, yes!

--But we are also grafted into a Family

and Oh My Goodness, you guys... 

How we need each other!

And that is how it is supposed to be! 

That is how God created and intended it!

This independent spirit...

This western world way of living...

This I-can-do-it-by-myself attitude 

does more harm than good on most days. 

And God created us to need Him

and to need each other!

When we find ourselves

hemmed in by Love 

and held up with Prayer,

--when we see Faith at work

and Hope shining like a beacon

upon our stormy sea season

We can inhale slow, and exhale deep, 

and close our eyes, 

lift our face toward heaven

and sing out in praise, 

It IS Well... 

It is well with my soul!

{STOP!}

We have witnessed the glory of the Body shining brightly in the dark of night and the foggy morning light over the past couple of years... 

We have been humbled in our

broken- and needy- ness

and in being on the receiving end

more than the giving...

We have caught glimpses of

the Bride of Christ, 

pure and full of love... 

and we can see why

He is coming for Her!

Through the Heavy and the Hard, 

we can say without doubt or hesitation,

truly... truly...

It is Well with our Soul!

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 "WELL"

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!

Photos courtesy of Unsplash via Taylor Ann Wright

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

Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday

Mary Geisen for #TellHisStory

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee