***
Oh, Summer! (Am I right?)
Let's just get to it! 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: WILLING
{GO!}
I'm tempted to just wait... I mean... it's Thursday afternoon and I know a 'new' word will be released tonight. I already wrote two posts this week because --at least for a couple of things-- I'm letting my calendar boss me around. Honestly - the only reason that is true is that I have felt, shall we say, uninspired as of late. So while my heart is willing --my flesh is weak and I just haven't set aside time to sit in this chair and tap out words consistently for a while now.
Mostly, I'm totally ok with that.
I've been busy being present in my actual life and
while it is not easy or fun a lot of the time right now,
it is vital and it is a priority and I have no regrets...
well --other than these two:
#1. I miss Y'all tons! ...and
#2. This is how I process.
For real... writing here in this space helps me to unpack the things God has whispered to me along the way and gives me perspective and insight and hope that I may miss if I just try to keep it to myself! So here I sit... willing... and waiting... and remembering how my OneWord for this year is a Do-Over (or Do-Better) word and, My oh My...
Joy is a promise He just
keeps on giving me...
I belong to this powerful little gathering of warrior women and we meet once a month and we chit chat and catch up and then we soak in some worship and pray on our own and take communion and then from there... well --we simply follow His lead and share whatever He speaks or shows us.
I take notes (because, of course... and I can't help myself!) but sometimes that journal gets pushed aside and I can forget the amazing things that He reveals to us during those couple of hours spent together with Him!
Again... willing heart... weak and forgetful flesh!
You do that too, right?
Get some big revelation or insight and in an attempt to let it absorb into your spirit... you don't share it with others right away? There are times when this is actually exactly what we are supposed to do with our encounters! Sometimes they really ARE just between us and Him. But I'm finding that sharing what He is speaking... as or right after He speaks... it is helping me to process and put it into practice that much sooner! And I have a vague memory of a quick vision God gave me in prayer and how it stirred something in me that felt like Hope...
So I pull out my journal and flip through the pages of last months' meeting and I laugh... I mean, like out loud, for real, I start to laugh.
Because somehow I forget (again!) that my OneWord is JOY and while I have entertained it more this year than last, I still find it just out of reach... but I can feel it just around the edges!
Right now life is hard... but I know that God is (still) good.
We are walking into many answered prayers that felt a long time coming... but we are waiting on others to still unfold.
I wrote about it on Instagram just this morning... how even when life is hard all around you, God is near and God is good and He wants you to see and know and remember that!
{STOP!}
(My time is up... but you know I'm going to share what I rediscovered in those journal pages, yes? I can't not!)
I flip through my journal and remember the last prayer gathering... God opened the eyes of my heart to 'see' a few things but the one that is standing out to me was just a flash of a vision. It was so slight that I could have easily missed it! I could have blinked it away and moved on, but I felt His Presence all over it so I leaned in to take a closer look.
This is what I saw, taken directly from my journal:
"I saw a flash picture of a quirky, funky, fancy little clutch -like a purse or a bag, and I heard the Lord say, 'Remember --do not waste time comparing gifts or lives with others. I've placed all you need in your bag and what they carry holds all they need. What's theirs isnt meant to be yours and what's yours isn't meant to be theirs. It can bless and benefit the 'other' but don't waste time competing or comparing!'
Then I saw the clutch open unusually WIDE and the thought or phrase, "Mary Poppins' Purse" came to mind. He whispered, "What I've given you is MAGICAL and full of Joy and Wonder for those whom the gifts inside are intended for!"
Joy! Ridiculous Joy is overtaking areas the enemy has dragged down and tried to hide... Contagious, bubbling over, these-are-not-drunk-as-you-suppose kind of Joy that --at the very sound of it-- releases chains and raises the dead to life...
THIS JOY... HIS Joy... is being poured out over the earth!
Cup your hands and position your heart to receive... Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost.
"I am restoring a hunger and thirst for these three things... for this is the Kingdom of God!"
Gah!
I mean... right?
So good!
So my hope is, in sharing that, you can feel a little Hope stirring around the edges, too! That no matter what your actual Life is looking like or feeling like right now... that you will embrace the bag of gifts He has given you and that, in opening it wide and pulling out what He's placed in you, you will begin to cup your hands and position your heart and train your spirit to seek and to find the JOY that He is preparing to pour out over, within, and through you in this season!
Something about Romans 14:17...
"When God reigns, the order of the day is redeeming justice, true peace, and joy made possible by the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17 The Voice
"God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy." Romans 14:17 The Message
Amen?
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 communities linked below:
Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday
{GO!}
I'm tempted to just wait... I mean... it's Thursday afternoon and I know a 'new' word will be released tonight. I already wrote two posts this week because --at least for a couple of things-- I'm letting my calendar boss me around. Honestly - the only reason that is true is that I have felt, shall we say, uninspired as of late. So while my heart is willing --my flesh is weak and I just haven't set aside time to sit in this chair and tap out words consistently for a while now.
Mostly, I'm totally ok with that.
I've been busy being present in my actual life and
while it is not easy or fun a lot of the time right now,
it is vital and it is a priority and I have no regrets...
well --other than these two:
#1. I miss Y'all tons! ...and
#1. I miss Y'all tons! ...and
#2. This is how I process.
For real... writing here in this space helps me to unpack the things God has whispered to me along the way and gives me perspective and insight and hope that I may miss if I just try to keep it to myself! So here I sit... willing... and waiting... and remembering how my OneWord for this year is a Do-Over (or Do-Better) word and, My oh My...
Joy is a promise He justkeeps on giving me...
I belong to this powerful little gathering of warrior women and we meet once a month and we chit chat and catch up and then we soak in some worship and pray on our own and take communion and then from there... well --we simply follow His lead and share whatever He speaks or shows us.
I take notes (because, of course... and I can't help myself!) but sometimes that journal gets pushed aside and I can forget the amazing things that He reveals to us during those couple of hours spent together with Him!
Again... willing heart... weak and forgetful flesh!
You do that too, right?
Get some big revelation or insight and in an attempt to let it absorb into your spirit... you don't share it with others right away? There are times when this is actually exactly what we are supposed to do with our encounters! Sometimes they really ARE just between us and Him. But I'm finding that sharing what He is speaking... as or right after He speaks... it is helping me to process and put it into practice that much sooner! And I have a vague memory of a quick vision God gave me in prayer and how it stirred something in me that felt like Hope...
Because somehow I forget (again!) that my OneWord is JOY and while I have entertained it more this year than last, I still find it just out of reach... but I can feel it just around the edges!
Right now life is hard... but I know that God is (still) good.
We are walking into many answered prayers that felt a long time coming... but we are waiting on others to still unfold.
I wrote about it on Instagram just this morning... how even when life is hard all around you, God is near and God is good and He wants you to see and know and remember that!
{STOP!}
(My time is up... but you know I'm going to share what I rediscovered in those journal pages, yes? I can't not!)
I flip through my journal and remember the last prayer gathering... God opened the eyes of my heart to 'see' a few things but the one that is standing out to me was just a flash of a vision. It was so slight that I could have easily missed it! I could have blinked it away and moved on, but I felt His Presence all over it so I leaned in to take a closer look.
This is what I saw, taken directly from my journal:
"I saw a flash picture of a quirky, funky, fancy little clutch -like a purse or a bag, and I heard the Lord say, 'Remember --do not waste time comparing gifts or lives with others. I've placed all you need in your bag and what they carry holds all they need. What's theirs isnt meant to be yours and what's yours isn't meant to be theirs. It can bless and benefit the 'other' but don't waste time competing or comparing!'
Then I saw the clutch open unusually WIDE and the thought or phrase, "Mary Poppins' Purse" came to mind. He whispered, "What I've given you is MAGICAL and full of Joy and Wonder for those whom the gifts inside are intended for!"
Joy! Ridiculous Joy is overtaking areas the enemy has dragged down and tried to hide... Contagious, bubbling over, these-are-not-drunk-as-you-suppose kind of Joy that --at the very sound of it-- releases chains and raises the dead to life...
THIS JOY... HIS Joy... is being poured out over the earth!
Cup your hands and position your heart to receive... Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost.
"I am restoring a hunger and thirst for these three things... for this is the Kingdom of God!"
Gah!
I mean... right?
I mean... right?
So good!
So my hope is, in sharing that, you can feel a little Hope stirring around the edges, too! That no matter what your actual Life is looking like or feeling like right now... that you will embrace the bag of gifts He has given you and that, in opening it wide and pulling out what He's placed in you, you will begin to cup your hands and position your heart and train your spirit to seek and to find the JOY that He is preparing to pour out over, within, and through you in this season!
Something about Romans 14:17...
"When God reigns, the order of the day is redeeming justice, true peace, and joy made possible by the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17 The Voice
"God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy." Romans 14:17 The MessageAmen?
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
I'm also linking up with the lovely writer communities linked below:
Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday
I've not been writing like I used to for various reasons and your post makes me want to get to the bottom of that and be healed.
ReplyDeleteYes and Amen! I love this comment and I will be praying for you, Elizabeth! Praying for discernment, boldness, honesty, and healing... in Jesus' Name!
Delete