***
I think most of you are well aware that Thanksgiving --well, Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE, Y'all! I love it... even in the midst of Hard and Heavy things... Thanksgiving is what it is all about! It's not always easy to give thanks... but there is always something and someone (read: Someone!) to give thanks for! Enough of that...
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: COST... so let's go!
{GO!}
I see the word and my first thought
goes to the saying, "Count the Cost!"
(My second thought is more along the lines of "Oh, it'll cost ya!"
which is only slightly different and just a tiny bit more sarcastic. It's fine.)
Count the Cost...
How many times have I heard this?
How many times have I said it myself?
It means to weigh the options...
to slow down just enough to remember that
saying Yes to something also means
saying No to something, too!
One of the definitions I looked up
for this phrase actually said
'to start to understand how badly
something has affected you!'
Hmmm... well that is really only done
after the fact, right?
In that context,
we can't really count the cost beforehand
--because we can't always know exactly
how something will affect us ahead of time!
However, there is so much wisdom
in the advice to Count the Cost...
Just do it first, if you can!
Given, I will admit that we are
maybe slightly overly cautious...
but I can also say that we tend to
live our life with (almost) no regrets!
We are big Pro/Con people...
We like a few lists and
a little time to pray it through!
When we say we're gonna pray about it,
we mean it! We really are!
We pray and then we are willing
to wait until He answers!
This is not always necessary...
because the truth is,
nothing is ever really free.
We know there will be a cost, right?
But slowing down to think things through
will help us be a bit more aware of what
that cost may be in the end.
It will help us to make wiser decisions
while still living into a Yes/And lifestyle!
Sometimes He calls us to do things
or go places or start something
or lay something down and
it can feel like the Cost is too much...
I know, Sweet Reader!
Oh, how I know!
We must decide ahead of time
to Trust Him anyway
in those seasons!
Sometimes it takes Hindsight
to get that 20/20 vision,
but it doesn't have to!
If we will be intentional and
remember to be aware of
what we say Yes to
(and what we say No to!)
we can live an authentic life
pursuing the Abundance He offers us
without being weighed down by regret!
While Thanksgiving fast approaches,
we are more focused on Counting the Gifts...
the things and people and places
we are most grateful for! And we should be!
Y'all know I highly encourage that
whether it is around a table with family
or in a corner in prayer on your own!
Give Thanks... by all means!
Count your Blessings, one by one...
But let us also slow and Count the Cost...
Let us reflect* back over choices we've made
and things we've said and dreams we've sidelined...
Let us start to understand how these things
have affected us this year!
Let us have grace for ourselves
and for others...
and Let us also course-correct, if need be!
Let us lean into the Father
in the way Jesus did...
For one of (read: THE!) Biggest Blessings
any of us will ever have to count
is one that Cost our Lord EVERYTHING...
He pondered and prayed and petitioned...
He counted the cost... and decided
(Thank God!) that we were worth it!
And I'm so very glad!
Aren't you?
{STOP!}
I'm counting the cost of being absent here
more than I've been present lately.
Really -it's been over the last few years.
How it has affected me is not only simply
in sadly feeling a bit disconnected to you, my Readers.
But in all honesty, this writing things down is also
how I process so it quite possibly has affected
my connection to Him, too!
Maybe not in regards to salvation or faith...
but I haven't been too chatty with God
over the last few months.
(Over than praying for others!)
So I am hopeful that once I get a new routine down
(Side note: I went back to work. Did Y'all know this? I fill you in on all that other stuff in the monthly newsyletter! Sign up at the top right sidebar of this blog and you won't miss a post --or newsletter!-- from here on out!)
I will find myself in this spot on a regular basis once again!
But until then,
Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!
May you know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you are counted among my blessings
and that you were on His mind when
He willingly counted --and paid!--
the Cost so that we could be His
and we could be Family!
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:
{GO!}
I see the word and my first thought
goes to the saying, "Count the Cost!"
(My second thought is more along the lines of "Oh, it'll cost ya!"
which is only slightly different and just a tiny bit more sarcastic. It's fine.)
Count the Cost...
How many times have I heard this?
How many times have I said it myself?
It means to weigh the options...
to slow down just enough to remember that
saying Yes to something also means
saying No to something, too!
One of the definitions I looked up
for this phrase actually said
'to start to understand how badly
something has affected you!'
Hmmm... well that is really only done
after the fact, right?
In that context,
we can't really count the cost beforehand
--because we can't always know exactly
how something will affect us ahead of time!
However, there is so much wisdom
in the advice to Count the Cost...
Just do it first, if you can!
Given, I will admit that we are
maybe slightly overly cautious...
but I can also say that we tend to
live our life with (almost) no regrets!
We are big Pro/Con people...
We are big Pro/Con people...
We like a few lists and
a little time to pray it through!
When we say we're gonna pray about it,
When we say we're gonna pray about it,
we mean it! We really are!
We pray and then we are willing
to wait until He answers!
This is not always necessary...
because the truth is,
nothing is ever really free.
We know there will be a cost, right?
But slowing down to think things through
will help us be a bit more aware of what
that cost may be in the end.
It will help us to make wiser decisions
while still living into a Yes/And lifestyle!
Sometimes He calls us to do things
or go places or start something
or lay something down and
it can feel like the Cost is too much...
I know, Sweet Reader!
Oh, how I know!
We must decide ahead of time
to Trust Him anyway
in those seasons!
Sometimes it takes Hindsight
to get that 20/20 vision,
but it doesn't have to!
If we will be intentional and
If we will be intentional and
remember to be aware of
what we say Yes to
(and what we say No to!)
we can live an authentic life
pursuing the Abundance He offers us
without being weighed down by regret!
While Thanksgiving fast approaches,
we are more focused on Counting the Gifts...
the things and people and places
we are most grateful for! And we should be!
Y'all know I highly encourage that
whether it is around a table with family
or in a corner in prayer on your own!
Give Thanks... by all means!
Count your Blessings, one by one...
Count your Blessings, one by one...
But let us also slow and Count the Cost...
Let us reflect* back over choices we've made
and things we've said and dreams we've sidelined...
Let us start to understand how these things
have affected us this year!
Let us have grace for ourselves
and for others...
and Let us also course-correct, if need be!
Let us lean into the Father
in the way Jesus did...
For one of (read: THE!) Biggest Blessings
any of us will ever have to count
is one that Cost our Lord EVERYTHING...
He pondered and prayed and petitioned...
He counted the cost... and decided
(Thank God!) that we were worth it!
And I'm so very glad!
Aren't you?
{STOP!}
I'm counting the cost of being absent here
more than I've been present lately.
Really -it's been over the last few years.
How it has affected me is not only simply
in sadly feeling a bit disconnected to you, my Readers.
But in all honesty, this writing things down is also
how I process so it quite possibly has affected
my connection to Him, too!
Maybe not in regards to salvation or faith...
but I haven't been too chatty with God
over the last few months.
(Over than praying for others!)
So I am hopeful that once I get a new routine down
(Side note: I went back to work. Did Y'all know this? I fill you in on all that other stuff in the monthly newsyletter! Sign up at the top right sidebar of this blog and you won't miss a post --or newsletter!-- from here on out!)
I will find myself in this spot on a regular basis once again!
But until then,
Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!
May you know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you are counted among my blessings
and that you were on His mind when
He willingly counted --and paid!--
the Cost so that we could be His
and we could be Family!
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:
Our latest couple of episodes are all about Fall... Episode 025 was about Fall Fashion (although we weren't sure why!) and Episode 026 is available this week and it's about Cultivating a Grateful Heart! THE CHANGING OUR MINDS PODCAST is somewhat non-bloggy related and I co-host it with my all grown up Girlie, Kayelyn! We cover a lot of topics! Faith plays a part, sure... but it is more like joining us for coffee as we catch up on the couch or sitting at the table! We talk about whatever is on our minds and often reveal things that we used to think we knew... but we've changed our minds! We'd love to have you join us at the table or a comfy couch as we catch up over a cup of something yummy and share life together! We invite you to 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!
What are some of the Gifts you are Counting this year? I'd love to know in the Comments below!
What are some of the Gifts you are Counting this year? I'd love to know in the Comments below!
I am mulling over these words
ReplyDelete"Sometimes He calls us to do things
or go places or start something
or lay something down and
it can feel like the Cost is too much...
I know, Sweet Reader!
Oh, how I know!
We must decide ahead of time
to Trust Him anyway
in those seasons!"
I wrote about this on my blog post this week, but I hate how my choices impact my children. As a Mom, I am sad when they are sad. It is one of the many reasons I wished that things had turned out differently. Thank you for the reminder to trust God in the middle of the messy and the hard. I have been reading about looking back on the way that God has rescued me in the past, and to praise Him that He is with me each step of the journey. Happy Thanksgiving Karrilee! -Jolene
Jolene... I'm so happy to know God is reminding you that He has been with you, always! Not that He wasn't weeping right along with you, begging the injustice to stop... interceeding on your behalf... because I am convinced that He was doing all of those things --all while hovering ever so close! I also truly believe He is oh so proud of you and how you Mama your Littles!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving, friend!
Way back in the Sixties
ReplyDeletefree love was the groovy thing,
encouraged by the acid pixies
and joy that it would surely bring.
If we found ourselves together,
'twas outta sight, man, and BOSS!
When there came the nasty weather,
we could split without a cost.
But it took more time to see
that life's storms were the glue
binding me to you, you to me,
by what we share in going through
the days when we set our course
by 'for better or for worse'.
Brother Andrew... finding these treasures you leave as comments is such a delight and a gift for me! Praying for you... Happy Thanksgiving, friend!
DeleteSometimes saying yes to good things also means that we've said no to great things. Think about that for a minute. Counting the cost plays into every decision. This is a great read. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!
Patsy, Thanks so much for popping on over! Yes... I have often found that the enemy will offer us something Good, in order to keep us from the thing that is Best! (Well --sometimes it is the enemy... and sometimes it is just our own impatient selves!) ;)
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving! You are welcome here anytime!
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Thanks for a greatt read
ReplyDelete