QUICK - A Five Minute Friday post

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It has, yet again, accidentally been a while!  But I found myself with an unexpected day off today - on a Friday, no less... so I'm back, joining in with the community of writers who write for five minutes flat, using a One Word prompt --a Flashmob of writers all leaning in and seeing what spills out as the timer ticks away! This is a Five Minute Friday post...and our Word Prompt is: QUICK!

{GO!} 

It happens so quickly... Life passing by... Days turning into years... we Blink and milestones have come and gone.

We want to slow. down. time.  

Just take a breath and give us a minute... 

Honestly, I can't wait until we are no longer bound to it --- this clock and this system that keeps us busy and distracted and pulls us down like Gravity when what our souls were made for -- what they long for is an escape into Eternity... longing for all the time in heaven, for all the good things (read: NOT 'things'!) that await us!

Releasing 2021 and Leaning in to 2022! (A One Word 365 post)

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Do Y'all still do this? I love the practice and even in those years where it seems my OneWord may have slipped away - I can always reflect back over the year and see how it was actually at work all the while!

Maybe you are not aware of the movement that is OneWord365... or maybe you are in the know and already have fully embraced your Word for 2022! I didn't write much in 2021 about my One Word and to be honest, I kind of forgot all about it for months at a time... but as I said, as I have been reflecting over this (past - almost!) year, I can see how it was always close at hand!

I've been doing this OneWord365 project for many years and yet, each December, I pray into what He may have for me and ask Him to lead my Word to me. (And --usually-- I argue and second-guess! It's fine. It's all part of my charm!)

My OneWord last year was RELEASE!

It was sort of a Do-Over word because I had picked "Releasing" about seven or eight years earlier. If you remember, I sort of argued with God about His choice because - you know - out of ALL the words...? Why use one so similar to something I'd already walked with? But I got confirmation after confirmation and when I allowed myself to sit still long enough to listen, I realized there were things I still hadn't let go of in 2021... things that were holding me back!

"Release" also showed up in laying things down (again) like old hurts and expectations, insecurities and doubts, but also releasing things like our small group and old traditions... It meant good things too, like releasing Hope and Peace into OH SO MANY anxious and stressful situations throughout the year, and releasing the false hope of trying to control or persuade something or someone into believing differently!

So... I'm so thankful I took a few moments to look over 2021 to see where or if Release showed up - because, well - it seems (even though technically I am NOT 'lighter'!) I feel much lighter going in to 2022! Less weighed down... less held back --by myself and by others! When I moved on and began praying about my NEXT Word for 2022, I asked the Lord to give me a Word that would stick with me all year long and would bring in me - if I was willing - a lasting change!

Enter the stirrings of Power and Strength!

When Your OneWord365 Refuses to Let You Ignore It! 2020

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It's a little late to be posting about my OneWord365 maybe... I mean --I know normally I would have written this out in December along with other end-of-the-year posts! Well - 2019 was far from 'normal' and many of those posts didn't get written at all! I did write about all the books I managed to read. You can find that post HERE... and I did write the Annual Prophetic Post for the New Year! You can find that one HERE!

I have been doing this OneWord365 project for many years now and --again-- 'normally' I know my word by the beginning of December. Not this year... He snuck it in the last minute, probably hoping I wouldn't fight Him on it. (But, come on... Y'all know me better than that, right?) 

Listen,  here's the deal:
This is how I opened LAST YEARS' OneWord post:
"2018 has been so full of Heavy and Hard (even more so than 2017... which was pretty terrible, if you recall!) and somehow I completely forgot about my OneWord... 

Well, it seems it forgot about me, too! Or at least that is how I felt when I went back to look it up!"

It just--
Whatever, man! 
2019, 2018, 2017: All wretched.

BUT GOD... 
Seriously --even in the midst of all of these Heavy and Hard, Sad and Terrible-No-Good years...

Ermahgerd, Berks!!! (aka Books I Read - The 2019 Edition)

Hey Sweet Readers! 

      Do you even remember me? 

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Here we are at the end of another year!  Chances are good that if you are still here, then you were probably with me through most of 2018 as well. You may remember all the issues I battled with my eyes.  So, we know going INTO 2019 that reading all the things was not going to happen! You may remember the surprise I found when counting the books I read last year... even with months of bed rest and no eye strain, I managed to read nearly 20 books! I was hopeful that number would increase this year post-surgery if all went right!  I am happy (Blessed, fortunate, thrilled!) to report that all went right... and now we come to actually count the number of books read in 2019 to see if it increased or not!  Still,  --either way, you know how I love me some books... (or 'berks!' as in, "Ermahgerd! Berks!")

So this is the post where I take time to reflect back over the year and revisit some of my favorites! 

So, here's the deal: 

  I really didn't know how this year would go! 

I mean... I spent much of 2018 on bed rest and unable to read but still managed to read nearly 20 books... well, a handful were listened to instead, but still! 2019 started off with back to back eye surgeries and I'm not sure how much of that whole thing I actually blogged about but let's just say the first eye was miraculous and the second eye --not so much! (At least not right away... not for weeks and weeks and weeks!) But after all my recovery, I am now seeing better than I have my entire life --without the aid of contacts or glasses! (Well - this is real life and I am turning 50 in 2020, so I do use non-prescription Readers... but that's all!)

Still, I thought this list would be shorter because there were a couple of months I was most definitely NOT using my eyes... but it seemed as soon as I could, I was back to having a book in my hand...

Count the Cost - A Five Minute Friday post.

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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!' 

SETTLE - A Five Minute Friday post.

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I figured it is WAY past due to sit here and talk about something OTHER than Colossians! (Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course!) It's just I have only been managing to sit here every other week as we dig into the Word... but there are lots of other words to share --and it seems maybe, just maybe, they are ready to start bubbling up and pouring out again!

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: SETTLE... so let's go!

{GO!}

I mentioned last time I wrote an FMF post that God had oh so gently

whispered something to me about being both

Anchored and Tethered... 

And my immediate thought was along the lines of,

"Isn't that just how it is?!"  

At that moment, I most definitely felt Anchored AND Tethered... 

Anchored to a Truth that grounds us 

  yet Tethered to a Hope that asks us to fly!

Anchored to earth

  yet Tethered to Heaven...

Anchored to Faith and Promises and Holding our breath

  yet Tethered to the Waiting... the Doubting... the Heavy Sighing...

DEEP - A Five Minute Friday post.

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I don't want to shock you... but here I sit, ready to write. I know it's been a while -especially if you don't count the Colossians posts (which you totally should, of course!) In fact, the last FMF post that was written in this space was all about taking two steps forward, and one step back and included a prayer request for my sweet sister and her Jackson. It's been a week ago today that he took one step forward into eternity... and we took several steps back, grounded here without him. But --we'll get to that in a moment... 

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: DEEP... so let's go and let's see what spills out, shall we?

{GO!}

I got the call.  

I have been telling my oldest sister that all she needed to do was call me

and I could get to her in 2-1/2 hours!  

She called last Thursday with no words really to be said. 

It was the call we all dreaded and refused to see coming...

the call saying,  'If you want to come to say goodbye

-now is the time.'  

Only we didn't want to...  We didn't want to say goodbye... 

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back... -A Five Minute Friday post.

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Hello, sweet readers! It feels like it has been forever! I have been keeping up with our first-ever, year-long, bible series on Colossians but other than that -I have not been sitting in this chair (or --to be honest-- writing in my journal!) much at all lately! But Autumn is almost here and that always means a season of restarting and resetting routines! And that goes along well with our One Word Prompt, so let's 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: BACK

{GO!}

I see the prompt and --yet again... I laugh. This time, however, I realize right away that the laugh is to cover the pull toward tears.  

I see "Back" and I feel the pull backward... 

In this season, in a few areas of our life, we are witnessing and feeling the whole, "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back"... but some days it feels like WAY more than just one step.

I can really pick among many things to focus on but really --the most urgent and back and forth pull is all around my sweet sister and her beloved husband, Jack.  

Many of you may remember that he battled Stage 4 Breast Cancer awhile ago. He lived a full and healthy cancer-free life for several years however we found out a few months back that cancer returned. 

A Random List of Last Fives... -A Five Minute Friday post.

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Another post already? I know... but I accidentally saw the One Word Prompt even though I had no plans of writing again so soon.  Once I saw the word, however, I realized I had just been wanting to do a lighter post --something less heavy and more fun and this will work perfectly! So... let's 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: FIVE

{GO!}

I have been missing those What I Learned link-up posts and how lighthearted and fun they were! Coming out of a long hard season, I wanted to follow Emily P. Freeman's lead and write some lists, so let's see what Last Fives come to mind after hitting the timer...

A Random List of Last Fives...

Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker... A Book Review post.

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Two posts... in one day? I know... Honestly, I do! But our Colossians Series is on a set schedule, and this is Launch Day for Light from Distant Stars, so...

Here's the thing... I was not going to do anymore Book Launch Teams for awhile!  I had long been saying that I needed to add more fiction into my stacks of books and so I had already decided to pass on any invitations over the summer.  And then I saw this upcoming novel by Shawn Smucker and signed up right away!  

I know!? I can't help myself! Plus --bonus!-- I was reading his non-fiction book, Once We Were Strangers, and I was loving it! So I had some high expectations for this new release! I had heard a ton of great things about his other fiction works but haven't read them... however, (spoiler alert!) they are now on my list for summer reading!

I made it onto that Launch Team and I'm here today to encourage you to order a copy of Light from Distant Stars for yourself --or order a couple so you can give one away! You just may want to do that --so you can talk about it with a friend when you're done reading it! 

I had started reading Once We Were Strangers, also written by this author, before joining the launch team for Light from Distant Stars. So I already knew I would enjoy the book. I had been saying for months that I needed to add more fiction to my reading list so this was perfect timing!

I was hungry for a book that would draw me in and make me put off sleep for all the best reasons! So I had high hopes for this one, and Shawn Smucker did not disappoint!

Promises... A Five Minute Friday post.

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Hello, Friends! Life is full --busy! Let's just be real... it's busy and it's busy with all kinds of bossy and not so fun things to deal with --and yet... His Peace is Present and we remind ourselves and each other to Just Breathe... and to --well... you'll see!

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: PROMISE

{GO!}

My immediate thought?

"All God's Promises are Yes & Amen!"

I don't know about you... but for me? I needed that reminder this week!

To be honest... I need it more often than I'd care to admit! I mean... I am, after all, the one who wrote an entire series/book on Truths I know but sometimes forget!

I belong to a great group on facebook for writers and every Tuesday there is a prayer thread... I shared some of what was going on over the last week or so on that thread and was reminded that I am not the only Crazy Faith girl over there!

Man, you guys... we NEED each other! 

We need the Word and the Lord
and the Body all at the same time! 

Practice what you Preach... A Five Minute Friday.

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Hey there, Sweet Readers! This is a big weekend around here because we have my Dad's birthday, my girlies' birthday, and Mother's Day all within a couple of days! This, of course, means at some point: Cake! This week we also dealt with a big move and some (more) unwanted news... which brings us to the One Word Prompt this week!  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: PRACTICE

{GO!}

My first thought --especially after this week, Y'all-- comes on the heels of last weeks' 'Opportunity' and it is this:

"Practice what you Preach!"  

I mean, last week we talked about counting it all joy and then this week -Y'all... our family got slammed! 

So, of course --of COURSE the word prompt is Practice! Because it's so much easier to talk about than it is to do, right? It's so much easier to say something or encourage others to do something than it is to actually follow through and put it into practice ourselves!

For the last couple of years, it seems we've been preaching to ourselves more so than to anyone else! 

Learning a New Dance... -A Five Minute Friday post.

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Hey there, sweet readers! I hope you had a great Easter! I've been meaning to sit in this chair and write, but alas --Spring has sprung here and that means the return of Patio time and, Oh My Heart... I lose track of time out there! Plus somehow we found ourselves out of town over the weekend. Still... I'm back now and ready to write!

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: TOUCH

{GO!}

I see the word and I laugh... just a little at first,

but then the Ah Ha giggle starts to build.

Because... Gah!

It's been a LONG time since I was a young new Mama...

and a LONG time since I mothered a toddler...

and a LONG time since I reached the end of the day

so dog-tired and completely drained...

and a LONG time since I had had my fill of touch

by 2pm and what I wanted most was just for

no one to even think of pulling on me

until the sun rose on a new morning!

Right? Anyone remember those days?
(Anyone living them right now?)

Fast forward some 20+ years and here we are!

Right back to All those Feels!