Get Your Fill... Five Minute Friday

I have been painting all. day. long. (I blame The Nester... wait? "Blame" or "Thank"?  Mostly Thank!)  Still - I couldn't not come hang out on Twitter for a bit on the evening of the kick-off of Five Minute Fridays' new host home over at Heading Home (Kate Motaung's blog!)

It was hopping and oh so fun, even though I am exhausted, ya'll!  So - here goes: 

Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: FILL

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I have been slowing down and laying back a bit more than is normal for me but it is all part of the gracious way the Lord has been reminding me, over and over, again and again, of how much I need to let Him fill me!

How I can go and go and do and do and even sit and 'be' but if I am not coming to Him, and waiting for Him to refresh me... I can oh so quickly move out of Pouring Out of an Overflow to simply Burning Out on Empty!

The Slow Unwinding Gift of Island Time

"Island Time" ...some would say I operate on it all the time.  

I am, for whatever reason, time challenged. 

I used to blame it on my girlie.  I felt confident that it was all her doing, because before Motherhood I could get to places on time.  Early even. (Sometimes.) 

But since her arrival... well, not so much! 

Here's the thing though: She moved out and I am still not on time.  I am always running about 10 minutes behind schedule. I am working on this flaw.  It helps that I am an Artist. There seems to be grace for the way we tend to let things capture our attention for moments at a time.  Still, I really WANT to break this bad habit.

The difference between being late, and being on Island Time is that when you are on Island Time - there is no late!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 55

Hey there, everyone! It is August!  Can you even believe it? Well - I couldn't take it... with yet more days in a row strung together in this desert, tipping over into triple digits - I headed for the sea! (Well... you know... -ish! The water anyway!) But part of staying cool this week for me consisted of painting and sealing furniture, reading "Interrupted" by Jen Hatmaker (Oh. My. Gah!) and of course, scouring the interwebs for all kinds of Awesome! (You're welcome!)

As I am pre-writing this, I am now imagining myself seaside, walking along a marina or sipping a latte on the boardwalk come Saturday morning! 

I will leave you with these - which are great, but not as great as what I am doing! (#sorrynotsorry!)

Between End & Begin - Five MInute Friday

I am on vacation... on an island... mostly unplugged - which is, well - glorious! However, I could not bring myself to stay unplugged on this, Lisa-Jo's last week hosting Five Minute Fridays!  I'm not a fan of goodbyes... more of see you laters... and we will.  We will see her later!  And if I have learned anything in these past few years it is the value of leaning in to change and not kicking against it! Change happens... it is necessary... and Lisa-Jo is nothing if not gracious and welcoming and aware of what God is saying.  If He is calling her to step aside... we bless her (and will, you know, continue to stalk her in the most friendliest of ways!)  We love and trust Him in her and we also love and trust Him in Kate... our new hostess to this link up starting next week!

When Words really ARE enough...

For all of my days, I have had this love affair with words... how they can affect us, stretch us, and grow us. How they can stir us up and cause All. The. Feelings. to rise to the surface and sink down deep, all at the same time!  

For all of my life, I have been a list-maker, journal-keeper, note-taker, letter-mailer, ...a blogger of sorts, before there ever was such a thing!

Stacks & Stacks of lovely Dayspring Cards      

I remember passing notes in school, long before there was an option of texting. I remember sending letters in the mail with such excitement to have it travel for me and say what I really wanted to say, across miles and states... trusting the words to connect hearts through space and time.

Words and encouragement and love spilled out of me from the beginning.  It's part of how He made me. (It doesn't hurt that my Love Language is Words of Affirmation, so I speak it fluently!)  However I never really knew that it could be a ministry - this stringing together words to uplift and uphold... this offering my heart mixed with His.  

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 54

Happy Weekend, ya'll!  I hope you have some super fun plans... or, maybe, no plans at all (if that is how you roll!)  That makes me think of a John Mulaney routine where he talks about how, as adults, doing Nothing all weekend tends to bring a smile to our faces!

So - whether you do a lot of things (I hope they are fun!) or do no things (still fun... you see how this works?) I am praying that you get a few moments of down time to read through these great finds!

Happy Reading!

Finish - FIve Minute Friday

I missed out on the twitter party last night, but I found myself saturated in His Presence while attending a local conference with my Honey and oh my goodness... He is the ultimate Gathering of Awesome, right? What He spoke to my heart? Well - no surprise, it fits in nicely with our one word prompt today!

Be Overwhelmed...

This is not your usual invitation, right?

I mean - who wants to be overwhelmed... who chooses that?

But here is the thing... Being Overwhelmed isn't always a negative thing!  The very definition of Overwhelm, according to Websters, is:

1 :  upset, overthrow

2 a :  to cover over completely :  submerge
b :  to overcome by superior force or numbers
c :  to overpower in thought or feeling

In this little mini-bloggy break, He is calling me back to worship... back to sitting silently in His Presence and waiting... back to being submerged in Him, covered... and who couldn't use a little more of being overpowered in our thoughts or feelings from time to time, right?

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 53 (+ Winners announced!)

I can't believe we had over 400 entries to win the Giveaways in celebration last week of our One Year Anniversary! (...turns out EVERYONE loves Books and Coffee, I guess!) 

Technically, I am still on a Summer/Semi-Bloggy Break but mostly that means I get to be the boss of me and I decide when I want to write and when I don't!  Well - that is sort of how it goes... mostly, really, I stop deciding and get back to letting God decide! We are still (re)learning this balance and most days I love the freedom and unplugged-ness of it all! But then there are the other days when I long for routine and the tapping out of words, forming thoughts, and bringing clarity and preaching to my own self here, in this space.  But I force myself to not sit in this chair on those days and I am remembering how He loves to just spend time with me... just to spend time! Not always with an agenda or something that needs to be shared and typed out!  

Still... you know I love to read All The Things... so here is a Gathering of Awesome, in case you too have been sitting in front of a screen a little less lately! (Oh how I hope you have!)

Bloom - A Five Minute Friday Post

I have been itching to write all day - but even more than that, I have been waiting for the #fmfparty to start! This Gathering of Awesome that happens first over on Twitter, and then all around the Blogosphere every Thursday night into Friday... it's just the best, ya'll!

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: BLOOM

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"Bloom Where You're Planted..."

This is the phrase that pops into my mind as I see the prompt tonight and I have to laugh because, of course... 

This is all part of the reason why He is calling me to step back and to slow down and to really pay attention to where it is, actually, that I am planted.  To fully be present in the wrapping up of one long wonderful, terrible, blessed season without rushing out and looking for somewhere new to bloom!

Stepping Back, Breathing Deep, Letting Go, & Counting On...

So it has been since APRIL! ...April, ya'll - since I have done a Counting Gifts post and I have to be honest with you... life got busy, and good, and hard, and I fell back out of the practice of daily writing them down.  I would remember to count the blessings, one by one - but I skipped out on the writing them down on paper part. I forgot about the spelling them out and how it makes you reflect back over them as the ink dries and it helps to let the blessings sink down deep.  It's in the scribbling across pages that also etches them deep in my soul... tattooing my wandering heart with thankfulness and marking it to remember to testify of His goodness... all day, every day.

Now - Ann with no 'e' used to host Multitudes on Mondays and I would link-up there and I don't remember if we are breaking for the summer or if I have simply lost track, but as I picked up my One Thousand Gifts journal once again, and flipped through some photo's - I felt a stirring to simply share some of the beauty and gifts that I have been drinking in during this time that He has called me to step away a bit from this space!

So - this is how I am Stepping Back, Breathing Deep, Letting Go, & Counting On...

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 52 ya'll! (You know there's a Giveaway!)

Welcome to VOLUME 52 of

"That Thing I Do Now"

A Gathering of Awesome...

In other words:

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe we have been doing this, every weekend, for a year already! (Over a year, actually - because it took me a few weeks to commit to it being a 'Thing' - thus, the name!)

Happy Reading!

A Work in Progress...Summer Wind

I know...

It's like I keep saying I am on a Bloggy break, but I just can't stay away!

This is an unusual offering... a work in progress... a(n eventual) Spoken Word...

Summer Wind

Wind Chimes Dance & Curtains Flutter
with a cool morning Summer Breeze
And it's crisp & refreshing
And it awakens me to a
Ripple effect of Thanksgiving.

Counting Gifts
As I stretch & turn
And list them off
One by one
Before I even open my eyes.

I'm thankful for the 
Whispered Caress of Thin Air
before the Sun Heats it,
making it Thick and Heavy.

I'm thankful for the Birds chirping,
the Cat purring,

and even the low hum of traffic,

down the road.

It's all keeping time,
like a metronome of blessings,
waking me to the
Rhythm of an

Unplanned

Summer Day. 

Art in her Life - An Interview with Emily P. Freeman

I am trying to recall when or where I first became obsessed fell in love with Emily Freeman... and I mean that in the most non-creepy, mostly non-stalkerish way, of course!

Adorable, right?                                      

It may have been over at Incourage.me on the blog where I first read her share about being a bench, or it could have been in her own space over at Chatting at the Sky for my favorite (semi)monthly link up of "What I Learned..." - a random list of useful and not-so-useful things that we have discovered through out a month.  Either way, I fell for her Realness... her Grace... her Quirky sense of humor and of course - God love the lists! The way she hooks us up with books and music and all sorts of lovely!

I am co-leading an Incourager Community Group this summer called #ArtinYourLife and much of what we wanted to cover in our gatherings can be found in her book, A Million Little Ways where the subtitle is "Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live." Um, yes please!  So - because I had the awkward fangirl chance to meet Emily briefly last year at Allume, I was volunteered to contact her and see if she would be willing to play along with answering some questions from the ladies in our Group.

Emily was then, and is now, full of grace and she agreed to let us ask away! So below are the questions that some of our members had for her. These are things that you just may be wondering about as well, and I am thrilled and honored to have her Grace and Wisdom offered up here for us all!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 51

VOLUME 51, ya'll!  Can you even believe it?

That means that next week will mark one year of hooking you up with all kinds of Awesome!  Each week I tend to read a crazy incredible amount of inspiring blog posts and articles online and it occurred to me one day (about a year ago) that not everyone has the time or desire to scour the interwebs for all kinds of Awesome.  I hated the thought of some of these words not being inhaled down deep and fully consumed... sure, some of the people listed here have their own following and are 'big name' bloggers, but many have a smaller gathering, and either way, their words have touched my heart!

Exhale... a Five Minute Friday post

This little Bloggy break hasn't felt like too much of a break this week but, you know, commitments!  Still - what ELSE would I do on a Thursday night, ya'll?

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: EXHALE

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Exhale... 

Now that is a lovely word, yes?

I talk a lot about leaning, about breathing, about entering in to His Rest.  I talk often of how He is simply a breath away and I have encouraged you over and over and over to simply lean back, close your eyes, and fully breath in deep... slowly exhaling... and like magic, He is there!

Choosing Trust - Atlas Girl Blog Tour

This post is part of the Atlas Girl Blog Tour which I am delighted to be a part of along with hundreds of inspiring bloggers. To learn more and join us, CLICK HERE! 

In full disclosure I must start with this: I am not done reading this book!  Atlas Girl can be read in one sitting because you won’t want to stop.  You can do that. I wanted to. But I’m forcing myself to slow it down, to savor it and let it sink in!


I’m finding that I am in a season of Slowing Down… of Stepping Back… of Breathing in Deep and paying attention to All. The. Feels.  I have mentioned it several times already but we are new Empty Nesters and my tendency to rush on to the next often robs me of really pausing to reflect over what just happened.  And what just happened is we raised a life. 

We partnered with God and helped to raise an entire human being and she is a delight and a joy.  

Oh, the Irony ...a Writer's Blog Hop

I opened the email and skimmed it over and the first two thoughts that honestly entered my mind were, "She must have been trying to send this to someone else..." followed by, "I don't even know the answers to these questions!"

My sweet friend Jessica Hoover, over at Hand Me Down Grace, invited me to join this Blog Hop where we are asked 4 questions about Writing, and then we get to introduce 3 of our fellow Bloggy/Writer friends to keep the whole thing - well, hopping along! (I know... I'm sorry!) I can't even remember when I 'found' Jessica's blog or how we connected exactly because it feels like we have been friends forever.  I had the blessing of meeting in her person at Allume last year and knew immediately that I could listen to her talk for days!  Somehow she convinced me that I qualify for this Blog Hop and the email was not send on accident, so let's see what we all learn about me here! (I can't wait to find out my answers!)

(Print by Kathi Denfeld 2013)

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 50

Hey there!  Here we are again... the weekend at our feet and so many options to grab our attention and dive right in! I pray you have a refreshing, relaxing (yes - you can have both!) weekend ahead! I pray that if you are needing a bit of inspiration, or find yourself with a little down time, that these links below will feed your soul, so you can - you know - feed the rest of you with all sorts of Summer goodness!

The Semi-Bloggy Break continues, but I am here... just a little less often... and I love to hook you up! So without further ado (because I totally talk like that in real life!) - here we go!

Lost in a Crowd... but Seen all the same.

So I skipped out on the #fmfparty tonight.  It's not that I am taking a break (...wait - what?) or that I didn't want to hang out with you - my people... it's just that there was this Project Light Gallery opening and paired photography and poetry and well - how could I not go?

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: LOST

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I decided to try something new tonight... something that God has been stirring in me and calling me to but I have been -- hesitant. Reluctant, maybe. (No maybe.)

So I skipped out on you, my people... where I have Community and support and encouragement, and I go down the road with a friend and we enter in to a realm of Artists and Poets... all local... all strangers.  And I am battling intimidation and comparison (even though I haven't heard or read them yet...)  I feel lost in a crowd, invisible and unsure. 

This far and no further... A Guest Post

I have written about it countless times, I know: My love and 'need' for the oceans' shore.  The vastness of the sea... or even just a large body of water that visually reminds me that I am oh so small, as He continually whispers to me over the salty breeze that I am still someone oh so significant!

I breathe easier.  My shoulders relax. 

I remember.

I remember that He is truly in charge. He is the One who tells the waves how far to come, and the wind and the sea obey Him...

No Words Are Needed... a Link up

I have this amazing friend... super sweet and just so full of encouragement and inspiration!  She sent me an invite to link up with her over on her blog, Scribbling Fresh Words... and I wasn't going to do it because - well... you know, I'm on a break! But then I realized the title and the purpose and while I am savoring words a bit closer to my sleeve right now, I always love to share His Beauty and Grace...

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 49

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I snapped the above photo last weekend when I was at my sister's house.  I took a day trip that turned into an overnighter and it was so nice to spend some time with my Sissy - also a Mama to an Only Girlie and a brand new Gramma too! So - she feels my pain and has lived through it with, well, a grandbaby to show for it now! A visual reminder that life goes on and we will get through this and transition into whatever God has next!

Also - I went to a Love of Junk Vintage Antique show... out on a farm... it was GORGEOUS!

I gave myself permission to not keep my Bossy schedule for Blogging which of course means that not only am I lacking posts to choose from from right here, but I haven't spent my excessive normal amount of time across the Interwebs... still - I am here to help, so this is my offering of Awesome reads this week! Here we go...

Release - Five Minute Friday

So the mini (?) Blog Breaky continues... but here I am! Prepping for the weekend, fighting a little headache, and still finding myself over on Twitter because, #gah... I love this Community! #fmfparty is AMAZING, ya'll! (Seriously... you should join us!)

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: RELEASE

{GO}

Release! Really?  Is that supposed to be funny because honestly, this little breaky is (so far) leaving me exhausted from all the releasing and yet, I have found none. Release, that is.  

I feel cloudy and a little stormy underneath... all this pressure on my heart and on my head and behind my eyes as I battle another headache and I am tired... but I am determined to release.

From the Archives... Cherished

It's my birthday.  

So, of course this little Bloggy Break is still on, but I wanted to take a moment and reflect... repost, if you will, a post (Pt 1&2) that stemmed from a Five Minute Friday that stirred up the story of my birth.  And, of course, because it is better to give than to receive, I am also including a link at the end with an invitation to join me in letting our sisters in Africa know that they, too, are so very Cherished!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 48

Hey Ya'll!  How are you? I pray your weekend is off to a great start!

So... I have to say right up front here, I read an entire book in a day this week, which sort of stirred up a thirst for fiction again and I just so happened to have another book that I started right after finishing The Fault In Our Stars.  I read that one in a day because, well - the movie! I wanted to see it but I can't bring myself to watch a movie without first reading the book! Now... hours after reading it, I am wondering why I am not sitting in a movie theater Right. This. Moment. watching it!  So, needless to say, as summer gloriously unfolds and finds me, for the first time in nineteen years, with an empty house All. Day. Long. ...well, I am feeling like I will indulge in more and more days like today! Still - you know how I love to hook you up, so below you will find a Random Gathering of Awesome... posts I have found across the Interwebs this week! (You know... when I managed to get my nose out of an actual old school real live BOOK!?)

If You Have a Message, Be a Messenger - Five Minute Friday

It's time... I know I just posted about backing off and taking a break, but of course I meant it as in - just in case I want to, or whenever I feel like it, or you're (this blog) not the boss of me! So, of course - it's Thursday night and where else would I be? It serves me right that the word prompt is live and I have NO THOUGHTS... so, this should be interesting...

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: MESSENGER

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It comes to me first off... as soon as the Prompt is revealed. I immediately think of these bees... how they were so focused and so in their element.  

When you just have to take some time...

Taking a little Bloggy break --it seems to be a trend as of late. Maybe it's just that we need to remember that we need to remember to breathe --that some days are too crammed full, even with good things, that we quite literally forget to inhale deep and feel, well, any of the things... or perhaps all of this access to all of our lives is more weighty and wearisome than we think... or maybe we're all just tired and all the Bossy Lists just need to be banished every once in awhile?

Maybe we simply forget that in all of our offering out grace, we must also offer it inward, to ourselves.  We must give ourselves permission to not always DO... but sometimes, whether it be for an hour or a day... a week or a month... sometimes we just need to be reminded to just BE.

My Non-Bossy Monday... aka I'll Write Tomorrow!

So, normally Monday mornings are all about sitting back in this chair and tapping out words to fill this space... words that will hopefully touch your heart while speaking His.

However, today... well, today I penciled in a Non-Bossy Schedule so my day pretty much consisted of this:

As in... Literally!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 47

Happy Weekend, everyone! I trust your June is starting off well and pray you are able to breathe in deep and catch the fragrance of Spring turning to Summertime with all it's late night sunsets, starry nights, and less Bossy day planners!

Here is our weekly Gathering of Awesome found across the Interwebs... you know how I love to hook you up! I must say - one would think I would have more time, as we became Empty Nesters last week - but I found myself not sitting here, but aimlessly roaming the house not knowing what to do with myself... so there is that.  This simply means that the list is shorter, but I am pretty sure I will find solace here in this chair next week, while looking for a new routine! Until then... this is what I found:

Happy Reading!

Hands... Five Minute Friday

Well that was a different Thursday night! I missed my #fmfparty crew, but I got a last minute call to sub for my old Bunco group and was promised I would for SURE win a prize... so, you know... how could I not? Besides, I had been pretty much in this empty quiet house all week long and this Mama needed a night out with some girlfriends!

Oh but - first - the fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays are hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  It is open to anyone, so to learn more about it - and to jump in yourself (the more the merrier!) or just to find a linky to see what everyone is writing about today - click HERE!  The idea is to simply write... for Five Minutes flat... no editing, no deep thinking - or at least REthinking, no spell check - just write! Let it flow! We all write using a prompt that Lisa posts at 10pm Thursday night (EST.)  I'm loving the community of amazing bloggers and the creativity that flows from these magical Five Minutes!

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: HANDS

{GO}

It's been his hands all along...

It was his hands that first held me... that first cupped my face and caressed my shoulders... it was his hands that first loved me.

It's his hands that still... every day... gently guide me and strongly urge me on... it's his hands that help me up, pull me close, and push me on.  

His hands have held on tight... and at times, let go loosely.  His hands are rarely, rarely ever clenched... always wide open, palms up... ready to praise... ready to pray... ready to practice what he preaches every day.

It's been his hands that soothe me... that comfort me... it was his hands that reached up and over those walls being built between us... between her, and brick by brick, he tore them down. 

It's been him... all along.  

I have lived over half of my lifetime, madly in love with this man, My Honey, who lives out loud and is full of grace.  It is his mission every day to love me... to love us... and to make us laugh and always, it's his hands that protect, and provide and the more I lean in to him and let our hearts and fingers connect... it's his hands that look scarred and pierced. 

Oh I know... he and Jesus are not the same! He is not perfect but for the whole of my grown up life it's been his hands that hold me physically, when all the while, it is Gods' hands that have shaped this heart and wrapped around my soul.

...and I lean in closer in this new season of Empty Nests and too much time on my hands, and I see so clearly - that even 20 years later... I am falling in love with both of my H/husbands still --and all over again!

{STOP}

My first thoughts at the prompt was, of course, my girlie... but really - My Honey and I have been doing a lot (more) of hand holding this week... while going for a walk, or sitting outside, or relaxing in the house.  

Fingers intertwined, breathing in sync... simply reconnecting... finding a new rhythm to the way our hearts beat together, just us. 

(thump, thump.) 

Photo by Kim Deloach @Allume 2013

Just us. 




Five Minute Fridays gives 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 "HANDS"  

Words to Build a Life On

Here we are at the beginning of June and for many, this means end of school and hello summer, graduations and parties and less bossy schedules... 

...and here I am, helping my Only Girlie pack up her room and transfer her closet to a new address... and it makes a Mama catch her breath and promise not to cry... it makes her (me) want to be strong and more than anything - want to know that she has done at least SOME of the things 'right'... whatever that is, really.

I've written about it around these parts often - of how our nearly grown girlie is almost All Growed Up and how when she was younger, we wanted her life to be perfect and safe. Then we realized that is not ever an option and it turns out, what we really want is for her life to be His... same thing, only not! 

What I learned in May... a random Gathering of Awesome

Here we are, June 3rd... JUNE THIRD, ya'll?

At the risk of sounding so - I don't know, - OLD, where has the time gone? Honestly... I blinked and May happened!

It is now the beginning of a new month, and for us around this house - a whole new season, but we'll get to that later! For now - let's just say - it's time for my favorite link up, where I share a random Gathering of Awesome... attempting to once again remember What I Learned in May... 

Here we go...

Bless the Lord... A look at Psalm 103

I have a hard time picking favorites! It really doesn't matter what we are talking about.  It is rare if I can answer any kind of "What's your favorite..." question at all.  Normally, I give you a Top Five (or Ten... you get the idea!)

But when I was asked to pick a Psalm between 100 and anything else... Ps 103 wins. 

Hands Down. 

Every. Single. Time.