Because... she asked.

What a fun night over on Twitter for the #fmfparty... lots of great encouragement, fun hashtags, prayers, and of course - talk of food!!!  I love love love this Community of Writers who go all out in a FlashMob frenzy and write for Five Minutes flat on one word... it's so much fun! (Ya'll should join in!)

Anyway - here we go: Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: BECAUSE

{GO}

I missed out on yesterday.  All day long I was out of it... battling a painful headache and not able to get to anything on my Bossy List of Things To Do.  

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 62

Happy Fall, Ya'll!  (Wait... what? Too soon?)  Our little town hosts a State Fair and this weekend we are kickin' it County Fair style! Small Town Parade? Yep.  Midway rides, and corn dogs, elephant ears, 'concerts'... you betchya!  We even offer up some Deep Fried Prayer! (We rent a booth and offer prayer and blessings through out the fair! This is the second year a group of us is doing it and we have such a blast showing people that God is in a good mood and that He loves loves loves them - no matter what!)

Happy Reading!

Featured today are posts by Jennifer Dukes Lee, Nish Weiseth,  Kelli Woodford, Shannan Martin, Lisa Leonard, Ashley Larkin, plus a book review of Holley Gerth's new book and a video by Steffany Gretzinger!  Enjoy!

(Ya'll know to click on the authors' names to read their whole posts, yes?)

The Anchor Holds... a Five Minute Friday post

I made it, ya'll! I finally made it over to Twitter to party it up with the amazing Five Minute Friday Community of writers. It is always so much fun and I had been hit and miss for way too long! I wasn't sure if I would make it because I was setting up the Prayer Booth that we work at at the Fair, but I snuck in with plenty of time to chat it up! Now... on to the writing part...

Anyway - here we go: Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: HOLD

{GO}

I keep talking about it, I know. Talking of how I have been in this season of Waiting and now, seemingly suddenly, it is starting to feel like it is nearing an end.

It's like I have resisted it for so long... I just recently let go, and let Rest find me like the gentle rocking of a boat on evening waves -a rhythm that ebs and flows without fear, because the Anchor is holding somewhere, tethered down deep.

What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days - a Book Review

There is this woman... she is amazing, and loving, and just overflows with encouragement, and oozes Jesus in all the best ways. And there is this book that arrived on my doorstep during one of the hardest weeks of Days so far...

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 61

Good morning! I pray you are enjoying a weekend that is filled with just what you need, whether that is rest and peace, or adventure and work... maybe a divine mixture of both!

"Get Ready! Get Ready! Get Ready!" - Five Minute Friday

Once again... I had plans, ya'll! I had cleared my schedule and planned an easy dinner and I was going to be sitting right here in this chair at 5ish to chat and party it up with the #fmfparty crew... but you know how it goes. The day gets away from us and your All Growed Up Girlie stops by and plans are pushed aside to catch up and hang out... I mean, I love you all but come on? You get it, right?  So - it's later now, and I missed most of the party... but here I sit... ready to write!

Anyway - here we go: Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: READY

{GO}

So, it's no secret really. I have written about it several times over the summer...

God has had me in a season of waiting... a season of silence...
(apparently, until -well, soonish!)

The Mighty Power of a Simple Shift in Perspective

Perspective is powerful.

When it is even just a little bit off everything I see is tilted, off-center... topsy turvy, askew, uncertain.

Uncertainty is powerful too... and it can freeze this planners' heart and stop all forward motion.  I find when I am uncertain, I stop all the things. It's not that I need to know every detail or have a color-coded mapped-out plan (although... ) but I find when I am uncertain, my perspective starts getting all out of line and I can fall for the same old lies.

I can feel small. Insignificant. Unimportant.

I can make excuses or put things off... ignore promptings of the Spirit or hesitate long enough to miss an opportunity. 

I can forget that it's not all about me or that it should always, really, be all about Him.

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 60

Happy Weekend, Everyone! Can you even believe we are in SEPTEMBER already? Gah... every time, I feel old - but still - time is just slipping by so quickly!

Ya'll... you can't even know! Last week into this week was... just hard.  It caused me to be unplugged and MIA a bit more than usual which was both good and necessary! And yet... you know how I love you and how I would never leave you empty handed, with (gasp!) nothing to read! So here ya go:

I Can Find You In the Whisper...

Good morning! What a concept, right? Writing a Five Minute Friday post on a Friday!  I have so missed the routine of jumping in to the party on Thurdsay nights over on Twitter (at #fmfparty) but last night was the NFL season opener and, well, I DO live in #HawksNation and it's a pretty big deal around here so it was a given that we would all be gathered around a different kind of screen, cheering on our team - to victory! #GoHawks

Anyway - here we go: Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: WHISPER

{GO}

Sometimes, God thinks He is p-r-e-t--t-y funny!

I have been not writing (much) this summer.

He has been calling me to sit... to wait... to be Silent.
(Like - actually Silent.) 

What I Learned in August...er... well, over the Summer.

Here we are, in SEPTEMBER! 

SEPTEMBER, ya'll? For the love... how did that even happen? Honestly?

It is now the beginning of a new month, and a whole new season! With Summer wrapping up and Fall making his glorious appearance just around the corner, it's time for my favorite link-up where I share a random Gathering of Awesome things that I have learned... attempting to once again remember! 

So, here we are: What I Learned in August -well, let's be real... it's been since May! 

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 59

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

So last week, I snuck away for an overnight trip to meet with friends... writers... sisters.  It was a quick trip - but somehow we enjoyed time lingering and relaxing and enjoying each others' company with no agenda or timeframe to boss us around!

It was wonderful and more needed than I knew.  I pray that when you read through these Gatherings of Awesome, you find just a taste of what good company writing can do! Make you slow down, breathe deep, reflect and refuel, and maybe even laugh out loud...

Reach up and over and, for the love, out of your Comfort Zones

So I had a fairly open day yesterday and woke up thinking about the #fmfparty over on Twitter! I had the best of intentions in making the party last night and somehow completely lost track of time! I miss ya'll and can't wait to get back into some sort of rhythm and routine because, well - Fall is approaching (#Swoon!) and that usually brings a balance back to my days! Usually...

Anyway - here we go:Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: REACH

{GO}

"Reach!  Reach Up and Over and Break on Out of your Comfort Zones!"

God has been speaking this to me a lot lately...

"Reach!"  I hear Him whisper it softly, over and over... almost as if it's an anthem, with a rhythm of its' own.  I hear it again and again, like the beating of a drum and the thrum of it all holds a promise of Freedom.

When Community needs to have voices...

...and hugs, and risotto...

   Goofy girls!  I love them so!  

I just returned from a much needed get away.  It was only an overnighter, but somehow it felt like so much rest and refreshing unfolded.  It was one of those times when it wasn't like God showed up tangibly and knocked our socks off or blew us over, laid out... and yet the Holy Spirit was there and all about filling and refilling and refilling some more.  It wasn't as if I could even feel Him doing it as much as when I finally felt full it made me realize just how drained and empty I had been.

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 58

Happy Weekend, ya'll!  I can't believe that we are already nearing the end of August... the end of Summer... (which, if you are somewhat new around here you may not know this - but Fall... #Swoon! Fall is my favorite!)

There have been a lot of great things going around the interwebs this week but I have to admit, I have tried to stay a bit more unplugged lately. I've been on a semi-bloggy break all summer, yet still reading all the things both in book form and in screen form... this week I am unplugging a bit more and connecting face to face, heart to heart... plus - I just joined a gym so... Priorities, people! Still, you know I wouldn't leave ya hanging! Here are some of my favorite finds this week!

You Guys... Interrupted to Change the World!

There's this woman that I stalk follow because I just know that if we met in real life, we would be friends.  We should hang out and do life and live boldly for Jesus.  I mean that in the most non-religious way... I mean it, like - for real - live our every day lives for Him, loving all willy nilly and being about the expansion of His Kingdom. 

It's not that I am already nailing this... it's that she is doing it on a far more consistent basis and I so want to rise up to living my life like this! She shows me a better way... the way of Jesus - all wrapped up in real skin and real issues and real life.

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 57

Can you even believe people are talking Back. To. School. already? I mean - do you remember when back to school happened in September, not August?  This is the first year that we have had no real 'investment' in the whole back to school ordeal! Oh - don't get me wrong... we fully anticipate our college girlie to need a little 'help' covering books, but as far as the back to school ritual of shopping for clothes and backpacks and supplies... we are free. Free, I tell you! (There are benefits to this whole Empty Nester gig afterall!)

I hope you were able to read through last weekend's TTIDN post because it was crazy good! This week is off to a great start as well so buckle up and read on, my friends!

On How It Turns Out We Are To Blame...

Can I start out with an apology... as lame as that may be?  

Here's the thing - I am sorry. I am sorry about a lot of things and what I absolutely do not want to be doing right now is jumping on any sort of bandwagon or trend. 

I mean, honestly... for the love.  
That is not what this is.

My friend Deidra Riggs has been #GoingThere for quite some time now and in the past couple of weeks some other friends have 'gone there' with her.  I have so appreciated her voice... their voices... but can I just say: Oh my goodness - I didn't even know how vital this was is... how much of an emergency was is at hand.  

How could I not know? But honestly, I didn't.

When Words Bridge the Gap...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  

Sometimes, though, it's the words that are most valued... most necessary... most longed for. 

It's the words, whether spoken, typed, or written out old-school style, that bridge the gap of the lost and the broken, bringing hope to stand on and faith to walk right on through!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 56

Happy Weekend, peeps!  I trust and pray that August is unfolding in all the best ways for you! All the wonders of Summer (and of summer coming to an end) can mix together and make us want to squeeze in all the living that the sunlit hours will allow! (Then again, a shady lounge chair and a pile of good books works wonders, too!)

I somehow managed to collect a Gathering of Awesome early on in the week, and slowly added a few more.  Be prepared... these posts today are such a blessing!

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

{GO}

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

{GO}

"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

{GO}

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)