Purely Drivel

5 minute friday: grateful

GO:

grateful...

here at the end of one journey to see what it's all meant. why the hand's played the way they did. why we didn't understand, couldn't see the reason, felt the pain, said the goodbyes that still sting.

the road hasn't been easy, but the sun did rise.

to another journey. another possibility. another chance to grow and put down roots, in a place that's so familiar but still different. another chance to reach - for the glory of God - into His beloved creation and share His story.

grateful...

for the story we have lived. the story we have to share. His story - that never ending Book that began at Creation and stretches to encompass today and me and you and isn't finished until the trumpets sound.

for a new story. for a chance to step into a story that's been writing for over 100 years, a story filled with glory and pain, growth and decline. a story of a remnant, a story we're glad to join.

grateful...

for the God who orchestrates it all, who hears, who listens, who moves.

STOP

What's 5 Minute Friday? From Gypsymama: So, here’s the skinny: I’ve been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

five minute friday: backwards

Go:

The kids have been going to the gym with us this week.

It's been a little bit frustrating - interrupting my workout to help them adjust machines, figure out exactly why Caleb is trying to run 11 miles an hour on the treadmill - but it's been amazing to see them learn new ways to take care of the bodies God created for them.

They've both come to enjoy the elliptical...but I've noticed the oddest little thing.

They both get on it and start going backwards.  When I ask them, they're not even aware of it - it's just the easiest way to go.It doesn't take but a few seconds and a gentle reminder, and they're pedaling forwards. 

Really, there's nothing wrong with backwards - it's just amusing to see them realize what they're doing and make that little change.

And I find myself wishing that all parenting were as easy as that. 

Stop.

What's 5 Minute Friday? From Gypsymama: So, here’s the skinny: I’ve been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

five minute friday: when seasons change

Go:

The margins of seasons - that first peeking blossom of sping, the unexpected leaf that falls heralding autumn- echoed in our lives as in nature.

The sense - growing - that seasons are changing once again.

From a long winter.  Such a long winter, not only in nature but in life.  The choices made, the moves completed, the lingering wait for the next.  

Never easy, always welcome.

Seeing the first blossoms, the skies turn blue, the trees bud green, the sun turn to warm...in the yard as it is in my soul.

Waiting.  

Feeling God's presence.  Seeing His hand.

Knowing His will shall be done.

Longing for the fullness of summer, the harvest of autumn.  

At seasons change.

Stop.

What's 5 Minute Friday? From Gypsymama: So, here’s the skinny: I’ve been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

five minute Friday: deep breath...

photo by Hanna

Go:

This week, the mask has slipped.  

The girl who has it all together - in spite of the fact her husband hasn't a job since mid-January...in spite of a house for sale in a market that won't recover until about 2030...in spite of the fact she's exhausted and overwhelmed by a crazy schedule...in spite of the kids and dogs and the cross country move to live with her parents...in spite of (or maybe because of) that long desired ministry position that we're right on the thresh hold of - that girl fell a part.

Big time.

Sobby, anxiety ridden, frustrated.

Not wanting to hear platitudes.

Not wanting to hear oft-quoted Scripture.

Wanting to hear God.

Wanting to see Him move.

Needing to know...just a little...of where this path is leading...that this struggle is worth it.

Deep breath.

Pray.

Refocus.

Pray.

Peace.

Just when I thought it was all I could take, God spoke.  He moved.  He gave me that little glimpse I needed to shore up my hope.

Deep breath.

Stop.

What's 5 Minute Friday?
From Gypsymama: So, here’s the skinny: I’ve been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

Five Minute Friday: motherhood should come with...

More than anything, I wish motherhood came with the accumulated wisdom of our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

I look at my own mom, who raised the four of us...often while going back to school, making a farming income possible, and finding ways to supplement it with her talents.

My Grandma, widowed with three teenage daughters at home...the mother of six total, including two sets of twins.  

My Grammy, who went back to school at a time when women rarely did, while raising four children and putting up with my Papa.

My great-grandmothers... one who came to California during the Dust Bowl from Oklahoma, canning her own gravy to eat on the road.  Another who grew up in San Francisco, was a child during the great earthquake and cooked not only for her own family, but for others in restaurants and logging camps in Yosemite.  And still another who grew up, the eldest of a very large family...with so little, and yet had a gift of hospitality that inspires me still today.

 

How I'd love to be able to sit with them now, and learn from their wisdom.

Linked to 5 Minute Friday@thegypsymama